Imperialist Aggression in the Balkans

The Balkan Peninsula in 2004 remains a hotbed of ethnic strife and terrorist activity. This is nothing new for the Balkans, as centuries of imperialist aggression have rendered the region in a seemingly perpetual state of bloody disarray. Flanking the Adriatic Sea on the West, extending into the Aegean Peninsula to the South, and reaching the Black sea to the East, the multi-national Balkan Peninsula plays host to rival ethnicities and religions, adding a hefty dose of internal strife to complement a seemingly limitless reservoir of external aggression. Of strategic importance to nearly every empire to emerge throughout Europe's history, the Balkans have been no easy target. The quagmire of the Balkan peninsula has at worst ensnared and best agitated nearly every imperialist power that sought to impose outside rule upon it. The current situation in the Balkans cannot be understood without first reviewing the past.

In 1815, the Ottoman Empire, though spanning from Morocco to Armenia (and including much of the Balkans), was nonetheless coming undone (Ferguson, 1993, pp. 22). In the Balkans, the Greeks and the Serbs challenged Turkish rule at this time, and other Empires the British, French, Habsburg and Russian volleyed for position in the region (Ferguson, 1993, pp. 23). Great Britain got involved by playing both sides, supporting Greek independence on the one hand but advocating the preservation of the Ottoman Empire on the other; British fears that Russian expans

Related Essays

The Balkan Peninsula This is nothing new for the Balkans, as centuries of imperialist aggression have rendered the region in a seemingly perpetual state of bloody disarray. .... (927 4 )

Causes of World War I .... 34-5) provided for German aggression against France .... fate" was the prospect of imperialist domination by .... the murderous cycle in the Balkans, and acknowledging .... (1932 8 )

Foreign Policies of T. Roosevelt & Wilson .... distinction between imperialist and anti imperialist was more .... to the center; the Balkans, the position .... for" something, for freedom from aggression, not merely .... (5304 21 )

Category: History - I