The Ottomans and the Balkans: A Discussion of Historiography

This discussion of historiography concerning the Ottoman Empire should be viewed in the context of the discipline's self-examination, which has been encouraged by recent conflicts in south-eastern Europe and the Middle East. The contributors analyze the fashion in which the historiographies established in various national states have viewed the Ottoman Empire and its legacy. At the same time they discuss the links of 20th-century historiography with the rich historical tradition of the Ottoman Empire itself, both in its metropolitan and its provincial forms. The struggle against anachronisms born from the nationalist paradigm in history doubtless constitutes the most important common feature of these otherwise very diverse studies. Throughout, the contributors have distanced themselves from the nostalgia for "the past greatness" of certain rulers of yore, and aimed for a detached, source-based assessment of historical developments. They have made a conscious effort to debunk ancient myths, although, human weakness being what it is, their successors probably will accuse them of being responsible for new myths in their turn.