Mention Balkan issue become one of …

Further, the Balkan area became a place of big power rivalry. The European powers were jealous of each other's trade , colonies, naval and military. The ambition to conquest led to wars in the region and finally the First World War. The Balkan states were very jealous of each other.

(i) The spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive. (ii) The Balkan area became an area of intense conflict as different Slavic nationalities struggled for their independence.

The Balkan was a region with diversity, ethnicity and geographical variation, which comprises of following countries – modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia,and Montenegro. Its inhabitants were known as Slavs. The Balkan issue become one of the major factors responsible for the First World War. Some of the examples were –

• Many parts of the Balkan were under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The idea of romantic nationalism and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire intensified the situation, even though Ottoman empire tried to strengthen its position by introducing reforms but didn’t succeed, so the Balkan people demanded independence and political rights. They also proved that they were always free but later subjugated by foreign powers.

• In Balkan, Slavic Nationalities were in search of their identity and independence made the situation worse. The Balkan states wanted to capture more territories no matter how; this made Balkans a big power rivalry.

• During this time, the European powers conflicted on trade, colonies, naval and military. Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary wanted to establish their power in Balkan.

All these were the examples that made Balkan issues as the major factor responsible for the First World War.