We Must Stop the Bear!
The Balkans has always been a point of contention between the East and the West, and although the various incarnations of Hungary, Austria, and Austria-Hungary
Three Players in the Balkan Sandbox
The last thousand years of Balkan history is a tale of three powers pulling on the limbs of an infant, as in the Biblical parable
Yet Another Balkan Crisis
The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall be occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary…Austria-Hungary reserves the right to maintain garrisons and to have military and trading
From Plague to Vampires
The most popular walking tours in London include strolling by known plague pit sites, where the hundreds of thousands of Londoners who died during the
From Serbian Independence to Israel
Between 1804 and 1835 Serbia fought for independence from the Ottoman Empire that had ruled over the Balkans for more than 400 years. Men like
The Rabbi That Started It All
When Ferdinand and Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain on 31 July 1492, they were welcomed with open arms into the Ottoman-ruled Balkans. Thus the
The Very Balkan Roman Emperors
The mightiest empire of antiquity, and arguably the mightiest empire the world has ever seen, was in decline in the third century AD. Not just
What is Heresy?
Empires have to begin and end somewhere, and in Europe the Balkans are the beginning and ending of East and West, and North and South.
A Tale of Two Churches
“At first we were confused. The East thought that we were West, while the West considered us to be East. Some of us misunderstood our
There is Always Something to Say
In the Balkans, language rolls off the tongue and defines the culture profoundly. The way people speak is the way they think and also how