Balkans from1200’s - today

1. Balkans from1200’s - today The Balkan region is the region formally known today that is located above the Mediterranean Sea towards the North East. It includes regions such as Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, Croatia etc…. Based upon your knowledge of history you may also find this region easy to remember as the region which was engulfed by the Byzantine Empire after the Split of the Holy Roman Empire, which had been formed by Charlemagne. Remember this is just a way to remember the location. Also a key thing to remember is that during the 1300’s the Ottoman Empire began it’s reign over the Balkan Territory.

2. Religious Standpoint • Let’s Start with Bulgaria(I’m from there!). So during Ottoman Rule Bulgaria was all about Orthodox. The sultan who ruled at the time decided that the Ecumenical Patriach of the Constantinople Patriarchate(mouthfull) was going to be the ruler of the Orthodox Church. This led to great unfortunate issues in Bulgaria because a loss of the Bulgarian Culture became apparent, due to the removal of the formidable Bulgarian Church, and also the Greek Clergy dominated during this time period. However, through much struggle the Bulgarian Church was revived which led the way for The Independence of Bulgaria!!! So the establishment of the first Bulgarian State followed not as largely as the Bulgarians had hoped in 1878. Finally that led to the establishment of the Treaty of San Stefano(treaty signed by Russia and Ottoman Empire) in that same year.

3. Religious Standpoint • Next let’s look at the Religious standpoint of Albania. Albania’s primary religion under Ottoman Rule was Islam. Religion proved beneficial for some Muslim believers, because they were able to reach high ranking government positions under Ottoman Rule (Mr. Demott may talk to you about using religion as a political tool , Hint Hint!!). A mystic Islamic sect A.K.A the Bektashi dervishes were the Janissaries(or soldiers in the turkish guard) later followed by just the Bektashi. Bektashism was quite different than the islamic faith it promoted the belief in man as the reflection of the divine. The Bektashi’s became one of the Largest religious groups in Southern Albania.

4. Next Greece R of Persia • The religious standpoint that was occurred in Greece, was very similar to the standpoint of the in Bulgaria under The Eucmenical Patriarch, but the difference comes that it was the Greek Orthodox rather than in Bulgaria the Eastern Orthodox. The Greek Orthodox you can say was the head of all Orthodoxes at that time. Their was also a benefit that the greeks had, it was that it was unneeded for them to become Muslims under Ottoman Rule, unlike the Albanians. However many greeks were secret believers of the Greek Orthodox religion, but for their outward appearance they were “Muslims” because they did want to endure the heavy taxes that were required for the non-believers in the Muslim Faith. So let me ask you to ponder the question did they really have a choice to believe or not?(hmmm). By the way these people that did this were called Crypto-Christians. The worst persecutions of the Christians really occurred under the rule of Selim the I or A.K.A Selim the Grim, who wished to purge all christians from Ottoman Rule completely and he made sure that all Christian Churches were wiped out.

5. Finally In Conclusiooon • The Real key to becoming better in one Area is to remember organize your thoughts and sometimes that is good to do through writing. Don’t forget , many of the Balkan Areas really carried their religious beliefs up until today such as Bulgaria, even today 2010, The Orthodox Church prevails. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed this brief look into the religious views of some countries, and remember don’t wait until the end of the year to study, Just trust me, you’ll see what I mean when it comes ,study now and yes even SPODEK(not that anyone isn’t studying spodekhaha)!!! Good luck I hope you all succeed on your AP World History Exam!!!