Latest possible POD for the Balkan not becoming dominated by a Turkish power?

What would be the latest possible POD for the Balkan not becoming dominated by a Turkish power? It could be a Balkan with many smaller states or a Balkan dominated by a power that was not Turkish.
 
What would be the latest possible POD for the Balkan not becoming dominated by a Turkish power? It could be a Balkan with many smaller states or a Balkan dominated by a power that was not Turkish.

Does it have to be before the Turks ever rise? Because I'm sure that you could have a POD in the 17th, 18th, or 19th centuries where say, Austria, takes control of at least most of the Balkans.
 
Does it have to be before the Turks ever rise? Because I'm sure that you could have a POD in the 17th, 18th, or 19th centuries where say, Austria, takes control of at least most of the Balkans.

Obviously it needs to be before Turkish dominance in the Balkans, since otherwise the answer is "No POD" - Ankara doesn't exactly dominate the modern Balkans.
 
Obviously it needs to be before Turkish dominance in the Balkans, since otherwise the answer is "No POD" - Ankara doesn't exactly dominate the modern Balkans.

That happened after 1900 though, so we could just be pushing it sooner.

Anyway, I just misread the prompt. I didn't realise it said "not becoming", which implies never. I thought more along the lines of "not being", which means they could at one point hold it. Sorry
 
Already around 1400 the Ottoman Empire controlled more than half of the Balkan. I would assume that after the Battle of Kosovo it was already to late, but maybe before the battle?
 
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Your best bet is in the 1340s. Have Stefan Dusan obtain an alliance with the Venetians in exchange for naval aid to capture Constantinople. With some extra luck and determination, he manages to take the eternal city and crown himself Roman Emperor.

With this, we now have a Serb/Greek Empire that dominates around 3/4s of the Balkans, and is allied with the only other Balkan power, Bulgaria (which is in turn experiencing internal difficulties and therefore giving greater chance for unification of the Balkans under the Dusans).

Such a united Balkan state would be enough to withstand Ottoman incursions. (If anything this probably sees the Ottomans being ones attacked since Stefan was one of the first few people who took the Ottoman threat seriously)
 
A Balkan dominated by an Orthodox, Slavic power is interesting. Maybe it, rather than Poland-Lithuania, would eventually conquer areas in Ukraine?
 
What if Timur managed to bribe the Venetians to deny the retreating Ottoman troops refuge after the Battle of Ankara and instead carry his army across to lay waste to the remainder of the Empire? Timur's war did decapitate the Ottomans and kept them divided for a while. Instead of focusing on China, he can destroy the Ottoman Empire, maybe lay siege to Constantinople afterwards for booty and die either afterwards or during said siege. The Timurids would have no lasting presence in the Balkans; the Ottomans would be long gone and the Byzantines would be unable to recover.
 
What if Timur managed to bribe the Venetians to deny the retreating Ottoman troops refuge after the Battle of Ankara and instead carry his army across to lay waste to the remainder of the Empire? Timur's war did decapitate the Ottomans and kept them divided for a while. Instead of focusing on China, he can destroy the Ottoman Empire, maybe lay siege to Constantinople afterwards for booty and die either afterwards or during said siege. The Timurids would have no lasting presence in the Balkans; the Ottomans would be long gone and the Byzantines would be unable to recover.

At least they would have to be sure not to strengthen Timur too much, as they would hardly want to see him taking our the Ottoman possessions.
 
At least they would have to be sure not to strengthen Timur too much, as they would hardly want to see him taking our the Ottoman possessions.

At the very least he would be cut off from the rest of his Empire and has very few Muslims to draw upon for manpower. Little need to worry.
 
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