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Nationalities Papers
The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity
Volume 28, 2000 - Issue 1
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Original Articles

Muslim identity in the Balkans before the establishment of nation states

Pages 13-28 | Published online: 19 Aug 2010

References

  • Castellan , Georges . 1995 . Histoire des Balkans , 358 Paris : Fayard . In 1875 an estimated two-thirds of the 600,000 northern Albanians (Gegs) were Muslim, while three-quarters of the 800,000 southern Albanian Tosks followed Islam
  • Popovic , Alexandre . 1994 . "Représentation du Passé et Transmission de l'Identité Chez les Musulmans des Balkans" ” . In Culture Musulmanes Balkaniques , 275 – 281 . Istanbul : Les Editions Isis . On this subject
  • Castellan . Histoire des Balkans 219 – 212 .
  • Noms , H. T. 1993 . Islam in the Balkans: Religion and Society between Europe and the Arab World , 295 – 298 . Columbia , SC : University of South Carolina Press . Nationalist historiography has frequently misused the Ottoman period to justify persecution of Muslim inhabitants of the new nation states. Most recently this occurred in Serbia with several leading Orientalists helping to justify the war against the Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo
  • Balic , Smail . 1997 . "Der Islam und seine geschichtliche Bedeutung für Südosteuropa (mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Bosniens" ” . In Religion und Gesellschaft in Südosteuropa , Edited by: Döpman , Hans-Dieter . 71 – 72 . Munich : Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft .
  • Sugar . Southeastern Europe 31 – 44 . 271 – 273 . The non-Muslims were organized in self-governing units, the millets, administered by the respective religious hierarchy
  • Seton-Watson , Hugh . 1977 . Nation and States. An Enquiry into the Origin of Nations and the Politics of Nationalism , 143 – 146 . London : Methuen .
  • Corm , Georges . 1991 . L'Europe et l'orient. De la balkanisation à la libanisation: histoire d'une modernité inaccomplie , 28 – 36 . 44 – 59 . Paris : La Découverte .
  • Sugar . Souteastern Europe 55 – 56 .
  • Sugar . Souteastern Europe 218 The latter were essential for the development of national movements in the Balkans in the nineteenth century
  • Veinstein , Gilles . 1994 . "Les provinces balkaniques (1606-1774)" ” . In Historie de L'Empire Ottoman , Edited by: Mantran , Robert . 321 Paris : Fayard .
  • Sugar . Souteastern Europe 227 – 230 .
  • Baue . "Der Islam und seine geschichtliche Bedeutung für Südosteuropa" ” . 77 – 78 . Repairs and expansions of churches and synagogues were generally banned, however, and could be carried out only with a special permit
  • Arnakis , George G. 1974 . "The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . In The Balkans in Transition , Edited by: Charles and Jelavich , Barbara . 115 Hamden , CT : Archon Books . George G. Arnakis quotes the Greek historian of the country's revolution: "Blessed is the nation that professes one and the same faith."
  • Bata , Josef . 1997 . "Das Verhältnis von Christentum und Islam bei den Albanern in Geschichte und Gegenwart" ” . In Religion und Gesellschaft in Südosteuropa , Edited by: Döpman , Hans-Dieter . 159 – 160 . Munich : Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft .
  • Bartl , Peter . 1995 . Albanien , 51 – 52 . Regensburg and Munich : Verlag Friedrich Pustet & SUdosteuropa Gesellschaft . As the center of the Catholic Church was beyond the reach of the Ottoman Empire and mostly hostile to the Empire, the Catholic Church was mostly viewed with suspicion. The Catholic Church was occasionally placed in the Armenian millet for administrative purposes and received some privileges through the capitulations signed by the declining Ottoman Empire with France;
  • Veinstein . "Les provinces balkaniques (1606-1774)" ” . 318 – 319 .
  • Bartl . Albanien 53 Both the Orthodox and the Catholic Church suffered from a lack of priests. Most of the few priests were illiterate and often too old to perform the mass
  • Marmullaku , Ramadan . 1975 . Albania and the Albanians , 16 London : C. Hurst & Co. .
  • Jelavich , Barbara . 1983 . History of the Balkans. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries , 80 – 81 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press .
  • Bata . "Das Verhältnis von Christentum und Islam bei den Albanern in Geschichte und Gegenwart" ” . 159 – 160 .
  • Löhner . "Religiöse Kultur in Albanien" ” . 169
  • Bartl . Albanien 54 – 55 .
  • Arnakis . "The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 141
  • Shaw , Stanford J. 1976 . History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. I, Empire of the Gaz». The Rise and Decline of the Ottoman Empire, 1280-1808 , Vol. I , 154 – 155 . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press .
  • Arnakis . "The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 124 – 126 .
  • Marmullaku . Albania and the Albanians 16
  • Löhner . "Religiöse Kultur in Albanien" ” . 168
  • Bâta . "Das Verhältnis von Christentum und Islam bei den Albanern in Geschichte und Gegenwart" ” . 160
  • Nords . Islam in the Balkans 48
  • Vickers , Miranda . 1995 . The Albanians. A Modern History , 16 – 17 . London and New York : I. B. Tauris .
  • Norris . Islam in the Balkans 62 – 63 . Norris points out that the comparison of Albanians to eagles can be seen as a pun involving the similarity of the Albanian words for "Albania" (Shqipe'ria) and "eagle" (shqipe). It should also be borne in mind that the flag of Skenderbeg in the fifteenth century already carried a double-headed eagle as the symbol of Albanians
  • Bartl . Albanien 90 – 91 . Writing in Albanian with the Latin alphabet began substantially earlier, with the first book published in 1555. These books were, however, mostly published in Italy
  • Marmullaku . Albania and the Albanians 17
  • Bartl . Albanien 77 – 82 .
  • Norris . Is lam in the Balkans 240 – 241 .
  • Marmullaku . Albania and the Albanians 19
  • Norris . Islam in the Balkans 237
  • Vickers . The Albanians 15
  • Fine , John V. A. 1975 . The Bosnian Church. A New Interpretation: A Study of the Bosnian Church and Its Place in State and Society from the Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries , Boulder and New York : Columbia University & East European Monographs . The best writings on the Bosnian Church can be found in
  • Steinhoff , Ludwig . 1997 . "Von der Konfession zur Naton: Die Muslime in Bosnien-Herzegowina" ” . In Religion und Gesellschaft in Südosteuropa , Edited by: Döpman , Hans-Dieter . 255 – 256 . Munich : Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft . Both Croatian and Serbian nationalist historiography have claimed the Muslims to be converted Croats or Serbs. On this matter see
  • Friedman , Francine . 1996 . The Bosnian Muslims. Denial of a Nation , 20 – 21 . Boulder : Westview . A prominent example is the Croatian President and historian Franjo Tudjman: "An objective examination of the numerical composition of the population of Bosnia and Hercegovina cannot ignore that the majority of the Moslems is in its ethnic character and speech incontrovertibly of Croatian origin."
  • Tudjman , Franjo . 1981 . Nationalism in Contemporary Europe , 113 – 114 . Boulder and New York : Columbia University & East European Monographs .
  • Fine . The Bosnian Church 387
  • Baue . "Der Islam und seine geschichtliche Bedeutung" ” . 74
  • Malcolm , Noel . 1994 . Bosnia. A Short History , 83 – 84 . London : New York University Press .
  • Ibid., pp. 86-87.
  • Imamovic , Mustafa . 1997 . Historija Bo?nijaka , 290 – 304 . Sarajevo : Preporod .
  • Fine , John V. A. 1998 . "The Historical Roots of Bosnia's Unique Ethnic Identity" . paper presented at the conference 'The Bosnia Paradigm" . November 18-21 1998 , Sarajevo .
  • Arnakis . “ 'The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 142 – 143 . Obradovié played a pivotal role in promoting enlightenment in Serbia. He conceived the South Slavs as one nation and promoted the Serbian language. He sought to reduce religious differences in order to promote the unity of the South Slavs. Cited in
  • Bosnia , Ottoman and Baue , Smail . 1992 . Das Unbekannte Bosnien. Europas Brücke zur islamischen Welt , Cologne, Weimar, and Vienna : Böhlau Verlag . See, for example, the extensive description of the cultural life in
  • HajdarpaSie , Edin . 1999 . "Glorious Epochs, Ghastly Ages, and the Meanings of History: Views on Ottoman Bosnia" ” . unpublished essay; For discussion on the Ottoman heritage see
  • Andrié , Ivo . 1990 . The Development of Spiritual Life in Bosnia under the Influence of Turkish Rule , 67 Durham , NC : Duke University Press . and London
  • Ibid., p. 69.
  • Todorova , Maria . 1996 . "The Ottoman Legacy in the Balkans" ” . In Imperial Legacy. The Ottoman Imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East , Edited by: Brown , L. Carl . 49 – 50 . New York : Columbia University Press . The term "voluntary" is not to claim that the population decided to convert purely for their own advantage. The situation was frequently such that the population had only little reason to remain Christian, in the light of economic, social, and spiritual hardship
  • Härtet , Hans-Joachim . 1993 . "Die muslimische Minorität in Bulgarien" ” . In Der ruhelose Balkan , Edited by: Weithmann , Michael . 209 Munich : DTV .
  • Sugar . Southeastern Europe 44
  • Ibid., pp. 50-51.
  • Veinstein . "Les provinces balkaniques (1606-1774)" ” . 315 – 321 . On the role of the Balkan Christian populations in the wars between European powers and the Ottoman Empire, see
  • Andrié . The Development of Spiritual Life in Bosnia 19
  • Majer . "Gesellschaftliche und religöse Auswirkungen der Osmanenzeit in Südosteuropa" ” . 119
  • Balic . Das Unbekannte Bosnien. Europas Brücke zur islamischen Welt 101
  • Majer . "Gesellschaftliche und religöse Auswirkungen der Osmanenzeit in Südosteuropa" ” . 128
  • Ibid., p. 129.
  • Sugar . Southeastern Europe 55
  • Arnakis . “ 'The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 124
  • Baue . "Der Islam und seine geschichtliche Bedeutung für Südosteuropa" ” . 73
  • Ibid.
  • Arnakis . “ 'The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 121 Arnakis points to the lack of empirical evidence of a link between conversion and devsMrme. He notes, however, that large-scale conversions took place in rural areas, since the urban commercial centers, where few conversions took place, were mostly exempted from the child levy. Large rural areas were also not affected and an explanation of the difference between urban and rural conversion would necessitate taking into account a multitude of factors, well beyond the devshirme (i.e. ethnic composition, penetration of Christian churches, role of folk churches)
  • Andric . The Development of Spiritual Life in Bosnia 20 – 21 .
  • Mahmutagié , Amra . 1998 . "Some Considerations on the Process of the Acceptance of Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina" . paper presented at the conference "The Bosnia Paradigm" . November 18-21 1998 , Sarajevo .
  • Baue . "Der Islam und seine geschichtliche Bedeutung für Südosteuropa" ” . 73
  • Arnakis . "The Role of Religion in the Development of Balkan Nationalism" ” . 123 Ibid. George G. Arnakis on the other hand concludes that these cases of cross-religious cooperation of children divided through the devshirme are rare. The Sokolovici are for him the exception rather than the rule
  • Ibid., p. 116.
  • Todorova . "The Ottoman Legacy in the Balkans" ” . 46

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