Papers by Balázs Balatoni
Aetas 38. évf. 1. sz., 2023
KORSZAKOKRÓL KORSZERŰEN. A 2022. április 29/30-án megrendezett Modernkortörténeti Doktorandusz Konferencia tanulmányai I., 2023
James David Bourchier a The Times balkáni tudósítójának leírása szerint a kortársak az alábbiakat... more James David Bourchier a The Times balkáni tudósítójának leírása szerint a kortársak az alábbiakat értették a korszakban Macedónia területe alatt: "[...] általában ezt a nevet Európai Törökország azon részének tulajdonítják, amelyet északról a Kara Dag [ma: Skopska Crna Goraa szerző] hegylánc és a bolgár határ, keleten a Meszta folyó, délen az Égei-tenger és Görögország határa, és nyugaton az a nem jól meghatározható vonal [határol], amely egybevág a Šar (az antik Scardus), a Grammus és a Pindosz hegység láncaival [...]", illetve az említett három oszmán közigazgatási egység területét együttvéve. J.[ames] D.[avid] B.[ourchier]: Macedonia. In: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Österreichische Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaften, 2023
The Balkan Committee was founded in London in 1902 in response to growing British concerns ab... more The Balkan Committee was founded in London in 1902 in response to growing British concerns about unrest in the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Its key objective was to monitor local events and inform the British public about regional developments. The Committee claimed to be a hub of valid, reliable, and expertly processed knowledge about the region. In this paper I attempt to reconstruct how the members of the Balkan Committee interpreted political developments in Southeast Europe and how they circulated knowledge through various British social organisations. I show that the knowledge disseminated by the Balkan Committee was a resource that fuelled and mobilised British public opinion and political and economic interest in the region. At the same time, the efforts of the Committee members resonated with their historical and social anxieties: the better they understood the Balkans, the better the chances of avoiding a European conflagration in particular, and the easier they would be able to facilitate the progress of the local population in general. I argue that the Balkan Committee framed the information and facts at their disposal in accordance with British travel writing traditions, which fundamentally influenced the way they represented the Balkans.
"Sapere aude". A Szegedi Történészhallgatók Egyesületének Harmadik Konferenciája tanulmánykötete, 2023
Eufória és kiábrándulás: brit nézőpontok az 1908-as ifjútörök forradalom utáni Oszmán Birodalomba... more Eufória és kiábrándulás: brit nézőpontok az 1908-as ifjútörök forradalom utáni Oszmán Birodalomban (1908-1910) Balatoni Balázs From the 1870s onwards, more and more spectators were convinced that the Ottoman Empire was unable to adapt to "the standards of civilization", and therefore, its collapse would be unavoidable. One of the most notable like-minded pressure-group was the Balkan Committee of London at the turn of the 20th century which defined itself against Abdulhamid II's régime. After the 1903 Ilinden Uprising the Committee lobbied for the international control or the autonomy of the Macedonian vilayets of the Ottoman Empire in order to ameliorate the living conditions of the local Christian inhabitants. The Young Turk Revolution, however, fundamentally changed the situation. The Young Turks' aims to cure 'the Sick man of Europe' by constitutionalism and decentralization were considered by some Western observers the best means to stabilize the region in the long run. The Balkan Committee also believed in the new régime's capacity to reform the empire along constitutional and liberal lines. As a consequence, the Balkan Committee established ties with prominent Young Turk leaders. In this article, by relying on archival sources and other relevant contemporary testimonies, I examine the British perception of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of the 1908 revolution, and how the Balkan Committee, serving as an intermediary, attempted to shape Anglo-Ottoman cooperation.
Acta Historica, Tomus CXLVI, 2021
Between Social Reform and the Balkans. The Portrait of Noel Buxton (1869–1948). In the last decad... more Between Social Reform and the Balkans. The Portrait of Noel Buxton (1869–1948). In the last decades there has been a growing body of literature on the Eastern Question which emphasize the importance of those networks and pressure groups which were deeply involved in the political, cultural or economic aspects of the Eastern Question. The Balkan
Committee was one of these groups at the turn of the 20th century. The founder of the organization, Noel Buxton was a keen supporter of Balkan self-governance and an ardent advocate of social reform in Great Britain. Relying mainly on his personal papers, this article seeks to outline the key motives of Buxton’s life which inspired him to champion the cause of subaltern social classes and nationalities both home and abroad.
Crossroads of the Old Continent. Central and Southeastern Europe in the 19th and 20th century. eds. K. Popek. M. Balogh, K. Szadkowski, A. Ścibior, Kraków: Petrus 2021, 2021
Humanitarian intervention is a relatively new concept in international
relations. Although the or... more Humanitarian intervention is a relatively new concept in international
relations. Although the origins of interventionism can be traced back well in history, its humanitarian aspect had been gradually formulated during the course of the 19th century. In my paper I focus on the ideas and proposals of the London-based Balkan Committee to solve the “Gordian Knot of the Balkans”: the Macedonian Question. In 1903, after the abortive Ilinden Uprising, the European Great Powers concerted to pacify Ottoman Macedonia and to implement reforms in the judiciary and administrative systems, which became known as the Mürzsteg Program. The representatives of the Committee such as its founder Noel Buxton or the well-known journalist at the time, Henry N. Brailsford, suggested international control for Macedonia “by establishing a Government responsible to the Powers.” I argue that their ideas were influenced by the notions of contemporary international law which deeply internalized the period’s European perception of civilizational hierarchies of the world.
Mediterrán Tanulmányok XXVIII., 2019
Ingenia Hungarica II. Tanulmányok a II. Kárpát-medencei Szakkollégiumi Konferencia előadásaiból, 2016
Világtörténet, 2015
The Greek-Canadian historian, Leften Stavrianos once wrote that „it is a curious paradox that so ... more The Greek-Canadian historian, Leften Stavrianos once wrote that „it is a curious paradox that so littleis known of the organization which has played so prominent a role in Balkan affairs from the date of its establishment in 1903 […]”. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the history ofa British pressure-group, the so-called Balkan Committee by examining its activities during the Macedonian Reforms (1903–1908). Ottoman Macedonia, the powder-keg of the Balkans, wasone of the most complex crisis centres of pre-1914 Europe. After the disturbances in 1902–1903 and especially after the Ilinden uprising, the Concert of Europe was about to introduce reforms in the three vilayets of Macedonia (Salonica, Monastir, Kosovo) which became known as the Mürzsteg Programme. Great Britain, as a main supporter of Concert diplomacy, supported Austria–Hungary and Russia, the two most interested Powers in the region, in their undertakings, as order and relative stability was a primary objective for British interests in the Balkans. The Balkan Committee was founded in such international context. Based on different primary sources (archival, parliamentary papers, the press,and published contemporary accounts) the author argues that the Balkan Committee wasan institutionalized heir to the (pro-Bulgarian) Gladstonian liberal heritage. Moreover, theCommittee’s approach to Balkan affairs reflects its radical-liberal members’ political objectivesin domestic politics. The attempt of the Committee to influence decision-making process wasdecisive: the appearance of experts of Balkan affairs with personal experience and knowledge (with different national affi liations) became a crucial factor as it legitimated the Committee’s (and later other pressure-groups’) claim to dissent over foreign policy.
Conference Presentations by Balázs Balatoni
Book Reviews by Balázs Balatoni
Múltunk - Politikatörténeti folyóirat, 2023
This is a review article of Sakiko Kaiga: Britain and the Intellectual Origins of the League of N... more This is a review article of Sakiko Kaiga: Britain and the Intellectual Origins of the League of Nations, 1914-1919. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2021. 224 p.
Aetas, 2018
Review of Eyal Ginio: The Ottoman Culture of Defeat. The Balkan Wars and its Aftermath, Hurst & C... more Review of Eyal Ginio: The Ottoman Culture of Defeat. The Balkan Wars and its Aftermath, Hurst & Co, London 2016.
Books by Balázs Balatoni
Documenta Historica 104., 2022
This collection of documents sheds light on the activities of the Balkan Committee of London in t... more This collection of documents sheds light on the activities of the Balkan Committee of London in the period between the foundation of the group and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.
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Papers by Balázs Balatoni
Committee was one of these groups at the turn of the 20th century. The founder of the organization, Noel Buxton was a keen supporter of Balkan self-governance and an ardent advocate of social reform in Great Britain. Relying mainly on his personal papers, this article seeks to outline the key motives of Buxton’s life which inspired him to champion the cause of subaltern social classes and nationalities both home and abroad.
relations. Although the origins of interventionism can be traced back well in history, its humanitarian aspect had been gradually formulated during the course of the 19th century. In my paper I focus on the ideas and proposals of the London-based Balkan Committee to solve the “Gordian Knot of the Balkans”: the Macedonian Question. In 1903, after the abortive Ilinden Uprising, the European Great Powers concerted to pacify Ottoman Macedonia and to implement reforms in the judiciary and administrative systems, which became known as the Mürzsteg Program. The representatives of the Committee such as its founder Noel Buxton or the well-known journalist at the time, Henry N. Brailsford, suggested international control for Macedonia “by establishing a Government responsible to the Powers.” I argue that their ideas were influenced by the notions of contemporary international law which deeply internalized the period’s European perception of civilizational hierarchies of the world.
Conference Presentations by Balázs Balatoni
Book Reviews by Balázs Balatoni
Books by Balázs Balatoni
Committee was one of these groups at the turn of the 20th century. The founder of the organization, Noel Buxton was a keen supporter of Balkan self-governance and an ardent advocate of social reform in Great Britain. Relying mainly on his personal papers, this article seeks to outline the key motives of Buxton’s life which inspired him to champion the cause of subaltern social classes and nationalities both home and abroad.
relations. Although the origins of interventionism can be traced back well in history, its humanitarian aspect had been gradually formulated during the course of the 19th century. In my paper I focus on the ideas and proposals of the London-based Balkan Committee to solve the “Gordian Knot of the Balkans”: the Macedonian Question. In 1903, after the abortive Ilinden Uprising, the European Great Powers concerted to pacify Ottoman Macedonia and to implement reforms in the judiciary and administrative systems, which became known as the Mürzsteg Program. The representatives of the Committee such as its founder Noel Buxton or the well-known journalist at the time, Henry N. Brailsford, suggested international control for Macedonia “by establishing a Government responsible to the Powers.” I argue that their ideas were influenced by the notions of contemporary international law which deeply internalized the period’s European perception of civilizational hierarchies of the world.