Outcast Europe: The Balkans, 1789-1989

Conclusion

This survey of the origins of contemporary Balkan politics shows that the negative image of the region is based on some solid foundations but that it is one needing to be qualified.

During the last millennium the region has enjoyed a lengthier period of political unification than the rest of Europe. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was a single territorial unit for 400 years (with the exception of small territories such as Transylvania and Montenegro and the citystate of Dubrovnik). But the Ottoman system failed to lay the basis for a common identity which could have enabled a unified Balkan state to emerge in its aftermath. It never consciously set out to create an integrated society. Instead it permitted self-contained religious groups ...