The Balkans and the Balkan War

The Balkan wars: 1912-13 was a series of articles published by Leon Trotsky in Russian newspaper “Kievskaja mysl” (Russian: Киевская мысль) during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913. In USSR Trotsky's war correspondence was republished as the sixth volume of his collected works under the title “The Balkans and the Balkan War”. In 1993, in connection with the Yugoslav wars, it was reissued as an important source on the history of the Balkan Peninsula.

The book addresses the complex links between war and memory. It offers a detailed analysis of the correspondence, arguing for its present relevance in several aspects, beyond its polemical brilliance: firstly, its detailed information and personal evaluation of the socialist movement in the Balkans; secondly, its testimonies of wounded officers, soldiers, and prisoners of war, reproduced in extension, in combination with interviews with politicians, serve as a rarely preserved primary source.

On-the-spot analysis of national and social conflicts in the Balkans, written 80 years ago, sheds light on the conflicts shaking these countries today.