The Centenary of the Balkan Wars (1912-1913):Contested Stances
Middle East Technical University
Department of International Relations, Ankara-Turkey
Date: 23-24 May 2013
Conference Topic Description
As its centenary will take place in 2012-13, the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 is very important for world history and international relations, owing to its results at the beginning of the 20th century and its effects transmitted to the beginning of the 21st century. Not surprisingly, it is still a controversial issue.
Aims of the Conference
The Balkan Wars of 1912-13 have created significant migration, population and land distribution problems and have contributed to the formation of conflicting stances, even prevailing in the region today. The primary objective of the conference is to foster an academic debate on the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, shedding light on the connection between these factors with the conflicting attitudes in the region. An important number of publications and records on the subject in question suggest that the conflicting stances are mainly due to local causes. Given the fact that the most important deficiency here is the lack of proper linkage to the structural causes of the Balkan Wars that stem from the nature of the international system, the second objective of the conference is, thus, to explore the systemic, regional and national dynamics and their connections in the creation and reproduction of contested stances. The third objective of the conference is to enhance cooperation among scholars from the Balkan region and the world. Finally, it is hoped that the debate at the conference may contribute to increase in the level of analytical knowledge in the formation of regional and international actors policies towards the region.
Themes of the conference are as follows:
-National historiographies on the Balkan Wars of 1912-13
-Inward and outward migrations
-Diplomacy, formation of alliances, power distribution
-War and peace strategies
-Competitive nationalisms, irredentist claims
-Reports of NGOs on the Balkan Wars, press coverage of the Balkan Wars
-International law and the Balkan Wars
-International politics and foreign policy
-The international order at the beginning of the 20th century
-Systemic, regional and national dynamics
-Theoretical debates on the Balkan Wars
-Photographs of the Balkan Wars
-Other important aspects of the Balkan Wars
Paper Abstracts/Panel Proposals
A short abstract of an individually proposed paper (no more than 300 words) or a panel of maximum four
proposed papers (either in English or Turkish) should be sent to Mustafa Türkeş, balkconf@metu.edu.tr until 30 April 2012.
For important dates, see the Call for Papers Eng.
