ABSTRACT
Since the early twentieth century, the Balkans have been subject to Western stereotyping (Gallagher 2000, 4−5) as characterised by cultural backwardness, tribal rivalries and bloody turmoil. The term ‘balkanisation’, a product of modern European history, emerged out of these stereotypes of the Balkans as a region awash with primordial rivalries amongst nations, as exemplified by the two Balkan wars of 1912-1913.
