Why are the Balkans poorer than the rest of Europe?

[Misko]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

Why are the Balkan nations poorer than those in the rest of Europe? They were poor even before the Soviets occupied them after World War Two.

starting with Serbian Revolution and First Serbian Uprising in 1804 Balkans has begun the process of liberation from the Ottomans which ending with Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 where Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro cemented their independence

List of wars (I've probably missed some)
Serbian Revolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First Serbian Uprising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Second Serbian Uprising - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-T...828%E2%80%9329)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-T...877%E2%80%9378)

Balkan Wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Less than a year after Second Balkan War, World War I begins

World War I - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balkans...n_(World_War_I)

Originally Posted by Serbian view of history

by WW1 the experienced and battle hardened Serbian army defeated Austria offensives bringing the first victory to the Allies and the great shame to the Austro-Hungarian Empire

however by the late 1915 when Austria, Germany and Bulgaria attacked on two fronts jointly with 600,000 troops Serbia fell within a month and the army began the great retreat through Albania. together with the king, other government officials and the high command were transferred to Corfu, where they recovered and regrouped. and by 1916 Salonika front was established which was broken in 1918 by the great Allied offensive (Franco-Serbian forces) which ended in Armistice with Bulgaria and later Hungary as well as liberation of Serbia and conquering of new territories and later the formation of Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)


Kingdom of Serbia lost 58% of the male population and 25% of all mobilized people it was an absolute disaster for the Serbian demographics

I do not know the figures for Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece and Montenegro

After the first world war there was a period of peace and than WW2
World War II - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WW2 was disastrous for the whole of the Balkans but especially for Yugoslavia which exploded in to "multilayered" war

World War II in Yugoslavia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Axis division of Yugoslavia


Uprising in Yugoslavia, September 1941.


Territories under Partisan control, September 1944


During World War II, Yugoslavia suffered 1,7 million military and civilian casualties and total destruction of infrastructure

Interestingly the golden age of Yugoslavia was actually during Titos communism which thanks to the non-aligned policy was good with both East and West

and managed to industrialized the country rebuild and improve the infrastructure and work to close the gap with the West and overtake some of the previously more developed countries like Czechoslovakia, which was far ahead, thanks to the highly developed industry inherited from Austro-Hungaria

it all came to an end with the death of Tito, the fall of the Berlin Wall the collapse of the economy and the growing nationalism in Yugoslavia

Before the war Yugoslavia was actually developed and in front of the other communist countries but was too ethnically unstable

Yugoslav Wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

After a decade of wars, sanctions hyper inflation, hundreds of thousands of dead and nearly five million displaced what was left of the old industry was only an empty shell, all the capital was sucked out abroad and all the jobs crossed to Poland and Czechoslovakia


simple comparison
today Poland is the twentieth largest economy in the world and Yugoslavia is Six and a half countries

Conclusion
Balkan was poor in the nineteen and early twentieth century because of the constant struggle for independence
There was no time to modernize the country (military was a exemption) and close the gap with with the rest of Europe

After the first World War little progress was made

and after the Second World War great progress was made especially in industry infrastructure and education (Finally majority of the population was educated) country was closing the gap with the West and overtook some of the previously more developed countries

but then a big step backwards where we are today while the rest of Europe was developing, Balkan regressed and not only Yugoslavia but the whole region was affected by the war (very few people are willing to invest in a country that is bordering a war zone )

[Misko]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

No, they weren't. Only Yugoslavia, not Bulgaria and Romania. Not to mention: Greece. But Bulgaria and Romania had been part of the Ottoman Empire.

Most of Yugoslavia half of Romania, and the whole of Greece and Bulgaria were a part of Ottoman Empire

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

And actually, (speaking of Yugoslavia), Slovenia peeled off peacefully, and is doing better then the others. (Sharing a border with Austria and Italy helps.)

Slovenia was the most developed republic (then Croatia, Serbia.....)

Slovenes were "exploiting" rest of Yugoslavia with their advanced industry they also capitalized on other advantages that they had

They were also not as affected by both World Wars and Yugoslav wars (only a short ten day war)

being a small country they quickly transitioned from communism to capitalism

On the other hand Macedonia although similar in size and population and although it broke away without any intervention of the central government was and still is the poorest republic