HIST 315Balkans: A History

Catalog

The course examines the history of the Balkans, from ancient period to the present. This region in Southeast Europe has become synonymous with political tensions, violence, and ethnic fragmentation. Starting with the arrival of tribes from the Caucasus in the seventh century and ending with the breakup of Yugoslavia at the end of the twentieth century, the course illustrates the region's major patterns of development-economic, social, and cultural-examines its complicated relationship with "the West" and asks why, when, how, and with what consequences the region became identified as the "powder-keg" of Europe.