The Balkan region has brought us ore of the modern wars and its brutality in other part of the world and a history of this region is the subject of a great book written by author Andre Gerolymatos titles simply "The Balkan Wars", and in it history from the battle of Kosovo to the brutal Yugoslavian wars is examined and its ruthless nature explained. He goes into a rich history of conquest and retribution of the Balkan people mainly in their battles with the ottoman Turks but how it often played with one another as groups battled it out and worked with Turks fearing their immediate neighbor more at times. The mountainous easy escape nature of fighting was a key figure in this region as many crimes would go without justice and the collective consciousness of the Balkan people played in myth and that evolved into cultural embracement As always the defining moment of this region came with the transition of the city of Constantinople into a part of the Ottoman empire and the author does a good job describing the last days of the city and the eventual affect it had for the longtime orthodox residents of the region.
The conversion of many into Muslims and the favorite role they got as landowners from their fellow Muslims would play out and add a new element into this region with the Turkish conquest that would have consequences and planting the seeds of new ethnic and religion hatreds long after the Turks were finally dispelled from the Balkans.
The Turks often relied on traitorous Balkans subjects to fight with them and some of their best soldiers were allied Christians who often played off the Turks for their greater economic gain rather than actual opposition as with their countrymen. This region was always a powder keg and it is not surprising the mechanization of war would result in wider conflicts that would tart in this little part of the world. 
The region would be in a constant state of flux and conflict as revolts against Turkish rule were constant eventually causing the weakness of the ottoman Empire that unlike the Byzantine empire was propped up and supported by the major European powers from quickly falling into pieces. In fact, the preservation of the Ottomans can be attributed not to their tenacity as warriors but from Europe's fear that the Russians would soon replace the Turks in the Balkans and unlike them have the strong loyalty of Balkan orthodox populations. eventually revolution would produce state sin the Balkans that united to further drive Turks into disarray and into a Wolrd War and the author explains twentieth century conflicts as well. a time period that saw te rise of new states gerrymandered to include many diverse groups only eager to wait for collapse to renew struggles against one another for a few more miles and strip of limited land.
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