96997 - ODI ET AMO: INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

During classes students are expected to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the most relevant dynamics that alternatively marked the relations among the countries of South-East Europe. Starting from the end of the 18th century, this journey will come across the 19th and 20th centuries up to nowadays. Students are particularly expected to grasp the geopolitical evolution of integration and disintegration in State changes, national identities, economic and social developments. They will be able, at the end of the course, to compare analytically the variety of integrative projects that intellectuals and policy makers have elaborated locally or as outsiders, as well as the reasons of their failure and the potential of the plans shared between 1840 and 1870, in 1913, with the Balkan conferences, during WWII, with the Balkan pact, the multilateral Balkan cooperation, the variety of transnational organizations operating between the two millennia up to the Mini Schengen agreement.

Contenuti

It is a widespread belief (if not a bias) that the modern history of South-East Europe (or the Balkans) is marked by a predominant exclusive nationalism that makes impossible to stabilize the peninsula and guarantee peace and economic growth.

The aim of this course is to challenge this approach by analysing alternative policies that did play a crucial role in increasing the dialogical development of the events.

A specific focus will be centred on the federal or confederal options that were outlined or even politically pursued in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, sometimes autonomously in the region, sometimes promoted by external Great Powers. Therefore, students will be acquainted with often unexplored dynamics that suggested commonwealth or unions. Pursued by intellectuals increasingly concerned about the impact that divisive nationalisms might have on the geopolitical arrangements of the region, the integrative ideas became a substantial goal to be achieved for a variety of policy makers, either promoting liberal, or peasant and socialist ideologies.

Consequently, the course will explore the most relevant options elaborated by local or international scholars as well as visionary projects, which have been reinforced by the Italian and German unification, as well as by the prospect of European integration since Briand and Stresemann submitted their ideas to the League of Nations.

As a result, student will learn the relevance of alternative options that historically existed, the reasons of success and failure of federal perspective, the most successful examples of them were the establishment of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia in the 20^th century. Paradoxically, even after their collapse in the 1990s, particularly in the Balkan case, the ideas of reconciliation and reintegration are still recurrent, despite projects aimed to implement further the fragmentation of the region.

Since the topic of this course is basically unpopular in the local and international literature, the sources are mostly fragmented and in different languages. Students will be therefore encouraged to work in teams and interact actively with the instructor whose lectures aim to bridge the gaps existing in the present historical and political narratives.

To these ends, the course will look at a number of key methodological approaches strengthening the interdisciplinary dimensions, while students will be invited to read, when possible, original documents and excerpts from article specific studies in order to prepare themselves for presentations.

Testi/Bibliografia

ODI ET AMO. INTEGRATION AND DISINTEGRATION IN SEE

Exam's program:

Compulsory reading list:

Compulsory readings:

John R. Lampe, Balkans into Southeastern Europe, Palgrave Macmillan,New York, 2006.

Stefano Bianchini, Relations between East-European Countries: the Balkan federation, 1942-1949), in Antonio Varsori and Elena Calandri (Eds.), The Failure of Peace in Europe, 1943-1948, Palgrave, London, 2002, pp. 197-210.

Loukianos Hassiotis, The ideal of Balkan Unity from a European perspective 1789-1945, CEEOL, 2010

Roumen Genov, Federalism in the Balkans: Projects and Realities, “Codrul Cosminului”, XX, n. 2, 2014, pp. 391-412.

Together with:

All the documents selected and discussed during lectures

List of Documents:

1. Vladislav Sotirović, The Idea of a Greater (United) Croatia by Pavao Ritter Vitezović: An Early-Modern Model of the National Identity and Creation of the National State of the Croato-Slavs (17^th-18^th centuries).
2. Dositej Obradović, Letter to Haralampije (1783).
3. New Constitution of the government of Poland (1791).
4. Rigas Velestinlis, Revolutionary proclamations. The new political Constitution of the inhabitants of Rumeli, Asia Minor, the Archipelago, Moldavia and Wallachia (1797) from Richard Clogg, The movement for Greek independence, MacMillan, London, 1976.
5. Lajos Kossuth, Proposal. Concerning the future political establishment of Hungary, in view of solving the national question (1859).
6. László Csorba, Kossuth on the new future of Central Europe, CEEOL, 2002.
7. Ilija Garašanin, The Draft (1844).
8. Mihailo Polit-Desančić, Konfederacija (Excerpts from Istočno Pitanje i Njegovo Organsko Rešenje), 1862.
9. Project to unite the Bulgarians and Serbs (1867)
10. Blagovest Nyagulov, Ideas of federation and personal Union with regard to Bulgaria and Romania, CEEOL, 2012.
11. Franjo Rački, Yugoslavism (1860).
12. Ante Starčević, The Slavoserbs and the Vlach question (from Pasmina slavosrbska po Hrvatskoj, Zagreb, 1876), described by Nevenko Bartulin, The racial idea in the Independent State of Croatia, Brill, Leiden, 2014.
13. Miroslav Došen, Projects for the federation of South East Europe in the 19^th century, CEEOL, 2006.
14. Giuseppe Mazzini, International Policy, II, (1871).
15. Južnoslovenski program Narodne Stranke iz 1874godine, from Petar Korunić, Jugoslavizam i federalizam u hrvatskom nacionalnom preporodu 1835-1875, Zagreb, 1989.
16. Ivan Cankar, The Slovenes and the Yugoslavs (1913).
17. František Palacký, the Idea of the Austrian State (1865).
18. Karl Renner, State and nation. To the Austrian national question (1899)
19. Aurel Popovici, The United States of Greater Austria. Political studies about the solution of the national questions and legal crisis in Austria-Hungary (1906).
20. Victor Neumann, Federalism and Nationalism in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy: Aurel C. Popovici’s theory, CEEOL, 2003.
21. James Robertson, Imagining the Balkans as a Space of Revolution. The Federalist vision of Serbian Socialism 1870-1914, CEEOL, 2017.
22. L.S. Stavrianos, The Balkan federation movement: A neglected aspect, Oxford journals, 1942.
23. The project of Dimitrija Čupovski to establish a Balkan federal Democratic Republic (1917)
24. The Corfu declaration (1917).
25. Le Pacte de Rome (1918).
26. Tomás G. Masaryk, The new Europe (1918).
27. Stjepan Radić, Speech at the night assembly of the National Council on 24 November 1918 (1920).
28. Josip Vilfan, The speech in the Italian Parliament (1921).
29. Dimitar Mihalchev, Is unitary and integral Yugoslavia possible? (1932).
30. Nikola Zečević, The Russian Revolution and its impact on the idea of Balkan Union (1918-1933): National vs. international, Trames, 3/2019.
31. Józef Piłsudski, Address delivered in Vilnius, 20 April 1922 and Michał Römer, Answer to Józef Piłsudski (unpublished until 1989).
32. Ziya Gökalp, What is Turkism? (1923).
33. The 27th universal congress of Peace (The foundations of the Balkan Union) (1929) from Robert Joseph Kerner and Harry Nicholas Howard, The Balkan conferences and the Balkan Entente 1930-1935, U. of California Press, 1936.
34. Balkan Conferences. Two Documents 1930-1934.
35. Christine Galitzi, The Balkan federation, SAFE, 1933.
36. Ann Lubotskaya, Greece and the idea of the Balkan Union according to the materials of magazine “Les Balkans”, HAOL, 11/2006.
37. Pashkal Milo, Albania and the Balkan Entente, Balkan Studies, 1/1998.
38. Teoman Ertuğrul Tulun, 1934 Pact of Balkan Entente. The Precursor of Balkan/Southeast Europe cooperation, Analysis, 2020
39. The Yugoslav-Greek Union Agreement, 15.1.1942.
40. Stevan K. Pavlowich, The Balkan Union: an Instance in the Postwar Plans of Small Countries.
41. The Polish-Czechoslovak agreement of 11.11.1940.
42. The Polish-Czechoslovak Confederal Agreement, 23. 1.1942.
43. Milan Hodža, Federation in Central Europe (1942).
44. Piotr S. Wandycz, Recent traditions of the Quest for Unity. Attempted Polish-Czechoslovak Confederation 1940-1942, Bruges, 1970 (II part).
45. Josip Broz Tito, National Question in Yugoslavia in the light of the Liberation War (1942).
46. The Yugoslav-Bulgarian Agreement in Varna, 27.11.1947.
47. Piotr S. Wandycz, Recent traditions of the Quest for Unity. Attempted Yugoslav-Bulgarian Confederations 1940-1948, Bruges, 1970 (part I).
48. The Balkan Pact – Documents 1953-54 English
49. The Balkan Consultative Assembly 1955.
50. Stefano Bianchini, Redesigning the Balkan federation 1953-1955.
51. Raif Dizdarević, The Balkan initiative and the mortgage of the past (1987)
52. Treaty between Hungary and Romania (1996) Excerpts.
53. The Dayton Agreement – Excerpts, 1995.
54. The Ohrid Framework agreement (2001) Excerpts.
55. Valerie Perry, The Pact of Stability in Europe; fulfilled, failed or forgotten?, SAGE, 1999.
56. Non paper with map, 2021.
57. Open Balkan Statements and the EU (2021).

Metodi didattici

Methodologically, classes are organized interactively. Regular lessons include discussions on the topic of the day and students' acquisition of transversal skills. In particular, students are expected to organize themselves in team-works and make oral presentations of the selected documents with the support of readings, according to the instructions received during classes. Social responsibility toward classmates, ability in addressing the audience, direct focus on the key issues and strictly respect of deadlines are among crucial components of the lessons guided by the Professor. His lesson explanations will help students to understand the historical context and receive additional interpretative inputs aimed to increase their critical thinking.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Oral exam. Students are expected to analyze and discuss in details the topics that have been developed during classes with appropriate references to the sources offered by the readings. The ability of comparing theoretical approaches and policies implementation will be highly appreciated.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

PowerPoint and overhead projector

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Stefano Bianchini