Papers by Slobodan G. Markovich
Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe, editor Slobodan G. Markovich, 2025
The paper analyses modern contacts between Serbs/Serbia and Europe, covering all entities that us... more The paper analyses modern contacts between Serbs/Serbia and Europe, covering all entities that used the name Serbia. The efforts of Dositey Obradovich are seen as the turning point in the relations of modern Serbs and Serbia with the European cultural mainstream. A new periodisation of Serbia's Europeanisation is proposed. Special attention is given to the groups that played a prominent role in the Europeanisation process. After the Great War, the climax of the Europeanisation of Serbia within the
Yugoslav kingdom followed. It was accelerated by the endorsement of French intellectuals. A short period of radical Sovietisation (1944 1948) ensued, followed by experiments with a more democratic version of
socialism and the Non-Aligned Movement. Intense cultural Americanisation, which reached its climax in the 1960s and 1970s, westernised Yugoslav urban élites, but a hybrid culture also emerged. In the 1990s, the sanctions imposed by the UN against the regime of Slobodan Miloević isolated the country. Despite that, a European Serbia also existed, and the paper analyses its activities and accomplishments. After 2000, a strongly pro-European Serbia also materialised. The rise of populism since 2014 again distanced Serbia from the European mainstream, but the civic and student movements in the 2020s confirmed once more that the relations of Serbia and Europe have deep roots.
Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe, ed. Slobodan G. Markovich, 2025
The philosophical geography of the Enlightenment placed the area later known as the Balkan Penins... more The philosophical geography of the Enlightenment placed the area later known as the Balkan Peninsula into the realm of the East and “barbarity”. Philosophers of the Enlightenment among the Balkan peoples endeavoured to connect their ethnic groups with Europe, opening a long debate about “Europe” in their societies. Europeanisation and modernisation of Balkan Christian states began in the Age of Revolution. There were many local obstacles to this process. This paper discusses the role of these obstacles, including the existence of the “patriarchal zone”, the problem of very high illiteracy rates in the Balkan states, and the region’s unfavourable economic legacy. Difficulties with the local application of the model of the World Capitalist System are also explored. Europeanisation(s) always had their actors, and they have also been included in the analysis. Both foreign (like foreign soldiers, Philhellenes, German romanticists, and American Protestants) and internal actors have been covered, and their roles have been described. The process of Europeanisation(s) is viewed in this paper as something that was materialised through cultural spheres, and the role of cultural spheres (the Francosphere, the Germanosphere, and the Anglosphere) has also been discussed. Changing perceptions of the Balkan states during the 19th century in the main European cultural spheres were sketched. Perceptions had an impact on the pace of local modernisation. Acceleration of Europeanisation(s) through the rise of individuality and technological advancements has also been covered. Some general observations on how European cultural transfer worked are provided at the end of the paper.
Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe, 2025
This is a preface to the collection of papers "Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace... more This is a preface to the collection of papers "Serbia and the Balkans: Three Centuries of Embrace with Europe". It analyses the impact of European cultural transfer and Europeanisation(s) on the Balkans. The collection includes 18 papers covering the fields of Balkanology, impact of the Enlightenment, Imageology, Nationalism Studies, History of Feminism, Literary History, Cultural History, and European Studies.
Echoes of Europe: Cultural Transfer Europe-Serbia in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, eds. Aleksandra Djurić Milovanović and Ivana Pantelić, 2025
This introductory article clarifies the main points expressed in this collection of papers and th... more This introductory article clarifies the main points expressed in this collection of papers and the project “Cultural Transfer Europe-Serbia from the 19th to the 21st Century”. It explains the main concepts used in this project and the specific issues when using European cultural transfer to analyze the impact of Europeanizations on the fringes of Europe, in this case, the Balkans. The complexities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and its forms of Europeanization are explained. The paper also provides
information on other scholarly works that have already been published and are relevant to the issue of the Europeanization of Serbia in the interwar period. The 1930s have been identified as the peak of the Europeanization of Serbia, and the leading role of French intellectuals in constructing the Europeanness of Serbs has been analyzed. In the same period, the Francosphere dominated in terms of its impact on European cultural transfer in the Serbian parts of the Yugoslav Kingdom. In addition to the agents of cultural transfer from the 19th century, the interwar period also brought new mediators of European cultural transfer to Serbia, including the Russian émigré community, French Serbophile intellectuals, Serbian
intellectuals and students who had spent the Great War in the West, Serbian soldiers who had interacted with French and the Entente troops, and various transnational associations. The issue of Yugoslavism as
a form of Europeanization is also discussed. Finally, the paper provides examples showing that cultural transfer in the 1920s and 1930s became less asymmetrical and one-way.
Keywords: Europeanization(s), Francosphere, cultural transfer, transfer Serbia-Europe, Yugoslavism
Balcanica, 2024
Analysing the contributions of Jovan Cvijić, Traian Stoianovich, Paschalis Kitromilides and a ra... more Analysing the contributions of Jovan Cvijić, Traian Stoianovich, Paschalis Kitromilides and a range of Balkanologists, the author attempts to summarise the debate on Balkan commonalities and answer if the debate was able to identify shared features that could be seen as a common Balkan culture. The author first deals with the emergence of Balkan studies, which he connects with the spirit of regional cooperation that appeared in the Balkans after 1928. The first efforts to answer the question of Balkan commonalities were made in the seminal work of this discipline on the Balkan Peninsula (1918). In this book, Jovan Cvijić provided evidence for a divided rather than a unified region. The efforts
of Traian Stoianovich to define a “Balkan civilization” remained in the borderland between global history and Balkanology. Paschalis Kitromilides provided the most convincing arguments for a Balkan mentality but did not go beyond the early modern period and Balkan Orthodox Christians. In the paper the evolution of the term Balkanism has been analysed
to retrace the change of focus in Balkan studies, which lost some its original drive from the 1930s for finding commonalities, instead growing more focused on political and cultural contexts. In the conclusion the importance of the whole debate on Balkan commonalities has been highlighted. Although strong evidence of Balkan commonalities was found only in linguistics, this discussion proved significant for Balkan studies and brought about im portant results for the discipline.
Slobodan G. Markovich (ed.), Cultural Transfer Europe-Serbia : Methodological Issues and Challenges, 2023
The paper sketches the conditions in Serbia in the early 19th-century when the process of Europea... more The paper sketches the conditions in Serbia in the early 19th-century when the process of Europeanisation was almost non-existent in Serbia. It poses the question of how to analyse a traditional society that has left scarce written sources. In the 19th century, most of the population of Serbia lived in rural areas and was overwhelmingly illiterate. In terms of what has already been done to understand that society, the paper analyses the importance of proto-ethnographers, especially Vuk Karadžić, but it also
discusses the limits of findings of that kind. The contributions of “literary archaeology” and ethnographic histories are also covered. Among the numerous methodological challenges that researchers of European
cultural transfer to Serbia may face, the author singles out the ambiguous legacy of Western travelogues and the problems of Western perceptions in constructing images of Serbia. The symbolic geography of Serbia was the subject of occidentalisation and re-orientalisation processes during the 19th century, and this issue is also covered. The paper identifies migrations as an important catalyst for Europeanisation and cultural transfer, particularly in the first half of the 19th century. The paper identifies as the main agents of European Cultural Transfer the following groups: 1. Habsburg/Transriparian Serbs who moved to Serbia, 2. Serbian state-funded students educated at Western European university centres (“planned élite”), and 3. foreigners from Western and Central Europe who moved to Serbia. The contribution of each of these groups is analysed.
Keywords: cultural transfer, traditional society, occidentalisation, migrations, Habsburg Serbs, “planned élite”, foreigners.
A Reformer of Mankind. Dimitrije Mitrinovic between Cultural Utopianism and Social Activism, 2023
The paper covers the life and activities of Dimitrije Mitrinovic during and just after the Great ... more The paper covers the life and activities of Dimitrije Mitrinovic during and just after the Great War in London. In the introductory part, the ideas that influenced him in his youth are analysed, particularly his change of focus from national to universal topics that developed in the period between
1911 and 1914, during his stays in Rome and Munich. His association with the Serbian Legation in London has been analysed with some new archival sources that demonstrate that he had very complex relations with the Serbian Foreign Ministry during the Great War. A special focus has been put on his cooling relations with Serbian and Yugoslav émigrés in London. This has been attributed to his pacifism, cosmopolitanism and conscientious objection to the war, all of which were in direct collision with the war propaganda of the belligerent states. His focus on art, particularly on the art of Ivan Meštrović, has been interpreted as his way to circumvent participation in the war propaganda, which he was expected to do as someone who was occasionally supported by the Legation of Serbia. His two London circles were described. The first one included writer Stephen Graham, and young theologian Father Nikolai Velimirovich. His second circle included artist Philip Mairet and Mrs Helen Soden. Finally, his gradual
and growing influence on Alfred Orage, editor of The New Age, has been described. The two circles were the beginning of his “school of initiation”, the project through which he planned to train members of the future intellectual elite in Britain that could reform and change the world.
Keywords: Dimitrije Mitrinovic, Stephen Graham, Father Nikolai Velimirovich, Ivan Meštrović, Philip Mairet, Alfred Orage, pacifism, cosmopolitanism, London, Great War, intellectuals and artists during wars
Slobodan G. Markovich (ed.), A Reformer of Mankind. Dimitrije Mitrinovic between Cultural Utopianism and Social Activism (Belgrade: FPS and Zepter Book World, 2023)
The paper analyses the life and work of Dimitrije/Dimitri Mitrinovic (1887–1953) in the context o... more The paper analyses the life and work of Dimitrije/Dimitri Mitrinovic (1887–1953) in the context of cultural transfer and Europeanisation. His enrolment at the Mostar Gymnasium is seen as the most important episode of his youth in terms of intellectual development. His contacts with the futurist movement in Rome (1911–13) and intellectual circles in Munich and Berlin (1913–14) are identified as a U-turn in the development of his concepts and the beginning of his full-scale cosmopolitanism and
universalism. From the Forte Kreis he accepted the idea that a small intellectual circle, which would include leading spirits of the age, could transform the world. The experience of the Great War in London
convinced him that London could offer him a good opportunity to create his own circle of followers, and two examples of his compatriots that he witnessed are discussed in this paper. The emergence of his own philosophical and cultural views is analysed in terms of cultural transfers between 1899 and the 1920s when his ideas and concepts were finally formatted. His concepts from the 1920s and 1930s were a blend of social activism, esotericism, Gnosticism, Far Eastern traditions, European philosophy, Alder’s and Jung’s psychology, some socialist political ideas and the European project. They were rather eclectic and syncretic, and that has created problems in their understanding for both his contemporaries and subsequent researchers. He preferred to have a small group of dedicated followers, or his own school, rather than a social or political movement. He indeed created something very close to a political movement in the New Britain Movement in 1932–34, but he was then instrumental in dismantling it. The only group that he kept was the New Europe Group (1931–1957), which tried to propagate the ideas of a European federation in Britain. Instead of leading a big political movement, he opted, in the last two decades of his life, to educate a small group of some 30–40 very dedicated British followers with the aim of culturally transforming the world. His legacy in Serbia and Yugoslavia is seen mostly through the sensibilisation of this culture for Indian and Far Eastern influences and to a lesser extent for the European project. His British and global legacy is more difficult to trace, but his influence on Alan Watts probably left an enduring legacy. Emphasis on culture and the whole system of reconciling opposite political and cultural views, something that he called the third force, still produces interest among researchers. His cosmopolitanism and globalism offer certain lessons even today, and so does his cultural construction of European project.
Keywords: Cultural transfer, Europeanisation, cosmopolitanism, revelation, New Britain, European project, New Age
Politički život : časopis za analizu politike, 2022
The British Monarchy is one of the most remarkable remaining monarchies in the world and a protot... more The British Monarchy is one of the most remarkable remaining monarchies in the world and a prototype of constitutional monarchies. During the 20 th century, it became a potent symbol of British national unity, consensus and stability, and in the second half of the century, a reminder of Britain's former imperial grandeur. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II displayed once again the power of the symbolic meaning of the monarchy for many Britons. However, the British monarchy, which has become highly mediated, has to act within a deeply divided society, face its colonial legacy in an international framework, and endeavour to overcome social, political and age-based differences in terms of its popularity.
Keywords: British monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II, divided societies
Mark D. Chapman and Bogdan Lubardić (eds.), Serbia and the Church of England. The First World War and a New Ecumenism (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), 2022
This chapter discusses the relations between the Church of England (CoE) and the Serbian Orthodox... more This chapter discusses the relations between the Church of England (CoE) and the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in the period from the mid-nineteenth century to 1878. It attempts to discover what kind of information an interested Briton could have read in English in the mid-nineteenth century on the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). Special attention has been given to the activities of the Rev. William Denton and Metropolitan and Archbishop of Serbia Michael (Mihailo), who essentially established official relations between the two churches. The issue of Denton’s communion in Serbia is also analyzed. The second part of this chapter focuses on the relations between Christian churches in Britain (Nonconformists and CoE) and the SOC during the Eastern Crisis (1875–1878). The Agitation led by High Churchmen and Nonconformists is analyzed. Particular attention has been paid to the activities of Canon Liddon and Canon MacColl and the Impalement Affair. The Anglo-Catholics and the Nonconformists are credited as the most influential contributors to the more cordial approach to Balkan Christians that developed in Britain during the Eastern Crisis.
- Slobodan G. Markovich (ed.), British-Serbian Relations from the 18th to the 21st Centuries (Belgrade: Faculty of Political Science and Zepter Book World, 2018)., 2018
Abstract: The modern era of British-Serbian cultural relations begins with the visit of Dositey O... more Abstract: The modern era of British-Serbian cultural relations begins with the visit of Dositey Obradovich to London in 1784/85. This visit left a very strong mark on his subsequent works that are heavily indebted to English moral philosophers. An attempt has been made to identify when Serbia became visible enough to British public opinion. By using quantitative data from The Times Digital Archive it has been established that this partly happened in the 1850s and the 1860s and fully during the Eastern Crisis (1875–1878). In the first half of the 19th century Britain was better known in Serbia than Serbia in Britain. In the period 1845–1872, the first five serious titles on Serbia appeared in Britain. In terms of political relations particular attention has been given to the first Serbian semi-official mission to Britain in 1863, and to the effects of the Eastern Crisis on mutual relations. The agitation of 1875–1878 and Gladstone’s policy in this and subsequent periods have been considered, as well as the influence of Gladstone and the humanitarian work of Miss Adeline Irby. The influence of leading Anglophiles in Serbia (Vladimir Yovanovitch, Chedomille Miyatovich and Ljubomir Nedic) have been analysed and the 1880s identified as the decade of the strongest impact of British culture in 19th-century Serbia. This impact left a mark on the Serbian reception of the parliamentary system. The crisis in mutual relations in 1903–1906, and British considerations during the Annexation Crisis and the Balkan Wars have also been analysed. Particular attention has been given to mutual relations
during the Great War when both political and cultural relations of Serbia and Britain reached their peak. Key politicians, journalists and humanitarian workers who contributed to mutual relations have been assessed. The change of Serbia’s image in Britain during the Eastern Crisis, after the May Coup, and during the Great War has been analysed, as well as discussions that appeared regarding the Salonika Front.
Keywords: Serbia, Great Britain, Dositey Obradovich, Vladimir Yovanovitch, Chedomille Miyatovich, W. E. Gladstone, Miss A. P. Irby, Elsie Inglis, pro-Serbian societies in Britain, the Salonika Front
Slobodan G. Markovich (ed.), British-Serbian Relations from the 18th to the 21st Centuries (Belgrade: FPS and Zepter Book World, 2018), 2018
The paper discusses British diplomats in the Principality of Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavi... more The paper discusses British diplomats in the Principality of Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1837 till 1919. In that period there were 14 British heads of mission in the rank of consul-general, minister resident and minister plenipotentiary. Basic data on British diplomats are given as well as some information on the role that their wives played in the Serbian society.
The second part provides a list of eight Serbian heads of the Serbian mission in Britain and three chargés d’affaires. Two Serbian semi-diplomatic missions are also mentioned (from 1854 and 1863). Basic data on the diplomatic and other achievements of Serbian diplomats in London are given since many of them had very important non-diplomatic careers in Serbia.
Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies: BELLS90 Proceedings. Volume 2, Vol. 2 , 2020
After sketching a relatively low level of knowledge about Britain in Serbia and vice versa prior ... more After sketching a relatively low level of knowledge about Britain in Serbia and vice versa prior to the Great War, the paper highlights the closer encounter of Serbia, the United Kingdom and the United States that occurred during the Great War, as well as the effect of that encounter on the subsequent Anglo-Serbian cultural relations. Specifically, the pertinent links during the Great War are analysed through (1) the stipends provided to Serbian schoolboys/students in Britain, (2) the stay of Serbian intellectuals in Britain, and (3) the impact of British-Serbian war cooperation on the Macedonian/Salonica Front; also taken into account is (4) the impact of Serbian volunteers from the United States. Subsequent Anglo-Serbian/Yugoslav cultural relations in the inter-war period are further analysed with regard to (1) Brits/Americans residing in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, (2) the continual British educational schemes for Serbian students, (3) the emergence of organised English language instruction in Serbia, and (4) the impact of numerous inter-war Anglophile associations in Serbia/Yugoslavia. The experience of the Great War is viewed as the turning point which paved the way for all subsequent forms of Anglo-Serbian (Yugoslav) cooperation in the fields of education and culture.
Balcanica, 2018
Abstract: Nikolai Velimirovich was one of the most influential bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Ch... more Abstract: Nikolai Velimirovich was one of the most influential bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the twentieth century. His stay in Britain in 1908/9 influenced his theological views and made him a proponent of an Anglican-Orthodox church reunion. As a known proponent of close relations between different Christian churches, he was sent by the Serbian Prime Minister Pašić to the United States (1915) and Britain (1915–1919) to work on promoting Serbia and the cause of Yugoslav unity. His activities in both countries were very successful. In Britain he closely collaborated with the Serbian Relief Fund and “British friends of Serbia” (R. W. Seton-Watson, Henry Wickham Steed and Sir Arthur Evans). Other Serbian intellectuals in London, particularly the brothers Bogdan and Pavle Popović, were in occasional collision with the members of the Yugoslav Committee over the nature of the future Yugoslav state. In contrast, Velimirovich remained committed to the cause of Yugoslav unity throughout the war with only rare moments of doubt. Unlike most other Serbs and Yugoslavs in London Father Nikolai never grew unsympathetic to the Serbian Prime Minister Pašić, although he did not share all of his views. In London he befriended the churchmen of the Church of England who propagated ecclesiastical reunion and were active in the Anglican and Eastern Association. These contacts allowed him to preach at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster and other prominent Anglican churches. He became such a well-known and respected preacher that, in July 1917, he had the honour of being the first Orthodox clergyman to preach at St. Paul’s Cathedral. He was given the same honour in December 1919. By the end of the war, he had very close relations with the highest prelates of the Church of England, the Catholic cardinal of Westminster, and with prominent clergymen of the Church of Scotland and other Protestant churches in Britain. Based on Velimirovich’s correspondence preserved in Belgrade and London archives, and on very wide coverage of his activities in The Times, in local British newspapers, and particularly in the Anglican journal The Church Times, this paper describes and analyses his wide-ranging activities in Britain. The Church of England sup ported him wholeheartedly in most of his activities and made him a celebrity in Britain during the Great War. It was thanks to this Church that some dozen of his pamphlets and booklets were published in London during the Great War. What made his relations with the Church of England so close was his commitment to the question of reunion of Orthodox churches with the Anglican Church. He suggested the reunion for the first time in 1909 and remained committed to it throughout the Great War. Analysing the activities of Father Nikolai, the paper also offers a survey of the very wide-ranging forms of help that the Church of England provided both to the Serbian Orthodox Church and to Serbs in general during the Great War. Most of these activities were channelled through him. Thus, by the end of the Great War he became a symbol of Anglican-Orthodox rapprochement.
Keywords: Father Nikolai Velimirovich (Velimirović), pro-Serbian and pro-Yugoslav propaganda in Britain, reunion of the Orthodox churches and the Church of England
Sypmlexis, 2019
The paper analyses the relations of Serbia and Britain as War Allies during the Great War in the ... more The paper analyses the relations of Serbia and Britain as War Allies during the Great War in the context of Anglo-Serbian Church relations. It particularly analyses: 1. British humanitarian aid to Serbia and the Serbs, 2. The visits of Serbian Metropolitan Dimitri (Dimitrije) and Prince-Regent Alexander of Serbia to Britain and the climax of Pro-Serbian Campaign in Britain in 1916, 3. the issue of Serbian pupils and students in Great Britain, 4. Serbian Theological Students in England in 1917–1919, and 5. the publication in Britain of prayer-book in Serbian.
Knjizevna istorija, 2020
Multiple projects of Dimitrije Mitrinović in the 1920s and 1930s never evolved into real politica... more Multiple projects of Dimitrije Mitrinović in the 1920s and 1930s never evolved into real political or social movements, although some of them had the capacity for that. It seems that Mitrinović preferred a social club with some mystical elements and loyal followers to the loosely connected members of a political or social movement. The two streams of his actions, which he had originally developed in the 1920s, continued in the 1930s. The first was aimed at social reform and the second at Christian mysticism which was very much based on Gnosticism. The New Britain journal is an example of the first stream, although it also had elements of the second. His correspondence with Eric Gutkind from this period (1927-1932) reveals once more the mystical Mi-trinović. His overall efforts are summarized as the project of a Gnostic Christian social club that, at times, developed into a movement. Some dilemmas of interpretation remain since the New Atlantis Foundation, for many decades, kept his archives and correspondence and insisted on its own version of Mi-trinović's teachings. The first to challenge their views was Predrag Palavestra.
Književna istorija, 2020
The paper follows the development of Mitrinović's identity from local Serbian and then Yugoslav, ... more The paper follows the development of Mitrinović's identity from local Serbian and then Yugoslav, to cosmopolitan. The change to a su-pranational identity already began during his Rome (1911-1913) and Munich periods (1913-1914), and was completed during the Great War, which he spent in London where he had moved in 1914. During the Great War his concepts became increasingly focused on universal ideas connected to Christi-anity. In London, Mitrinović launched a series of initiatives, some of which were religiously based while others were more secular. The recollections of his contemporaries and disciples are contradictory. While early followers of Mitrinović who were with him during the Great War, in the 1920s and in the early 1930s (Graham, Mairet, Davis, Watt, etc.) describe a mystical Mitri-nović, his later followers, who gathered in the New Atlantis Foundation, left recollections of a more rational and secular Mitrinović. This is explained by two streams of his thought and his followers. The paper identifies the core of Mitrinović's teaching as belonging to the Judeo-Christian tradition with the influence of Gnostic Christianity being particularly prominent.
Balcanica, 2009
Abstract: The life stories of five Balkan Anglophiles emerging in the nineteenth century
— two ... more Abstract: The life stories of five Balkan Anglophiles emerging in the nineteenth century
— two Serbs, Vladimir Jovanović (Yovanovich) and Čedomilj Mijatović (Chedomille
Mijatovich); two Greeks, Ioannes ( John) Gennadios and Eleutherios Venizelos; and
one Bulgarian, Ivan Evstratiev Geshov — reflect, each in its own way, major episodes
in relations between Britain and three Balkan Christian states (Serbia, the Hellenic
Kingdom and Bulgaria) between the 1860s and 1920. Their education, cultural patterns, relations and models inspired by Britain are looked at, showing that they acted as intermediaries between British culture and their own and played a part in the best and worst moments in the history of mutual relations, such as the Serbian-Ottoman crisis of 1862, the Anglo-Hellenic crisis following the Dilessi murders, Bulgarian atrocities and the Eastern Crisis, unification of Bulgaria and the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, the Balkan Wars 1912–13, the National Schism in Greece. Their biographies are therefore essential for understanding Anglo-Balkan relations in the period under study. The roles of two British Balkanophiles (a Bulgarophile, James David
Bourchier, and a Hellenophile, Ronald Burrows) are looked at as well. In conclusion,
a comparison of the Balkan Anglophiles is offered, and their Britain-inspired cultural
and institutional legacy to their countries is shown in the form of a table.
Keywords: Anglo-Balkan relations, Balkan Anglophiles, Balkans, Serbia, Hellenic
Kingdom, Bulgaria, British Balkanophiles
Balcanica, 2020
The paper provides a review of efforts to make Serbian-Hellenic alliances and formal agreements s... more The paper provides a review of efforts to make Serbian-Hellenic alliances and formal agreements since the last years of Karageorge' s life within the context of the relations between Serbia and Greece, and later between Yugoslavia and Greece. The circumstances that led to the signing of six formal alliances have been analysed including their content and scope. Out of the six alliances, four were bilateral, and two were Balkan (1934, 1953/54). All of them have been reviewed both in the bilateral and Balkan context.
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Papers by Slobodan G. Markovich
Yugoslav kingdom followed. It was accelerated by the endorsement of French intellectuals. A short period of radical Sovietisation (1944 1948) ensued, followed by experiments with a more democratic version of
socialism and the Non-Aligned Movement. Intense cultural Americanisation, which reached its climax in the 1960s and 1970s, westernised Yugoslav urban élites, but a hybrid culture also emerged. In the 1990s, the sanctions imposed by the UN against the regime of Slobodan Miloević isolated the country. Despite that, a European Serbia also existed, and the paper analyses its activities and accomplishments. After 2000, a strongly pro-European Serbia also materialised. The rise of populism since 2014 again distanced Serbia from the European mainstream, but the civic and student movements in the 2020s confirmed once more that the relations of Serbia and Europe have deep roots.
information on other scholarly works that have already been published and are relevant to the issue of the Europeanization of Serbia in the interwar period. The 1930s have been identified as the peak of the Europeanization of Serbia, and the leading role of French intellectuals in constructing the Europeanness of Serbs has been analyzed. In the same period, the Francosphere dominated in terms of its impact on European cultural transfer in the Serbian parts of the Yugoslav Kingdom. In addition to the agents of cultural transfer from the 19th century, the interwar period also brought new mediators of European cultural transfer to Serbia, including the Russian émigré community, French Serbophile intellectuals, Serbian
intellectuals and students who had spent the Great War in the West, Serbian soldiers who had interacted with French and the Entente troops, and various transnational associations. The issue of Yugoslavism as
a form of Europeanization is also discussed. Finally, the paper provides examples showing that cultural transfer in the 1920s and 1930s became less asymmetrical and one-way.
Keywords: Europeanization(s), Francosphere, cultural transfer, transfer Serbia-Europe, Yugoslavism
of Traian Stoianovich to define a “Balkan civilization” remained in the borderland between global history and Balkanology. Paschalis Kitromilides provided the most convincing arguments for a Balkan mentality but did not go beyond the early modern period and Balkan Orthodox Christians. In the paper the evolution of the term Balkanism has been analysed
to retrace the change of focus in Balkan studies, which lost some its original drive from the 1930s for finding commonalities, instead growing more focused on political and cultural contexts. In the conclusion the importance of the whole debate on Balkan commonalities has been highlighted. Although strong evidence of Balkan commonalities was found only in linguistics, this discussion proved significant for Balkan studies and brought about im portant results for the discipline.
discusses the limits of findings of that kind. The contributions of “literary archaeology” and ethnographic histories are also covered. Among the numerous methodological challenges that researchers of European
cultural transfer to Serbia may face, the author singles out the ambiguous legacy of Western travelogues and the problems of Western perceptions in constructing images of Serbia. The symbolic geography of Serbia was the subject of occidentalisation and re-orientalisation processes during the 19th century, and this issue is also covered. The paper identifies migrations as an important catalyst for Europeanisation and cultural transfer, particularly in the first half of the 19th century. The paper identifies as the main agents of European Cultural Transfer the following groups: 1. Habsburg/Transriparian Serbs who moved to Serbia, 2. Serbian state-funded students educated at Western European university centres (“planned élite”), and 3. foreigners from Western and Central Europe who moved to Serbia. The contribution of each of these groups is analysed.
Keywords: cultural transfer, traditional society, occidentalisation, migrations, Habsburg Serbs, “planned élite”, foreigners.
1911 and 1914, during his stays in Rome and Munich. His association with the Serbian Legation in London has been analysed with some new archival sources that demonstrate that he had very complex relations with the Serbian Foreign Ministry during the Great War. A special focus has been put on his cooling relations with Serbian and Yugoslav émigrés in London. This has been attributed to his pacifism, cosmopolitanism and conscientious objection to the war, all of which were in direct collision with the war propaganda of the belligerent states. His focus on art, particularly on the art of Ivan Meštrović, has been interpreted as his way to circumvent participation in the war propaganda, which he was expected to do as someone who was occasionally supported by the Legation of Serbia. His two London circles were described. The first one included writer Stephen Graham, and young theologian Father Nikolai Velimirovich. His second circle included artist Philip Mairet and Mrs Helen Soden. Finally, his gradual
and growing influence on Alfred Orage, editor of The New Age, has been described. The two circles were the beginning of his “school of initiation”, the project through which he planned to train members of the future intellectual elite in Britain that could reform and change the world.
Keywords: Dimitrije Mitrinovic, Stephen Graham, Father Nikolai Velimirovich, Ivan Meštrović, Philip Mairet, Alfred Orage, pacifism, cosmopolitanism, London, Great War, intellectuals and artists during wars
universalism. From the Forte Kreis he accepted the idea that a small intellectual circle, which would include leading spirits of the age, could transform the world. The experience of the Great War in London
convinced him that London could offer him a good opportunity to create his own circle of followers, and two examples of his compatriots that he witnessed are discussed in this paper. The emergence of his own philosophical and cultural views is analysed in terms of cultural transfers between 1899 and the 1920s when his ideas and concepts were finally formatted. His concepts from the 1920s and 1930s were a blend of social activism, esotericism, Gnosticism, Far Eastern traditions, European philosophy, Alder’s and Jung’s psychology, some socialist political ideas and the European project. They were rather eclectic and syncretic, and that has created problems in their understanding for both his contemporaries and subsequent researchers. He preferred to have a small group of dedicated followers, or his own school, rather than a social or political movement. He indeed created something very close to a political movement in the New Britain Movement in 1932–34, but he was then instrumental in dismantling it. The only group that he kept was the New Europe Group (1931–1957), which tried to propagate the ideas of a European federation in Britain. Instead of leading a big political movement, he opted, in the last two decades of his life, to educate a small group of some 30–40 very dedicated British followers with the aim of culturally transforming the world. His legacy in Serbia and Yugoslavia is seen mostly through the sensibilisation of this culture for Indian and Far Eastern influences and to a lesser extent for the European project. His British and global legacy is more difficult to trace, but his influence on Alan Watts probably left an enduring legacy. Emphasis on culture and the whole system of reconciling opposite political and cultural views, something that he called the third force, still produces interest among researchers. His cosmopolitanism and globalism offer certain lessons even today, and so does his cultural construction of European project.
Keywords: Cultural transfer, Europeanisation, cosmopolitanism, revelation, New Britain, European project, New Age
Keywords: British monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II, divided societies
during the Great War when both political and cultural relations of Serbia and Britain reached their peak. Key politicians, journalists and humanitarian workers who contributed to mutual relations have been assessed. The change of Serbia’s image in Britain during the Eastern Crisis, after the May Coup, and during the Great War has been analysed, as well as discussions that appeared regarding the Salonika Front.
Keywords: Serbia, Great Britain, Dositey Obradovich, Vladimir Yovanovitch, Chedomille Miyatovich, W. E. Gladstone, Miss A. P. Irby, Elsie Inglis, pro-Serbian societies in Britain, the Salonika Front
The second part provides a list of eight Serbian heads of the Serbian mission in Britain and three chargés d’affaires. Two Serbian semi-diplomatic missions are also mentioned (from 1854 and 1863). Basic data on the diplomatic and other achievements of Serbian diplomats in London are given since many of them had very important non-diplomatic careers in Serbia.
Keywords: Father Nikolai Velimirovich (Velimirović), pro-Serbian and pro-Yugoslav propaganda in Britain, reunion of the Orthodox churches and the Church of England
— two Serbs, Vladimir Jovanović (Yovanovich) and Čedomilj Mijatović (Chedomille
Mijatovich); two Greeks, Ioannes ( John) Gennadios and Eleutherios Venizelos; and
one Bulgarian, Ivan Evstratiev Geshov — reflect, each in its own way, major episodes
in relations between Britain and three Balkan Christian states (Serbia, the Hellenic
Kingdom and Bulgaria) between the 1860s and 1920. Their education, cultural patterns, relations and models inspired by Britain are looked at, showing that they acted as intermediaries between British culture and their own and played a part in the best and worst moments in the history of mutual relations, such as the Serbian-Ottoman crisis of 1862, the Anglo-Hellenic crisis following the Dilessi murders, Bulgarian atrocities and the Eastern Crisis, unification of Bulgaria and the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, the Balkan Wars 1912–13, the National Schism in Greece. Their biographies are therefore essential for understanding Anglo-Balkan relations in the period under study. The roles of two British Balkanophiles (a Bulgarophile, James David
Bourchier, and a Hellenophile, Ronald Burrows) are looked at as well. In conclusion,
a comparison of the Balkan Anglophiles is offered, and their Britain-inspired cultural
and institutional legacy to their countries is shown in the form of a table.
Keywords: Anglo-Balkan relations, Balkan Anglophiles, Balkans, Serbia, Hellenic
Kingdom, Bulgaria, British Balkanophiles