ABSTRACT
All the processes in the Balkans were permeated thoroughly by conspiracy theories in various cultural and political discourses and praxes, which reflected fears and hopes, ideological underpinnings, antagonisms and larger structural cleavages during the last few centuries. This chapter shows that the relevance of conspiracy theories in and about the Balkans from the late nineteenth century, and analyses their role in various political contexts, movements, critical events and processes, mostly during the ‘age of empire’ and ‘age of extremes’. In order to differentiate between different varieties of conspiracy theories, it deals the analysis with conspiratorial discourses from the West, which perceives the Balkans as the land of conspiracies. Antisemitism in the Balkans was, until 1918, relatively weaker than in other parts of Eastern Europe. Belief in a Judeo-Bolshevik conspiracy gained support among right-wing groups throughout Europe. After the Second World War, most countries in the Balkans became communist states.
