From the Great Powers to the European Union: assess and discuss the role and impact of the European influence in the Balkans

Résumé du document

On the 21st of July 1774, the town of Kuchuk Kainarji in Bulgaria was the scene to the signing of the treaty that would end the Russo-Turkish War. From then on, the history of the Balkan peninsula would coincide with the receding of the Ottoman empire and the expansion of European influence. After the Vienna Congress of 1815, the so-called 'Great powers' kept carrying out a constant cutting of the Balkan cake in between themselves. This timeframe, corresponds with the awakening of nationalisms in southeastern Europe. What links can we establish between the Balkans, the European powers, on one hand, and nationalism and realpolitik on the other?

Extraits

[...] Andrassy, the Hungarian leader diplomat at the Berlin Congress of 1878, summarized aptly the attitude of the Great powers: all delimitations the decisions should in the first instance be based of geographical and strategical considerations and only on ethnographical grounds if no other basis for decision could be found”. Indeed, the Berlin Congress was the apotheosis of the disregard of Great powers for the Balkan nations right's to self-determination. Great-Britain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary organized the division of southeastern Europe solely according to their interest. Their aim was to counter Russian influence in the Balkans and access to the Mediterranean through the Anatolian straights. Bulgaria was markedly divided. [...]

[...] For example, a Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was created in 1918, and it mainly satisfied Serbian wills. Nevertheless, it wasn't a self-determined state but it was more of a determination by France and Great-Britain. At that point, one might wonder whether policies of the West regarding the Balkans changed. The different crises that had marked the history of the region for more than a century indicated relatively clearly what matters of contention had to be addressed: the need for economic advancement, nationalist appeasement and cooperation, and most of all, the drawing of sound borders. [...]

[...] First off, it can safely be asserted that the European Union has a positive influence on Balkan countries. Greece, one of the most conflict-prone countries joined the EU in 1981, and is since perceived in the West as matchless in the Balkan peninsula. Its economy is stauncher, its politics more stable, and its voice on the international scene more substantial. The aspiration to join the EU is a momentous incentive to ameliorate political scenes in the countries of former Yugoslavia. [...]

[...] From then on, the history of the Balkan peninsula would coincide with the receding of the Ottoman empire and the expansion of European influence. After the Vienna Congress of 1815, the so-called “Great powers” would be carrying out a constant cutting of the Balkan cake in between themselves. This timeframe corresponds with the awakening of nationalisms in southeastern Europe. What links can we establish between the Balkans, the European powers, on the one hand, and nationalism and realpolitik on the other? The history of the Balkans in the 19th century is one of nationalism and imperialism. [...]

[...] Historical events like the Berlin Congress show that their efforts bolstered the division of southeastern Europe. But when the situation got out of hand, they retracted and acted as if the Balkans were inhabited by murderous tribes that had been fighting for centuries and could never be refrained from doing so. In Greece, the regime also turned soon to dictatorship with General Metaxas at its head. In fact, there was a global trend in the Balkans during the interwar period of authoritarianism. Hungary and Romania both went down the path of fascism. [...]