BULGARIAN-SPEAKING MUSLIMS - Lalev

territory. The conflict arises between the protectors of the territory and its invaders; and whether
one is a protector or occupier depends on one’s affiliation.
According to White, the strong attachment to “homeland,” and the proclivity to defend it, is
particularly pronounced in the Balkans. “In southeastern Europe,” 14 he correctly assumes, “many
nations feel that their identities have been violated because their territories have been continually
transgressed by other nations. Not surprisingly, conflict has been persistent in this region.” 15 As a
matter of fact, from the late nineteenth until mid-twentieth century, the Southeast-European nations
were young, unstable, relatively small, and only semi-independent. On at least four occasions,
following momentous regional (and global) conflicts – the Russian-Turkish War of 1876-1878, the
Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, the First World War, and the Second World War – these nascent nationstates
were reduced to hapless spectators of their own partitioning by the powerful of the day. 16 This
was particularly true of the young Balkan nation-states, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and
Turkey. All of these countries incurred heavy human losses while fighting for the territories they
perceived as “homeland” only to have it redistributed at the will of the politically dominant nations. 17
In this sense, White properly concludes that the nascent nation-states of southeastern Europe
repeatedly felt their sense of identity and security violated because of the constant interference of
outside forces.
This reality of helplessness generated fear and mistrust within these new nation-states.
Henceforth, they embarked on an ideology of nationalism meant to ensure the political dominance of
the culturally prevalent majority – at least of those who ruled on the majority’s behalf – at all cost,
without much regard for individual liberties. Thus, the original Western idea of liberal nationalism
was gradually supplanted by an ideology of coercion as the nation-state phenomenon swept into the
Balkans by the late nineteenth century. In the light of this coercive-nationalism idea, my argument is
14 White’s notion of “southeast Europe” includes Hungary, Romania, and Serbia, while my own mostly refers to
the Balkan nations which I associate with Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, (European) Turkey, and others.
15 White, 6.
16 The Western Powers (England, France, Germany, Italy, USA, etc.) and Russia – later, the Soviet Union – for the
most part.
17 For more details, read the main body of the chapter.
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