History of the Balkans in Maps

The rapid advance of the Turkish armies in the Balkans was due not so much to their military superiority, but rather to the profound anarchy which ruled here. Seething under Serb rule, the nobility of Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Albania and Croatia were divided by such violent rivalry which even the arrival of the Turkish enemy at the gates did not destroy.

More than once, individual battles with the Turks were won by the Balkan forces, but invariably the victory was lost in bitter local disputes. In 1375, for example, the Serbs actually asked the Turks for help in suppressing a revolt by Albanians, and in 1384, wen Turkish armies stating moving into their area, local Albanians welcomed them as liberators.

But by November 1385, it was clear that the Turks were not interested in recognizing the rights of local princes, and a make-shift alliance of Albanians and Bosnians attempted to stop the Turks. At the Battle of Savra, the Albanian prince, Balsha II, with an army of only a 1,000, took on the Turkish invasion force of 40,000. The catastrophic result was the end of Albanian unity and independence, although the Sultan did not annex the area.