Is there a historic reason for why the Balkans are so fragmented?
Upvote:3
Your question is based on a false premise:
"I'm sure there are regions that are just as ethnically diverse, but with less fragmentation and animosity between different ethnicities. So why is this the case in the Balkans?"
Here are the countries of the Balkans listed by descending area in square kilometres), with the additional nations of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland mixed in for comparison:
- Romania 238,392
- Greece 131,940
- England 130,279
- Bulgaria 110,994
- Hungary 93,030
- Scotland 77,993
- Serbia 77,453
- Ireland 70,273
- Croatia 56,594
- Bosnia & Hercegovina 51,129
- Albania 28,748
- Macedonia 25,713
- Wales 20,779
- Slovenia 20,273
- Northern Ireland 14,130
- Montenegro 13,812
- Kosovo 10,908
As you can see, the Balkans is no more or less fragmented nationally than the British Isles are.
That there has been an undue amount of warfare in the region over the past two hundred years, in the breakup of the Ottoman and Austrian empires that previously ruled the area for a millennium, is comparable to the centuries of bloodshed that led to the independence of Ireland in the early 20th Century, and the unification of England, Scotland and Wales from the 12th to 18 centuries.
Further, the breakup of the Ottoman Empire over the 19th and early 20th centuries coincides with the rise of nationalism throughout most of Europe. The broken nature of the mountainous terrain had fostered a wide variety of distinct ethnic-religious cultures that all saw themselves as distinct nations, but not always with distinct natural borders. This latter point is particularly true for the religiously distinct but otherwise very similar Serbians, Croats and Bosnians; intertwined territorially and sharing a language with slight dialectal variation.
Update
A commenter claims that my comparison of the Balkans to the British Isles is clearly inappropriate because:
As diverse as the British Islands are, their overwhelming history is not one of fracture but one of unity. Unity of a single powerful country dominating it's internal rivals.
I counter that the History of Ireland alone, and of any century of that history from the 11th to the 19th, is more fragmented and ethnically violent than the Balkans has ever seen. It is simply more remote from our present consciousness.
Similarly the main island has seen numerous periods of internecine violence comparable to anything witnessed by the Balkans over a comparable time period:
In the power vacuum created in the departure of the Roman Empire in the mid 5th century, we see 600 years of successive invasions and internecine strife through Anglo-Saxon invasion of a Celtic homeland, consolidation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Viking Raids and the conquest by Canute, followed again by Norman Conquest. Bloody conquest of Wales and Scotland follows for another two centuries, during which time the attempts at conquest of Ireland begin.
In the wake of the unsuccessful Hundred Years War with France in 1453, there follows in quick succession, with intermittent breaks:
- Three decades of War of the Roses until 1485
- Decades of religious strife from the divorce of Catherine of Aragon in 1531 through the ascension of Elizabeth I in 1558, including rule by a foreign monarch in the form of Philip II of Spain
- More religious strife and Civil War, with breaks, from the ascension of Charles I in 1625 through the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and on to the Battle of Culloden and defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1746.
More post
- 📝 Why were the people from the Southeast in the US so different from the rest of the US?
- 📝 Why of all units is Time standard?
- 📝 When were 1942 lend-lease trucks sold to the public?
- 📝 Is there evidence that German soldiers tried to prevent the Jedwabne Pogrom?
- 📝 My father (DOB 09/03/1919) entered the army 01/1942. By 12/42 he made Sgt. He was a 1st Sgt. when separated 10/45. Is this unusual?
- 📝 How big were Ancient China military forces?
- 📝 Literature that changed the course of history
- 📝 Are there historical instances of settlers who were largely uncontacted and undisturbed after settling?
- 📝 What sources describe the ending of the right to murder family members in 1st century BC Rome?
- 📝 What were the American-equipped armies of Nationalist China equipped with?
- 📝 Did Native Americans sabotage telegraph lines running through their territory?
- 📝 When did h*m*sexuality become unacceptable in Europe?
- 📝 Are the ancestors of Saudi royal family Jewish?
- 📝 Were medieval and renaissance era jesters commonly disabled?
- 📝 Why did Charles the Bold have long fingernails?
- 📝 How long did a letter take from Quebec to Bordeaux in 1929?
- 📝 Has any country ever annexed territory of another country without physically controlling it?
- 📝 What was the 'indemnity' paid out by Haiti actually for?
- 📝 When did English become a major subject in Japanese schools?
- 📝 What events or situations of WW1 led to a Nazi fascination with Anglo-Saxon powers?
- 📝 Did the Nazi regime always or often prioritize transport trains to the death camps over military transport?
- 📝 How efficient was the (Cold War) Red Scare?
- 📝 Who was the earliest historian of the Greco-Roman world to write something substantial about China?
- 📝 Did Sultan Mehmet IV defeat a Persian champion in single combat?
- 📝 What were the origins of democracy?
- 📝 When were swords last used in European warfare?
- 📝 What battle of WW2 is depicted in this Battlefield V level?
- 📝 Who invented the first flag?
- 📝 Who was the first Renaissance cartographer to include rich content in their maps that went beyond spatial points, borders, and location names?
- 📝 Why was Africa colonized last of the continents in the Age of Discovery?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Is there a historic reason for why the Balkans are so fragmented?
- 📝 Did the Balkans campaign delay Operation Barbarossa for the Nazis and was it therefore an important reason why they lost against the Soviets in WWII?
- 📝 Is there a historical explanation as to why the USA people are so litigious compared to the French?
- 📝 Why are there so many laws about eye injuries in the Code of Hammurabi?
- 📝 Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- 📝 Are tanks the only reason for the abandonment of trench warfare?
- 📝 Is there a historical source that might explain why so many countries use 35 as a minimum age for the president / the highest office person?
- 📝 Are there any scientific estimates for the population of Mycenaean Greece?
- 📝 Why are there no photorealistic paintings from the old days?
- 📝 Is there a reason why Turkey took the Balkan territories of the Ottoman Empire, instead of Greece or another of the Balkan states?
- 📝 Are there equivalents of the Domesday Book for other (French or German) duchies?
- 📝 Are there any independent historical records of ancient Persia allowing freedom of worship for the Jews?
- 📝 Why are there shields present on the sides of Henry VIII ships, did they serve any function or was it pure decoration?
- 📝 Are there any good sources on the history of the name for Kazakhstan?
- 📝 Are there any records of ancient people looking for the misdirect in a prophecy?
- 📝 Are there any Ancient Greek texts showing concern for the fate of their slaves?
- 📝 What primary sources are there for Charles I's seizure of gold from the Tower mint?
- 📝 Was there a stated reason for the evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip?
- 📝 Why are there multiple versions of the color plate "Excavation of Olive Mount"?
- 📝 Why are the police never responsible for guarding the Head of the State?
- 📝 Are there notes by the Founding Fathers which indicate why DC citizens were denied a vote in Congress?
- 📝 Why are there multiple royal squadrons of the Companion Cavalry?
- 📝 Was there a rational reason for Napoleon to attack Russia while the Peninsular War was still in progress?
- 📝 Is there a reason beyond the simple textbook explanation as to why the Allied forces chose to fight the Axis powers in North Africa during WWII?
- 📝 Are there any documented cases where a society was capable of large scale selflessness for the benefit of future generations?
- 📝 Why are the German and French languages so different?
- 📝 Why were there no internment camps for German-American citizens in USA during WW2?
- 📝 Has there ever been a case when a traitorous military commander took command again for the side he betrayed?
- 📝 (Why) are there two different versions of the photograph of inmates at the Buchenwald concentration camp?
- 📝 Are there any accounts of everyday life during the Black Death?
