The first volume of this Balkan history covered the main events of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The emphasis was on the national movements leading to the formation of the modern states and the organization of the first independent or autonomous governments. Although the final stages were not completed until after World War I, the major steps toward a national organization and a definition of future goals were taken by the end of the nineteenth century by all of the nationalities except the Albanians. The main issues in the twentieth century were thus to be the completion of territorial unification and internal economic and political development. Problems of great-power interference and rivalry among the nations continued from the previous period.

This volume commences with an introduction designed for those readers whose primary interests lie in the present century, although it is hoped that this factual review of the preceding centuries will also be of interest to those who desire a summary and an overview of the previous volume. The material selected is that which is necessary as a background for the next chapters.

This volume, as well as its predecessor, was prepared as part of a program organized in 1972 by the Joint Committee on Eastern Europe of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council to provide histories of Eastern Europe.