Though persistently overshadowed by the Great War in historical memory, the two Balkan conflicts of 1912–1913 were among the most consequential of the early twentieth century. By pitting the states of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro against a diminished Ottoman Empire—and subsequently against one another—they anticipated many of the horrors of twentieth-century warfare even as they produced the tense regional politics that helped spark World War I. Bringing together an international group of scholars, this volume applies the social and cultural insights of the “new military history” to revisit this critical episode with a central focus on the experiences of both combatants and civilians during wartime.

Why did Yugoslavia fall apart? Was its violent demise inevitable? Did its population simply fall victim to the lure of nationalism? How did this multinational state survive for so long, and where do we situate the short life of Yugoslavia in the long history of Europe in the twentieth century? A History of Yugoslavia provides a concise, accessible, comprehensive synthesis of the political, cultural, social, and economic life of Yugoslavia—from its nineteenth-century South Slavic origins to the bloody demise of the multinational state of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Calic takes a fresh and innovative look at the colorful, multifaceted, and complex history of Yugoslavia, emphasizing major social, economic, and intellectual changes from the turn of the twentieth century and the transition to modern industrialized mass society. She traces the origins of ethnic, religious, and cultural divisions, applying the latest social science approaches, and drawing on the breadth of recent state-of-the-art literature, to present a balanced interpretation of events that takes into account the differing perceptions and interests of the actors involved. Uniquely, Calic frames the history of Yugoslavia for readers as an essentially open-ended process, undertaken from a variety of different regional perspectives with varied composite agenda. She shuns traditional, deterministic explanations that notorious Balkan hatreds or any other kind of exceptionalism are to blame for Yugoslavia’s demise, and along the way she highlights the agency of twentieth-century modern mass society in the politicization of differences. While analyzing nuanced political and social-economic processes, Calic describes the experiences and emotions of ordinary people in a vivid way. As a result, her groundbreaking work provides scholars and learned readers alike with an accessible, trenchant, and authoritative introduction to Yugoslavia's complex history.

The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the precursors to WWI, have been all but forgotten. The Greek-American and Philhellene contributions are overlooked, and yet their efforts and participation are part of the greatest untold stories, until now. Historian Peter S. Giakoumis, presents for the first time the unique perspective of the Greek-American and their supporters. Using contemporary newspaper reports, letters from the front, official narratives, and private archives, their story is now resurrected and gives those heroes and heroines their rightful place in history. The Forgotten Heroes of the Balkan Wars 1912-1913 includes the following unique and never-before-seen material compiled in one book: - The captivating story of a U.S. National Guard Brigadier General who volunteered and was wounded in action fighting for the Greek nation. His interactions with the Greek-Americans started before the war and continued far beyond it.- The famous Garibaldi Legion, fighting a second time for Greece, returned to the battlefield. The complete story of their accomplishments has never been compiled in the English language prior to this work.- The first-ever contemporary narrative translated into English of a combatant in the second Balkan War of 1913, as presented to a Greek-American by his brother as he was fighting on the front. - A comprehensive compilation describing the Greek army campaign medals issued and a breakdown of the battles they represent chronologically.- A representative case study of how the returning veterans established thriving ethnic communities throughout the United States.- The captivating account of a Greek Army private, presented once over 100 years ago and lost until now.- Description of the uniforms and weapons of the warring states.- Hundreds of named volunteers as they appear in print and other archival records.- Vintage photos, many never published before.- The Hellenic Army order of battle.- The only time that a full account of the exploits of the heroic Greek-Americans, and the true number of how many took part, is reviewed and verified using official government sources and contemporary first hand comments by the most respected authorities of that time.Professor Christopher Tripoulas says, "This book provides rare insight into the contribution of Greek-Americans to Greece's triumph in the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. Through never-before-compiled historic documents, Mr. Giakoumis offers an in-depth account into the heroism displayed by Greek migrants and the obstacles they had to overcome. He also extols the special role played by Philhellenes in shaping this decisive moment in modern history. It's a must read for lovers of history and everyone who wants to further their appreciation of the sacrifices required to gain one's liberty."Vassilios Chrissochos, Director of the Porphyra Foundation says, "The Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 are a forgotten yet immensely important pre-cursor to World War I. They helped create modern Greece and The Balkan States and forever stopped the expansion of the Ottoman Empire in Europe. Peter Giakoumis has breathed life back into these heroes and highlights their accomplishments from a truly unique Greek American perspective. This book is loaded with rare pictures and tells of a narrative that's never been published before, truly worthy of the researcher."

Armed conflict on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001 claimed over 200,000 lives, gave rise to atrocities unseen in Europe since the Second World War, and left behind a terrible legacy of physical ruin and psychological devastation. Unfolding against the background of the end of cold war bipolarity, the new Balkan wars sounded a discordant counterpoint to efforts to construct a more harmonious European order, were a major embarrassment for the international institutions deemed responsible for conflict management, and became a preoccupation for the powers concerned with restoring regional stability. After more than a decade of intermittent hostilities the conflict has been contained, but only as a result of significant external interventions and the establishment of a series of de facto international protectorates, patrolled by UN, NATO, and EU sponsored peacekeepers with open-ended mandates.

This volume offers a comprehensive account of the wars before the Great War and their role in undermining international instability.

Throughout history, the Balkans have been a crossroads, a zone of endless military, cultural and economic mixing and clashing between Europe and Asia, Christianity and Islam, Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Subject to violent shifts of borders, rulers and belief systems at the hands of the world's great empires--from the Byzantine to the Habsburg and Ottoman--the Balkans are often called Europe's tinderbox and a seething cauldron of ethnic and religious resentments. Much has been made of the Balkans' deeply rooted enmities. The recent destruction of the former Yugoslavia was widely ascribed to millennial hatreds frozen by the Cold War and unleashed with the fall of communism. In this brilliant account, acclaimed historian Mark Mazower argues that such a view is a dangerously unbalanced fantasy. A landmark reassessment, The Balkans rescues the region's history from the various ideological camps that have held it hostage for their own ends, not least the need to justify nonintervention. The heart of the book deals with events from the emergence of the nation-state onward. With searing eloquence, Mazower demonstrates that of all the gifts bequeathed to the region by modernity, the most dubious has been the ideological weapon of romantic nationalism that has been used again and again by the power hungry as an acid to dissolve the bonds of centuries of peaceful coexistence. The Balkans is a magnificent depiction of a vitally important region, its history and its prospects.