Balkan History

Cultural genocide is rarely discussed in public so it can be a much less familiar concept than genocide. While acts of cultural genocide can be overt, such as cultural destruction, they can also be covert such as cultural suppression, cultural appropriation, language manipulation, and lack of recognition and respect. So cultural genocide is sometimes subtle and hard to identify. A wide range of the techniques of cultural genocide can be identified in the way Greek governments have treated ethnic Macedonians for well over a hundred years. This article looks at these techniques. It also includes a Greek Vocabulary of Cultural Genocide against the Macedonians. For illustrative purposes, the article also presents hypothetical examples of how this vocabulary could be used against the modern Greek and modern British peoples. The solution to cultural genocide is an end to policies of assimilation.

A wide range of the techniques of cultural genocide can be identified in the way Greek governments have treated ethnic Macedonians for well over a hundred years. This article looks at these techniques and the extensive Greek Vocabulary of Cultural Genocide developed over this period against the Macedonians.The aim of this vocabularly is to  take away the Macedonianness of Macedonia, the Macedonians and Macedonian culture. For illustrative purposes, the article also presents hypothetical examples of how this vocabulary could be used against the modern Greek and modern British peoples to diminish and take away their Greekness and Britishness. The Greek vocabulary against the Macedonians is disrespectful and people need to recognize it as hate speech to stop its normalization in academic, media and public discourse.

Kollyvades, a distinct ideological faction in the Greek-Orthodox Church, did not represent a simple conservative reaction to the challenge of modernity, but an alternative effort of reform, the yeast of a potent movement of re‑traditionalisation. They unsuccessfully sought to rise from a dominated position (as monks and scholars) in the Greek-Orthodox religious field to a dominant position as bearers and keepers of Tradition. Their attempt to reverse their dominated position in the Greek-Orthodox religious field and their effort to dominate the monastic sub‑field failed, but failure forced them to produce a renovating religious discourse and to address a larger audience, unintentionally escaping the narrow Athonite arena. The clash with the radical republicans of the Balkan Enlightenment offered them the possibility to upgrade themselves as the most intransigent apologists of the official Church and its loyalist policy. Thus, they finally, succeeded to carve out for themselves a dominant position as custodians of Tradition. They ironically became themselves sources of ecclesiastical legitimation for the clerical faction that seeks to topple the submission of the Church to the modern centralised Nation-State.

Η πλέον διαδεδομένη άποψη στον δημόσιο λόγο είναι πως οι κατοχικές δυνάμεις διακρίνονταν στους «κακούς» Γερμανούς και τους «καλούς» Ιταλούς. Ο μοναδικός ίσως τρόπος επαλήθευσης αυτού του σχήματος επαφίεται στη διενέργεια ερευνών σε τοπικό επίπεδο, με τη χρήση προφορικών ή γραπτών μαρτυρίων ατόμων που βίωσαν τα γεγονότα της περιόδου. Οι προσωπικές μου έρευνες μού επιτρέπουν να αναφερθώ σε τρεις τέτοιες περιπτώσεις: της Δυτικής Στερεάς, της Κρήτης και της Θεσσαλίας. Στην Κρήτη, η ιταλική παρουσία περιορίστηκε στον νομό Λασιθίου, όπου κατευθύνθηκαν αρκετοί Έλληνες (μεταξύ των οποίων συγκαταλέγονταν άτομα ασπαζόμενα το εβραϊκό δόγμα) για να σωθούν από τις γερμανικές βαρβαρότητες. Στη Δυτική Ελλάδα, οι μεραρχίες Brennero και Casale άφησαν θετικές εντυπώσεις, μη συμμετέχοντας σε καμία εκτεταμένη πράξη αντιποίνων. Συνέβη όμως το ίδιο στη Θεσσαλία, περιοχή δράσης της μεραρχίας Pinerolo; Με τη σημερινή μου τοποθέτηση δεν θα προσπαθήσω να καταρρίψω τον μύθο του «καλού Ιταλού», παρά θα αρκεστώ στη διαφώτιση ορισμένων άγνωστων πτυχών της δράσης της ιταλικής μονάδας, ικανών να αποδώσουν με σαφήνεια τον χαρακτήρα των πράξεων των ανδρών της.

Bosnia has an important place in the Balkan geography of the Ottoman Empire. A rapid Islamization after the conquest of Bosnia in 1463 and becoming a military border after the Karlofça Treaty signed in 1699 it puts Bosnia in an important place socially and strategically. This situation continued until the separation of Bosnia from Ottoman rule. In this study, the administrative and social structure of Bosnia Province between 1742-1755 was tried to be examined. For this, the number 1 Bosnian Ahkâm Registers in the Ottoman archive was used. As known Ahkâm Registers, these are the notebooks in which the decisions and orders issued by the court of the judicial system, which cannot be resolved in the kadi courts, which are the basic judicial unit of the Ottoman Empire, are heard in the Divan-ı Hümâyun, the highest authority of the judicial system. There are 9 Ahkâm Complaint Registers belonging to Bosnia, covering different date ranges from 1742 to 1865. This study was prepared on the basis of the records in the Bosnia Ahkâm Register numbered I, which includes the issues and solutions in a 13-year period covering the years 1742-1755. First of all, the records in the book in question, it includes the problems experienced by the citizens or administrators in the provinces far from the center in the Ottoman Empire in particular in Bosnia, but generally in the XVIII. century and the solutions brought to these. Bosnia, which is administered as a province, Although it is different from many states in terms of its social and strategic importance, it is possible to obtain general information about Ottoman society since the problems faced by the people living in that period were similar. The register contains information about the economic structure of the period, since the most encountered problems were land and tax issues. Furthermore, the public order events and irregularities frequently encountered in the records reflect the social and administrative situation of the period. In addition, the long wars and economic difficulties encountered by the Ottoman Empire in the XVIII. century seriously affected the Bosnian people in the border region. For this reason, it is thought that examining the social structure of Bosnia will shed light on the explanation of the developments in the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire in the next century.

En s’appuiant sur les récits des Français ayant voyagé dans les Balkans durant la première moitié du XIXe siècle, il est possible de fixer plusieurs marqueurs fondamentaux de l’identité ethnique des Aroumains balkaniques, à l’époque visée. En fait, l’idée des origines romaines de la communauté ethnique, les ethnonymes auto-référentiels employés, l’institution traditionnelle du celnicat et la pratique sociale de l’endogamie fonctionnent tous comme des marqueurs identitaires, en assurant la cohérence interne de la communauté ethnique aroumaine, et en la distinguant des groups allogènes.

On the basis of writings of Frenchmen having traveled in the Balkans during the first half of the 20th century, one can identify several fundamental markers of the Balkan Aromanians’ ethnic identity, valid for the period concerned. In fact, the idea of the Roman origins of the ethnic community, the self-referential ethnonyms employed, the traditional institution of the celnikate and the social practice of endogamy all function as identity markers, ensuring the internal coherence of the Aromanian ethnic community, and setting it apart from allogenous groups.

Αυτός ο τόμος της σειράς "200 χρόνια από την Επανάσταση" πραγματεύεται την ιστορία του Πετρόμπεη Μαυρομιχάλη. Μέσα στις σελίδες του σκιαγραφείται, δίχως εξωραϊσμούς και αποσιωπήσεις, το πορτρέτο του Μανιάτη προύχοντα, η συνεισφορά του οποίου υπήρξε καταλυτική για την Ελληνική Επανάσταση.

Στις πιο εμβληματικές μορφές της Ελληνικής Επανάστασης συγκαταλέγεται, δίχως αμφιβολία, ο Πετρόμπεης Μαυρομιχάλης. Κατέχοντας υψηλά αξιώματα, όπως του μπέη της Μάνης στα προεπαναστατικά χρόνια, του προέδρου του Εκτελεστικού καθώς και του αρχιστράτηγου των πελοποννησιακών στρατευμάτων στον καιρό του Αγώνα, ο Μαυρομιχάλης διαδραμάτισε σημαντικό ρόλο στην εθνική και πολιτική χειραφέτηση των Ελλήνων από την οθωμανική κυριαρχία. Δεν δίστασε να ασκήσει κριτική στους επαναστατημένους Έλληνες για τη στάση τους την περίοδο των εμφυλίων πολέμων, τονίζοντας την ανάγκη της συσπείρωσής τους για την επίτευξη της ανεξαρτησίας. Παρά το γεγονός ότι αποτέλεσε έναν από τους πρώτους υποστηρικτές του Ιωάννη Καποδίστρια, τάχθηκε κατά των μέτρων του Κυβερνήτη, στόχος των οποίων ήταν ο περιορισμός της ισχύος των παραδοσιακών ελίτ της χώρας, ερχόμενος σε σύγκρουση μαζί του. Η δολοφονία του κυβερνήτη από τους συγγενείς του Πετρόμπεη αμαύρωσε την εικόνα της οικογένειάς του ανάμεσα στους Έλληνες, γεγονός που εξακολουθεί έως και σήμερα να αποτελεί πρόσκομμα στην καθολική αναγνώριση της προσφοράς του στον Αγώνα της Ανεξαρτησίας.

GÖKBİLGİN, M. Tayyib. Rumeli'de Yürükler, Tatarlar ve Evlâd-ı Fâtihân, İstanbul Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Yayınları No. 748, İstanbul - 1957.

(the 1st) Publication Date: 1957
(the 2nd) Publication Date: 2008, yayın no: ISBN 978-975-350-204-7

(Alıntı)
Günümüzde büyük bir vefasızlıkla nisyana terk edilmiş önemli ilim adamlarımızdan biri olan Prof. Dr. M. Tayyib Gökbilgin, Osmanlı tarihi alanında önemli çalışmalar yapmış, kariyerinin ilk yıllarında İslam Ansiklopedisi’nin yazı kadrosunda yer almış ve yine o dönemlerde Türk Tarih Kurumu üyeliğine seçilmiştir. Daha talebelik yıllarında yazı ve araştırmalarını neşretmeye başlayan Prof. Gökbilgin, bu faaliyetlerine ömrünün sonuna kadar devam etmiş, kendi alanı olan medeniyet ve müessese tarihi yanında siyasi tarih, arşivcilik ve kütüphanecilikle ilgili hayli makale yayınlanmıştır. Kırk senelik yayın hayatında üç yüzü aşkın kitap ve makale neşreden Gökbilgin Hoca’nın en önemli eserlerinden biri de Osmanlı’nın Rumeli’deki iskân faaliyetlerini mercek altına alan “Rumeli’de Yürükler, Tatarlar ve Evlâd-ı Fâtihân” adlı eseridir.

Prof. Dr. M. Tayyib Gökbilgin bu eserinde, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu gibi oldukça geniş bir sahaya yerleşmiş olup da, ırk, din, dil vs. itibariyle pek çok milleti idaresi altında birleştiren bir devletin Rumeli’ye yerleştirdiği etnik grupları derinlemesine analiz ediyor. İki bölüme ayrılan eserde, birinci bölüm Rumeli’ye yerleştirilen Yürük ve Tatarları incelemeye alıyor. Gökbilgin Hoca, Yürük ve Tatarların menşelerine dair önemli görüşler serdettikten sonra Rumeli’ye nasıl yerleştirildikleri, hangi köylerde iskân olundukları ve bunlara dair defter ve vesikalara yer veriyor. İkinci bölümde ise Evlâd-ı Fâtihân teşkili ve Yürük teşkilatının Evlâd-ı Fâtihân haline gelişi vesikalar eşliğinde aktarılıyor.

İlk baskısı 1957 yılında yapılan eserin ikinci baskısı 2008 yılında Yasin Beyaz tarafından yeniden yayına hazırlanmış.  Osmanlı’nın Rumeli’deki nüfus ve iskân faaliyetleri hakkında bilgi edinmek isteyen ve bu alanda çalışma yapan herkes için kaynak eser niteliğinde Rumeli’de Yürükler, Tatarlar ve Evlâd-ı Fâtihan... (İşaret Yayınları yayım tanıtımından https://www.isaretyayinlari.com.tr/kitap/rumeli-de-yurukler-tatarlar-ve-evlad-i-fatihan)

A review of the prospects for peace and democracy in the Balkans in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union and amidst the disintegration of Yugoslavia, focusing on the repression of traditional religious and ethnic nationalism in the region by Marxist-Leninist ideology and the perils of a naive faith in market capitalism and western models of liberal democracy as a firm basis for rebuilding civil society in the aftermath of communist dictatorship.

The article deals with a journey of Kolasija Metropolitan
Bishop Michael to the Holy Lands which started in October 1656
and ended in June 1657. Based on a report filled at Posolskii Prikaz of the Russian government, the author reconstructs his itinerary – the Holy Mountain Athos, Egypt, St. Catherine’s monastery of
Sinai, Jerusalem and its surroundings, Constantinople, Wallachia,
Moldavia, and Russia. The report on the Black Saturday prior to the
Easter and the skeptical description of the miracle of the Holy Fire
are unique for an Orthodox pilgrim.
The issue offers insights into the ecclesiastical politics in the
Ottoman Empire in the 1656/7. Kolasija Metropolitan Bishop Michael has met with Patriarchs of Jerusalem, Constantinople and
Antioch at various stages of his journey. He has offered glimpse into
the certain issues that troubled the Orthodox community such as for
instance the rivalry between the current and former Patriarchs of
the Peč Patriarchy Maximus and Gabriel.

The paper is an attempt at a synthetic presentation of the discourse that took place in twentieth-century literary studies on the idea of the Enlightenment in Croatia. The author recognizes the model of conservative and Catholic Enlightenment centered on the North of the country, which is constructed in these studies, as a variant that impoverishes the reality of the 18th century, and propounds (referring to the Otto Marquard’s idea about the necessity that all communities are rooted in many histories) to extend the reflection on the Enlightenment in Croatia also to its south Dalmatian and Dubrovnik variant. She proposes to study the Enlightenment in non-Western countries to a lesser extent through the prism of socio-political and economic determinants, and more by tracking mental history and cultural flows. Such a mental path allows redefining the Enlightenment in Croatia focusing on its cosmopolitanism and liberalization.

In 1786 Francisco de Miranda, the revolutionary ‘Precursor’ of Latin American independence, toured the Ottoman empire. Focused on the Atlantic dimensions of Miranda’s activism, historians have marginalized his experiences in the Balkans. This article argues that Miranda’s Balkan explorations represented a major inflection point in his revolutionary career. By expanding his experience with consular networks, the Balkans allowed him to develop new revolutionary strategies for channelling his discontent with imperial rule. Rather than resorting to print, consulates enabled Miranda to build secret coalitions in his increasingly public confrontation with what he called imperial ‘despotism’, a type of imperial rule featuring burdensome impositions, limitations on freedom of movement, and ethnic or religious discrimination. By excavating the first Latin American revolutionary encounter with the Balkans and stressing the common forms of anti-imperial mobilization, the article charts a more expansive and inclusive ‘south-eastern’ framework for rethinking the global Age of Revolution.