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129-945: Zachlumia is a derivative of Hum , from Proto-Slavic *xŭlmŭ , borrowed from a Germanic language (cf. Proto-Germanic *hulma- ), meaning "Hill" . South Slavic Zahumlje is named after the mountain of Hum (za + Hum "behind the Hum"), above Bona , at the mouth of the Buna . The principality is named Zahumlje or Hum in Serbo-Croatian ( Serbian Cyrillic : Захумље, Хум). It is Zachlumia in Latin, Хлъмъ in Old Church Slavonic , and Ζαχλούμων χώρα ("land of Zachlumians") in Greek. The names Chelmania , Chulmia and terra de Chelmo appear in later Latin and Italian chronicles. De Administrando Imperio described

258-518: A conflict with his brothers, resulting in him being exiled to Duklja, where he would have the title of Lord of Ribnica . Grand Princes Desa (r. 1148–1162) and Uroš II Prvoslav ruled Serbia together 1149–1153; Desa had the title of 'Prince of Duklja, Travunija and Zahumlje', mentioned in 1150 and 1151. About 1150, the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos displeased with king Radoslav of Duklja , divided up his lands between princes of

387-614: A good part of his reign. Michael have come into territorial conflict with the neighbouring prince Peter Gojniković , the ruler of inner Serbia , who was extending his power westwards. To eliminate that threat and as a close ally of Bulgaria, Michael warned the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon I about the alliance between Peter and Symeon's enemy, the Byzantine Empire . In 912 Michael kidnapped the Venetian Doge's son Peter Badoari that

516-514: A high of 8 million in the late 16th-century to only 3 million by the mid-eighteenth. This estimate is based on Ottoman documentary evidence." Most of the Balkan nation-states emerged during the 19th and early 20th centuries as they gained independence from the Ottoman or Habsburg empires: Greece in 1821, Serbia, and Montenegro in 1878, Romania in 1881, Bulgaria in 1908 and Albania in 1912. In 1912–1913,

645-589: A large number of Vlachs who were descendent from a pre-Slavic population. Related to Romanians and originally speaking a language related to Romanian, the Vlachs of what was Hum are today Slavic speaking. In the second decade of the 7th century, the Avars and their Slavic subjects occupied most of the Byzantine province of Dalmatia , including the territory of what would become Zahumlje, sacking towns and enslaving or displacing

774-617: A member of the Axis, Germany, with Bulgaria, invaded both Greece and Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia immediately disintegrated when those loyal to the Serbian King and the Croatian units mutinied. Greece resisted, but, after two months of fighting, collapsed and was occupied. The two countries were partitioned between the three Axis allies, Bulgaria, Germany and Italy, and the Independent State of Croatia ,

903-520: A palace in Dubrovnik worth 2,000 ducats, and an annual income of 300 ducats was offered to anyone who would kill him, along with the promise of hereditary Ragusan nobility which also helped hold this promise to whoever did the deed. Stjepan was so scared by the threat that he finally raised the siege. Most of Hum's territory was inhabited by Slavs , and Vlachs , and belonged to the Eastern Church after

1032-543: A peace, and went to war against the Šubić family . In the war that followed Milutin took one of Mladen's brother captive, and to get him back Mladen Šubić had to agree to restore a part of Hum to Milutin. After this agreement in 1313 the Neretva again became the border between eastern and western Hum. By 1325, the Branivojević family had emerged as strongest in Hum. Probably at their highest point they ruled from Cetina River to

1161-453: A puppet state of Italy and Germany. During the occupation, the population suffered considerable hardship due to repression and starvation, to which the population reacted by creating a mass resistance movement. Together with the early and extremely heavy winter of that year (which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths among the poorly fed population), the German invasion had disastrous effects in

1290-617: A revolutionary organization with predominantly Serb and pro-Yugoslav members, assassinated the Austro-Hungarian heir Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina's capital, Sarajevo . That caused a war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, which—through the existing chains of alliances —led to the World War I. The Ottoman Empire soon joined the Central Powers becoming one of

1419-584: A ripa Danubii usque ad mare Dalmaticum cum tota Maronia et Chulmie ducatu." "The boundaries of that kingdom were as follows. To the east: Delmina. ... To the west: Carinthia, towards the sea up to the town of Stridon, which now marks the boundary between Dalmatia and Istria. To the north, moreover: from the banks of the Danube down to the Dalmatian sea, including all of Maronia and the Duchy of Hum. " Charlemagne , King of

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1548-685: A whole and southern parts of Slovenia. The Province of Trieste in Italy, although by some definitions on the peninsula, is generally excluded from the Balkans. Hungary and Moldova are occasionally included in discussions of the Balkans due to cultural and historical affiliation, but are generally excluded. The term Southeast Europe is also used for the region, with various definitions. Individual Balkan states can also be considered part of other regions, including Southern Europe , Eastern Europe , and Central Europe . Turkey, including its European territory,

1677-482: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Balkans The Balkans ( / ˈ b ɔː l k ən z / BAWL -kənz , / ˈ b ɒ l k ən z / BOL -kənz ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula ( Peninsula of Haemus , Haemaic Peninsula ), is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from

1806-517: Is a reference to Michael of Zahumlje, the 12th century Mihailo I of Duklja or St. Michael himself. After the Italian city of Siponto ( Latin : Sipontum ) was heavily jeopardized by the raiding Arabs and Langobards, Mihailo won a magnificent military victory by taking the city upon the recommendations from Constantinople and orders from his ally, King Tomislav Trpimirovic, but didn't keep it permanently. Mihailo Višević entered into closer relations with

1935-534: Is generally encompassed in the region known as Southeast Europe . Italy currently holds a small area around Trieste that is by some older definitions considered a part of the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, due to their definition of the Balkans that limits its western border to the Kupa River. The borders of

2064-704: Is generally included in Western Asia or the Middle East . The Western Balkans is a political neologism coined to refer to Albania and the territory of the former Yugoslavia, except Slovenia , since the early 1990s. The region of the Western Balkans, a coinage exclusively used in pan-European parlance, roughly corresponds to the Dinaric Alps territory. The institutions of the European Union have generally used

2193-455: Is in wide use, from over 1,000 dams. The often relentless bora wind is also being harnessed for power generation. Metal ores are more usual than other raw materials. Iron ore is rare, but in some countries there is a considerable amount of copper, zinc, tin , chromite , manganese , magnesite and bauxite . Some metals are exported. The Balkan region was the first area in Europe to experience

2322-666: Is mostly unsuccessful because of the mountains, hot summers and poor soils, although certain cultures such as olive and grape flourish. Resources of energy are scarce, except in Kosovo , where considerable coal , lead , zinc , chromium and silver deposits are located. Other deposits of coal , especially in Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia, also exist. Lignite deposits are widespread in Greece. Petroleum scarce reserves exist in Greece, Serbia and Albania. Natural gas deposits are scarce. Hydropower

2451-754: Is no longer Balkan proper, but the cradle of our Western civilization. Most of the area is covered by mountain ranges running from the northwest to southeast. The main ranges are the Balkan Mountains (Stara Planina in Bulgarian language ), running from the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria to the border with Serbia , the Rila - Rhodope massif in southern Bulgaria, the Dinaric Alps in Bosnia and Herzegovina , Croatia and Montenegro ,

2580-572: Is seen on the Adriatic coasts of Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, as well as the Ionian coasts of Albania and Greece, in addition to the Aegean coasts of Greece and Balkan Turkey (European Turkey) . Over the centuries, forests have been cut down and replaced with bush . In the southern part and on the coast there is evergreen vegetation. Inland there are woods typical of Central Europe ( oak and beech , and in

2709-494: Is that "Haemus" ( Αἵμος ) derives from the Greek word haima ( αἷμα ) meaning 'blood'. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon . Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhon's blood fell on the mountains, giving them their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, in which the Haemus Mountains are referred to as Balkan . The first attested time

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2838-491: Is ultimately the whole of continental Europe itself that functions as a kind of Balkan Turkish global empire with Brussels as the new Constantinople, the capricious despotic center threatening English freedom and sovereignty. So Balkan is always the Other: it lies somewhere else, always a little bit more to the southeast, with the paradox that, when we reach the very bottom of the Balkan peninsula, we again magically escape Balkan. Greece

2967-597: The Balkan Daglary (Balkan Mountains) and the Balkan Region of Turkmenistan . The English traveler John Bacon Sawrey Morritt introduced this term into English literature at the end of the 18th century, and other authors started applying the name to the wider area between the Adriatic and the Black Sea. The concept of the "Balkans" was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered it as

3096-651: The Balkan Mountains (Haemus Mountains) that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria . The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Musala , 2,925 metres (9,596 ft), in

3225-822: The Baltic Sea are closer to Trieste than Odesa yet it is not considered as another European peninsula. Since the late 19th and early 20th century no exact northern border has been clear, with an issue, whether the rivers are usable for its definition. In studies the Balkans' natural borders, especially the northern border, are often avoided to be addressed, considered as a problème fastidieux (delicate problem) by André Blanc in Géographie des Balkans (1965), while John Lampe and Marvin Jackman in Balkan Economic History (1971) noted that "modern geographers seem agreed in rejecting

3354-569: The First Balkan War broke out when the nation-states of Bulgaria , Serbia , Greece and Montenegro united in an alliance against the Ottoman Empire . As a result of the war, almost all remaining European territories of the Ottoman Empire were captured and partitioned among the allies. Ensuing events also led to the creation of an independent Albanian state. Bulgaria insisted on its status quo territorial integrity, divided and shared by

3483-503: The Great Schism . Hum's coastal region, including its capital Ston , had a mixed population of Catholics and Orthodox. In contrast to Bosnia, where Roman Catholicism and Bosnian Church were firmly established, eastern parts of Hum was mostly Orthodox, from 13th century and the rise of Nemanjići. In the 14th- and 15th centuries, there was an influx of settlers from the župa of Trebinje , around forts Klobuk, Ledenica and Rudina, and

3612-581: The Hum lands around Gacko and Dabar , to Kotor . The people from Hum were mostly girls from Gacko, who took up working as servants to wealthy families. The historical name of the region is officially represented in the name of the Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina of the Serbian Orthodox Church . Also, the honorific title Grand Voivode (Duke) of Zahumlije has been granted at times to junior members of

3741-651: The Korab - Šar mountains which spreads from Kosovo to Albania and North Macedonia , and the Pindus range, spanning from southern Albania into central Greece and the Albanian Alps , and the Alps at the northwestern border. The highest mountain of the region is Rila in Bulgaria, with Musala at 2,925 m, second being Mount Olympus in Greece, with Mytikas at 2,917 m, and Pirin mountain with Vihren , also in Bulgaria, being

3870-586: The Middle Ages , the Balkan Mountains were called by the local Thracian name Haemus . According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment and the mountain has remained with his name. A reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus (Αἷμος) is derived from a Thracian word *saimon , 'mountain ridge'. A third possibility

3999-475: The Ottoman Empire at the time. It had a geopolitical rather than a geographical definition, which was further promoted during the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the early 20th century. The definition of the Balkan Peninsula's natural borders does not coincide with the technical definition of a peninsula; hence modern geographers reject the idea of a Balkan Peninsula, while historical scholars usually discuss

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4128-632: The Ottomans several decades later. Ottoman expansion in the region began in the second half of the 14th century, as the Byzantine Empire continued to lose its grip on the region after several defeats to the Ottomans. In 1362, the Ottoman Turks conquered Adrianople (now Edirne , Turkey). This was the start of their conquest of the Balkan Peninsula, which lasted for more than a century. Other states in

4257-483: The Ottomans to start calling Humska zemlja by using using the possessive form of the noun Herceg , Herceg' s land(s) ( Herzegovina ), which remains a long-lasting legacy in the name of Bosnia and Herzegovina to this day. In 1451 he attacked Dubrovnik, and laid siege to the city. He had earlier been made a Ragusan nobleman and, consequently, the Ragusan government now proclaimed him a traitor. A reward of 15,000 ducats ,

4386-604: The Petrović-Njegoš dynasty that ruled in Montenegro until 1918. The last grand duke of Zahumlije was Prince Peter of Montenegro , who died in 1932. Mount Hum (Mostar) Hum is a small mountain located south of Mostar , Bosnia and Herzegovina , on the left bank of the Neretva river. The 436-meter high mountain is part of the Čvrsnica region of the Dinaric Alps . This Bosnia and Herzegovina geography article

4515-617: The Pope Benedict VIII 's bull from 27 September 1022 is mentioned Zahumlje kingdom ( regno Lachomis ), and would be again in the bull of Pope Gregory VII from 1076 (as regno Zaculmi ), which confirmed the jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Dubrovnik. In a charter dated July 1039, Ljutovid of Zahumlje who was an independent Slavic ruler of Zahumlje, styled himself "Ljutovit, protospatharios epi tou Chrysotriklinou, hypatos, strategos" of Serbia and Zahumlje. According to historian Paul Stephenson, it "suggests that he had been courted by

4644-749: The Rhodope Mountains to be the northern limit of the Peninsula of Haemus and the same limit applied approximately to the border between Greek and Latin use in the region (later called the Jireček Line ). However large spaces south of Jireček Line were and are inhabited by Vlachs ( Aromanians ), the Romance-speaking heirs of Roman Empire. The Bulgars and Slavs arrived in the sixth-century and began assimilating and displacing already-assimilated (through Romanization and Hellenization) older inhabitants of

4773-456: The Rila mountain range, Bulgaria. The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The term Balkan Peninsula was a synonym for Rumelia in the 19th century, the parts of Europe that were provinces of

4902-479: The Romanian coast , most of Serbia and large parts of Croatia . The term sometimes includes all of Romania , Serbia and Croatia, and southern parts of Slovenia . The Province of Trieste in northeastern Italy , although by some definitions considered part of the peninsula, is generally excluded. Although they have no territory on the peninsula, Hungary and Moldova are occasionally incorporated into discussions of

5031-493: The 866–867 Saracens' siege of Dubrovnik, which lasted fifteen months, was raised due to the intervention of Basil I, who sent a fleet under the command of Niketas Oryphas in relief of the city. After this successful intervention, the Byzantine navy sailed along the coast collecting promises of loyalty to the empire from the Dalmatian cities . At this moment the local Slavic tribes (in Zahumlje, Travunija, and Konavle), who had aided

5160-701: The Adriatic Sea with the Pelješac peninsula and faced Serbia northwards. Slavs invaded Balkans during Justinian I (r. 527–565), when eventually up to 100,000 Slavs raided Thessalonica . The Western Balkans was settled with Sclaveni (Sklavenoi), the east with Antes . The Sklavenoi plundered Thrace in 545, and again the next year. In 551, the Slavs crossed Niš initially headed for Thessalonica, but ended up in Dalmatia . In 577 some 100,000 Slavs poured into Thrace and Illyricum , pillaging cities and settling down. Hum had also

5289-436: The Archbishop's money. Rainer complained to the Pope Alexander III , who sent Teobald to report on the matter. The Pope's nuncio Teobald found Miroslav as a patron of heretics. After this, the Pope wrote to king Béla III of Hungary who was overlord of Hum (which Miroslav did not recognize), telling him to see that Miroslav performed his duty, but Miroslav remained as Prince of Hum . In 1190–1192, Stefan Nemanja briefly assigned

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5418-439: The Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region. In pre-classical and classical antiquity , this region was home to Greeks , Illyrians , Paeonians , Thracians , Dacians , and other ancient groups. The Achaemenid Persian Empire incorporated parts of the Balkans comprising Macedonia , Thrace (parts of present-day eastern Bulgaria ), and the Black Sea coastal region of Romania beginning in 512 BC. Following

5547-419: The Balkans and eventual creation of a joint military staff for the three countries. When the pact was signed, Turkey and Greece were members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while Yugoslavia was a non-aligned communist state. With the Pact, Yugoslavia was able to indirectly associate itself with NATO. Though, it was planned for the pact to remain in force for 20 years, it dissolved in 1960. As

5676-403: The Balkans are due to many contrasting definitions disputed. There exists no universal agreement on the region's components. The term by most definitions fully encompasses Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Greece , Kosovo , Montenegro , North Macedonia , European Turkey , Romanian coast , most of Serbia and large parts of Croatia . Sometimes the term also includes Romania as

5805-505: The Balkans as a region. The term has acquired a stigmatized and pejorative meaning related to the process of Balkanization . The alternative term used for the region is Southeast Europe . The borders of the Balkans are, due to many contrasting definitions, disputed. There exists no universal agreement on the region's components. The term by most definitions fully encompasses Albania , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Greece , Kosovo , Montenegro , North Macedonia , European Turkey ,

5934-428: The Balkans by using its protectorate Albania to invade Greece . After repelling the attack, the Greeks counterattacked, invading Italy-held Albania and causing Nazi Germany's intervention in the Balkans to help its ally. Days before the German invasion, a successful coup d'état in Belgrade by neutral military personnel seized power. Although the new government reaffirmed its intentions to fulfill its obligations as

6063-532: The Balkans due to cultural and historical affiliations. The origin of the word Balkan is obscure; it may be related to Turkish bālk 'mud' (from Proto-Turkic * bal 'mud, clay; thick or gluey substance', cf. also Turkic bal 'honey'), and the Turkish suffix -an 'swampy forest' or Persian bālā-khāna 'big high house'. It was used mainly during the time of the Ottoman Empire . In both Ottoman Turkish and modern Turkish , balkan means 'chain of wooded mountains'. From classical antiquity through

6192-410: The Balkans inhabitants who were pagan beforehand. Initially, it was adopted by the Bulgarians and Serbs, with the Romanians joining a bit later. The Albanians , on the other hand due to their isolation in their mountain settlements, were not immediately affected by the spread of Christianity. The emergence of the First Bulgarian Empire and the constant conflicts between the Byzantine Empire and

6321-480: The Balkans is dominated by its geographical position; historically the area was known as a crossroads of cultures. It has been a juncture between the Latin and Greek bodies of the Roman Empire , the destination of a massive influx of pagan Bulgars and Slavs , an area where Orthodox and Catholic Christianity met, as well as the meeting point between Islam and Christianity. Albanic , Hellenic , and other Palaeo-Balkan languages , had their formative core in

6450-483: The Balkans place their greatest folk heroes in the era of either the onslaught or the retreat of the Ottoman Empire. As examples, for Greeks, Constantine XI Palaiologos and Kolokotronis ; and for Serbs, Miloš Obilić , Tsar Lazar and Karadjordje ; for Albanians, George Kastrioti Skanderbeg; for ethnic Macedonians , Nikola Karev and Goce Delčev ; for Bulgarians, Vasil Levski , Georgi Sava Rakovski and Hristo Botev and for Croats , Nikola Šubić Zrinjski . In

6579-427: The Balkans, including Duklja and Zahumlje. In 998, Samuel launched a major campaign against Jovan Vladimir to prevent a Byzantine-Serbian alliance, resulting in a surrender. The Bulgarian troops proceeded to pass through Dalmatia , taking control of Kotor and journeying to Dubrovnik. Although they failed to take Dubrovnik, they devastated the surrounding villages. The Bulgarian army then attacked Croatia in support of

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6708-444: The Byzantine Empire, after the death of Bulgaria's Tsar Simeon. He gained the grand titles of the Byzantine court as anthypatos and patrician ( patrikios ). He remained as ruler of Zahumlje into the 940s, while maintaining good relations with the Papacy . After the death of Michael (after c. 930s or 940s), the fate of Zahumlje is uncertain due to lack of historical sources about it. Some historians believe that Zahumlje came under

6837-418: The Church of St Peter in Lima, commissioned by prince Miroslav. Until beginning of the 13th century, areas of Zahumlje were under jurisdiction of the Roman Church. When Sava became the first archbishop of Serbia in 1219, he appointed Ilarion as the Orthodox bishop of Hum . Andrija Mirosavljević is entitled the rule of Hum, but the Hum nobility chose his brother Petar . Andrija is exiled to Rascia, to

6966-403: The Coast". Miroslav's descendants dropped to the level of other local nobles. Paul I Šubić of Bribir as Ban of Croatia and Dalmatia controlled Croatia from Gvozd Mountain to the river Neretva mouth . Paul became Lord of all of Bosnia in 1299. Although supporting the king, Paul continued to act independently, and ruled over a large portion of modern-day Croatia and Bosnia. In the course of

7095-403: The Constantine VII's consideration about the population's ethnic identity is based on Serbian political rule and influence during the time of Časlav of Serbia and does not indicate ethnic origin. According to Noel Malcolm , today's western Serbia was area where Serbs settled in 7th century and from there they expanded their rule on territory of Zachlumia. According to Tibor Živković the area of

7224-447: The Croats than with the Serbs, since they seem to have migrated to their new home not with the Serbs, but with the Croats". Michael's tribal origin is related to the oral tradition from Historia Salonitana by Thomas the Archdeacon about seven or eight tribes of nobles called Lingones who arrived from Poland and settled in Croatia . Much of Dalmatia was sometime earlier settled by the Croats, and Zahumlje bordered their territory on

7353-410: The First Bulgarian Empire significantly weakened the Byzantine control over the Balkans by the end of the 10th century. The Byzantines further lost power in the Balkans after the resurgence of the Bulgarians in the late 12th century, with the forming of their Second Bulgarian Empire . After the collapse of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Byzantine's Empire grip on power was prolonged by the inability of

7482-557: The Franks from 768 until his death in 814, expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire (800) that incorporated much of western and central Europe. He brought the Frankish state face to face with the West Slavs to the northeast and the Avars and South Slavs to the southeast of the Frankish empire. Dalmatia which was southeast of the Frankish empire, was chiefly in the hands of South Slavic tribes. North of Dubrovnik these came to be under Croatian župans (princes) and eventually came to consider themselves Croatians, while many of those to

7611-437: The Great Powers next to the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) in other boundaries and on the pre-war Bulgarian-Serbian agreement. Bulgaria was provoked by the backstage deals between its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on the allocation of the spoils at the end of the First Balkan War. At the time, Bulgaria was fighting at the main Thracian Front. Bulgaria marks the beginning of Second Balkan War when it attacked them. The Serbs and

7740-399: The Greeks repulsed single attacks, but when the Greek army invaded Bulgaria together with an unprovoked Romanian intervention in the back, Bulgaria collapsed. The Ottoman Empire used the opportunity to recapture Eastern Thrace , establishing its new western borders that still stand today as part of modern Turkey. World War I was sparked in the Balkans in 1914 when members of Young Bosnia ,

7869-399: The Ottoman occupied parts of Europe), while Yugoslavian maps also included Croatia and Bosnia. The term Balkan Peninsula was a synonym for European Turkey, the political borders of former Ottoman Empire provinces. The usage of the term changed in the very end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, when it was embraced by Serbian geographers, most prominently by Jovan Cvijić . It

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7998-435: The Ottomans for a time (1443–1468) by using guerilla warfare . Skanderbeg's achievements, in particular the Battle of Albulena and the First Siege of Krujë won him fame across Europe. The Ottomans eventually conquered the near entirety of the Balkans and reached central Europe by the early 16th century. Some smaller countries, such as Montenegro managed to retain some autonomy by managing their own internal affairs, since

8127-556: The Persian defeat in the Greco-Persian Wars in 479 BC, they abandoned all of their European territories, which regained their independence. During the reign of Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BC), Macedonia rose to become the most powerful state in the Balkans . In the second century BC, the Roman Empire conquered the region and spread Roman culture and the Latin language, but significant parts still remained under classical Greek influence. The only Paleo-Balkan languages that survived are Albanian and Greek . The Romans considered

8256-434: The Pope ask the same from Zdeslav's successor, prince Branimir . The history of Zahumlje as a greater political entity starts with the emerging of Michael of Zahumlje , an independent South Slavic ruler who flourished in the early part of the 10th century. A neighbour of Croatian Kingdom and Principality of Serbia as well as an ally of Bulgaria , he was nevertheless able to maintain independent rule throughout at least

8385-411: The Slavs to unite, which was caused by frequent infighting amongst themselves. Bulgaria in the first half of the 14th century was then overshadowed by the new rising regional power of Serbia, which was a result of Stefan Dušan rising up and conquering much of the Balkans to create the Serbian Empire . The Serbian and Byzantine empires continued to be the dominant forces in the region until the arrival of

8514-425: The Vistula where the Litziki ancestors of Michael of Zahumlje originate was the place where White Croats would be expected and not White Serbs , and it's unclear whether the Zachlumians "in the migration period to the Balkans really were Serbs or Croats or Slavic tribes which in alliance with Serbs or Croats arrived in the Balkans". According to Francis Dvornik the Zachlumians "had a closer bond of interest with

8643-416: The West, later even spearheaded, together with India and Egypt the Non-Aligned Movement . Albania on the other hand gravitated toward Communist China , later adopting an isolationist position. On 28 February 1953, Greece , Turkey and Yugoslavia signed the treaty of Agreement of Friendship and Cooperation in Ankara to form the Balkan Pact of 1953 . The treaty's aim was to deter Soviet expansion in

8772-400: The Western Balkans, joined the EU in July 2013. The term is criticized for having a geopolitical, rather than a geographical meaning and definition, as a multiethnic and political area in the southeastern part of Europe. The geographical term of a peninsula defines that the sea border must be longer than the land border, with the land side being the shortest in the triangle, but that is not

8901-450: The area starting falling like Serbia after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, Bulgaria in 1396, Constantinople in 1453, Bosnia in 1463, Herzegovina in 1482, and Montenegro in 1499. The conquest was made easier for the Ottomans due to existing divisions among the Orthodox peoples and by the even deeper rift that had existed at the time between the Eastern and Western Christians of Europe. The Albanians under Skanderbeg's leadership resisted

9030-483: The arrival of farming cultures in the Neolithic era. The Balkans have been inhabited since the Paleolithic and are the route by which farming from the Middle East spread to Europe during the Neolithic (7th millennium BC). The practices of growing grain and raising livestock arrived in the Balkans from the Fertile Crescent by way of Anatolia and spread west and north into Central Europe, particularly through Pannonia . Two early culture-complexes have developed in

9159-468: The beginning of the 15th century, Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić ruled over the western Hum, and Sandalj Hranić Kosača ruled over its eastern part, while the Neretva river remain a border between their possessions. The territory on the right bank of the Lower Neretva was at the time controlled by Kosača vassals, a local clan and magnates of Radivojević–Jurjević–Vlatković . Bosnian regional lord Stjepan Vukčić Kosača ruled over Zahumlje, or Humska zemlja as it

9288-520: The broad geographical, social-political and historical context of the Balkans, while the neologism Western Balkans is perceived as a humiliation of Croatia by the European political powers. According to M. S. Altić, the term has two different meanings, "geographical, ultimately undefined, and cultural, extremely negative, and recently strongly motivated by the contemporary political context". In 2018, President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović stated that

9417-428: The case for the Balkan Peninsula. Both the eastern and western sea catheti from Odesa to Cape Matapan ( c.  1230 –1350 km) and from Trieste to Cape Matapan ( c.  1270 –1285 km) are shorter than the land cathetus from Trieste to Odesa ( c.  1330 –1365 km). The land has too long a land border to qualify as a peninsula – Szczecin (920 km) and Rostock (950 km) at

9546-625: The church of St Peter and St Paul built on the Lim River near the Serbian border in the 1250s. Radoslav of Zahumlje was from 1254 a vassal of Hungary, but probably afterwards his land were absorbed into Serbia. However, he was at war with Serbia in 1268, while still under Hungarian suzerainty. But seeking to centralize his realm, Stephen Uroš I of Serbia tried to stamp out regional differences by dropping references to Zahumlje (Hum), Trebinje and Duklja (Zeta), and called himself "King of all Serbian land and

9675-514: The court of his cousin Grand Prince Stefan Nemanjić . In the meantime, Petar fought successfully with neighbouring Bosnia and Croatia. Stefan Nemanjić sided with Andrija and went to war and secured Hum and Popovo field for Andrija sometime after his accession. Petar was defeated and crossed the Neretva, continuing to rule the west and north of the Neretva, which had around 1205 been briefly occupied by Andrew II of Hungary . Toljen II ,

9804-755: The dissolution of the union as unconstitutional and the Yugoslav People's Army unsuccessfully tried to maintain the status quo. Slovenia and Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, which prompted the Croatian War of Independence in Croatia and the Ten-Day War in Slovenia. The Yugoslav forces eventually withdrew from Slovenia in 1991 while the war in Croatia continued until late 1995 . The two were followed by Macedonia and later Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Bosnia being

9933-457: The dominant central mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. During the 1820s, "Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers... Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term". In European books printed until late 1800s it was also known as Illyrian Peninsula or Illyrische Halbinsel in German. The term

10062-485: The emperor, and awarded nominal rights neighbouring lands, including Duklja, which was at the time at war with the empire. According to historical sources, the Serbian lands were under Byzantine control or vassalage until 1040s, but not under a direct control. Vojislav of Duklja (fl. 1018–1043) soon took Zahumlje from the Byzantines. During the rule of Constantine Bodin (r. 1081–1101), neither Bosnia, Serbia nor Zahumlje

10191-606: The end of World War I, the Balkan Pact , or Balkan Entente, was formed by a treaty between Greece , Romania , Turkey and Yugoslavia on 9 February 1934 in Athens . With the start of the World War II , all Balkan countries, with the exception of Greece, were allies of Nazi Germany , having bilateral military agreements or being part of the Axis Pact . Fascist Italy expanded the war in

10320-518: The first battleground of the emerging Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was the US response to the civil war , which raged from 1944 to 1949. This civil war, unleashed by the Communist Party of Greece , backed by communist volunteers from neighboring countries (Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia), led to massive American assistance for the non-communist Greek government. With this backing, Greece managed to defeat

10449-472: The first council in some detail. If the letter is authentic, it shows that the council was attended not only by the bishops of Croatian and Byzantine Dalmatia, but also by Tomislav, whose territory also included the Byzantine cities of Dalmatia, and by a number of Michael's representatives. Zahumlje may have been under Croatian influence, but remained a separate political entity. Both Zahumlje and Croatia were under

10578-526: The former and the Orthodox the latter. A support of the growing heresy seemed the best solution for both Kulin and Miroslav. Following the death of Emperor Manuel in 1180 Miroslav started ecclesiastical superior of Hum. He refused to allow Rainer, Latin Archbishop of Spalato ( Split ) whom he considered to be an agent of Hungarian king, to consecrate a bishop for the town of Ston . In addition, Miroslav confiscated

10707-551: The historical and political connotations of the term Balkans , especially since the military conflicts of the 1990s in Yugoslavia in the western half of the region, the term Southeast Europe is becoming increasingly popular. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe . The online newspaper Balkan Times renamed itself Southeast European Times in 2003. In other languages of

10836-624: The intervention, also accepted Byzantine suzerainty. Afterwards, the Slavs of Dalmatia and Zahumlje took part in the Byzantine military actions against the Arabs in Bari in 870–871. The Roman cities in Dalmatia had long been pillaged by the Slavic tribes in the mountaines around them. Basil I allowed the towns to pay tribute to the Slavic tribes to reduce the Slavs raiding. Presumably a large portion of this tribute went to

10965-528: The last outpost of the peaceful Mitteleuropa. For Italians and Austrians, it begins with Slovenia, where the reign of the Slavic hordes starts. For Germans, Austria itself, on account of its historic connections, is already tainted by Balkanic corruption and inefficiency. For some arrogant Frenchmen, Germany is associated with the Balkanian Eastern savagery—up to the extreme case of some conservative anti-European-Union Englishmen for whom, in an implicit way, it

11094-466: The late 19th century to the creation of post– World War I Yugoslavia (initially the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918). After the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans acquired a negative political meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, as well in worldwide casual usage for war conflicts and fragmentation of territory (see Balkanization ). In part due to

11223-499: The local population. Some of the Slavs and Avars might have permanently settled in the occupied areas. They attacked Constantinople in 626 but were defeated by the Byzantines, after which the Avars ceased to play a significant role in the Balkans . Around 630, during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Heraclius , Serbs and Croats (Slavic tribes) led by their respective aristocracies entered

11352-491: The mountains, spruce , fir and pine ). The tree line in the mountains lies at the height of 1,800–2,300 m. The land provides habitats for numerous endemic species, including extraordinarily abundant insects and reptiles that serve as food for a variety of birds of prey and rare vultures . The soils are generally poor, except on the plains , where areas with natural grass, fertile soils and warm summers provide an opportunity for tillage. Elsewhere, land cultivation

11481-475: The name "Balkan" was used in the West for the mountain range in Bulgaria was in a letter sent in 1490 to Pope Innocent VIII by Buonaccorsi Callimaco , an Italian humanist, writer and diplomat. The Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, although other Turkic tribes had already settled in or were passing through

11610-573: The north. According to Thomas the Archdeacon, when describing the reign of Croatian king Stephen Držislav in the late 10th century, notes that Duchy of Hum (Zachlumia or Chulmie) was a part of the Kingdom of Croatia, before and after Stjepan Držislav: "Istaque fuerunt regni eorum confinia: ab oriente Delmina, ubi fuit civitas Delmis, ... ab occidente Carinthia, versus mare usque ad oppidum Stridonis, quod nunc est confinium Dalmatie et Ystrie; ab aquilone vero

11739-708: The northern and central Balkans. This migration brought about the formation of distinct ethnic groups amongst the South Slavs, which included the Bulgarians , Croats and Serbs and Slovenes . Prior to the Slavic landing, parts of the western peninsula have been home to the Proto-Albanians . Including cities like Nish , Shtip . This can be proven through the development of the names, for example Naissos > Nish and Astibos > Shtip follow Albanian phonetic sound rules and have entered Slavic, indicating that Proto-Albanian

11868-516: The old Serbian family of Zavida, and Stefan Nemanja secured the land of Hum. After 1168 when Nemanja was raised to the Serbian throne with Manuel's favor, Hum passed to his brother Miroslav . He married a sister of Ban Kulin , who in meantime acquired the throne of Bosnia . The subjects of Miroslav and Kulin included both Catholic and Orthodox. Prince Miroslav himself was Orthodox. In meantime, both Bosnia and Hum had been fought between Kingdom of Hungary and Byzantine Empire . The Catholics supported

11997-595: The old idea of a Balkan Peninsula". Another issue is the name: the Balkan Mountains , mostly in Northern Bulgaria, do not dominate the region by length and area as do the Dinaric Alps . An eventual Balkan peninsula can be considered a territory south of the Balkan Mountains, with a possible name "Greek-Albanian Peninsula." The term influenced the meaning of Southeast Europe which again is not properly defined by geographical factors. Croatian geographers and academics are highly critical of inclusion of Croatia within

12126-518: The only non-communist countries, Greece and Turkey were (and still are) part of NATO composing the southeastern wing of the alliance. In the 1990s, the transition of the regions' ex-Eastern bloc countries towards democratic free-market societies went peacefully. While in the non-aligned Yugoslavia , Wars between the former Yugoslav republics broke out after Slovenia and Croatia held free elections and their people voted for independence on their respective countries' referendums. Serbia, in turn, declared

12255-458: The partisans and, ultimately, remained one of the two only non-communist countries in the region with Turkey. However, despite being under communist governments, Yugoslavia (1948) and Albania (1961) fell out with the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia, led by Marshal Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), first propped up then rejected the idea of merging with Bulgaria and instead sought closer relations with

12384-497: The past several centuries, because of the frequent Ottoman wars in Europe fought in and around the Balkans and the comparative Ottoman isolation from the mainstream of economic advance (reflecting the shift of Europe's commercial and political centre of gravity towards the Atlantic ), the Balkans have been the least developed part of Europe. According to Halil İnalcık , "The population of the Balkans, according to one estimate, fell from

12513-548: The polity of Zachlumia as: "From Ragusa begins the domain of the Zachlumi (Ζαχλοῦμοι) and stretches along as far as the river Orontius: and on the side of the coast it is neighbour to the Pagani, but on the side of the mountain country it is neighbour to the Croats on the north and to Serbia at the front ... Those who live there now, Zachlumi, are Serbs, from the time of that prince who claimed

12642-559: The prince of Dalmatian Croatia . In late 870s, the theme of Dalmatia ("thema Dalmatias") was established, but with no real Byzantine authority. These small cities in the region (also Dyrrachium ) did not stretch into the hinterlands, and had none military capacity, thus Basil I paid a tax of '72 gold coins' to the princes of Zahumlje and Travunia. In 879, the Pope asked for help from duke Zdeslav Trpimirović for an armed escort for his delegates across southern Dalmatia and Zahumlje. Later in 880,

12771-629: The protection of the Emperor Heraclius . In the territory of the Zachlumi are the inhabited cities of Stagnon, Mokriskik, Iosli, Galoumainik, Dobriskik" . The Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja (14th or 16th century) described the geography under the rule of the South Slavic (" Red Croatia ") rulers, Hum had two major cities: Bona and Hum. The main settlements in Zachlumia were Ston , Ošlje , Dobar ,

12900-399: The rebel princes Krešimir III and Gojslav and advanced northwest as far as Split , Trogir and Zadar , then northeast through Bosnia and Raška and returned to Bulgaria. By 1020, Byzantine Emperor Basil I expanded control in the whole region, but the Byzantines used local elite to rule over local polities although under Byzantine vassalage and supervision of Byzantine officials. In

13029-587: The region, Starčevo culture and Vinča culture . The Balkans are also the location of the first advanced civilizations. Vinča culture developed a form of proto-writing before the Sumerians and Minoans , known as the Old European script , while the bulk of the symbols had been created in the period between 4500 and 4000 BC, with the ones on the Tărtăria clay tablets even dating back to around 5300 BC. The identity of

13158-661: The region, the region is known as: The Balkan Peninsula is bounded by the Adriatic Sea to the west, the Mediterranean Sea (including the Ionian and Aegean seas) and the Sea of Marmara to the south and the Black Sea to the east. Its northern boundary is often given as the Danube , Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has a combined area of about 470,000 km (181,000 sq mi) (slightly smaller than Spain). The peninsula

13287-615: The region. There is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its general meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan , Čatal-Balkan , and Ungurus-Balkani̊ , but it was especially applied to the Haemus mountain. The name is still preserved in Central Asia with

13416-553: The religious jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Split . In this letter, John describes Michael as "the most excellent leader of the Zachlumi" ( excellentissimus dux Chulmorum ), and is mentioned the Ston bishopric ( ecclesia Stagnensis ) which jurisdiction remained under Split until 1022. It is uncertain whether the inscription and depiction of a Slavic ruler in the Church of St. Michael in Ston

13545-595: The rule of Hum to his son Rastko Nemanjić , while Miroslav held the Lim region with Bijelo Polje . Rastko however took monastic vows and Miroslav continued ruling Hum after 1192. Latin vengeance came in March 1198, when Andrew II of Hungary become the prince of Dalmatia, Croatia and Hum, while Miroslav died a year after and his wife was living in exile. The Miroslav Gospels are the oldest surviving documents written in Serbian recension of Old Church Slavonic , very likely produced for

13674-430: The rule of prince Časlav of Serbia , but there's no evidence for it and DAI which was written in the mid-10th century clearly states that Zachlumia is a separate polity from Serbia. The 13th century Thomas the Archdeacon claimed that the Croatian kingdom included Zachlumia before and after Stephen Držislav (969–997), but that's also disputable. In the late 990s, Bulgarian Tsar Samuel made client states out of most of

13803-549: The same territory, used the term Südosteuropäische Halbinsel ('southeastern European peninsula'). Another reason it was not commonly accepted as the definition of then European Turkey had a similar land extent. However, after the Congress of Berlin (1878) there was a political need for a new term and gradually "the Balkans" was revitalized, but in the maps, the northern border was in Serbia and Montenegro without Greece (it only depicted

13932-486: The son of Toljen Mirosavljević , succeeded as prince, ruling 1227–1237. Andrija's sons Bogdan , Radoslav and George succeed as princes of Hum in 1249, Radoslav held the supreme rule. During the war against Ragusa, he aided his kinsman Stephen Uroš I of Serbia , at the same time swearing allegiance to Béla IV of Hungary . Following an earthquake in the Hum capital of Ston, the Serbian Orthodox bishop of Hum moved to

14061-571: The south of Dubrovnik were coming to consider themselves Serbs. Despite Frankish overlordship, the Franks had almost no role in Dalmatia ( Dalmatian Croatia and Zahumlje) in the period from the 820s through 840s. In 866, a major Arab raid along Dalmatia struck Budva and Kotor , and then laid siege to Dubrovnik in 867. The city of Dubrovnik appealed to Byzantine Emperor Basil the Macedonian , who responded by sending over one hundred ships. Finally,

14190-491: The southern part, winters are milder. The humid continental climate is predominant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, northern Croatia, Bulgaria, Kosovo , northern Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and the interior of Albania and Serbia . Meanwhile, the other less common climates, the humid subtropical and oceanic climates, are seen on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria and Balkan Turkey (European Turkey) . The Mediterranean climate

14319-510: The term Western Balkans to mean the Balkan area that includes countries that are not members of the European Union, while others refer to the geographical aspects. Each of these countries aims to be part of the future enlargement of the European Union and reach democracy and transmission scores but, until then, they will be strongly connected with the pre-EU waiting program Central European Free Trade Agreement . Croatia, considered part of

14448-511: The territory was too mountainous to completely subdue. Another small country that retained its independence, both de facto and de jure in this case, was the Adriatic trading hub of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik , Croatia). By the end of the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire had become the controlling force in the region after expanding from Anatolia through Thrace to the Balkans. Many people in

14577-402: The third at 2915 m. The karst field or polje is a common feature of the landscape. On the Adriatic and Aegean coasts, the climate is Mediterranean , on the Black Sea coast the climate is humid subtropical and oceanic , and inland it is humid continental . In the northern part of the peninsula and on the mountains, winters are frosty and snowy, while summers are hot and dry. In

14706-471: The three empires participating in that alliance. The next year Bulgaria joined the Central Powers attacking Serbia, which was successfully fighting Austro-Hungary to the north for a year. That led to Serbia's defeat and the intervention of the Entente in the Balkans which sent an expeditionary force to establish a new front , the third one of that war, which soon also became static. The participation of Greece in

14835-644: The timetable of the planned invasion in Russia causing a significant delay, which had major consequences during the course of the war. Finally, at the end of 1944, the Soviets entered Romania and Bulgaria forcing the Germans out of the Balkans. They left behind a region largely ruined as a result of wartime exploitation. During the Cold War , most of the countries on the Balkans were governed by communist governments. Greece became

14964-470: The town of Kotor . Though nominal vassals of Serbia, the Branivojević family attacked Serbian interests and other local nobles of Hum, who in 1326 turned against Serbia and Branivojević family. The Hum nobles approached to Stjepan Kotromanić II , the ban of Bosnia, who then annexed most of Hum. The Draživojevići of Nevesinje as vassals of Bosnian Ban, become the leading family of Hum in the 1330s. Because of

15093-616: The towns of Mokriskik and Glumainik . The principality sprang from Dalmatia ( Croatia ) to the northwest and Pagania to the west; to the mountain of Kalinovik and the Gatačko polje , where it bordered Travunia . The eastern border of Zahumlje went along the line Popovo - Ljubinje - Dabar and met with the Travunian border at the city of Ragusa . Zachlumia was split on 9 zhupanates : Ston , Popovo , Dubrava, Luka , Dabar , Žapska, Gorička and Večenik around Neretva . Zahumlje had access to

15222-404: The use of the term "Western Balkans" should be avoided because it does not imply only a geographic area, but also negative connotations, and instead must be perceived as and called Southeast Europe because it is part of Europe. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek said of the definition, This very alibi confronts us with the first of many paradoxes concerning Balkan: its geographic delimitation

15351-427: The war between Stephen Uroš II Milutin and Stephen Dragutin , Paul Šubić expanded not only into western Hum, but also beyond the Neretva river, and took the region of Nevesinje and Ston . Paul appointed his eldest son, Mladen II , as Lord of Hum. At least part of Paul's conquests were granted to his vassal Constantine Nelipčić . Mladen succeeded his father in 1312. After Paul's death, Milutin and Dragutin concluded

15480-519: The war in 1327-1328 between Serbia and Dubrovnik, Bosnian lordship of inner Hum and the war in Macedonia, Stephen Uroš IV Dušan sold Ston and Pelješac to Dubrovnik, and turned to the east to acquire all of Macedonia. The region was overwhelmed by the House of Kotromanić from Bosnia in 1322–1326. By the mid-14th century, Bosnia apparently reached a peak under Ban Tvrtko I who came into power in 1353. In

15609-582: The war three years later, in 1918, on the part of the Entente finally altered the balance between the opponents leading to the collapse of the common German-Bulgarian front there, which caused the exit of Bulgaria from the war, and in turn, the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ending the First World War. Between the two wars, in order to maintain the geopolitical status quo in the region after

15738-468: The western Balkans from the north, which was approved by the emperor. They inhabited areas that had been devastated by the Avars, where Byzantium (East Roman Empire) had generally been reduced to only nominal rule. According to DAI , Zahumlje was one of the regions settled by the Serbs from an area near Thessaloniki who previously arrived there from White Serbia , but a closer reading of the source suggests that

15867-512: Was called at this point. In 1448 he assumed the title herzog and styled himself Herzog of Hum and the Coast, Grand Duke of Bosnia, Knyaz of Drina, and the rest, and since 1450, Herzog of Saint Sava, Lord of Hum, Grand Duke of Bosnia, Knyaz of Drina, and the rest . This "Saint Sava" part of the title had considerable public relations value, because Sava's relics were consider miracle-working by people of all Christian faiths. Stjepan's title will prompt

15996-570: Was done with political reasoning as affirmation for Serbian nationalism on the whole territory of the South Slavs , and also included anthropological and ethnological studies of the South Slavs through which were claimed various nationalistic and racialist theories. Through such policies and Yugoslavian maps the term was elevated to the modern status of a geographical region. The term acquired political nationalistic connotations far from its initial geographic meaning, arising from political changes from

16125-616: Was ever integrated into Doclea, each retained its own nobility and institutions and simply acquired a Vojislavljević to head the local structure as Prince or Duke. Zahumlje subsequently became part of the Grand Principality of Serbia . Kočapar , the Prince of Duklja (r. 1102–1103), ruled in the name of Vukan I of Serbia . There was a split between the two, and Vukan sent forces to Duklja, making Kočapar flee to Bosnia and then Zahumlje, where he died. Zavida ruled Zahumlje before getting into

16254-542: Was never precise. It is as if one can never receive a definitive answer to the question, "Where does it begin?" For Serbs, it begins down there in Kosovo or Bosnia, and they defend the Christian civilization against this Europe's Other. For Croats, it begins with the Orthodox, despotic, Byzantine Serbia, against which Croatia defends the values of democratic Western civilization. For Slovenes, it begins with Croatia, and we Slovenes are

16383-476: Was not commonly used in geographical literature until the mid-19th century because, already then, scientists like Carl Ritter warned that only the part south of the Balkan Mountains could be considered as a peninsula and considered it to be renamed as "Greek peninsula". Other prominent geographers who did not agree with Zeune were Hermann Wagner , Theobald Fischer , Marion Newbigin , and Albrecht Penck , while Austrian diplomat Johann Georg von Hahn , in 1869, for

16512-418: Was returning to Venice from Constantinople and sent him to Czar Simeon as a sign of loyalty. Symeon attacked inner Serbia and captured Peter, who later died in prison, and Michael was able to restore the majority of control. The Historia Salonitana maior , whose composition may have begun in the late 13th century, cites a letter of Pope John X to Tomislav , "king ( rex ) of the Croats", in which he refers to

16641-468: Was spoken prior to the Slavic invasion of the Balkans. During the Early Middle Ages , The Byzantine Empire was the dominant state in the region, both military and culturally. Their cultural strength became particularly evident in the second half of the 9th century when the Byzantine missionaries Cyril and Methodius managed to spread the Byzantine variant of Christianity to the majority of

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