« Peuples des Balkans, fédérez‑vous ! » : projets pour une résolution pacifique de la question d’Orient au tournant du xxe siècle

Throughout the 19th century, pacifist solutions to the disputes between communities or States in the Balkans, had been coined along with nationalist, militarist and expansionist answers. Formulated and elaborated by a series of individual and institutional actors, these solutions were mainly built upon a federalisation project for the Balkan space. The idea for the creation of a Federal Republic, goes back to the end of the 18th century and it reappeared at various times, during the crisis that punctuated the Eastern question, till the attempt for the constitution of a Balkan confederation by French socialist Paul Argyriadis, as well as other European federalists/pacifists at the end of the 19th century. At the eve of the 1912‑1913 conflicts which caused an upheaval to the European ottoman possessions, or in front of the bellicist threats as a result of the outbreak of the Great War, new initiatives aiming at the organisation of a Balkan federation, had been undertaken by socialist parties or movements in the region; they were led by personalities such as Abraham Benaroya, Dragiša Lapčević, Christian Rakovski and Yanko Sakazov.