By Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirovic
Romantic nationalism and the Balkans
In the 19й century, Europe witnessed the rise of romantic nationalism, which created contemporary nations.[1] Many European states, based on the concept of ethnicity (common origin, culture, history, language, and tradition), were founded at the time, including the people living in the territories of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, and Romania. However, a number of contemporary regional nations remained at that time without their national states like Slovenians, Croatians, Macedonians, and Albanians. Some of these nations temporarily solved in the 20й century their national aspirations via common states, like Croats, Slovenians, and Macedonians (within several types of Yugoslav political entities).[2]