Balkan Politics

Week 3: Rule of Empire (Ottomans)

 Ottomans

Austria-Hungary
Empires and Big
Entities
Russia Empire

Yugoslavia
Ottomans Rule in Balkans
• Edirne: 1362-1371
• Serbia: 1389
• Bulgaria: 1396
• Istanbul: 1453
• Bosnia: 1463
• Herzegovina: 1482
• Montenegro: 1499.
Ottoman Sultans
Ottoman Sultans
Ottoman Sultans
Ottoman Sultans
Ottomans in Balkans
• Keywords;
• Entrance
• Frontier
• Millet system
• Devsirme
• Janissaries
• Timar system
• Tolerance
Ottomans in Balkans
• Other keywords:

• Modernization
• Nationalism
• Wars
• Migration
• Balkanization
Please listen this at home
• https://15minutehistory.org/podcast/episode-37-the-ottoman-balkans/
 Ottomans withdrawal from Balkans

Not perfect video but a brief history of Ottomans and their existence in Balkans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96n33WWgE9g
Nationalism and Balkan
• At the turn of the century, European competition between Austria-Hungary and Russia focused on
turbulent area of Balkan
• Mountainous region whose difficult terrain resulted in distinct isolated ethnic groups
• Ottoman empire ruled Balkan (Non-European Muslim rule was resented by the largely Slavic -
mostly Christian- population)
• Both Austria-Hungary and Russia planned on taking Balkans from the Ottomans, so an intense
rivalry between Austria-Hungary and Russia grew
Nationalism in Balkan
• Austria-Hungary annexed Slovenia and Croatia in the 1800’s, occupied Bosnia by 1878
• Balkan nations wanted independent ethnic regions (Greece, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania,
Bulgaria and Albania all became independent)
• Violent wars broke out about boundary disputes
• In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia
• Bosnia’s population was Slavic Muslims, Serbs and CroatsSerbs wanted independence for the Slavs
but not for the Christian Croats
 Albanian Revolt 1910-1912 (anti-
centralization

Bosnian revolt 1832-1833 (Mahmud II

abolished the ayan system)

Some uprisings Bulgarians 1876

Greeks 1821-1826

Serbs 1804-1835
The First Balkan War: 1912
• Russia & Austrian-Hungarian
Empire two great powers- put
pressure on these areas

• Balkan League formed to drive

Ottomans out
– Bulgaria
– Serbia
– Montenegro
– Greece
• Serbia wanted to use the power vacuum left by the Ottomans to create a “Greater Serbia”.
• In the First Balkan War (1912), a number of Balkan nations united (under Russian influence) to
form the Balkans League and managed to expel the Ottomans from the region.
• Austria-Hungary was afraid of Serbia becoming too powerful. They interfered at the peace talks,
resulting in Serbia gaining less territory than they thought they deserved.
 The Second Balkan War: 1913

• Serbs turned against Bulgarians

• Serbs occupied Kosovo and Macedonia
• Serbs wanted to expand and create a
KOSOVO Greater Serbia
The Second Balkan War: 1913

• The Second Balkan War (1913) followed almost immediately when Bulgaria demanded more land.
He made war on Serbia and Greece but was defeated.
• The Serbs managed to win a lot of territory for themselves and now became the dominant power
in the Balkan
WWI and Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
• Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and wife Sophie planned to visit Bosnian capital of Sarajevo for
a tour
• 6-28 was an anniversary for Serbs—lost battle of Kosovo to the Turks in 1389 which resulted in
Turkish rule for 500 years
• 6-28 was the 14th wedding anniversary of Archduke and Sophie—they planned a parade
• A Serbian nationalistic society known as the Black Hand planned to assassination
• They hired 7 young Serbs to carry out plot
Assassination
• Outraged, on , Austria Hungary presented Serbia with an ultimatum concerning the crime and
demanded and answer within 48 hours
• Germany had given Austria Hungary a “blank check” guaranteeing its unconditional support no
matter what happened
• Some Austrians wanted the ultimatum to be so severe that Serbia would never agree to it and then
they could go to war and gain all of the Balkan Peninsula
• A) Suppression of all anti Austria Hungary activity in Serbia
• B) Dismissal of all Serbian officials to whom Austria Hungary objected
• C) Right for Austria Hungary officials to enter Serbia to investigate Serbian state complicity in the
crime and carry out suppression of all anti-Austria Hungary organizations
• Serbia agreed to A & B but would not compromise independence on C
Alliance System and WWI
• Because of the system of Alliances, within one week of Austria’s declaration of war, all of Europe was plunged
into action
• Russia supported Serbia (they didn’t want Austria-Hungary to get Balkan Peninsula)
• Russia mobilized its armies and began moving troops toward Germany’s and , Austria Hungary’s borders
• Germany took this as an act of war and issued two ultimatums to Russia
• Demobilization
• France must remain neutral
• France honored its 1892 Treaty of Mutual Defense with Russia
• Germany declared war on Russia on August 1, 1914 and France on August 3, 1914
• Great Britain declared war on Germany and Austria Hungary on Aug 4, 1914
• The Ottoman entry into World War I began on 29 October 1914 when it launched the Black Sea Raid against
Russian ports. Following the attack, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire on November 2, followed by
their allies (Britain and France) declaring war on the Ottoman Empire on November 5, 1914
Powder keg of Europe?
• The decline of the Ottoman Empire created a vacuum waiting to be filled by new forces. The
Balkans became an unstable theatre in which the interests of the major powers clashed with the
national programmes of the emergent peoples of south-eastern Europe.

• This harboured considerable potential dangers not only for the Turkish Sultan but also for the
multinational Habsburg empire, which was itself having to deal with the emancipatory aspirations
of the young nations. As an expanding major power, Austria-Hungary attempted to assert itself in
the Balkans but came into conflict with Russia, which saw itself as the protector of the orthodox
Balkan Slavs. A new enemy was also emerging in Serbia, which was endeavouring to establish itself
as a regional power.

• The occupation and subsequent annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina added new territories to
the Habsburg Monarchy, but it also meant that Vienna was increasingly drawn into the vortex of
complex conflicts in the unstable region.
https://ww1.habsburger.net/en/developments/balkan-powder-keg
Powder keg of Europe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_keg_of_Europe#/media/
File:WWIchartX.svg
Powder keg of Europe
• the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the start of World War I
• Nationalism and Independence
• WWI
• Yugoslavia
• The fall of Yugoslavia

• Do you agree with the term of powder keg of Europe for Balkans?
Powder