This module explores the course of international politics in the Balkans from the First World War through the Second World War and Cold War to the Yugoslav wars of succession.

The aim of this module is to explore the course of international politics in the Balkans from the First World War through the Second World War and Cold War to the Yugoslav wars of succession. It will examine relations between the Balkan states as well as the significance of the region in broader geopolitical contexts. It will offer a broadly chronological survey that will provide historical context for the in-depth analysis of the crises of the 1990s that constitutes the final third of the module.

The module will explore the emergence of the modern nation state and territorial order in the Balkans in the early twentieth century before examining the impact of the First World War and the operation of the Versailles system there. It will then assess the origins, course and consequences of the Second World War and the nature and dynamics of Cold War confrontation in the region. The causes and consequences of the disintegration of Yugoslavia will be analysed in the final third of the module, with case studies on the war between Serbia and Croatia, the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the Macedonian question. Throughout the module attention will be drawn to the politicised nature of historiographical and other commentaries on warfare and violence in the region across the 20th century.