Effects of Nationalism in Balkan States

Until late nineteenth century, the Balkans had mostly been under powerful empires, living a somewhat symbiotic life. With the newly emerging ideas of nationalism brought about by the French Revolution, however, a wave of independence movements took place in Eastern Europe, eventually leading to the Balkan Wars of 1911-13, during which the newly formed Balkan countries turned against each other in an attempt to get a bigger share of Ottoman land. With the atrocities of …

…different groups to form smaller communities, the Balkan area will spontaneously disintegrate accordingly. The conflicts caused by the heterogenity of the area will lead to problems within particular countries' boundaries. Yet these problems will be relatively eased with a future separation of the different ethnic and religious groups, leading to smaller, autonomous states. The separationist movements in the Balkans were not the first and will not be the last as groups strive for cultural identity.