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Former countries in the Balkans

  • Austrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire began with a stroke of the pen in 1804, when Holy Roman Emperor Francis II declared himself Emperor of Austria, creating an entirely new…
  • Kingdom of RomaniaOn the 24th of January 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia. This event united two distinct territories under a single…
  • Socialist Republic of RomaniaOn the 6th of March 1945, a new pro-Soviet government took power in Bucharest after mass demonstrations by communist sympathizers and intense political…
  • Kingdom of SerbiaOn the 6th of March 1882, Milan I stood before a crowd in Belgrade and accepted the crown that transformed Serbia from a principality into a kingdom.
  • Austria-HungaryOn the 20th of March 1867, the Hungarian parliament at Pest began negotiations that would reshape Central Europe. These talks culminated in a formal…
  • First Bulgarian EmpireIn 681, the Byzantine Empire signed a humiliating peace treaty that acknowledged Bulgaria as an independent state south of the Danube.
  • Latin EmpireIn April 1204, the crusader army sacked Constantinople instead of Jerusalem. The original plan had been to restore Isaac II Angelos to his throne after he…
  • Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire never called itself Byzantine. Its citizens used the term Roman Empire and called themselves Romans, in Greek Romaioi.
  • Ottoman EmpireIn 1302, the Battle of Bapheus marked a turning point for Osman I. This Turkish tribal leader commanded forces that defeated Byzantine troops along the…
  • YugoslaviaOn the 13th of July 1922, the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris granted international recognition to a new state that would soon be known as Yugoslavia.