The Balkan Wars : Conquest, Revolution, and Retribution From the Ottoman Era to the Twentieth Century and Beyond
"When it comes to understanding the Balkans, it is easy to become lost in the quagmire of struggle and hatred that consumes Yugoslavia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, and Macedonia today. Why has war after war, from the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 to the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s, ravaged this part of the world with such frightening regularity? Is the culture of ethnic violence an integral factor of Balkan history or a contrived excuse for ambitious warlords, satraps, and dictators? Will the region ever achieve stability or is each Balkan state doomed to repeat a history characterized by an unending cycle of butchery, bloodlust, and retribution? In The Balkan Wars, André Gerolymatos explores how ancient events engendered nationalist and cultural myths that evolved over time, gaining psychic strength in the collective consciousness of the Balkan peoples. In riveting and sometimes graphic detail, this book shows that violence and terror have had plenty of precedence in the region. Gerolymatos introduces us to key figures who have played a hand in the shaping of the cultural and ethnic landscape of the Balkans, beginning with Sultan Murad I, Prince Lazar, and Milos Obolic, the legendary trinity of the Battle of Kosovo that inspired countless generations of Serbian resistance and vengeance. We also meet the nameless individuals who did the real work of rebellion and revolution, such as the Greek klephts, ruthless mountain bandits who became romantic symbols of freedom and patriotism during the 19th century, despite having plundered and terrorized the Balkan countryside for centuries prior to the Greek War of Independence of the 1820s. And in a chilling account of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, the 525th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo, we learn the inside story of the Archduke's fateful visit and the conspirators who awaited him. Gerolymatos gives the characters in this historical drama a human face, and in doing so brings the events of long ago into the sharp focus of current events. His lively survey of centuries of strife finally provides a long-overdue account of the origins of ethnic hatred and warmongering in this turbulent land." -- Dust Jacket
Print Book, English, ©2002
Basic Books, New York, ©2002