The Balkans

Introduction: land, people, culture. Part 1 Era of Byzantine hegemony, 600-1355: Slavs and Bulgars; the first Bulgarian empire; Byzantium declines; Serbia preeminent. Part 2 Era of ottoman domination, 1355-1804: Ottoman conquest; the "Ottoman system"; the Balkan peoples and the Ottomans; Ottoman destabilization. Part 3 Era of romantic nationalism, 1804-1878; the rise of Romantic nationalism; revolutions and resurrected states; Ottoman reform efforts; the "Eastern question". Part 4 Era of nation state nationalism, 1878-1945: State consolidation; national conflicts; World War I and Versailles; the Interwar years; World War II. Part 5 Era of socialist domination, 1945-1991: Communist takeover; the Greek exception; splits in socialism; Communist decline and collapse.