How ancient are the divisions among the peoples inhabiting the Balkans?
It is undeniable that the Balkan region has been the scene of a great deal of bloodshed, provoked by religious, ethnocultural, political, and national divisions among the groups living there. But when one projects what are really the results of 19th and 20th century nationalist struggles onto the distant past, one runs the risk of seriously distorting Balkan history. Prior to that time, most Balkan peoples were only dimly aware of their national identity, if at all. There were undoubtedly significant religious distinctions between Muslims and Christians, and between Roman Catholics and Orthodox believers, for example. Linguistic and cultural divisions could also be found, especially in the countryside. But in most rural areas of the Balkans the peasantry was so ethnically mixed that it was a very difficult task to draw national boundaries dividing the new states that came into being after the First World War. In the great cities of the Balkans, places like Salonica (now Thessaloniki),
