John R. Lampe and Ulf Brunnbauer, eds., The Routledge Handbook of Balkan and Southeast European History

This recently published anthology of 52 brief essays on the history of the Balkans (the region alternatively called “Southeastern Europe”) is wide ranging. Among the topics covered here are politics, history, geography, economics, trade, and culture. The editors have brought together several dozen scholars from the Balkans, Western Europe, and North America to provide a smorgasbord of concise analyses of the diverse history, cultures, languages, religions, and ethnicities of Balkan societies. The time span ranges from medieval times to the current day, but the large majority of chapters deal at least partly with the twentieth century, including important coverage of the Second World War and the Cold War. The book will be of particular value to non-specialists, but even long-time experts on the region will find much of interest.The Balkans have often been viewed in a negative light in the West, where the region more than 130 years ago came to be known as the “powder keg of Europe.” Dismissive attitudes toward the Balkans abated somewhat after 1945 but were revived in the early 1990s amid the violent disintegration of Yugoslavia. In 1993, the journalist Robert D. Kaplan published his deeply flawed Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History, which unfortunately proved influential with senior officials in the U.S. government. Kaplan's book was picked apart by experts on the region, including Henry R. Cooper, Jr. and Noel Malcolm, in scathing reviews in Slavic Review and The National Interest, respectively, and Maria Todorova in her Imagining the Balkans (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).However, Todorova also showed that the crude stereotypes of “ancient ethnic hatreds” purveyed by Kaplan have at times coexisted with more favorable depictions of the Balkans as a “bridge” or “transit point” between continents. These approving characterizations are almost as deficient as Kaplan's derogations in their analytical value, as Todorova points out in Imagining the Balkans (pp. 14–15): “The Balkans, on the other hand, have always evoked the image of a bridge or a crossroads. The bridge as a metaphor for the region has been so closely linked to the literary oeuvre of Ivo Andrić, that one tends to forget that its use both in outside descriptions, as well as in each of the Balkan literatures and everyday speech, borders on the banal. The Balkans have been compared to a bridge between East and West, between Europe and Asia.”The Lampe-Brunnbauer handbook, in addition to the 52 essays (plus a valuable overview of the individual chapters and key themes in each of the main parts), contains eight very useful maps and an index that is disappointingly spotty but will nonetheless be helpful for readers who are not inclined to peruse the book from beginning to end. The titles and subtitles of the various sections accurately convey the contents, and the volume's preface highlights the purpose and targeted audience of the book. Lampe and Brunnbauer have succeeded in fostering a more balanced and complex picture of the region. They have taken great care in selecting established experts on the Balkans and in stitching together the eight parts of the book to produce a panoramic, rich, and informative handbook.The two editors note in their preface that their aim in the book is to trace the “controversial history of turmoil and progress” in the Balkans, a region they prefer to call Southeastern Europe (p. 1). The preference among some external observers (especially in Germany) for the term “Southeastern Europe” dates back nearly a century, but that alternative designation never gained much traction in the region itself, where the term “Balkans” is still prevalent in both formal and informal usage (see, for example, the name of my institute in the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). Lampe's and Brunnbauer's preference for “Southeastern Europe” may be part of the reason they do not include separate chapters on the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye, the post-Ottoman state), which geographically is almost entirely in southwest Asia (only 3 percent of Turkey is geographically in Europe). However, because “Balkans” is also used in the title of the handbook, it seems odd that the only references to the Republic of Turkey are in chapters about other countries, mostly Greece. (Oddly, the index includes no mention of Turkey.)In nearly all other respects, however, the book is very impressive. The editors succeed in creating an even-handed assessment of historical developments in the region. In this regard, the involvement of a large number of authors from a multiplicity of countries was crucial. In terms of structure, the book is also well-conceived, consisting of seven main parts plus an epilogue as an eighth part.Part I examines the historical development of the Balkans as the borderlands of three empires, grouped into four chapters. Part II is devoted to issues of nationhood and nation-building after the Congress of Vienna in 1815 until World War I, or during the “long” 19th century, as Lampe refers to it in his overview (pp. 53–62). The importance of this particular historical period for the fate of the Balkan states is reflected in the large number of chapters (ten in total) that are dedicated to the specifics of nation-building in individual countries. Two of the chapters are theoretical and provide an overview of social and political processes in the region. Chapter 5, by Diana Mishkova, discusses the evolution and nature of the formation of national identity in the Balkans in the 19th century. Chapter 13, by Roumiana Preshlenova, discusses the Austro-Hungarian empire and its influence in the Balkans. She stresses the “two constant and interrelated principles” in Austria-Hungary's strategy in the Balkans: (1) strengthening Habsburg influence in the region, including further territorial expansion in the western Balkans, and (2) reducing Russian influence. This chapter is particularly important because it highlights the main contours of Austro-Hungarian diplomacy vis-à-vis the Balkan national entities, including political, economic, and cultural ties. The chapter also shows the Austro-Hungarian rulers’ attitudes toward national movements in the Ottoman Empire (pp. 130–133). The eight other chapters in Part II discuss Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania, Slovenia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Hercegovina.Part III is devoted to the turbulent period of the two Balkan Wars (1912 and 1913) and the First World War and its peace settlements (1914–1923). Lampe in his overview provides an insightful analysis of the crucial historical events in the region during these years, explaining the origins of the First World War, the nature of the fighting, the end of the war, and the peace settlements and demarcation of borders. He also provides cogent summaries of the five chapters included in this part, which deal with complicated issues of diplomacy, warfare, peace agreements, military occupation, and the trauma of forced migration. Richard Hall in chapter 15 covers Bulgaria's stunning victories and equally stunning defeats during the Balkan Wars and First World War, and Lejnar Mitrojorgji in chapter 16 discusses the status of Albanian populations during the wars, the question of Albania's independence, and the challenges the country experienced at the Paris Peace Conference. Chapter 17, by Stefan Papaioannou, deals with Greece's “peculiarly gradual embroilment in the First World War” (p. 174). Chapters 18 and 19 recount the experiences of the Habsburg South Slavic national groups during and after the war and the emergence of the new state of Yugoslavia.Part IV is titled “Southeastern European States and National Politics, 1922–1939,” with a cogent overview by Lampe tracing the political life and parliamentary struggles of the region's authoritarian regimes during the interwar period as well as the daunting international pressures they faced. Two chapters focus more on transnational issues than on developments in individual Balkan countries. Chapter 20 discusses ideas and images of nation, gender, and class during the interwar years, and Chapter 21 explores the interwar women's movements. Chapters 22 through 25 deal with Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania during the interwar years, with varying degrees of complexity. In Chapter 23, Robert C. Austin provides an illuminating panorama of the historical zigzags of Albania between Fan Noli, King Zog and Italian dominance. Chapters 26, 27, and 28 round out Part IV by exploring topics related to the development of Yugoslavia, its individual constituent elements, and the central question of Yugoslav identity during its formative years.Part V covers economic and social issues during the six decades before the Second World War (1878–1939). Brunnbauer in his elaborate overview (pp. 291–300) provides an in-depth analysis of economic, demographic, social, and cultural trends leading up to the cataclysmic war, thus introducing the reader to the thematically related chapters. The editors’ efforts to bring together the most important issues of the region's economic and social development in a separate section of the book, covering a long historical period of 60 years, are mostly praiseworthy. The section is extremely valuable for readers interested in the economic, demographic, and cultural development of the region during the period in question. But in addition to the chapters summarizing economic and social issues, Part V contains an extremely brief chapter (34) on eugenics and racism that does not adequately come to grips with this complex subject.Part VI explores the impact of the Second World War on the Balkans. Lampe's introductory overview skillfully introduces the reader to the wide range of issues discussed by the authors of the six chapters. Two chapters (36 and 37) trace the development of Albania and Romania, and Chapter 41 covers the civil warfare in Greece both during and after the Second World War. The remaining three chapters examine the mass violence in Yugoslavia during and shortly after the war. Chapter 38 examines the Ustasha regime and the policy of terror in the independent wartime state of Croatia. Chapter 39 discusses the Partisan and Chetnik movements in occupied Yugoslavia, the former of which were led by Josip Broz Tito. Chapter 40 looks in detail at the rival guerrilla forces in Yugoslavia and the role of the key external powers (Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union). The liberation of Yugoslavia from German occupation did not mean an end to violent repression. On the contrary, Tito was able to consolidate a Communist dictatorship closely modeled on Joseph Stalin's tyrannical regime in the USSR. But just a few years later, in 1948, Stalin provoked an angry rift with Tito, and from that point on the two Communist states never returned to their former alliance.Part VII, coming to nearly 90 pages, focuses on the establishment of the various post-1945 regimes and their specific characteristics, and it will be of particular interest to readers of the JCWS. Lampe and Brunnbauer start the section with an astute overview of the establishment of Communist regimes in most of the Balkan states, the development of Greece after its civil war, and the dynamics of the Cold War in Europe from 1949 to 1989. The nine subsequent chapters are fundamental to the book and the editors’ goal of providing a survey of the region during the four-and-a-half decades of political, military, and social division after 1945. The omission of a separate chapter on Turkey is especially regrettable in this section, but the chapters that are here are valuable and reflect state-of-the-art knowledge.The chapters in Part VII are largely identical in their length, and rightly so. Chapter 42, by Arnd Bauerkämper, discusses the collectivization of agriculture in the four Balkan Communist states, a process that came at great human cost (though not to the same degree that it did earlier in the Soviet Union). More important still is Chapter 43, by Mihail Gruev, which does an excellent job of tracing the impact of the Soviet Union on Bulgarian foreign policy, starting with a lucid explanation of the historical, cultural, and geopolitical circumstances that underlay Bulgarian relations with the USSR. Gruev then covers four main phases of Soviet–Bulgarian relations: 1944–1947 (Soviet occupation and the imposition of Stalinist rule in Bulgaria under Valkov Chervenkov), 1947–1955 (the departure of Soviet troops but the tightening of Soviet domination over Bulgaria, including in the split with Yugoslavia from 1948 to 1953), 1955–1985 (the formation of the Warsaw Pact and the 30-year period with Bulgaria as the USSR's “most loyal ally” under Todor Zhivkov), and 1985–1990 (the upheavals of the Gorbachev era in the USSR and the downfall of Communist regimes in East-Central Europe). The chapter is a first-rate survey for both students and experts.Also extremely useful are the chapters in Part VII on Albania under Enver Hoxha (by Elidor Mëhilli) and Romania under Nicolae Ceaușescu (by Vladimir Tismaneanu and Marius Stan) as well as chapters on Greece, Yugoslavia, and economic and social developments in the region. These chapters round out where things stood as of the end of the Cold War. Part VIII offers a very brief epilogue, with a short chapter on the Yugoslav wars of separation and another on the integration of Balkan countries into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Readers wanting to know more about the post-Cold War period will have to turn elsewhere.Throughout the book, Lampe and Brunnbauer display conscientious organization and a deep understanding of historical, political, and economic issues in the Balkans. They and their coauthors examine the multifaceted, dramatic, complex destiny of this part of the world from many angles. The editors do a good job of grouping topics for research that at first sight are not linked thematically but in fact go well together. One puzzling and regrettable feature of the book is Routledge's decision not to include footnotes. Instead, each chapter comes with a short list of suggested reading. This approach is unsuitable for scholars from different backgrounds who are specifically interested in the sources and current relevant literature. On the more positive side, the diversity of topics and the leeway given to authors to use unconventional approaches and focus on issues they see as of greatest importance to historical development in the Balkans will benefit readers at all levels. The book is illuminating, widely informative, and rewarding for students, neophyte historians, and well-established scholars.