Balkan or border warfare? Glimpses from the early modern period
Journal: Balcanica
Year: 2019

At the beginning of the early modern period, the concept of Europe did not yet exist. Religion, not politics or geography, was the defining criterion. It was Christendom that people referred to - not Europe - when they wanted to introduce the concept of burdensharing. In military terms, differences between Oriental and Occidental empires were less obvious; if anything, the Ottomans seemed to have a head-start in terms of centralization and professionalism. It was not the impact of Ottoman rule a