Europe's Steppe Frontier, 1500-1800University of Chicago Press, Sep 23, 2011 - 264 pages In Europe’s Steppe Frontier, acclaimed historian William H. McNeill analyzes the process whereby the thinly occupied grasslands of southeastern Europe were incorporated into the bodies-social of three great empires: the Ottoman, the Austrian, and the Russian. McNeill benefits from a New World detachment from the bitter nationality quarrels of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century which inspired but also blinded most of the historians of the region. Moreover, the unique institutional adjustments southeastern Europeans made to the frontier challenge cast indirect light upon the peculiarities of the North American frontier experience. |
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administrative agricultural Austrian Balkans Bathory became Black Sea border boyars bureaucratic campaign Catholic central Christian civilization Constantinople constituted Cossack Crim Tartars Crimea cultural Danube Danubian and Pontic definition eastern Europe effective eighteenth century emperor enterprise establishment European fact field fifteenth fighting first force French frontier Geschichte grain grand vizier Grenzer Hapsburg Hence hetman hospodars Hungarian Hungary imperial Islam Janissaries khans king kingdom Kingdom of Hungary Kopriilii landlords landowners magnates Magyar Magyar nobles Matthias Mehmed military Moldavia Moslem Muscovy nobility nomad officials operations Orthodox Ottoman Empire Ottoman society peasantry peasants Phanariot Poland Polish political Pontic Europe population prince Reformation regime regions religious rival royal Hungary Rumanian provinces Russian sech Sejm serfs settlement seventeenth century sixteenth century slave social Stephen Bathory steppe success sultan sustained Tartar taxes territory tion towns traditional Transylvania treaty troops Turks Ukraine Ukrainian urban victory Vienna village Wallachia war bands western Zaporozhian