TheBalkans (/ˈbɔːlkənz/BAWL-kənz,/ˈbɒlkənz/BOL-kənz[1]), corresponding partially with theBalkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeasternEurope with various geographical and historical definitions.[2][3][4] The region takes its name from theBalkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole ofBulgaria.[5] The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by theAdriatic Sea in the northwest, theIonian Sea in the southwest, theAegean Sea in the south, theTurkish straits in the east, and theBlack Sea in the northeast. The northern border of thepeninsula is variously defined.[6] The highest point of the Balkans isMusala, 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in theRila mountain range, Bulgaria.
The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographerAugust Zeune in 1808,[7] who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of southeastern Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. In the 19th century the termBalkan Peninsula was a synonym forRumelia, the parts of Europe that were provinces of theOttoman Empire at the time. It had a geopolitical rather than a geographical definition, which was further promoted during thecreation of Yugoslavia in the early 20th century. The definition of the Balkan Peninsula's natural borders does not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula; hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan Peninsula, while historical scholars usually discuss the Balkans as a region. The term has acquired a stigmatized and pejorative meaning related to the process ofBalkanization.[6][8] The region may alternatively be referred to asSoutheast Europe.
The borders of the Balkans are, due to many contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement on its components. By most definitions, the term fully encompassesAlbania,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Bulgaria,Croatia (up to theSava andKupa rivers), mainlandGreece,Kosovo,Montenegro,North Macedonia,Northern Dobruja inRomania,Serbia (up to theDanube river), andEast Thrace inTurkey. However, many definitions also include the remaining territories of Croatia, Romania and Serbia, as well asSlovenia (up to the Kupa river). Additionally, some definitions includeHungary andMoldova due to cultural and historical factors. Theprovince of Trieste in northeasternItaly, whilst by some definitions on the geographical peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans in a regional context.
Name
Etymology
The origin of the wordBalkan is obscure; it may be related toTurkishbālk 'mud' (from Proto-Turkic *bal 'mud, clay; thick or gluey substance', cf. also Turkicbal 'honey'), and the Turkish suffix-an 'swampy forest'[9] or Persianbālā-khāna 'big high house'.[10] It was used mainly during the time of theOttoman Empire. In bothOttoman Turkish andmodern Turkish,balkan means 'chain of wooded mountains'.[11][12][13]
Historical names and meaning
From antiquity to the early Middle Ages
The region that is presently known as the Balkans is largely the ancient (Europe's oldest)Danube civilisation,[14] also referred to as theOld Europe civilization, and which peaked between 5000 and 3500 BC.[15]
According to Greek mythology, theThracian kingHaemus was turned into a mountain byZeus as a punishment and the mountain has remained with his name.[18] A reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus (Αἷμος) is derived from aThracian word*saimon, 'mountain ridge'.[19] A third possibility is that "Haemus" (Αἵμος) derives from the Greek wordhaima (αἷμα) meaning 'blood'. The myth relates to a fight betweenZeus and the monster/titanTyphon. Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhon's blood fell on the mountains, giving them their name.[20]
Late Middle Ages and Ottoman period
The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, in which theHaemus Mountains are referred to asBalkan.[21] The first attested time the name "Balkan" was used in the West for the mountain range inBulgaria was in a letter sent in 1490 to PopeInnocent VIII byFilippo Buonaccorsi, an Italian humanist, writer and diplomat.[22] TheOttomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565.[10] There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, although other Turkic tribes had already settled in or were passing through the region.[10] There is also a claim about an earlierBulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion.[10] The word was used by the Ottomans inRumelia in its general meaning of mountain, as inKod̲j̲a-Balkan,Čatal-Balkan, andUngurus-Balkani̊, but it was especially applied to the Haemus mountain.[23][24] The name is still preserved inCentral Asia with theBalkan Daglary (Balkan Mountains)[25] and theBalkan Region ofTurkmenistan. The English travelerJohn Bacon Sawrey Morritt introduced this term into English literature at the end of the 18th century, and other authors started applying the name to the wider area between the Adriatic and the Black Sea. The concept of the "Balkans" was created by the German geographerAugust Zeune in 1808,[26] who mistakenly considered it as the dominant central mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea.[27][28][6] During the 1820s, "Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers... Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term".[29] In European books printed until late 1800s it was also known as Illyrian Peninsula or Illyrische Halbinsel in German.[30]
Evolution of meaning in the 19th and 20th centuries
The term was not commonly used in geographical literature until the mid-19th century because, already then, scientists likeCarl Ritter warned that only the part south of the Balkan Mountains could be considered as a peninsula and considered it to be renamed as "Greek peninsula". Other prominent geographers who did not agree with Zeune wereHermann Wagner,Theobald Fischer,Marion Newbigin, andAlbrecht Penck, while Austrian diplomatJohann Georg von Hahn, in 1869, for the same territory, used the termSüdosteuropäische Halbinsel ('Southeastern European peninsula'). Another reason it was not commonly accepted as the definition of thenEuropean Turkey had a similar land extent.[clarification needed] However, after theCongress of Berlin (1878) there was a political need for a new term and gradually "the Balkans" was revitalized, but in many maps, the northern border was in Serbia and Montenegro and Greece was not included (it only depicted the then Ottoman-occupied parts of Europe), while Yugoslavian maps also included Croatia and Bosnia. At the time, theBalkan Peninsula was also understood as a synonym forRumelia orEuropean Turkey, and, in its broadest sense, encompassed the borders of all former Ottoman provinces in Europe.[6][28][31]
The usage of the term changed in the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, when it was embraced by Serbian geographers, most prominently byJovan Cvijić.[27] It was done with political reasoning as affirmation forSerbian nationalism on the whole territory of theSouth Slavs, and also included anthropological and ethnological studies of the South Slavs through which were claimed various nationalistic and racialist theories.[27] Through such policies and Yugoslavian maps the term was elevated to the modern status of a geographical region.[28] The term acquired political nationalistic connotations far from its initial geographic meaning,[6] arising from political changes from the late 19th century to the creation of post–World War IYugoslavia (initially theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918).[28] After thedissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the termBalkans acquired a negative political meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, as well in worldwide casual usage for war conflicts and fragmentation of territory.[27][28]
Map of the Balkan Peninsula as defined by theDanube-Sava-Kupa line
Balkan Peninsula
The Balkan Peninsula is bounded by theAdriatic Sea to the west, theMediterranean Sea (including theIonian andAegean seas) and theSea of Marmara to the south and theBlack Sea to the east. Its northern boundary is subject to varying interpretations, but is often given as theDanube,Sava andKupa Rivers.[34] The Balkan Peninsula has a combined area of about 470,000 km2 (181,000 sq mi). The peninsula is generally encompassed in the region known asSoutheast Europe.[35][36][37]
Italy currently holds a small area aroundTrieste that is by some older definitions considered a part of the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the peninsula by Italian geographers, due to their definition limiting its western border to the Kupa River.[38]
Balkans
The borders of the Balkans region are, due to a multitude of contrasting definitions, widely disputed, with no universal agreement on its components. By most definitions, it fully encompasses Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (up to theSava andKupa rivers), mainland Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia,Northern Dobruja in Romania, Serbia (up to theDanube river) andEast Thrace in Turkey. However, many definitions also include the remaining territories of Croatia, Romania and Serbia, as well as Slovenia (up to the Kupa river). Additionally, some definitions includeHungary andMoldova due to cultural and historical factors.[39][40][41][42][43][44][45] TheProvince of Trieste in northeastern Italy, whilst by some definitions on the geographical peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans in a regional context.
The termSoutheast Europe may also be applied to the region, with various interpretations, although Balkan countries may alternatively be placed inSouthern,Central orEastern Europe. Turkey, including East Thrace, is generally placed inWest Asia or theMiddle East.
TheWestern Balkans is a political neologism coined to refer to Albania and the territory of the former Yugoslavia, exceptSlovenia, since the early 1990s.[e] The region of the Western Balkans, a coinage exclusively used in pan-European parlance, roughly corresponds to theDinaric Alps territory.
The institutions of the EU have generally used the termWestern Balkans to mean the Balkan area that includes countries that are not members of the EU, while others refer to the geographical aspects.[d]Each of these countries aims to be part of thefuture enlargement of the EU and reach democracy and transmission scores but, until then, they will be strongly connected with the pre-EU waiting programmeCentral European Free Trade Agreement.[46] Croatia, considered part of the Western Balkans, joined the EU in July 2013.[47]
Criticism as geographical definition
The term is scrutinised for having a geopolitical, rather than a geographical meaning and definition, as a multiethnic and political area in the southeastern part of Europe.[28] The geographical term of apeninsula defines that the sea border must be longer than the land border, with the land side being the shortest in the triangle, but that is not the case for the Balkan Peninsula.[27][28] Both the eastern and western sea catheti fromOdesa toCape Matapan (c. 1230–1350 km) and fromTrieste to Cape Matapan (c. 1270–1285 km) are shorter than the land cathetus from Trieste to Odesa (c. 1330–1365 km).[27][28] The land has too long a land border to qualify as a peninsula –Szczecin (920 km) andRostock (950 km) at theBaltic Sea are closer to Trieste than Odesa yet it is not considered as another European peninsula.[27] Since the late 19th and early 20th century no exact northern border has been clear,[27][28] with an issue, whether the rivers are usable for its definition.[6] In studies the Balkans' natural borders, especially the northern border, are often avoided to be addressed, considered as aproblème fastidieux (delicate problem) by André Blanc inGéographie des Balkans (1965),[48] while John Lampe and Marvin Jackman inBalkan Economic History (1971) noted that "modern geographers seem agreed in rejecting the old idea of a Balkan Peninsula".[6] Another issue is the name: theBalkan Mountains, mostly in Northern Bulgaria, do not dominate the region by length and area as do theDinaric Alps.[27] An eventual Balkan peninsula can be considered a territory south of the Balkan Mountains, with a possible name "Greek-Albanian Peninsula".[6][28] The term influenced the meaning ofSoutheast Europe which again is not properly defined by geographical factors.[28]
Croatian geographers and academics are highly critical of inclusion of Croatia within the broad geographical, social-political and historical context of the Balkans, while the neologism Western Balkans is perceived as a humiliation of Croatia by the European political powers.[27] According to M. S. Altić, the term has two different meanings, "geographical, ultimately undefined, and cultural, extremely negative, and recently strongly motivated by the contemporary political context".[28] In 2018,President of CroatiaKolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated that the use of the term "Western Balkans" should be avoided because it does not imply only a geographic area, but also negative connotations, and instead must be perceived as and called Southeast Europe because it is part of Europe.[49]
This very alibi confronts us with the first of many paradoxes concerning Balkan: its geographic delimitation was never precise. It is as if one can never receive a definitive answer to the question, "Where does it begin?" For Serbs, it begins down there in Kosovo or Bosnia, and they defend the Christian civilization against this Europe's Other. For Croats, it begins with the Orthodox, despotic, Byzantine Serbia, against which Croatia defends the values of democratic Western civilization. For Slovenes, it begins with Croatia, and we Slovenes are the last outpost of the peaceful Mitteleuropa. For Italians and Austrians, it begins with Slovenia, where the reign of the Slavic hordes starts. For Germans, Austria itself, on account of its historic connections, is already tainted by Balkanic corruption and inefficiency. For some arrogant Frenchmen, Germany is associated with the Balkanian Eastern savagery—up to the extreme case of some conservative anti-European-Union Englishmen for whom, in an implicit way, it is ultimately the whole of continental Europe itself that functions as a kind of Balkan Turkish global empire with Brussels as the new Constantinople, the capricious despotic center threatening English freedom and sovereignty. So Balkan is always the Other: it lies somewhere else, always a little bit more to the southeast, with the paradox that, when we reach the very bottom of the Balkan peninsula, we again magically escape Balkan. Greece is no longer Balkan proper, but the cradle of our Western civilization.
Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from the northwest to southeast. The main ranges are theBalkan Mountains (Stara Planina inBulgarian language), running from theBlack Sea coast in Bulgaria to the border with Serbia, theRila-Rhodopemassif in southern Bulgaria, theDinaric Alps inBosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro, theKorab-Šar mountains which spreads from Kosovo to Albania and North Macedonia, and thePindus range, spanning from southern Albania into central Greece and theAlbanian Alps, and theAlps at the northwestern border. The highest mountain of the region isRila in Bulgaria, withMusala at 2,925 m, second beingMount Olympus in Greece, withMytikas at 2,917 m, andPirin mountain withVihren, also in Bulgaria, being the third at 2915 m.[51][52] Thekarst field orpolje is a common feature of the landscape.
On theAdriatic andAegean coasts, the climate isMediterranean, on the Black Sea coast the climate ishumid subtropical andoceanic, and inland it ishumid continental. In the northern part of the peninsula and on the mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, while summers are hot and dry. In the southern part, winters are milder. The humid continental climate is predominant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, northern Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo, northern Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and the interior of Albania and Serbia. Meanwhile, the other less common climates, the humid subtropical and oceanic climates, are seen on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria andBalkan Turkey (European Turkey). The Mediterranean climate is seen on the Adriatic coasts of Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, as well as the Ionian coasts of Albania and Greece, in addition to the Aegean coasts of Greece andBalkan Turkey (European Turkey).[53]
Over the centuries, forests have been cut down and replaced withbush. In the southern part and on the coast there isevergreen vegetation. Inland there are woods typical of Central Europe (oak andbeech, and in the mountains,spruce,fir andpine). Thetree line in the mountains lies at the height of 1,800–2,300 m. The land provideshabitats for numerousendemic species, including extraordinarily abundant insects and reptiles that serve as food for a variety ofbirds of prey and rarevultures.
The soils are generally poor, except on theplains, where areas with natural grass, fertile soils and warm summers provide an opportunity for tillage. Elsewhere, land cultivation is mostly unsuccessful because of the mountains, hot summers and poor soils, although certain cultures such asolive and grape flourish.
Resources of energy are scarce, except in Kosovo, where considerablecoal,lead,zinc,chromium andsilver deposits are located.[54] Other deposits ofcoal, especially in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, also exist.Lignite deposits are widespread in Greece.Petroleum scarce reserves exist in Greece, Serbia and Albania. Natural gas deposits are scarce.Hydropower is in wide use, from over 1,000 dams. The often relentlessbora wind is also being harnessed for power generation.
Metal ores are more usual than other raw materials. Iron ore is rare, but in some countries there is a considerable amount of copper, zinc,tin,chromite,manganese,magnesite andbauxite. Some metals are exported.
The Balkan region was the first area in Europe to experience the arrival of farming cultures in theNeolithic era. The Balkans have been inhabited since thePaleolithic and are the route by which farming from theMiddle East spread to Europe during theNeolithic (7th millennium BC).[55][56] The first knownNeolithic culture of Old Europe wasKakanj culture that appeared inCentral Bosnia's town ofKakanj and covered periods dated from 6795 to 4900 BC.[57]
The practices of growing grain and raising livestock arrived in the Balkans from theFertile Crescent by way ofAnatolia and spread west and north into Central Europe, particularly throughPannonia. Two early culture-complexes have developed in the region,Starčevo culture andVinča culture. The Balkans are also the location of the first advanced civilizations. Vinča culture developed a form ofproto-writing before theSumerians andMinoans, known as theOld European script, while the bulk of the symbols had been created in the period between 4500 and 4000 BC, with the ones on the Tărtăria clay tablets even dating back to around 5300 BC.[58]
The identity of the Balkans is dominated by its geographical position; historically the area was known as a crossroads of cultures. It has been a juncture between theLatin andGreek bodies of theRoman Empire, the destination of a massive influx of paganBulgars andSlavs, an area whereOrthodox andCatholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting point betweenIslam and Christianity.[59]
TheBulgars andSlavs arrived in the sixth-century and began assimilating and displacing already-assimilated (through Romanization and Hellenization) older inhabitants of the northern and central Balkans.[67] This migration brought about the formation of distinctethnic groups amongst the South Slavs, which included theBulgarians,Croats andSerbs andSlovenes.[68][69] Prior to the Slavic landing, parts of the western peninsula have been home to theProto-Albanians. Including cities likeNish,Shtip, andShkup. This can be proven through the development of the names, for exampleNaissos >Nish andAstibos >Shtip follow Albanian phonetic sound rules and have entered Slavic, indicating that Proto-Albanian was spoken in those cities prior to the Slavic invasion of the Balkans.[70][71][72][73]Proto-Albanian speakers were Christianized under theLatin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE, as shown by the basicChristian terms in Albanian, which are ofLatin origin and entered Proto-Albanian before theGheg–Tosk dialectal diversification.[74][75]
Middle Ages and Early modern period
The Balkans in 850 ADTheHagia Sophia, built in the 6th centuryConstantinople (nowIstanbul, Turkey) as anEastern Orthodox cathedral, later it became a mosque, then a museum, and now its both a mosque and a museumTheGolubac Fortress, built in the 14th century to overlook the strategically importantIron Gates gorge, was one of the many Balkan fortresses built in the Middle Ages to resist invading forces
During theEarly Middle Ages, TheByzantine Empire was the dominant state in the region, both military and culturally. Their cultural strength became particularly evident in the second half of the 9th century when theByzantinemissionariesCyril and Methodius managed to spread theByzantine variant of Christianity to the majority of the Balkans inhabitants who werepagan beforehand. Initially, it was adopted by the Bulgarians and Serbs, with theRomanians joining a bit later.[76] The lack ofOld Church Slavonic terms in Albanian Christian terminology shows that the missionary activities during theChristianization of the Slavs did not involve Albanian-speakers; Christianity survived through the centuries and already become an important culoural element in their ethnic identity.[77]
The emergence of theFirst Bulgarian Empire and the constantconflicts between the Byzantine Empire and the First Bulgarian Empire significantly weakened the Byzantine control over the Balkans by the end of the 10th century. The Byzantines further lost power in the Balkans after the resurgence of the Bulgarians in the late 12th century, with the forming of theirSecond Bulgarian Empire.[78] After the collapse of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine's Empire grip on power was prolonged by the inability of the Slavs to unite, which was caused by frequent infighting amongst themselves. Bulgaria in the first half of the 14th century was then overshadowed by the new rising regional power of Serbia, which was a result ofStefan Dušan rising up and conquering much of the Balkans to create theSerbian Empire. The Serbian and Byzantine empires continued to be the dominant forces in the region until the arrival of theOttomans several decades later.[79]
Ottoman expansion in the region began in the second half of the 14th century, as the Byzantine Empire continued to lose its grip on the region afterseveral defeats to the Ottomans. In 1362, the Ottoman Turks conqueredAdrianople (nowEdirne, Turkey). This was the start of their conquest of the Balkan Peninsula, which lasted for more than a century. Other states in the area starting falling like Serbia after theSiege of Smederevo in 1459, Bulgaria in 1396, Byzantine Empire in 1453, Bosnia in 1463, Herzegovina in 1482, and Montenegro in 1496. The conquest was made easier for the Ottomans due to existing divisions among the Orthodox peoples and by the even deeper rift that had existed at the time between theEastern andWestern Christians of Europe.[80]
The Albanians underSkanderbeg's leadership resisted the Ottomans for a time (1443–1468) by usingguerilla warfare. Skanderbeg's achievements, in particular theBattle of Albulena and theFirst Siege of Krujë won him fame across Europe. The Ottomans eventually conquered the near entirety of the Balkans and reached central Europe by the early 16th century.[81] Some smaller countries, such asMontenegro managed to retain some autonomy by managing their own internal affairs, since the territory was too mountainous to completely subdue.[82] Another small country that retained its independence, bothde facto andde jure in this case, was theAdriatic trading hub ofRagusa (nowDubrovnik, Croatia).[83]
In the past several centuries, because of the frequentOttoman wars in Europe fought in and around the Balkans and the comparative Ottoman isolation from the mainstream of economic advance (reflecting the shift of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards theAtlantic), the Balkans have been the least developed part of Europe. According toHalil İnalcık, "The population of the Balkans, according to one estimate,fell from a high of 8 million in the late 16th-century to only 3 million by the mid-eighteenth. This estimate is based on Ottoman documentary evidence".[86]
Most of the Balkan nation-states emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries as they gained independence from the Ottoman orHabsburg empires: Greece in 1821, Serbia and Montenegro in 1878, Romania in 1881, Bulgaria in 1908 and Albania in 1912.
Recent history
Modern political history of the Balkans from 1796 onwards
World wars
In 1912–1913, theFirst Balkan War broke out when the nation-states of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro united in analliance against theOttoman Empire. As a result of the war, almost all remaining European territories of theOttoman Empire were captured and partitioned among the allies. Ensuing events also led to the creation of an independentAlbanian state. Bulgaria insisted on its status quo territorial integrity, divided and shared by the Great Powers next to theRusso-Turkish War (1877–78) in other boundaries and on the pre-war Bulgarian-Serbian agreement. Bulgaria was provoked by the backstage deals between its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on the allocation of the spoils at the end of the First Balkan War. At the time, Bulgaria was fighting at the main Thracian Front. Bulgaria marks the beginning ofSecond Balkan War when it attacked them. The Serbs and the Greeks repulsed single attacks, but when the Greek army invaded Bulgaria together with an unprovoked Romanian intervention in the back, Bulgaria collapsed. The Ottoman Empire used the opportunity to recaptureEastern Thrace, establishing its new western borders that still stand today as part of modern Turkey.
World War I was sparked in the Balkans in 1914 when members ofYoung Bosnia, a revolutionary organization with predominantly Serb and pro-Yugoslav members,assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heirArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital,Sarajevo. That caused a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which—through the existingchains of alliances—led to the World War I. The Ottoman Empire soon joined theCentral Powers becoming one of the three empires participating in that alliance. The next year Bulgaria joined theCentral Powers attacking Serbia, which was successfully fighting Austria-Hungary to the north for a year. That led to Serbia's defeat and the intervention of theEntente in the Balkans which sent an expeditionary force to establish a newfront, the third one of that war, which soon also became static. The participation of Greece in the war three years later, in 1918, on the part of the Entente finally altered the balance between the opponents leading to the collapse of the common German-Bulgarian front there, which caused the exit of Bulgaria from the war, and in turn, the end of World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[87]
Between the two wars, in order to maintain the geopolitical status quo in the region after the end of World War I, theBalkan Pact, or Balkan Entente, was formed by a treaty betweenGreece,Romania, Turkey andYugoslavia on 9 February 1934 inAthens.[88]
With the start of theWorld War II, all Balkan countries, with the exception of Greece, were allies ofNazi Germany, having bilateral military agreements or being part of theAxis Pact.Fascist Italy expanded the war in the Balkans by using its protectorate Albania toinvade Greece. After repelling the attack, the Greeks counterattacked, invading Italy-held Albania and causing Nazi Germany's intervention in the Balkans to help its ally.[89] Days before the German invasion, a successfulcoup d'état in Belgrade by neutral military personnel seized power.[90]
Although the new government reaffirmed its intentions to fulfill its obligations as a member of the Axis,[91] Germany, with Bulgaria, invaded both Greece and Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia immediately disintegrated when those loyal to the Serbian King and the Croatian units mutinied.[92] Greece resisted, but, after two months of fighting, collapsed and was occupied. The two countries were partitioned between the three Axis allies, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy, and theIndependent State of Croatia, a puppet state of Italy and Germany.
During the occupation, the population suffered considerable hardship due to repression and starvation, to which the population reacted by creating a mass resistance movement.[93] Together with the early and extremely heavy winter of that year (which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths among the poorly fed population), the German invasion had disastrous effects in the timetable of theplanned invasion in Russia causing a significant delay,[94] which had major consequences during the course of the war.[95]
Finally, at the end of 1944, the Soviets entered Romania and Bulgaria forcing the Germans out of the Balkans. They left behind a region largely ruined as a result of wartime exploitation.
Cold War
During theCold War, most of the countries on the Balkans were governed by communist governments. Greece became the first battleground of the emerging Cold War. TheTruman Doctrine was the US response to thecivil war, which raged from 1944 to 1949. This civil war, unleashed by theCommunist Party of Greece, backed by communist volunteers from neighboring countries (Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia), led to massive American assistance for the non-communist Greek government. With this backing, Greece managed to defeat the partisans and, ultimately, remained one of the two only non-communist countries in the region with Turkey.
However, despite being under communist governments,Yugoslavia (1948) andAlbania (1961) fell out with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia, led by MarshalJosip Broz Tito (1892–1980), first propped up then rejected the idea of merging with Bulgaria and instead sought closer relations with the West, later even spearheaded, together with India and Egypt theNon-Aligned Movement. Albania on the other hand gravitated toward CommunistChina, later adopting anisolationist position.
On 28 February 1953, Greece, Turkey and Yugoslavia signed the treaty of Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation inAnkara to form theBalkan Pact of 1953. The treaty's aim was to deterSoviet expansion in the Balkans and eventual creation of a joint military staff for the three countries. When the pact was signed, Turkey and Greece were members of theNATO, while Yugoslavia was a non-aligned communist state. With the Pact, Yugoslavia was able to indirectly associate itself with NATO. Though it was planned for the pact to remain in force for 20 years, it dissolved in 1960.[96]
As the only non-communist countries, Greece and Turkey were (and still are) part ofNATO composing the southeastern wing of the alliance.
Post–Cold War
In the 1990s, the transition of the regions' ex-Eastern bloc countries towards democratic free-market societies went peacefully. While in the non-alignedYugoslavia,Wars between the former Yugoslav republics broke out after Slovenia and Croatia held free elections and their people voted for independence on their respective countries' referendums. Serbia, in turn, declared the dissolution of the union as unconstitutional and theYugoslav People's Army unsuccessfully tried to maintain the status quo. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, which prompted theCroatian War of Independence in Croatia and theTen-Day War in Slovenia. The Yugoslav forces eventually withdrew from Slovenia in 1991 while the war in Croatia continueduntil late 1995. The two were followed by Macedonia and later Bosnia and Herzegovina, withBosnia being the most affected by the fighting. The wars prompted the United Nations' intervention andNATO ground and air forcestook action against Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina andFR Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro).
State entities on the former territory ofYugoslavia, 2008
From the dissolution of Yugoslavia, six states achieved internationally recognized sovereignty: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro andSerbia; all of them are traditionally included in the Balkans which is often a controversial matter of dispute. In 2008, while under UN administration, Kosovodeclared independence (according to the official Serbian policy, Kosovo is still an internal autonomous region). In July 2010, theInternational Court of Justice, ruled that the declaration of independence was legal.[97] Most UN member states recognise Kosovo. After the end of the wars arevolution broke in Serbia andSlobodan Milošević, the Serbian communist leader (elected president between 1989 and 2000), was overthrown and handed for a trial to theInternational Criminal Tribunal for crimes against theInternational Humanitarian Law during the Yugoslav wars. Milošević died of a heart attack in 2006 before a verdict could have been released. Ιn 2001 anAlbanian uprising inMacedonia (North Macedonia) forced the country to give local autonomy to theethnic Albanians in the areas where they predominate.
With the dissolution ofYugoslavia, an issue emerged over the name under which the former (federated) republic of Macedonia would internationally be recognized, between the new country and Greece. Being theMacedonian part of Yugoslavia (seeVardar Macedonia), the federated republic under the Yugoslav identity had the name(Socialist) Republic of Macedonia on which it declared its sovereignty in 1991. Greece, having a large homonymous region (seeMacedonia), opposed the usage of the name as an indication of a nationality and ethnicity. Thus dubbedMacedonia naming dispute was resolved under UN mediation in the June 2018Prespa agreement was reached, which saw the country's renaming into North Macedonia in 2019.
Balkan countries control the directland routes between Western Europe and South-West Asia (Asia Minor and the Middle East). Since 2000, all Balkan countries are friendly towards the EU and the US.[98]
Greece has been a member of the EU since 1981, whileSlovenia is a member since 2004, Bulgaria and Romania are members since 2007, andCroatia is a member since 2013. In 2005, the EU decided to start accession negotiations with candidate countries; Turkey, andNorth Macedonia were accepted as candidates for EU membership. In 2012, Montenegro startedaccession negotiations with the EU. In 2014,Albania is anofficial candidate for accession to the EU. In 2015, Serbia was expected to startaccession negotiations with the EU, however this process has been stalled over the recognition of Kosovo as an independent state by existing EU member states.[99]
Greece and Turkey have beenNATO members since 1952. In March 2004, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia have become members of NATO. As of April 2009,[100] Albania and Croatia are members of NATO.Montenegro joined in June 2017.[101] The most recent member state to be added to NATO wasNorth Macedonia on 27 March 2020.
Almost all other countries have expressed a desire to join the EU, NATO, or both at some point in the future.[102]
Economy
This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2021)
Currently, all of the states are republics, but until World War II all countries were monarchies. Most of the republics areparliamentary, excluding Romania and Bosnia which aresemi-presidential. All the states haveopenmarket economies, most of which are in the upper-middle-income range ($4,000–12,000 p.c.), exceptCroatia, Romania, Greece, andSlovenia that havehigh income economies (over $12,000 p.c.), and are classified with very highHDI, along with Bulgaria, in contrast to the remaining states, which are classified with high HDI. The states from the formerEastern Bloc that formerly hadplanned economy system and Turkey mark gradual economic growth each year. The gross domestic product per capita is highest in Slovenia (over $29,000), followed by Croatia[108] and Greece (~$20,000), Romania, Bulgaria (over $11,000), Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia (between $10,000 and $9,000), and Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia (~$7,000) and Kosovo ($5,000).[109] TheGini coefficient, which indicates the level of difference by monetary welfare of the layers, is on the second level at the highest monetary equality in Albania, Bulgaria, and Serbia, on the third level in Greece, Montenegro and Romania, on the fourth level in North Macedonia, on the fifth level in Turkey, and the most unequal by Gini coefficient is Bosnia at the eighth level which is the penultimate level and one of the highest in the world. The unemployment is lowest in Romania and Bulgaria (around 5%), followed by Serbia and Albania (11–12%), Turkey, Greece, Bosnia, North Macedonia (13–16%), Montenegro (~18%), and Kosovo (~25%).[110]
As nations in the Western Balkans opened up to private investment in the 1990s, newly created enterprises (mostlySMEs) fueled regional economic development by facilitating the transition from a massivestate-owned structure to amarket economy.[111][112] SMEs now account for 99% of all active businesses, up to 81% of total value created, and 72% of total employment in the Western Balkans.[111]
The Western Balkans are mostly bank-based economies, with bank credit serving as the primary source of external capital for all enterprises, including SMEs. Despite this, the region's bank credit supply is limited and undeveloped. A recent analysis from theEuropean Investment Bank estimated the funding deficit to be at US$2.8 billion, or around 2.5% of nominal GDP.[111]
In most Western Balkan markets, international banks have a market share of 70% to 90%.[113] At the end of 2023, the macroeconomic environment in the Western Balkans indicates that risks are increasing, threatening to worsen the financial imbalance. Recent survey findings give conflicting data on enterprises' funding circumstances. While supply has fallen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and interest rate increasers, it has showed progressive recovery.[111][114]
The region is a meeting point ofOrthodox Christianity,Islam andRoman Catholic Christianity.[130] Eastern Orthodoxy is the majority religion in both the Balkan Peninsula and the Balkan region, TheEastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern andSoutheastern Europe.[131] A variety of different traditions of each faith are practiced, with each of the Eastern Orthodox countries having its own national church. A part of the population in the Balkans defines itself as irreligious.
Islam has a significant history in the region where Muslims make up a large percentage of the population. A 2013 estimate placed the total Muslim population of the Balkans at around eight million.[132] Islam is the largest religion in nations like Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo with significant minorities in Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Smaller populations of Muslims are also found in Romania, Serbia and Greece.[132]
TheJewish communities of the Balkans were some of the oldest in Europe and date back to ancient times. These communities wereSephardi Jews, except inCroatia andSlovenia, where the Jewish communities were mainlyAshkenazi Jews. InBosnia and Herzegovina, the small and close-knit Jewish community is 90%Sephardic, andLadino is still spoken among the elderly. The Sephardi Jewish cemetery inSarajevo has tombstones of a unique shape and inscribed in ancient Ladino.[134] Sephardi Jews used to have a large presence in the city ofThessaloniki, and by 1900, some 80,000, or more than half of the population, were Jews.[135] The Jewish communities in the Balkans suffered immensely duringWorld War II, and the vast majority were killed during theHolocaust. An exception were theBulgarian Jews whoBoris III of Bulgaria sent to forced labor camps instead of Nazi concentration camps. Almost all of the few survivors have emigrated to the (then) newly founded state of Israel and elsewhere.[136] Almost no Balkan country today has a significant Jewish minority.
Ethnic map of the Balkans (1880)Ethnic map of the Balkans (1992)Transhumance ways of the Romance-speakingVlach shepherds in the past
The Balkan region today is a very diverse ethnolinguistic region, being home to multipleSlavic andRomance languages, as well asAlbanian,Greek,Turkish,Hungarian and others.Romani is spoken by a large portion of theRomanis living throughout the Balkan countries. Throughout history, many other ethnic groups with their own languages lived in the area, among themThracians,Illyrians,Romans,Celts and variousGermanic tribes. All of the aforementioned languages from the present and from the past belong to the widerIndo-European language family, with the exception of the Turkic languages (e.g.,Turkish andGagauz) and Hungarian.
Most of the states in the Balkans are predominantly urbanized, with the lowest number of urban population as % of the total population found in Bosnia and Herzegovina at 49%, Kosovo at 50% and Slovenia at 55%.[139][140]
^ AsThe World Factbookcites, regarding Turkey and Southeastern Europe; "that portion of Turkey west of the Bosphorus is geographically part of Europe".
c.
^ The population only ofEuropean Turkey, that excludes theAnatolian Peninsula, which otherwise has a population of 75,627,384 and a density of 97.
^Niktalab, Poopak (2024).Over the Alps: History of Children and Youth Literature in Europe (in Persian) (1st ed.). Tehran, Iran: Faradid Publisher. p. 6.ISBN9786225740457.
^"Balkan".Encarta World English Dictionary. Microsoft Corporation. Archived fromthe original on 10 January 2007. Retrieved31 March 2008.
^"balkan".Büyük Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish). Türk Dil Kurumu. Archived fromthe original on 25 August 2011.Sarp ve ormanlık sıradağ
^Kélékian, Diran (1911). "بالقان balqan".Dictionnaire Turc-Français (in French). Mihran. p. 247.Chaîne de montagnes couveres de forêts.Geogr. Le mont Hæmus; le Balkan.
^Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Editors: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill Online Reference Works.
^Juhász, József (2015)."Hungary and the Balkans in the 20th Century — From the Hungarian Perspective".Prague Papers on the History of International Relations (1):114–119.Archived from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved22 August 2024 – via CEJSH.After 1918, with the massive reduction of Hungary's territory and influence, many Western observers held Hungary to be one of the nations of the Balkans.
^"Balkans".Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11 August 2024.Archived from the original on 17 May 2023. Retrieved22 August 2024.Moldova—although located north of the Danube River, which is frequently cited as the region's northeastern geographic dividing line—is included in the Balkans under some definitions by virtue of its long-standing historical and cultural connections with Romania.
^Matzinger, Joachim (2006).Der altalbanische Text Mbsuame e krështerë (Dottrina cristiana) des Lekë Matrënga von 1592 : eine Einführung in die albanische Sprachwissenschaft. Dettelbach: J.H. Röll.ISBN3-89754-117-3.OCLC65166691.
^Geniş, Şerife; Maynard, Kelly Lynne (July 2009). "Formation of a Diasporic Community: The History of Migration and Resettlement of Muslim Albanians in the Black Sea Region of Turkey".Middle Eastern Studies.45 (4): 557.doi:10.1080/00263200903009619.
^Katičić, Radoslav (1976). Ancient Languages of the Balkans. Mouton. p. 186. ISBN 9789027933157. "On the other hand Niš from Ναϊσσός, Štip from Ἄστιβος, Šar from Scardus, and Ohrid from Lychnidus presuppose the sound development characteristic for Albanian".
^Curtis, Matthew Cowan (2012).Slavic-Albanian Language Contact, Convergence, and Coexistence (Thesis). The Ohio State University. p. 42.
^Jean W Sedlar (1994).East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. University of Washington Press. pp. 393–.ISBN978-0-295-97291-6.A rare example of successful Christian resistance to the Turks in the 15th century, although in a fairly remote part of Europe, was provided by Skanderbeg, the Albanian mountain chieftain who became the leader of a national revolt. For over a quarter-century until his death in 1468, he led the Albanians in surprisingly effective guerrilla warfare against the Turkish occupiers.
^Stephen Clissold (1966).A short history of Yugoslavia from earliest times to 1966, chapter III
^"Balkans".Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved21 August 2019.The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia—with all or part of each of those countries located within the peninsula. Portions of Greece and Turkey are also located within the geographic region generally defined as the Balkan Peninsula, and many descriptions of the Balkans include those countries too. Some define the region in cultural and historical terms and others geographically, though there are even different interpretations among historians and geographers... Generally, the Balkans are bordered on the northwest by Italy, on the north by Hungary, on the north and northeast by Moldova and Ukraine, and on the south by Greece and Turkey or the Aegean Sea (depending on how the region is defined)... For discussion of physical and human geography, along with the history of individual countries in the region, see Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. Area 257,400 square miles (666,700 square km). Pop. (2002 est.) 59,297,000.
Fine, John V. A., Jr.The Early Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Sixth to the Late Twelfth Century [1983];The Late Medieval Balkans: A Critical Survey from the Late Twelfth Century to the Ottoman Conquest. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, [1987].[ISBN missing]
Forbes, Nevill (1915).The Balkans: A History of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, Rumania, Turkey Clarendon Press,online
Kitsikis, Dimitri (2008).La montée du national-bolchevisme dans les Balkans. Le retour à la Serbie de 1830. Paris: Avatar.
Lampe, John R., and Marvin R. Jackson (1982).Balkan Economic History, 1550–1950: From Imperial Borderlands to Developing Nations Indiana University Press.[ISBN missing]
Stoianovich, Traian (1994).Balkan Worlds: The First and Last Europe. Sources and Studies in World History. New York: M.E. Sharpe.ISBN978-1-56324-032-4.
Zametica, John (2017).Folly and malice: the Habsburg empire, the Balkans and the start of World War One London: Shepheard–Walwyn. 416 pp.ISBN978-0856835131.
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