The Balkan Economies c. 1800-1914: Evolution Without Development

The Balkan Economies c. 1800-1914 is a strongly revisionist 1997 book which compares the economic progress of Serbia, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Montenegro and Macedonia in the century before World War I. Michael Palairet draws heavily on native-language primary sources to argue that these territories probably experienced economic decline rather than growth, at least from the mid-nineteenth century. This comprehensive study of the economic evolution of the Balkans suggests that the Ottoman and Habsburg empires in providing a framework of order and property rights did more for agrarian and industrial development than succeeding regional and nationalist governments. Based on in-depth research, this book promises to be the definitive economic history of the Balkans.