Stamatia Fotiadou1; 1 Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Greece
Discussion
Greeks and Bulgarians shared common paths as members of the multiethnic Orthodox millet and used to perceive each other as ally until the mid-19th century. However, the transition of the Ottoman Empire to nation-states led to the emergence of the Greco-Bulgarian national antagonism over the future territorial control of the Ottoman provinces of Macedonia and Thrace, obliging both parts to look for separating lines in order to legitimize their national claims. It was at that period when the image of the hostile National Other was established for both nations.The preconditions for a Greco-Bulgarian military conflict were set during the Balkan Wars. Being both in a Balkan alliance during Balkan War I, Greeks and Bulgarians brought to the surface the idea of the Orthodox unity in order to eradicate the Ottoman dominance from the Balkans. However, during Balkan War II, which began due to the Bulgarian dissatisfaction for the territorial terms, the notion of religious unity was once again replaced by the familiar stereotypes of the National Other in order to justify their nationalist rhetoric.In conclusion, this paper examines Greek and Bulgarian newspaper articles written during this period which make the reshaping of the Greek and Bulgarian nationalist narrative more apparent. By categorizing the content of the newspaper articles, an attempt will be made, to show the wavering in constructing and reconstructing the image of the National Other in such a short time
