Modern Balkans

"For much of its history, Southeastern Europe has remained apart politically, culturalliy and economically from the rest of Europe. Byzantine and then Ottoman rule isolated this region, also known as the Balkans, which in the nineteenth cntury began the slow and difficult process of integration with Western Europe. In 'The modern Balkans', Richard C. Hall gives a complete account of the historical events that have shaped the Balkan region. The process of economic and political development following the Western European model has been far from smooth in the Balkans; it has often been marked by violence and destruction, the result of many wars and rebellions. Though Soviet power imposed a 45-year peace in the region, the collapse of the Soviet Union renewed conflict that continued through the end of the twentieth century. Hall concentrates here on the significant political and economic events that have had the greatest impact on the role of the Balkans in Europe; in particular, he examines the development of national states in the nineteenth century, the influence of the two world wars and the collapse of Yugoslavia. This cleear and concise history of the Balkan Peninsula will appeal to readers and scholars interested in European history and the Balkans' unique role in it"--Publisher's description, p. [2] of dust jacket.