Description
Book SynopsisWhen the first Balkan War broke out in October 1912, few Ottomans anticipated that it would prove to be a watershed moment for the Empire, ending in ignominy, national catastrophe, and the loss of its remaining provinces in the Balkans. Defeat at the hands of an alliance of Balkan powers comprising Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro set the stage for the Balkan Crisis of 1914 and would serve as a prelude to WWI. It was also a moment of deep national trauma and led to bitter soul-searching, giving rise to a so-called 'Culture of Defeat' in which condemnation and criticism flourished in a way seemingly at odds with the reformist debate which followed the Young Turk Revolution of 1908.Eyal Ginio's clear-eyed and rigorously researched book uncovers the different visual and written products of the defeat, published in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Ladino, with the aim of understanding the experience of defeat - how it was perceived, analysed and commemorated by different sectors in Ottoman society - to show that it is key to understanding the actions of the Ottoman political elite during the subsequent World War and the early decades of the Turkish Republic.
Trade Review'A major achievement.'
'This is the best work I have seen on the Balkan Wars. Eyal Ginio's deep understanding of the causes and sociopolitical consequences of the conflicts make the reading this book an undiluted pleasure. The book is empirically well-crafted and theoretically-guided work of the highest level.' * M. Hakan Yavuz, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Utah *
'Eyal Ginio has masterfully composed a social history of one multi-ethnic society s reactions to an empire s collapsing place in the world. His investigations into hitherto ignored Arabic, Ottoman and Ladino sources are especially insightful, promising to influence how future historians write about the Balkan Wars.' * Isa Blumi, Stockholm University, author of Reinstating the Balkans: Alternative Balkan Modernities, 1800-1912 *
'Eyal Ginio deftly moves between sources penned in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Ladino, and French to expose the wide-ranging impact of the Balkan Wars on Ottoman society. Covering topics as diverse as military and philanthropic mobilisation, children s literature, war refugees, and attempts to shape a 'national economy', Ginio convincingly argues that the Balkan Wars represented the Ottomans first experience with 'total war.'' * Julia Phillips Cohen, author of Becoming Ottomans: Sephardi Jews and Imperial Citizenship in the Modern Era *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Ottoman Society, the Balkan Wars and the Defeat1. The Balkan Wars and Ottoman Societies: The Devastating Shift from Celebration to Defeat2. The Balkan Wars and the Shaping of the Ottoman Culture of Defeat3. Regeneration, Revenge and Regaining Honour4. Children in the Ottoman Literature of Defeat: From War's Victims to the Citizens-Soldiers of the Future5. The Project of National Economy: Excluding the Enemy "Within"6. Commemorating the Victorious Second Balkan War and the Reinstatement of Edirne - Celebrating the Rebirth of the Nation7. The Retracing of Communal Borders in Eastern Thrace: Cisr-i Mustafa Pasa and Dimetoka as Case-Studies8. Conclusion: The Defeat in the Balkan Wars and Its Legacy
