Do you find word ''balkans'' derogatory ?

[Bosniensis]

History of Central Europe and the Balkans from 1796 to 2008



The term refers to the division of the Balkan peninsula, formerly ruled almost entirely by the Ottoman Empire, into a number of smaller states between 1817 and 1912. It was coined in the early 19th century and has a strong negative connotation. The term however came into common use in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, with reference to the numerous new states that arose from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

The larger countries within Europe, often being the result of the union of several historical regions or nations, have faced the perceived issue of Balkanization. The Iberian Peninsula and Spain especially has from the time of Al-Andalus had to come to terms with Balkanization, with several separatist movements existing today including the Basque Country and Catalan independentism.

In January 2007, regarding the growing support for Scottish independence, the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, and later Prime Minister, Gordon Brown talked of a "Balkanisation of Britain".

As Bates, Chatsworth & Williamson would argue, Balkanisation was observed to a great extent in Africa. During the 1960s, countries in the Communauté Financière Africaine have started to opt for "autonomy within the French community" in this post-colonial era.

The term is also used to describe other forms of disintegration, including, for instance, the subdivision of the Internet into separate enclaves. However, Robert Morgus' and Tim Maurer's study suggests that the alarmist term Balkanization should be replaced with more appropriate terms such as fragmentation and diversity. During his late presidency, Barack Obama voiced concern that "Balkanized" news and social media were embittering partisan divisions during his administration and throughout the 2016 campaign season. In an interview with Prince Harry, the former president stated:

”One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases... The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanization of society and allows ways of finding common ground.”

The term has been used in American urban planning to describe the process of creating gated communities.

Balkan should be divided in 3 parts, just like Diocletian did:

1. Illyricum (Western Balkans) <- without Croatia of course
2. Macedonia (Greece, Albania & FYROM)
3. Thrace (Bulgaria, Romania and Eastern Serbia)

Plain and simple.

[Jana]

This thread wasn't the best idea.

[Jana]

Balkan should be divided in 3 parts, just like Diocletian did:

1. Illyricum (Western Balkans) <- without Croatia of course
2. Macedonia (Greece, Albania & FYROM)
3. Thrace (Bulgaria, Romania and Eastern Serbia)

Plain and simple.

Croatia is Illyricum much more than many other countries you have in mind. Deal with it.

[War Chef]

Balkan people are sexy and attractive, just kinda dumb.

If we put our mind to it though, it's game over.

TESLA

[wvwvw]

Why does it matter if it's called Haemus or Balkan or whatever??
The first name is a hellenised version of the name of a Thracian king and the second is a Turkic name.
I will not feel better if it's South-east Europe either.
Everyone fought someone during the history.
It's not like the Turks were the only ones that conquered the Balkans...

Hellenized in what way? He was of Greek origin as well as many other kings of Thrace.

King Haemus was the son of Boreas. Boreas was son of Astraeus. His wife was the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens.

There was even a British airline by the name Astraeus



”Astraeus Limited, trading as Astraeus Airlines, was a British airline based at Astraeus House in Crawley, West Sussex, England.[1] Founded in 2002, and named after the Greek God of the dusk, it entered administration on 21 November 2011, ceasing operations the same day.”


Boreas


Greco-Buddhist fragment of the wind god Boreas, Hadda, Afghanistan


Tower of the Winds in ancient Athens, part of the frieze depicting the Greek wind gods Boreas and Skiron

The term historically used was Haemus Peninsula, a Greek word named after a Thracian.

All of these are common Greek names with Greek etymology. I can name you a few more like Haemon,

1. A son of Pelasgus and father of Thessalus. The ancient name of Thessaly, viz. Haemonia, or Aemonia, was believed to have been derived from him. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 3.1090; Plin. H. V. 4.14.)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/...3Dhaemon-bio-1

or Haemon, the son of Creon and Eurydice. Haemon is betrothed to Antigone. He must choose between his father (whom he has always followed) and his lover Antigone. He chooses Antigone but cannot separate himself from either because of the strong ties of family and love. He commits suicide because of his helpless situation, which also leads his mother to commit suicide. These actions cause Creon's madness at the play's conclusion.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemon

[Taiguaitiaoghyrmmumin]

No its just a region in europe.

[Mortimer]

Usually a few croats find that offensive never heard a albanian or serb finding it offensive. Croats find it also offensive if you call them yugoslavs.

[JohnSmith]

I do not focus to much on it, so I do not know. But when people think of the word Balkan they think of chaos. It was not very long ago that Bosnia and Kosovo were war zones. Also, Greece with there recent debt crisis.

[Bobby Martnen]

I don't care, my country wasn't conquered by Ottoman Empire and balkan refers to everything primitive and oriental there. Countries that were conquered by them also don't deserve such disgusting classification.

Hope I made myself clear.

This is in part a cultural issue. The word "Balkan" may very well be offensive in the Croatian language, but in American English it is considered completely neutral and is the normal designation for the area, sort of like how "Zigeuner" is considered offensive in German, whereas "Gypsy" is standard and usually neutral in American English.

"Negro" is another similar case. In American English, it's seen as an offensive relic of Jim Crow, whereas in Spanish, it is still the normal way to refer to Black people.

Most Americans are less likely to be familiar with "Southeastern Europe" than they are with the "Balkans", and there's nothing you are I can do to change that.

Similarly, I prefer the name "Siam" to "Thailand", but using it in modern English in a non-historical context would just get me weird looks, and younger people might not even understand what I was talking about.

[Tchek]

I do. And Flemish nationalism exists, but it's more political realism. The name Flemish itself is a 19th century pars-pro-toto name. Historically Flemish was how Southern Netherlanders used to be called informally by foreigners and we made a nationalism around that. It's hard to take the myths and symbolism around it seriously.

So, both "Flemish" and "Walloons" are names given by foreigners, and in both cases, a nationalism was built around these.