TWENTY-FIVE LECTURES ON MODERN BALKAN HISTORY
(THE BALKANS IN THE AGE OF NATIONALISM)
by Steven W. Sowards

Readers are encouraged to consult the Preface for information about this site and its purposes. Some of the major sources for this text are listed in a Bibliographic Note. A German translation by Georg Liebetrau is available in hard copy: search Amazon under the title “Moderne Geschichte des Balkans”. Links from the Table of Contents entries lead to chapters, and those web pages include links back to this list of lectures.

Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Preface and Explanation – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Bibliographic note – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

Table of contents / complete list of the lectures

TOPIC 1: Defining the “Balkans:” An other Europe

• Lecture No. 1: Introduction to the course: The geography and ethnic geography of the Balkans to 1500
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 1: Geography and ethnic geography of the Balkans to 1500 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 2: “Asia begins at the Landstrasse:” Comparing Eastern European and European histories
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 2: “Asia begins at the Landstrasse:” Comparing Eastern European and European histories – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 2: The “Old Regimes” in the Balkans before 1790

• Lecture No. 3: The principles of Ottoman rule in the Balkans
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 3: The principles of Ottoman rule in the Balkans – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 4: Hungary and the limits of Habsburg authority
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 4: Hungary and the limits of Habsburg authority – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 3: The earliest national revolutions, 1804-1830

• Lecture No. 5: The Serbian Revolution and the Serbian state
• https://hcommons-staging.org/docs/twenty-five-lectures-on-modern-balkan-history-lecture-5-the-serbian-revolution-and-the-serbian-state/
• Lecture No. 6: The Greek Revolution and the Greek state
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 6: The Greek Revolution and the Greek State – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 4: The Revolution of 1848 and its legacy

• Lecture No. 7: Nationalism in Hungary, 1848-1867
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 7: Nationalism in Hungary, 1848-1867 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 8: National revival in Romania, 1848-1866
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 8: National revival in Romania, 1848-1866 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 5: The impact of the wider world: Economic, social, political

• Lecture No. 9: Economic and social changes in Balkan life
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 9: Economic and social changes in Balkan life – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 10: The Great Powers and the “Eastern Question”
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 10: The Great Powers and the “Eastern Question” – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 6: The failure of change from above: Reform in Macedonia and Bosnia-Hercegovina

• Lecture No. 11: Macedonia and the failure of Ottoman reforms
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture No. 11: Macedonia and the failure of Ottoman reforms – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 12: Bosnia-Hercegovina and the failure of reform in Austria-Hungary
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture No. 12: Bosnia-Hercegovina and the failure of reform in Austria-Hungary – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 7: Balkan nationalisms: Serbia and Greece

• Lecture No. 13: Serbian nationalism from the “Nacertanije” to the Yugoslav Kingdom
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 13: Serbian nationalism from the “Nacertanije” to the Yugoslav Kingdom – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 14: Greek nationalism, the “Megale Idea” and Venizelism to 1923
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 14: Greek nationalism, the “Megale Idea” and Venizelism to 1923 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 8: World War I: Causes and legacies

• Lecture No. 15: The Balkan causes of World War I
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 15: The Balkan causes of World War I – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 16: The legacies of 1917 and 1919
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 16: The legacies of 1917 and 1919 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 9: Limitations of Western models in the interwar period

• Lecture No. 17: Nation without a state: The Balkan Jews
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 17: Nation without a state: The Balkan Jews – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 18: Balkan politics drifts to the Right
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 18: Balkan politics drifts to the Right – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 10: Balkan politics during World War II

• Lecture No. 19: The traditional regimes and the challenge of Nazism: Collaboration vs. resistance
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 19: The traditional regimes and the challenge of Nazism: Collaboration vs. resistance – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 20: The traditional regimes and the challenge of Communism: Patriotism vs. opportunism
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 20: The traditional regimes and the challenge of Communism: Patriotism vs. opportunism – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 11: The coming of the Cold War

• Lecture No. 21: Forging the Iron Curtain in the Balkans, 1944-1956
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 21: Forging the Iron Curtain in the Balkans, 1944-1956 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 12: The Balkans in the age of bi-polar politics

• Lecture No. 22: Balkan politics in the Cold War years
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 22: Balkan politics in the Cold War years – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 23: Social and economic change in the Balkans
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 23: Social and economic change in the Balkans – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

TOPIC 13: Explaining the revolutions of the 1980s

• Lecture No. 24: The failure of Balkan Communism and the causes of the Revolutions of 1989
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 24: The failure of Balkan Communism and the causes of the Revolutions of 1989 – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)
• Lecture No. 25: The Yugoslav civil war of the 1990s
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Lecture 25: The Yugoslav Civil War – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

POSTLOGUE

• Postlogue: The Greek public debt crisis, Grexit, and the Balkan limits of “Europe”
• Twenty-Five Lectures on Modern Balkan History. Postlogue: The Greek public debt crisis, Grexit, and the Balkan limits of “Europe” – Humanities Commons (hcommons-staging.org)

Copyright 1996 by Steven W. Sowards

This page last modified 31 October 2018; updated 16 June 2023.

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