305

Revol ut i onar y Communi st "; he may wel l , as Rose mai nt ai ns, have expect ed
t hat t he di ct at or shi p of t he Equal s woul d soon gi ve way t o some combi nat i on
of r epr esent at i ve gover nment and di r ect popul ar cont r ol ; but he can onl y be
cal l ed a democr at i f t hat t er mi s equat ed, as Rose consi st ent l y equat es i t ,
wi t h r evol ut i on and t he ser ene accept ance, at l east on paper , of t he
necessi t y of el i mi nat i ng al l opposi t i on by whol esal e sl aught er . Even gr ant ed
t hat t he mat t er was never put t o t he t est , i t i s di f f i cul t t o concur wi t h Rose' s
concl usi on t hat when Babeuf di ed he had done al l t hat "one man coul d do t o
vi ndi cat e t he i deal s of equal i t y and f r eedom. ' '
Car l et on Uni ver si t y M. J . Sydenham
The Est abl i shment of t he Bal kan Nat i onal St at es, 1804- 1920, by
Char l es and Bar bar a J el avi ch. Vol . vi i i of A Hi st or y of East Cent r al
Eur ope, edi t ed by Pet er F. Sugar and Donal d W. Tr eadgol d.
Uni ver si t y of Washi ngt on Pr ess, Seat t l e and London, 1978. xv, 344
pp. $18. 95
Thi s i s t he ei ght h of el even vol umes pr oj ect ed f or t he Uni ver si t y of
Washi ngt on' s ser i es on t he Hi st or y of East Cent r al Eur ope whi ch, accor di ng
t o t he dust cover , ai ms t o at t r act "t he schol ar who i s not a speci al i st " i n t he
ar ea under consi der at i on as wel l as "the st udent who i s consi der i ng such
speci al i z at i on. " These ai ms ar e by no means as concor dant as t hey sound,
and l east of al l t o anyone chal l enged t o wr i t e such a book; but i f t he ot her
vol umes mat ch t hi s one, especi al l y or gani zat i onal l y, t he compl et ed set wi l l be
a val uabl e r esour ce f or any uni ver si t y or l ar ge publ i c l i br ar y.
The ext r emel y compl ex char act er of Bal kan soci et y et hni cal l y,
r el i gi ousl y, l i ngui st i cal l y, hi st or i cal l y i s commemor at ed gast r onomi cal l y i n
t hat sal ad of many i ngr edi ent s, vi gor ousl y mi xed, known as a macdoi ne.
Hi st or i ans of t he ni net eent h cent ur y movement s l eadi ng t o t he i ndepen-
dence, i n t ur n, of sever al Bal kan nat i ons ar e t hus r ecount i ng a st or y of
ext r i cat i on as wel l as sel f - r eal i zat i on. But t he hi st or i ans t hemsel ves ar e
changi ng, and i n pl ace of t hat ear l i er vi si on of Bal kan nat i on- bui l di ng as an
east Eur opean ext ensi on of a west Eur opan l i ber al r esur gence, have i n t he
l ast t wo or t hr ee decades become mor e sensi t i ve t o t he i mpact of t he
"col oni al exper i ence" whi ch Bal kan peopl es shar ed f or cent ur i es under
Ot t oman r ul e; and mor e awar e al so of t he ways i n whi ch Bal kan nat i ons have
l ear ned f r omone anot her , about t he ver y t echni ques of nat i onal r evi t al i z a-
t i on, i f not hi ng el se.
The J el avi ch vol ume, t hough dedi cat ed t o a consi der at i on of t he
emer gence of t he separ at e Bal kan nat i ons, br i ngs out ver y wel l t he shar ed
exper i ences, t he cul t ur al i nt er dependence as wel l as i ndependence, t he
mut ual i nst r uct i on as wel l as t he r i val r i es. Expl anat i on f or t hi s success i s
chi ef l y t o be f ound i n t he i nt el l i gent pr e- pl anni ng of chapt er st r uct ur e and
cont ent bef or e t he act ual wr i t i ng began. Begi nner s i n Bal kan hi st or y
f r equent l y put down sur vey- vol umes f or t he same r eason whi ch l eads ot her s
t o put down Russi an novel s t oo many char act er s wi t h i mpossi bl e names,
t oo many di gr essi ons whi ch onl y t he commi t t ed sur vi ve. Thi s book shoul d
encour age t he "st udent who i s consi der i ng a Bal kan speci al i z at i on. " I t i s
cl ear . I t never abandons t he mai n nar r at i ve l i ne. I t i s wel l - pr opor t i oned and
gener al l y r el i abl e. The wr i t i ng i s pl ai n, at moment s embar r assed, but
st udent s do not expect ver ve or el egance f r omhi st or i ans, whi ch i s as wel l .
Reader s wi t h mor e f ami l i ar i t y wi t h t he ar ea, such as t hat "schol ar who i s
306
not a speci al i st " who never t hel ess qui ckl y get s t he f eel of a book, may wel l
not i ce t wo char act er i st i cs i n t hi s vol ume. Fi r st , i t gr ows qui t e not abl y i n
i nt er est as wel l as aut hor i t y af t er t he openi ng of t he cr i si s of 1876. Secondl y,
t he aut hor s ar e f ar mor e at ease wi t h t he di pl omacy of Russi a t han t hat of t he
ot her bi g power s.
Gr eece seems t o come of f par t i cul ar l y badl y, especi al l y i n t he ear l i est
chapt er s. Di d t hi s r evi ewer i magi ne t he bor edomof t he aut hor s wi t h t he
of t - t ol d t al e of Gr eek i ndependence? The weaknesses of t hei r account ar e
cer t ai nl y not i magi nar y, and t he i mpl ausi bi l i t i es of t he cul t ur al expl anat i on f or
t he r evol t ar e st i l l gi ven pr ecedence over t he economi c, whi ch by now has an
accr et i on of good, chi ef l y per i odi cal , l i t er at ur e t o be mi ned. The mul t i pl i ci t y
of Gr eek l eader s, as agai nst t he char i smat i c one or t wo i n ot her Bal kan
si t uat i ons, poses an i mpor t ant quest i on, wor t h consi der at i on, about t he
mat ur i t y of t he Gr eek upr i si ng. The dat a on f or ei gn i nt er vent i on i s i n pl aces
ar chai c or si mpl y wr ong ( phi l hel l eni smas a pr opel l ant of Br i t i sh pol i cymaker s
no l onger hol ds up) and at moment s di st ur bi ngl y so; t hus, one r ubs one' s
eyes ( p. 47) i n comi ng acr oss a Rober t Cast l er eagh1 descr i bed as a Br i t i sh
pr i me- mi ni st er .
Ser bi a and Bul gar i a r ecei ve t he most car ef ul and r eadabl e t r eat ment ,
t hough Rumani a i s not f ar behi nd. As ment i oned, t he i nsi ght s i nt o Russi an
i nt er vent i oni smhave much t o do wi t h t hi s, and t he cul t ur al l i nkages bet ween
St . Pet er sbur g and t he Bal kan capi t al s ar e convi nci ngl y del i neat ed. Thus,
one of t he most successf ul passages t r eat s of t he di si l l usi onment and di smay
i n Bel gr ade, Buchar est and At hens when t he San St ef ano ar r angement s
became publ i c: st udent s usual l y hear onl y of t he hood- wi nki ng of Aust r i a.
Compar e wi t h t hi s t he near negl ect of Fr ench and Br i t i sh i nt er est s, t he
under pl ayi ng of t he r esi dual l oyal t y t o t he Tur ks, and a l ack of st r ess on
Vi enna' s chr oni c f ear s of Aust r o- Hungar i an di ssol ut i on, and one sees why,
never t hel ess, t he r eal i t y of Russi an domi nance i s over pl ayed.
I f st udent s ar e t o be won over by l i vel y di scussi on as wel l as t he i nher ent
i nt er est of t he subj ect mat t er , per haps t he aut hor s shoul d al so have pi cked
up some negl ect ed oppor t uni t i es i n t hei r own st at ement s. The backgr ound
chapt er s on t he Ot t oman r egi me ( chapt er s 1, 7) asser t r at her t han
demonst r at e or di scuss t he i dea t hat "a st r onger cur r ent sought t he
abandonment of t he ol d ways" i n I st anbul ; and i s i t r eal l y t r ue t hat t he
r ef or mer s squar ed t he ci r cl e "combi ni ng pr ogr essi ve i deas wi t h an emphasi s
on I sl ami c t r adi t i ons"? I n t hese days of Pahl avi exi l e, and wi t h a t r i umphant
mol l ah cal l i ng f or "I sl amand democr acy" i n I r an, t he compat i bi l i t y of East
and West has per enni al i nt er est . Al so, t he Br audel i an possi bi l i t i es of Bal kan
hi st or y al l ow some const r uct i ve pl ayi ng wi t h some new f ashi ons i n t hi nki ng:
besi des cast i gat i ng t he obscur ant i smof t he Gr eek chur ch i n Bul gar i a, what
of t he r ol e of t he Gr eek mer chant as a pur veyor of west er n i deol ogy? Or
pol i t i cal act i vi st s who wer e soci al r evol ut i onar i es?
Thi s di l at i on on a f ew f l aws i n a good book shoul d not be mi sunder st ood. I t
i s because a wor k of r ef er ence shoul d be as f r ee as possi bl e f r omsmal l
er r or s t hat one wi shes, f or i nst ance, t o see cor r ect i ons made t o t he second
map on p. 154, and t o see t he bi bl i ogr aphy mor e di scr i mi nat i ngl y compi l ed.
On Aust r i a al one, r eader s woul d sur el y savour r ecent wor k by Schr oeder ,
and ol der cl assi cs by Andr assy and G. P. Gooch. Per cont r a, some of t he
ver y r ecent t i t l es on ot her pl aces and t opi cs have been r ecei ved wi t h al most
unpr ecedent ed condemnat i on i n r evi ews. Shoul d not a bi bl i ogr aphi cal essay say so? Si mon Fr aser Uni ver si t y Al an Cunni ngham