ABSTRACT
Europe's twentieth century began with rumblings in its eastern half-portents of a terrible decade from the onset of the Balkan Wars until the end of the Russian Civil War. If there was calm between the world wars in the Balkans, it seems to have been imposed by military or civilian authoritarians, anti-democratic monarchs, or unsure party coalitions. Instead, weak states and leadership uncertainty prevailed in Southeastern Europe, with governments able to address few of the critical problems inherited from the region's domination by declining empires. Although it is an oversimplification, one is tempted to note a political uniformity in the region-"an almost identical evolution for all the Balkan states" -during the inter-war period, that provided little experience or trust on which to base post-World War II resistance to communist party rule. The European Community, of course, is the premier accomplishment, carrying with it the potential for a fundamental reorientation of citizenship and the role of states.
