Between Facts and Interpretations: Three Images of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13

Enika Abazi (1)

1 Institute of Balkan Studies

A century after the Balkan Wars of 1912- 13 there is a widely held opinion that they represent an important moment and subject in the political history of the Balkan states. This paper does not seek to establish more "reliable" facts about the events on the battlefield and elsewhere, to argue for the “objective” truth about the "real" causes of war. Instead, it deals with the question, which is more relevant now than ever of how and why these wars have become a symbolic representation of the region. There are many points that can be discussed: for instance, the supposed continuation of legacies of the past into the p resent; the ways in which specific accounts of atrocities are interpreted; the ways in which these war have become the benchmark for "Balkanization" in the modern world; the degree to which Western observers have equated these wars with the civilizational characteristics of the region; and, last but not least, the relationship between war crime atrocities, moral indignation and the course of international policy towards the region. There have been three main approaches to this subject: a realist approach focused on power relationships; an idealist or pacifist approach based on opposition to war; and a revisionist, humanist approach that emphasizes the history from below or the daily life of the ordinary peoples. A critical reassessment of different accounts in this paper aims to move away from the close association of Balkan wars with the essentialisation of the Balkans.

Mots clés: Balkan wars 1912-13; representation; history from below

Domaines: Sociologie; Histoire; Science politique

Enika Abazi. Between Facts and Interpretations: Three Images of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. James Pettifer; Tom Buchanan. War in the Balkans: Conflict and Diplomacy before World War I, I.B.Tauris, pp.203-225, 2016, 978-1-78453-190-4. ⟨10.5040/9780755621729.ch-0010⟩. ⟨halshs-01252639⟩