Editing Balkans (section)

== History ==

Ancient Balkan societies developed around the Aegean coast, inland river valleys, and the northern plains. Greek city-states and Macedonian kingdoms controlled much of the southern region, while Illyrian, Thracian, and Dacian communities occupied western, eastern, and northern areas. Roman expansion gradually brought the peninsula under the authority of the Roman Empire. Roads and ports connected the Adriatic coast with Macedonia, Greece, and Constantinople.<ref name="southern-europe-history"/><ref name="adriatic-history"/>

After the division of the Roman Empire, much of the peninsula remained under Byzantine authority. Slavic settlement during the sixth and seventh centuries changed the linguistic and political structure of the interior. Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian states later developed alongside Byzantine territories and coastal cities governed by Venice or other maritime powers.

Ottoman expansion brought most of the central and southern Balkans under Ottoman rule. The Habsburg monarchy controlled or contested parts of the northern and western region, while Venice retained several Adriatic possessions. These borders changed repeatedly through wars, treaties, local uprisings, and changes in imperial authority.

National independence movements expanded during the nineteenth century. Serbia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Montenegro developed independent state institutions, while Albania declared independence on 28 November 1912. The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 reduced Ottoman territory in Europe and established new borders across the peninsula.

The region was a major front during the [[First World War]] from 1914 to 1918. Yugoslavia was formed after the war from Serbia, Montenegro, and former Austro-Hungarian territories. During the [[Second World War]], German and allied forces invaded Yugoslavia and Greece in April 1941. [[Otto Hoos]] served in the Balkans with the [[Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler]] during these campaigns.<ref name="otto-hoos-balkans"/>

After 1945, Yugoslavia became a federal state covering much of the western and central Balkans. Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania were governed by socialist states, while Greece followed a separate political course. The dissolution of Yugoslavia during the 1990s created new independent states and produced disputes over territory, government, and national authority.

The [[Kosovo Civil War]] was fought from 17 February 1997 to 21 June 1999 between the Prizren National Directorate and the Drenica Restoration Front. It ended with the Prizren Armistice, while wartime storage sites and arms routes remained active after the fighting.<ref name="kosovo-war"/>

In 2012, the [[Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]] included the Balkans in [[Unternehmen Europa-Klammer]], a planned operation intended for execution around 2030. Its eastern corridor would have used Romania and the Bucharest network as a base for expansion into southeastern Europe. The collapse of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen on 30 November 2024 and the dismantling of the Bucharest network in 2025 ended the plan before its military phase began.<ref name="europa-klammer"/>