VELIKE SILE I SRPSKO PITANJE U 19.I 20. VEKU
THE GREAT POWERS AND THE SERBIAN QUESTION IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY

Summary/Abstract: The Balkans, as part of the region of southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean and an extremely sensitive and important geo-strategic area, has always been the subject of interest for the great powers, one of the focal points of their rivalry and confrontations in the continuing struggle for power in this part of the world. Hence, these powers have long had a strong influence on the events in this region, and on the fate of the countries occupying it and their inhabitants. The region of the Balkans is characterized by vast ethnic and religious variety and mixture, as well as by political divisions and antagonisms, and by divergence resulting from adherence to different systems of government or by being pan of the interest sphere of one of the great powers. The present situation is the direct consequence of the actions undertaken by the great powers in the past two hundred years i.e., from the time the European powers, Austria and Russia followed by others, began the process of suppressing the control of the weakening Ottoman Empire in Europe. The so-called eastern question was opened, a complex and sensitive issue, which set off a race for supremacy among the European powers and led to many disputes and wars with varying degrees of success for all involved. One of the consequences of the global conditions in this region has been the birth of various national movements formed in different periods by the peoples of the Balkans with the desire of attaining various national ideals and aims in the specific interaction of their own efforts and the actions of the great powers. The result has been the formation of independent Balkan states, weighed down by a heritage of numerous disputes, rivalries, and animosity not only among the Balkan nations but also between the great powers. Despite the fact that the eastern question was basically resolved by the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, certain aspects of this issue have survived to the present day. The Serb people, present in both the central and the western parts of this region, living side by side and intermixing with many other ethnic groups yet retaining a strong tradition of statehood, have, like the other Balkan nations, been exposed to the influence of powerful external factors. The interaction between these factors and those born within the Serb nation has determined the historical fate of this people. The course ultimately taken and the wisdom of the decisions has mostly depended on the ability of the Serb ruling political elite to harmonize the interests of their people and country to the interests and intentions of the leading world factors at any period in Serb history.

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