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Identity construction in the Balkan region - Austrian interests
and involvement in a historical perspective
Andrea Komlosy and Hannes Hofb auer
Abstract
Aft er the dissolution and destruction of Yugoslavia with its historical cut-off point of 1991
and the successive wars throughout the 1990s , new identities are being sought in the region.
Like every cultural and social process this identity construction is exposed to economic and
(geo) political rationalities and pressures. Th ey come from inside as well as from outside. In
a historical perspective this can be seen clearer than from a contemporary view.
Already the naming of the region refl ects the interaction of internal and external
factors in a (post)transitional situation. Th erefore at the beginning we discuss the terms
“Balkan” and “Southeastern Europe”.
Th e Austrian advance in the region went hand in hand with the step-by-step withdrawal
of the Ottoman Empire. Th e late 19th century with the Berlin Congress (1878) and the
end of the administrative particularity of the Vojna Krajina (1881) mark a new period.
We study the history of Austrian interests in the Balkans since then. Th e Vidovdan of
1914 and its geopolitical outcome put an end to Vienna’s advances, at least for a while.
In 1941 the Austrians came again, this time in German uniforms helping to divide the
region into sections according to the needs of the “Grossraum”. Fift y years later (1991),
aft er the remnants of post-Tito Yugoslavia fell apart, it was Austrian politics and economic
interests which heavily intervened in the region, thereby accelerating the disintegration.
We discuss the background, personalities and importance of this development.
Keywords: Balkan region, Austria, identity construction, historical representations
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