War and Diplomacy

“This book makes an important contribution to the study of the 1877–78 Ottoman-Russian War and the Treaty of Berlin. It argues that the war and the treaty mark a new beginning in the Balkans by promoting a nation-state system at the expense of the centuries-old multiethnic imperial system. By taking an interdisciplinary approach to the socio-political consequences of the war and the treaty, the book sheds new light on the origins of contemporary conflicts in the Balkans.”—Kemal Silay, Indiana University, Bloomington

"A well-rounded book. It goes beyond a diplomatic history, which has been the conventional way of approaching the 1878 treaty. For the first time in the field, different faces of the Treaty of Berlin—namely military, diplomatic, constitutional, economic, and social aspects—are analyzed in a comprehensive compilation.”—Ali Yaycioglu, Stanford University

“This book represents a new understanding about the human ‘cost’ of the nation-state buildings in the Balkans. The volume shows the socio-political implications of the collapse of cosmopolitan Ottoman polity in terms of mass population movements, ethnic and religious cleansings, and radicalization of ethnic identities. It provides new insights about the dark side of modernity and challenges the established views on the Treaty of Berlin.”—Dr. Sukru Elekdag, parliamentarian at the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Turkey’s former ambassador to the United States

“This remarkable volume reconsiders the role of the Treaty of Berlin (1878) as the most important treaty of the late Ottoman Empire. The essays in this work—the first comprehensive volume dealing with the beginning of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire—push the boundaries of the historiography on many important and controversial topics such as the Hamidiye Regiments, the Macedonian question, and the Armenian insurgency during the reign of Abdulhamid II. The essays in this volume, well grounded in new archival research and drawing upon different disciplines, provide a fascinating narrative about pan-Islamism, the political origins of the Balkan nation-state system, and many other important topics. This volume is a must read for anyone who wishes to understand many long-neglected aspects to the legacy of the Treaty of Berlin.”—Uli Schamiloglu, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"This volume offers good food for thought and provides an interesting and informative examination of both the Eastern Question and the history of the late Ottoman Empire. It is a very useful source for scholars as well as an easily understandable acount for the lay public."—Middle East Journal