HISTORY OF BALKANS - Religion - http://maxpages.com/democracy/History_of

BALKANS

are a group of countries that cover a peninsula in the southeast corner of Europe. The countries are named after the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The word Balkan means mountain in Turkish. The area has been called the Powder Keg of Europe because so many wars have begun there.

Location, size, and description
The Balkan Peninsula includes Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, the European part of Turkey (Eastern Thrace), and most of Yugoslavia. It covers about 213,000 square miles (551,700 square kilometers). The Danube and Sava rivers form the northern boundary of the Balkan Peninsula. The Black Sea borders it on the east. The Southern boundary is formed by the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles Channel, and the Aegean Sea. The Adriatic and Ionian seas lie on the west. Romania is not a geographic part of the peninsula. But it is often considered a Balkan country because of its close ties with the region in history and politics.
Mountains cover much of the peninsula. The Balkan Mountains rise on the eastern border of Yugoslavia, and extend eastward through central Bulgaria. Other mountain ranges include the Albanian Alps, the Dinaric Alps in western Yugoslavia, the Pindus Mountains of central Greece, and the Rhodope Mountains of southern Bulgaria. Mining and forestry are important industries in these mountain areas. The Danube River is the chief commercial waterway in the Balkans. Other rivers in the area include the Mesta, Struma, and Vardar rivers.

The people
About 70 million people live in the Balkan countries. Principal nationalities include Albanians, Greeks, Romanians, Slavs (Bulgarians, Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes), and Turks. Most of the people belong to the Eastern Orthodox Church, but there are many Roman Catholics and some Muslims. Most of the people are farmers.
Early history
The Roman Empire held the peninsula for over 500 years, beginning about 148 B.C. The Slavs came into the area in the A.D. 500's. By the late 1300's, the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire held most of the peninsula. In the 1800's, the Balkan peoples, spurred by feelings of nationalism, began to seek independance from the Turks. The Great European Powers had been meddling in Turkish affairs. They encouraged Balkan nationalism for their own purposes. First Greece and then Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria gained their independance in the period from 1829 to 1908. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 recognized the independance of Montenegro, Romania, and Serbia. But all the people of one nationality did not live in the same country. Turkey continued to hold Macedonia and Albania until the Balkan wars.
The first Balkan war
On March 13, 1912, Bulgaria and Serbia made a secret treaty, dividing the territory they planned to win in an eventual war with Turkey. By this agreement, Serbia was to receive the greater part of Albania. Montenegro began the war against the Turks on Oct. 8, 1912. On October 13, the other Balkan states demanded reforms in European Turkey and mobilized their armies. Turkey declared war on Bulgaria and Serbia on October 17. Greece declared war on Turkey on October 18. Turkey suffered heavy losses to the combined armies, and staged a last defense near Constantinople. The Serbs won Skopje on October 26, and the Greeks took Salonika November 8. Albania declared its independance on November 28.
An armistice was declared on Dec. 3, 1912, after the Turks asked for a truce. At the London peace conference that followed, the Balkan countries demanded that Turkey give up most of its European territory and pay a war indemnity. Turkey refused and the war continued from February 3 to May 3, 1913. During this time, Greece captured Ioannina (Jannina), the Bulgarians took Adrianople (now Edirne, Turkey), and the Montenegrins conquered Scutari (now Shkoder, Albania). A second conference met in London on May 20, 1913. It was supervised by the Great Powers. Under the peace treaty, signed May 30, Turkey lost nearly all its territory in Europe, including Albania. Serbia gained large areas in Macedonia. Bulgaria got Adrianople and lands stretching to the Aegean Sea. Greece gained Crete and other islands, Salonika, and part of Macedonia.

The second Balkan war
Discord among the Balkan states was evident even during the early days of the first war. Bulgarians and Serbians insisted on sending troops to Salonika after the Greeks occupied it early in the war. The Montenegrins were dissatisfied because the Great Powers at the London conference wanted to give Scutari to Albania. Montenegro had captured Scutari during the war. A more serious problem concerned Albania. According to the secret pact between Bulgaria and Serbia before the war began, Serbia was to receive Albania. When Albania became independant, Serbia was deprived of this territory on the Adriatic. Bulgaria received not only the territory agreed upon by the secret treaty, but also Adrianople and other areas.
Serbia and Bulgaria realized that the treaty of partition was outdated. Serbia wanted to ask the Russian Czar to help divide the disputed part of Macedonia between Serbia and Bulgaria. But Bulgaria did not have confidence in the Czar, and regarded arbitration as an unnecessary delay. The Bulgarians hoped that Austria-Hungary, which was afraid of Serbia's rising power, would help them. The Bulgarian king did not fear another war. To counter the Bulgarian menace, the Greeks and Serbs signed a treaty of alliance on June 1.

The Second Balkan War began with a Bulgarian attack on the Greeks and Serbs on the night of June 29-30, 1913: The second war was shorter, but much bloodier, than the first. In July, Romania the Turkey joined the Greeks, Montenegrins, and Serbians. Bulgaria could not withstand the opposition, and on July 21, asked for a truce. The Treaty of Bucharest was signed on Aug. 10, 1913. Bulgaria lost much of the territory taken from Turkey in the previous war. It kept only western Thrace and a small corner of Macedonia. Turkey seized Adrianople, with all eastern Thrace.

The peace settlement left Europe with new problems and a general uneasiness regarding the Balkans. Serbia's increased prestige encouraged the Slavs of Austria-Hungary to renew their efforts for independance.

World War I

started in the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria and Turkey were the only Balkan countries on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. France became a leading ally of the Balkans during World War I. After World War I, Serbia, Montenegro, and territories to the north of them were combined in the kingdom that would later be called Yugoslavia.

World War II

Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania joined Germany and Italy. Bulgaria occupied the Yugoslavian (Serbian) and Greek part of Macedonia. Bermany and Italy occupied the rest of Greece and Yugoslavia. Albania was occupied by Italy and later by Germany. Turkey remained neutral during most of the war. Until October 1944, Germany and Italy controlled most of the peninsula.

After World War II

, all the Balkan countries except Greece and Turkey fell under communist domination. Greece and Turkey are allies of the United States and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The First Balkan Pact, signed in 1953 by Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia, provided for cooperation in security and defense measures. The Second Balkan Pact, signed by the three countries in 1954, reaffirmed and extended the 1953 pact.

STEFAN CRISBASAN

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