Balkans is an inclusion of Southern European areas which were located at the interface of mainland-Europe and the Near-East.
The region was distinguished and fragmented economically, politically and culturally especially owning to the frequent violence that it was involved in as well as the extremely mountainous geography it had. It has often times been used interchangeably with the expression Balkan-Peninsula even though both have never been coterminous.
The name ‘Balkans’ is a derivative from Alkan-Mountains that stretches through Bulgaria into Eastern-Serbia covering a landed area of 212,000 square miles (presently) with people numbering up to 55 million.
The Balkans as always used is not limited to countries that are found in the enclosure of the Balkan-Peninsula but has often included Romania and Slovenia (shortly after the first world-war to 1991, Slovenia was an element of Yugoslavia that was found around the southern part of Danube-Savaline).
Before the year 1991, the general consideration was that the entirety of Yugoslavia constituted Balkan. Presently, the definition of the Balkan-peninsula encloses the entirety of the region of Southern-Europe as it is enclosed by water bodies from the Adriatic, the Mediterranean, as well as the Black seas (Barbara, 1983). In the north, the region is bounded by Danube River, Sava River, as well as the Kupa Rivers.
The emergence of power in the Balkan is certainly associated with the advent of its farming culture within the Neolithic period. During the period, the Balkans advanced significantly in the production of livestock and cultivation of grains which was achieved from fertile-crescent through Anatolia. This development continued to advance until soon it had covered central Europe as well as the Pannonia.
Based on the significance of the region in terms of its position geographically and in power, the region was termed the-crossroads-of-various-cultures- and by this, it was an amalgamation of Greek and Latin in the then empire of Rome. The region Then became a highly choice place for pagan Slavs who massively migrated to a meeting place for catholic Christians and orthodox, as well as where Christians and Muslims congregated.
During the pre-classic and the classical-antiquity periods, the Balkans housed Dacians, Greeks, Thracians, as well as the Paenonians afterwards the empire of Rome took over the majority of places in the Balkans and introduced Roman culture as well as Latin language – even though a part was still controlled by classical Greek.
During the 16th century, there was the influence of the empire of ottoman after there was an expansion from Antolia via the Thrace (Tan, 2000).
About the end of the 16th century, the region saw the leadership of Monster, the Ottoman Empire, as the prime administrator. It can be even said that the Ottoman Empire controlled the territory from Antolia to Balkans. By around the 19th century, the countries in the region became independent.
In conclusion, the region was distinguished and fragmented economically, politically and culturally especially owning to the frequent violence that it continually recorded as well as the extremely mountainous geography it had.
Reference List
Barbara, Jelavich. History of the Balkans. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
Tan, Judah. Kosovo: War and revenge. New Haven London: Yale University Press, 2000.