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Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe whose area was re-defined in the early 20th century. This article is about the term "Aegean Macedonia" for the region in Greece see Macedonia (Greece. Macedonia ( Μακεδονία, Makedonía,) is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known Vardar Macedonia ( Macedonian and Serbian: Вардарска Македонија, Vardarska Makedonija Bulgarian: Вардарска The Republic of Macedonia (Република Prespa e Vogël and Golloborda ( Slavic "Mala Prespa and Golo Brdo" refers to a geographical area situated in southeastern Albania. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. Gora ( Гора) is a geographical region in southern Kosovo, mostly inhabited by the Gorani people. Prohor Pčinjski ( Serbian Cyrillic: Прохор Пчињски is a Serbian Orthodox Monastery in the deep south of Serbia, located in Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena This is a list of major historical regions of the Balkan Peninsula. There is no official recognition of these arbitrary delimitations, especially since they include territories of Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania that are not called "Macedonia". The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. The region in question covers parts of six Balkan countries: Greece, Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria and minor parts of Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo and covers approximately 67,000 square kilometers (km2) and a population of 4. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Republic of Macedonia (Република The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country 76 million.
This arbitrary territory corresponds to the basins of (from west to east) the Aliákmon, Vardar/Axios and Struma/Strymon rivers (of which the Axios/Vardar drains by far the largest area) and the plains around Thessaloniki and Serres. The Haliacmon ( Attic:, Haliákmōn; Ionic: Aliákmōn; Modern Greek: Αλιάκμονας Aliákmonas; South Slavic The Vardar or Axios ( Αξιός Axiós or Βαρδάρης Vardárīs; Latin: Axius) is the longest and major River in the Strymon redirects here For the Strymon Gulf see Strymonian Gulf. Strymon redirects here For the Strymon Gulf see Strymonian Gulf. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Sérres or Sérrhae ( Greek: Σέρρες older form Σέρραι is a city in Macedonia, Greece.
According to geographer H. R. Wilkinson, "it defies definition". Its current 'geographical' limits are nonhomogeneous - either ethnically or geographically - and they were established only in 1899, by the Greek cartographer C. Nicolaides for political purposes. His map took hold a few years later[1] The map area was adopted by Bulgarian geographers V. Kancev, in 1900 and D. M. Brancoff in 1905. [1] (Wilkinson 1951:130,136). The perception of the 'division' of a single area emerged as a historical hindsight.
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Boundaries and definitions
The Roman province of Macedonia consisted of what is today Northern and Central Greece, the geographical area of the present-day Republic of Macedonia and southeast Albania. Simply put, it covered a much larger area than ancient Macedon. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most
In the Byzantine Empire a province under the name of Macedonia was carved out of the original Thema of Thrace, which was well east of the Struma River. Thrace (Тракия Trakiya or "Trakija" or Trakia, Θράκη Thráki, Trakya is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe Strymon redirects here For the Strymon Gulf see Strymonian Gulf. This thema variously included parts of Eastern Rumelia and western Thrace and gave its name to the Macedonian dynasty. Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia (Източна Румелия Iztochna Rumeliya; Ottoman Turkish: Rumeli-i Şarkî; Modern Turkish The following is a list of emperors of the Byzantine Empire belonging to the Macedonian dynasty (also known as the Armenian Dynasty) of Armenian Hence, Byzantine documents of this era that mention Macedonia are most probably referring to the Macedonian thema. The region of Macedonia, on the other hand, which was ruled by the First Bulgarian Empire throughout the 9th and the 10th century, was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire in 1018 as the Thema of Bulgaria. The First Bulgarian Empire (Първo Българско царство Părvo Bălgarsko Tsarstvo) was a Medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 632 The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian
With the gradual conquest of southeastern Europe by the Ottomans in the late 14th century, the name of Macedonia disappeared for good as an administrative designation for several centuries and was rarely displayed on maps. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The name was again revived to mean a distinct geographical region with roughly the same borders as today by European cartographers in the 20th century.
Demographics
- Main articles: Demographic history of Macedonia
During medieval and modern times, Macedonia was known as a Balkan region inhabited by ethnic Greeks, Albanians, Vlachs, Serbs, Bulgarians, Jews, and Turks. [2]
Today as a frontier region where several very different cultures meet, Macedonia has an extremely diverse demographic profile. Macedonians or "Makedhones" form the majority of the region's population, living almost entirely in Macedonia, although there are also Macedonian minorities in Albania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Republic of Macedonia (Република In Albania, Greeks number 58,785 according to the 1989 census, and in the Blagoevgrad Province (Pirin Macedonia) in Bulgaria, 86 people declared themselves Greeks in the 2001 census (out of a total of 3,408 in all Bulgaria) and the number of Greeks in the Republic of Macedonia is 442 according to the 2002 census. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian
Ethnic Macedonians (also known as Macedonian Slavs) are the second largest ethnic group in the region. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people They are primarily of Slavic origin forming the majority of the population in the Republic of Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia (Република According to the 2002 census, approximately 1,300,000 people declared themselves as Macedonians. According to the latest Bulgarian census held in 2001, there are 3,117 people declaring as ethnic Macedonians in the Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria (Pirin Macedonia). Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The official number of ethnic Macedonians in Bulgaria is 5,071. The number of ethnic Macedonians and Slavic speakers in Greek Macedonia is uncertain. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Macedonia ( Μακεδονία, Makedonía,) is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe The 1951 census recorded 41,017 Slavophones mostly in the Periphery of Western Macedonia. The Slavic dialects of Greece are the dialects of Bulgarian or Macedonian spoken by minority groups in the regions of Macedonia and Thrace West Macedonia is one of the thirteen peripheries of Greece, consisting of the western part of the region of Macedonia. The linguistic classification of the Slavic dialects spoken by these people can be either Bulgarian or Macedonian Slavic, although the people themselves call their language Slavic. Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Macedonian () is the official Language of the Republic of Macedonia and is a part of the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. The Slavic dialects of Greece are the dialects of Bulgarian or Macedonian spoken by minority groups in the regions of Macedonia and Thrace Most of these people declare themselves as Greeks (Slavophone Greeks), although there are small groups espousing ethnic Macedonian and Bulgarian national identities. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions Indigenous minorities in Greece are relatively small and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people The Bulgarians (българи balgari) are a South Slavic people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language A political party promoting the concept and rights of what they describe as the "Macedonian minority in Greece" - the Rainbow (Greek: Ουράνιο Τόξο, Ouránio Tóxo) - was founded in September 1998, and received 2,955 votes in Macedonia in the 2004 elections. This page refers to the Greek political party for other uses see Rainbow party. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Similarly, a pro-Bulgarian political party, known as Bulgarian Human Rights in Macedonia (Greek: Βουλγαρικά Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα στη Μακεδονία, Voulgariká Anthrópina Dikaiómata sti Makedonía) was established in June 2000, promoting the concept and rights of what they describe as the "Bulgarian minority in Greece", although they have yet to participate in elections. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In the 1989 Albanian census approximately 5,000 Albanian citizens declared themselves Macedonians. The identity of the Macedonians is a disputed question in the region.
The other two major ethnic groups in the region are the Bulgarians and the Albanians. The Bulgarians (българи balgari) are a South Slavic people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language Bulgarians represent the bulk of the population of Pirin Macedonia (Blagoevgrad Province), although there are Bulgarian-identifying groups in Albania, Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known Albania and Greece each have both a Bulgarian and an ethnic Macedonian organization, and in the Republic of Macedonia, 1,417 people claimed a Bulgarian ethnic identity in the 2002 census. Paradoxically, during the last few years there has been around 60,000 Macedonians applying for Bulgarian citizenship and some 10,000 ethnic Macedonians have already obtained Bulgarian passports. Bulgaria’s admission to the EU is evidently a powerful motivation factor. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in In order to obtain it they must sign a statement proving they are Bulgarian by origin, effectively not recognising their rights as a minority[2][3][4][5] [6]. Ethnic Albanians make up the majority in certain northern and western parts of the Republic of Macedonia, and account for 25. } Albanians (Shqiptarët are an Ethnic group and a Nation, in the sense of sharing a common Albanian culture speaking the Albanian language 2% of the total population of the Republic of Macedonia, according to the last census held in 2002.
Smaller numbers of Turks, Bosniaks, Roma, Serbs, Vlachs (Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians), Egyptians,Armenians and Jews (Sephardim and Romaniotes) are also be found in Macedonia. The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language The Bosniaks or Bosniacs (Bošnjak pl Bošnjaci bɔ'ʃɲaːt͡si are a South Slavic people living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Bosnia" The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia, Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe Aromanians (or Macedo-Rumans; in Aromanian they call themselves Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans The Megleno-Romanians or Meglen Vlachs ( Megleno-Romanian Vlashi; Greek Βλαχομογλενίτες Vlachomoglenítes) are Balkan Egyptians or simply Egyptians (Egjiptian Египћани Egipćani or Ђупци Đupci; Египќанци Egipkjanci or Ѓупци The Armenians (Հայեր Hayer) are a Nation and Ethnic group originating in the Caucasus and in the Armenian Highlands A large PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural The Romaniotes ( Greek: Ρωμανιώτες, Rōmaniōtes are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and
Most of the inhabitants of the regions are Christians of the Eastern Orthodox rite (principally the Greek Orthodox, the Bulgarian Orthodox, and the Serbian Orthodox Churches, as well as the unrecognized Macedonian Orthodox Church). A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian Communion in the world The Church of Greece ( Greek: Ekklēsía tês Helládos, ekliˈsia tis eˈlaðos is one of the fifteen Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Българска православна църква Bălgarska pravoslavna cărkva) is an Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( Serbian: Српска Православна Црква / Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva; СПЦ / SPC) or the History Origins After the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire, the Emperor Basil II acknowledged the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian There is, however, a substantial Muslim minority - principally among the Albanians, Pomaks (Muslim Slavic Speakers), Macedonian Muslims or Torbeshi, Bosniaks, and Turks. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion The Macedonian Muslims ( Macedonian: Македонци-муслимани Makedonci-muslimani) also known as Muslim Macedonians or Torbeš The Bosniaks or Bosniacs (Bošnjak pl Bošnjaci bɔ'ʃɲaːt͡si are a South Slavic people living mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Bosnia" The Turkish people (Türk Halkı also known as " Turks " ( Türkler) are defined mainly as being speakers of Turkish as a First language
History
Ancient Macedonia (500 BC to 146 BC)
Macedonia is known to have been inhabited since Paleolithic times. The term Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) (from Greek παλαιός palaios, " Old " and λίθος Lithos, "stone" Its recorded history began with the emergence of the ancient kingdom of Macedon centred somewhere between the southern slopes of Lower Olympus and the lowest reach of the Haliakmon River[3]. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most By 500 BC, the early Macedonian kingdom had become subject to the Persian Empire but played no significant part in the wars between the Persians and the Greeks. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia
King Alexander I of Macedon (died 450 BC) was the first Macedonian king to play a significant role in Greek politics, promoting the adoption of the Attic dialect and culture. Alexander I (Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μακεδών was ruler of Macedon from 498 BC to 454 BC Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. The Hellenic character of Macedon grew over the next century until, under the rule of Philip II of Macedon, Macedon extended its power in the 4th century BC over the rest of northern Greece. Philip II of Macedon, ( Greek: Φίλιππος Β' ο Μακεδών &mdash φίλος = friend + ίππος = Horse Philip's son Alexander the Great created an even bigger empire, not only conquering the rest of Greece but also seizing control of the Persian Empire, Egypt and lands as far east as the fringes of India. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country
Much of the impetus towards the creation of this common identity was provided by Alexander the Great. Alexander's conquests produced a lasting extension of Greek culture and thought across the ancient Near East, but his empire broke up on his death. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century His generals divided the empire between them, founding their own states and dynasties - notably Antigonus I, Antipater, Lysimachus, Perdiccas, Ptolemy I, and Seleucus I. Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-eyed" (382 BC - 301 BC son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman general and Satrap Antipater ( Greek: Ἀντίπατρος Antipatros; ca 397 BC — 319 BC was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon Lysimachus ( Greek: Λυσίμαχος Lysimachos; 360 BCE - 281 BCE was a Macedonian officer and diadochus (i Perdiccas ( Greek: Περδίκας, Perdikas; died 321 BC or 320 BC was one of Alexander the Great 's generals For the astronomer see Ptolemy; for others named "Ptolemy" or "Ptolemaeus" see Ptolemy (disambiguation. Seleucus I (surnamed for later generations Nicator, Greek: Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i Macedon itself was taken by Cassander, who ruled it until his death in 297 BC. Cassander ( Greek: Κάσσανδρος, Kassandros; ca 350 - 297 BC King of Macedon (305 - 297 BC was a son of Antipater Antigonus II took control in 277 BC following a period of civil strife. Antigonus II Gonatas (lit "knock-knees" ( Greek Αντίγονος B΄ Γονατᾶς ca During his long reign, which lasted until 239 BC, he successfully restored Macedonian prosperity despite losing many of the subjugated Greek city-states. His successor Antigonus III (reigned 229 BC-221 BC) re-established Macedonian power across the region. Antigonus III Doson ( Greek: ο Αντίγονος Δώσων 263 BC-221 BC was king of Macedon from 229 BC-221 BC
Macedon sovereignty was brought to an end at the hands of the rising power of Rome in the 2nd century BC. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Philip V of Macedon took his kingdom to war against the Romans in two wars during his reign (221 BC-179 BC). Philip V ( Greek Φίλιππος Ε΄) (238 BC - 179 BC was King of Macedon from 221 BC to 179 BC The First Macedonian War (215 BC-205 BC) was fairly successful for the Macedonians but Philip was decisively defeated in the Second Macedonian War in (200 BC-197 BC). The First Macedonian War (214 BC - 205 BC was fought by Rome, allied (after 211 BC with the Aetolian League and Attalus I of Pergamon, against The Second Macedonian War ( 200 &ndash 197 BC) was fought between Macedon, led by Philip V of Macedon, and Rome, allied with Pergamon Although he survived war with Rome, his successor Perseus of Macedon (reigned 179 BC-168 BC) did not; having taken Macedon into the Third Macedonian War in (171 BC-168 BC), he lost his kingdom when he was defeated. Perseus ( Greek Περσεύς) (ca 212 BC - 166 BC) was the last king ( Basileus) of the Antigonid dynasty The Third Macedonian War ( 171 BC - 168 BC) was a war fought between Rome and King Perseus of Macedon. Macedonia was initially divided into four republics subject to Rome before finally being annexed in 146 BC as a Roman province. In Ancient Rome, a province (Latin provincia, pl provinciae) was the basic and until the Tetrarchy (circa
Medieval Macedonia
With the division of the Roman Empire into west and east in 298 AD, Macedonia came under the rule of Rome's Byzantine successors. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The population of the entire region was, however, severely depleted by destructive invasions of Visigoths and Huns c. The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy 300 - 400s AD, however the Byzantine empire continued to flourish. The city of Thessaloniki became an important trade and cultural centre. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Despite the empire's power, from the beginning of the 6th century the Byzantine dominions were subject to frequent massive movements and attacks on the part of the trans-Danubian Slavs. In the beginning of the 7th century at the time when domestic troubles weakened the defenses at the northern frontier of the Byzantine state, they made their settlement between the Danube and the Aimos range. From then onwards, Slavic invasions were carried on intermittently and Slavic penetrations of the northern parts of the Balkan Peninsula continued either in the form of war-like invasions. In 598 the Slavic tribes besieged Thessaloniki and settled its hinterlands in great numbers. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Unlike the settlers of Bythinia and Thrace, those Slavs could only be removed by force. Whereas the Byzantine state's prevailing Greek culture flourished in Thessaloniki and the coastal Aegean Sea, various parts of Macedonia were settled from around 600 AD by Slavs. The bulk of the Slavs settled in the north of the region but substantial Slavic populations also settled in rural places of what is now the northern part of Greek Macedonia. Overall, Slavs were the large majority of the population, even in the areas that are now part of Greece.
The Slavic settlements were referred to by Byzantine Greek historians as "Sklaviniai". The Sklaviniai participated in several assaults against the Byzantine Empire - alone or aided by Bulgars or Avars. The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia, The Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. Around 680 AD the Bulgar group, led by khan Kuber (who belonged to the same clan as the Danubian Bulgarian khan Asparukh), settled in the Pelagonian plain, and launched campaigns to the region of Thessaloniki. The Bulgars (also Bolgars or proto-Bulgarians) were a seminomadic people probably of Turkic descent originally from Central Asia, Kuber was Bulgar leader who ruled over Srem as a vassal to the Avar Khagan The Dulo Clan or the House of Dulo was the name of the ruling dynasty of the early Bulgars. Asparuh or Isperih ( Bulgarian: Аспарух, Asparuh or Исперих, Isperih) was ruler of a Bulgar tribe Pelagonia ( Greek: Πελαγονíα Pelagonía, Macedonian: Пелагонија Pelagonija, Albanian: Pellgania, or Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia In the late 7th century Justinian II organized a massive expeditions against the Sklaviniai of the Greek peninsula, in which he reportedly captured over 110,000 Slavs and transferred them to Cappadocia. Justinian II (Ιουστινιανός Β΄ Ioustinianos II; 669&ndashDecember 711 known as Rinotmetos or Rhinotmetus (Ρινότμητος By the time of Constans II (who also organized campaigns against the Slavs), the significant number of the Slavs of Macedonia were captured and transferred to central Asia Minor where they were forced to recognize the authority of the Byzantine emperor and serve in its ranks. Constans II ( Greek: Κώνστας Β' Kōnstas II) also called "Constantine the Bearded" ( Kōnstantinos Pogonatos) ( November 7 There are no Byzantine records of "Sklaviniai" after 836/837 as they were absorbed into the expanding Slavic First Bulgarian Empire. The First Bulgarian Empire (Първo Българско царство Părvo Bălgarsko Tsarstvo) was a Medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 632 Slavic influence in the region strengthened along with the rise of this state, which incorporated parts of the region to its domain in 837 AD. In the early 860s Saints Cyril and Methodius, Byzantines born in Thessaloniki, created the first Slavic Glagolitic alphabet in which the Old Church Slavonic language was first transcribed, and are thus are commonly referred to as the apostles-christianizators of the Slavic world. Saints Cyril and Methodius (Κύριλλος και Μεθόδιος Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи) were two Byzantine Greek brothers born The Glagolitic alphabet or Glagolitsa is the oldest known Slavic Alphabet. to make sure old Cyrillic letters are displayed properly (For example instead of just Ѣ write Ѣ Their cultural heritage was acquired and developed in medieval Bulgaria, where after 885 the region of Ohrid (modern day RoM) became significant ecclesiastical center with the nomination of the Saint Clement of Ohrid for "first archbishop in Bulgarian language" with residence in this region. Ohrid (Охрид) is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia (Република Saint Clement of Ohrid (Свети Климент Охридски sve'ti 'kliment 'oxridski (ca In conjunction with another disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Naum, Clement created a flourishing Bulgarian cultural center around Ohrid, where pupils were taught theology in the Old Church Slavonic language and the Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabet at what is now called Ohrid Literary School. Saint Naum of Preslav (Свети Наум Преславски sve'ti na to make sure old Cyrillic letters are displayed properly (For example instead of just Ѣ write Ѣ The Cyrillic alphabet (səˈrɪlɪk also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters is actually a family of Alphabets, subsets of which are used by The Ohrid Literary School was one of the two major medieval Bulgarian cultural centres along with the Preslav Literary School ( Pliska Literary School) The Bulgarian-Byzantine boundary in the beginning of 10th century passed approximately 20 km north of Thessaloniki according to the inscription of Narash. According to Byzantine author John Kameniat at that time the neighbouring settlements around Thessaloniki were inhabited by "Scythians" (Bulgarians) and the Slavic tribes of Druguvites and Sagudates in addition to Greeks.
At the end of the 10th century what is now the Republic of Macedonia became the political and cultural heartland of the First Bulgarian Empire after Byzantine emperors John I Tzimiskes and Basil II conquered the eastern part of the Bulgarian empire. The Republic of Macedonia (Република The First Bulgarian Empire (Първo Българско царство Părvo Bălgarsko Tsarstvo) was a Medieval Bulgarian state founded in AD 632 John I Tzimiskes or Tzimisces, (Ιωάννης Α΄ Τζιμισκής Iōannēs I Tzimiskēs; Հովհաննես Ա Չմշկիկ Hovhannes Ayp Chmshgig Basil II, surnamed the Bulgar-slayer (Βασίλειος Β΄ Βουλγαροκτόνος Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, 958 &ndash December 15 1025 The Bulgarian capital Preslav and the Bulgarian Tsar Boris II were captured in 972. Preslav (Преслав was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire from 893 to 972 and one of the most important cities of medieval Southeastern Europe. A new capital was established at Ohrid, which also became the seat of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Ohrid (Охрид) is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Българска православна църква Bălgarska pravoslavna cărkva) is an Autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church Tsar Samuil and his successors continued resistance against the Byzantines for several more decades, before also succumbing in 1018. [4] Basil II became known as the 'Bulgar slayer' after he captured and blinded 14,000 Bulgarian soldiers in 1014. The western part of Bulgaria including Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine Empire as the province of Bulgaria (Thema Bulgaria) and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was reduced in rank to an Archbishopric.
Intermittent slavic uprisings continued to occur, often with the support of the Serbian princedoms to the north. Any temporary independence that might have been gained was usually crushed swiftly by the Byzantines. It was also was marked by periods of war between the Normans and Byzantium, who were bitter enemies. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. The Normans launched offensives from their lands acquired in southern Italy, and temporarily gained rule over small areas in the northwest coast.
From the 12th century, parts of Macedonia were concurred by the Serbian kingdom of Raska. The zenith of the Serbian empire was in the 14th century when it conquered all of Macedonia, northern and central Greece - excluding Thessaloniki, Athens and the Peloponessus. In 1346, King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia was crowned Tsar (Emperor) of the Serbs and Greeks. Stefan Uroš IV Dušan ( c.1308 – 20 December 1355) called Silni ("the Mighty" was the King of Serbia (from Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. His empire broke up shortly after his death in 1355.
At this time, the Ottoman threat was looming in the Balkans, as the Ottomans defeated the Christian coalition of Serbs, Bulgarians and Greeks. After the Ottoman victory in the Battle of Maritsa in 1371, most of Macedonia accepted vassalage to the Ottomans and by the end of the 14th century the Ottoman Empire fully annexed it. The Battle of Maritsa or Battle of Chernomen (also known as the Second Battle of Maritsa) (Маричка битка битка при Черномен took Macedonia remained a part of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 500 years, during which time it gained a substantial Turkish minority. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Turkic peoples are Eurasian peoples residing in northern central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family Thessaloniki later become the home of a large Jewish population following the expulsions of Jews after 1492 from Spain. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
Emergence of a Macedonian region
After the revival of Greek, Serbian, and Bulgarian statehood in the 19th century, The Ottoman lands in Europe that became identified as Macedonia, were contested by all three governments, leading to the creation in the 1890s and 1900s of rival armed groups who divided their efforts between fighting the Turks and one another.
The most important of these was the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committee (BMARC, SMARO from 1902) (an alternative version says that it consisted of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO, TMORO from 1902)), under Gotse Delchev who in 1903 rebelled in the so-called Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, fighting for an autonomous or independent Macedonian state (before 1902 only Bulgarians could join, but afterwards, it invited any Macedonian or Odrinian, irrespective of nationality, to join together), and the Greek efforts from 1904 until 1908 (Greek Struggle for Macedonia). The Internal-Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Macedonia for the Macedonians ( Abbreviated VMRO-MNM) (Внатрешно-македонска Револуционерна Georgi Nikolov Delchev (1872-1903 ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Георги Николов Делчев was an important 19th century revolutionary figure in The Greek Struggle for Macedonia 1904-1908 (in Greek language: Μακεδονικός Ἀγῶν " Macedonian Struggle " is how the Greeks describe Diplomatic intervention by the European powers led to plans for an autonomous Macedonia under Ottoman rule.
It is often claimed that macédoine, the fruit or vegetable salad, was named after the area's very mixed population, however it seems more likely that it was inspired by the diversity of Alexander the Great's domains, as the term dates to France in the 18th century, when Macedonia's ethnic composition was not widely known. Macedonia or macédoine is a Salad composed of small pieces of Fruit or of Vegetables Fruit macedonia or Macedonia de frutas is Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' [5]
The birth of nationalism and of Macedonian identities
Over the centuries Macedonia had become a multicultural region. The historical references mention Greeks, Bulgarians, Turks, Albanian, Gypsies, Jews and Vlachs. Eventually, in the 20th century, 'Bulgarians' came to be understood as synonymous with 'Macedonian Slavs' and, eventually, 'ethnic Macedonians'. Krste Misirkov, a philologist and publicist, mostly known for his work "On the Macedonian Matters" (1903), heralded by Macedonians as one of the “founders of the Macedonian nation”, stated:
“Some will ask why I speak of breaking away from the Bulgarians when in the past we have even called ourselves Bulgarians and when it is generally accepted that unification creates strength, and not separation. Krste Petkov Misirkov (Кръсте/Кръстю/Кръстьо Петков Мисирков Крсте Петков Мисирков (born 18 November, 1874 in The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people ”“And, anyway, what sort of new Macedonian nation can this be when we and our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have always been called Bulgarians?”[6]
The restricted borders of the modern Greek state at its inception in 1830 disappointed the inhabitants of northern Greece (Epirus and Macedonia). Addressing these concerns in 1844, the Greek Prime Minister Kolettis addressed the constitutional assembly in Athens that "the kingdom of Greece is not Greece; it is only a part, the smallest and poorest, of Greece. The Greek is not only he who inhabits the kingdom, but also he who lives in Ioannina (Epirus), or Thessaloniki (Macedonia), or Serres (Macedonia), or Odrin (Thrace)" . Ioannina (Ιωάννινα, often el Γιάννενα or el Γιάννινα / is a city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a metropolitan population of Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Sérres or Sérrhae ( Greek: Σέρρες older form Σέρραι is a city in Macedonia, Greece. Edirne (anc Hadrianopolis; Greek Adrianople; Slavic/Bulgarian Одрин, see also its other names) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost He mentions cities and islands that were under Ottoman possession as composing the Great Idea (Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα) which meant the reconstruction of the classical Greek world or the revival of the Byzantine Empire. Megali Idea ( Modern Greek: Μεγάλη Ιδέα "Great Idea" was an Irredentist concept of Greek nationalism that expressed the goal The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca The important idea here is that for Greece, Macedonia was a region with large Greek populations expecting annexation to the new Greek state. At this time, the region which today is the Republic of Macedonia was known as the "fief (vilayet) of Skopje". A wilāyah (ولاية or vilâyet (in Persian and Ottoman Turkish) is an administrative division usually
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The Congress of Berlin (1878) changed the Balkan map again. The Treaty of Berlin was the final Act of the Congress of Berlin ( June 13 - July 13, 1878) by which the United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary The treaty restored Macedonia and Thrace to the Ottoman Empire. Serbia, Romania and Montenegro were granted full independence, and some territorial expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. Russia would maintain military advisors in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia until May 1879. Austria-Hungary was permitted to occupy Bosnia, Herzegovina and the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. The Congress of Berlin also forced Bulgaria, newly given autonomy by the 1878 Treaty of San Stefano, to return over half of its newly gained territory to the Ottoman Empire. The Preliminary Treaty of San Stefano was a treaty between Russia and the Ottoman Empire signed at the end of the Russo-Turkish War 1877–78. This included Macedonia, a large part of which was given to Bulgaria, due to Russian pressure and the presence of significant numbers of Bulgarians and adherents to the Bulgarian Exarchate. The Bulgarian Exarchate (Българска екзархия Bylgarska ekzarkhia) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its Autocephaly The territorial losses dissatisfied Bulgaria; this fuelled the ambitions of many Bulgarian politicians for the following seventy years, who wanted to review the treaty - by peaceful or military means and to reunite all lands which they claimed had a Bulgarian majority. Besides, Serbia was now interested in the Macedonian lands, until then only Greece was Bulgaria's main contender, which after the addition of Thessaly to Greece in (1881) was bordering Macedonia. Thus, the Berlin Congress renewed the struggle for Turkey in Europe, including the so-called Macedonia region, rather than setting up a permanent regime. In the following years, all of the neighboring states struggled over Turkey in Europe; they were only kept at bay by their own restraints, the Ottoman Army and the territorial ambitions of the Great Powers in the region.
Serbian policy had a distinct anti-Bulgarian flavor, attempting to prevent the Bulgarian Exarchate (established in 1870) influencing the inhabitants of Macedonia. On the other hand, Bulgaria was using the power of its religious institutions to promote its language and make more people identify with Bulgaria. Greece, in addition, was in an advantageous position for protecting its interests through the influence of Patriarchate of Constantinople which traditionally sponsored Greek-language and Greek-culture schools also in villages with few Greeks. This put the Patriarchate in dispute with the Exarchate, which established schools with Bulgarian education. Indeed, belonging to one or another institution could define a person's national identity. Simply, if a person supported the Patriarchate they were regarded as Greek, whereas if they supported the Exarchate they were regarded as Bulgarian. Locally, however, villagers were not always able to express freely their association with one or the other institution as there were numerous armed groups trying to defend and/or expand the territory of each. Some were locally recruited and self-organized by the respective ethnical minorities (for example, VMORO) while others were sent and armed by the protecting states.
The aim of the adversaries, however, was not primarily to extend their influence over Macedonia but merely to prevent Macedonia succumbing to the influence of the other. This often violent attempt to persuade the people that they belonged to one ethnic group or another pushed some people to reject both. The severe pressure on the peaceful peasants of Macedonia worked against the plans of the Serbians and Bulgarians to make them adopt their ethnic idea and eventually a social divide became apparent. The British Ambassador in Belgrade in 1927 said: "At present the unfortunate Macedonian peasant is between the hammer and the anvil. One day 'comitadjis' come to his house and demand under threat lodging, food and money and the next day the gendarm hales him off to prison for having given them; the Macedonian is really a peaceable, fairly industrious agriculturist and if the (Serbian) government give him adequate protection, education, freedom from malaria and decent communications, there seems no reason why he should not become just as Serbian in sentiment as he was Bulgarian 10 years ago". As a result of this game of tug-of-war, the Slavs of Macedonia did not have any national identity. Moreover, when the imperialistic plans of the surrounding states made possible the division of Macedonia, some Macedonian intellectuals such as Misirkov mentioned the necessity of creating a Macedonian national identity which would distinguish the Macedonian Slavs from Bulgarians, Serbians or Greeks.
Baptizing Macedonian Slavs as Serbian or Bulgarian aimed therefore to justify these countries' territorial claims over Macedonia. The Greek side, with the assistance of the Patriarchate that was responsible for the schools, could more easily maintain control, because they were spreading Greek identity. For the very same reason the Bulgarians, when preparing the Exarchate's government (1871) included Macedonians in the assembly as "brothers" to prevent any ethnic diversification. On the other hand, the Serbs, unable to establish Serbian-speaking schools, used propaganda. Their main concern was to prevent the Slavic-speaking Macedonians from acquiring Bulgarian identity through concentrating on the myth of the ancient origins of the Macedonians and simultaneously by the classification of Bulgarians as Tatars and not as Slavs, emphasizing their 'Macedonian' characteristics as an intermediate stage between Serbs and Bulgarians. To sum up the Serbian propaganda attempted to inspire the Macedonians with a separate ethnic identity to diminish the Bulgarian influence. This choice was the 'Macedonian ethnicity'. The Bulgarians never accepted an ethnic diversity from the Slav Macedonians, giving geographic meaning to the term. In 1893 they established the VMRO (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization) aiming to confront the Serbian and Greek action in Macedonia. VMRO hoped to answer the Macedonian question through a revolutionary movement, and so they instigated the Ilinden Uprising (1903) to release some Ottoman territory. Bulgaria used this to internationalize the Macedonian question. Ilinden changed Greece's stance which decided to take Para-military action. In order to protect the Greek Macedonians and Greek interests, Greece sent officers to train guerrillas and organize militias (Macedonian Struggle), known as makedonomahi (Macedonian fighters), essentially to fight the Bulgarians. The Greek Struggle for Macedonia 1904-1908 (in Greek language: Μακεδονικός Ἀγῶν " Macedonian Struggle " is how the Greeks describe After that it was obvious that the Macedonian question could be answered only with a war. This article is about the region spanning several countries in southeastern Europe for the demographics of the Republic of Macedonia, see Demographic history of the
The rise of the Albanian and the Turkish nationalism after 1908, however, prompted Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to bury their differences with regard to Macedonia and to form a joint coalition against the Ottoman Empire in 1912. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Disregarding public opinion in Bulgaria, which was in support of the establishment of an autonomous Macedonian province under a Christian governor, the Bulgarian government entered a pre-war treaty with Serbia which divided the region into two parts. The part of Macedonia west and north of the line of partition was contested by both Serbia and Bulgaria and was subject to the arbitration of the Russian Tsar after the war. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. Serbia formally renounced any claims to the part of Macedonia south and east of the line, which was declared to be within the Bulgarian sphere of interest. The pre-treaty between Greece and Bulgaria, however, did not include any agreement on the division of the conquered territories - evidently both countries hoped to occupy as much territory as possible having their sights primarily set on Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia
In the First Balkan War, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro occupied almost all Ottoman-held territories in Europe. The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 pitted the Balkan League ( Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria Bulgaria bore the brunt of the war fighting on the Thracian front against the main Ottoman forces. Both her war expenditures and casualties in the First Balkan War were higher than those of Serbia, Greece and Montenegro combined. The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 pitted the Balkan League ( Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria Macedonia itself was occupied by Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian forces. The Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of London in May 1913 assigned the whole of Macedonia to the Balkan League, without, specifying the division of the region, in order to promote problems between the allies. The Balkan League was the alliance of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria against the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars Dissatisfied with the creation of an autonomous Albanian state, which denied her access to the Adriatic, Serbia asked for the suspension of the pre-war division treaty and demanded from Bulgaria greater territorial concessions in Macedonia. This article is about the country in southern Europe For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Albania topics. Later in May the same year, Greece and Serbia signed a secret treaty in Thessaloniki stipulating the division of Macedonia according to the existing lines of control. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Both Serbia and Greece, as well as Bulgaria, started to prepare for a final war of partition.
In June 1913, Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, without consulting the government, and without any declaration of war, ordered Bulgarian troops to attack the Greek and Serbian troops in Macedonia, initiating the Second Balkan War. Ferdinand I Tsar of Bulgaria (February 26 1861 - September 10 1948 born Prince Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the Prince Regnant The Second Balkan War was fought in 1913 between Bulgaria on one side and its First Balkan War allies Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro The Bulgarian army was in full retreat in all fronts. The Serbian army chose to stop its operations when achieved all its territorial goals and only then the Bulgarian army took a breath. During the last 2 days the Bulgarians managed to achieve a defensive victory against the advancing Greek army in the Kresna Gorge. The Kresna Gorge is a spectacular steep valley in southwestern Bulgaria. However at the same time the Romanian army crossed the undefended northern border and easily advanced towards Sofia. Sofia (София ˈsɔfija is the Capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria, with a population of 1395568 in the Capital Municipality Romania interfered in the war, in order to satisfy its territorial claims against Bulgaria. The Ottoman Empire also interfered, easily reassuming control of Eastern Thrace with Edirne. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Edirne (anc Hadrianopolis; Greek Adrianople; Slavic/Bulgarian Одрин, see also its other names) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost The Second Balkan War, also known as Inter-Ally War, left Bulgaria only with the Struma valley and a small part of Thrace with minor ports at the Aegean sea. The Second Balkan War was fought in 1913 between Bulgaria on one side and its First Balkan War allies Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro Vardar Macedonia was incorporated into Serbia and thereafter referred to as South Serbia. Southern (Aegean) Macedonia was incorporated into Greece and thereafter was referred to as northern Greece. The region suffered heavily during the Second Balkan War. During its advance at the end of June, the Greek army set fire to the Bulgarian quarter of the town of Kilkis and over 160 villages around Kilkis and Serres driving some 50,000 refugees into Bulgaria proper. Kilkis (Κιλκίς local Slavic: Кукуш Kukuš, Kılkış is an industrial city in Central Macedonia, Greece. The Bulgarian army retaliated by burning the Greek quarter of Serres and by arming Muslims from the region of Drama which led to a massacre of Greek civilians. Sérres or Sérrhae ( Greek: Σέρρες older form Σέρραι is a city in Macedonia, Greece. Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance.
In September of 1915, the Greek government authorized the landing of the troops in Thessaloniki. In 1916 the pro-German King of Greece agreed with the Germans to allow military forces of the Central Powers to enter Greek Macedonia in order to attack Bulgarian forces in Thessaloniki. As a result, Bulgarian troops occupied the eastern part of Greek Macedonia, including the port of Kavala. Kavala (Καβάλα is the second largest city in northern Greece, the principal Seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala prefecture The region was, however, restored to Greece following the victory of the Allies in 1918. In general allies are people groups or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose After the destruction of the Greek Army in Asia Minor in 1922 Greece and Turkey exchanged most of Macedonia's Turkish minority and the Greek inhabitants of Thrace and Anatolia, as a result of which Aegean Macedonia experienced a large addition to its population and became overwhelmingly Greek in ethnic composition. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Serbian-ruled Macedonia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in 1918. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croato-Slovene ie Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene: Kraljevina Jugoslavija The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croato-Slovene ie Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene: Kraljevina Jugoslavija Yugoslav Macedonia was subsequently subjected to an intense process of "serbianization" during the 1920s and 1930s. Serbianisation ( serbianization, serbization) (србизација srbizacija, сърбизация посръбчване is a term used to describe
During World War II the boundaries of the region shifted yet again. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including When the German forces occupied the area, most of Yugoslav Macedonia and part of Aegean Macedonia were transferred for administration to Bulgaria. During the Bulgarian administration of Eastern Greek Macedonia, some 100,000 Bulgarian refugees from the region were resettled there and perhaps as many Greeks were deported or fled to Greece. Western Aegean Macedonia was occupied by Italy, with the western parts of Yugoslav Macedonia being annexed to Italian-occupied Albania. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The remainder of Greek Macedonia (including all of the coast) was occupied by Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers One of the worst episodes of the Holocaust happened here when 60,000 Jews from Thessaloniki were deported to extermination camps in occupied Poland. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Extermination camps were two types of facilities that Nazi Germany built during World War II for the systematic killing of millions of people in what has become Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Only a few thousand survived.
Macedonia was liberated in 1944, when the Red Army's advance in the Balkan Peninsula forced the German forces to retreat. The pre-war borders were restored under U. S. and British pressure because the Bulgarian government was insisting to keep its military units on Greek soil. The Bulgarian Macedonia returned fairly rapidly to normality, but the Bulgarian patriots in Yugoslav Macedonia underwent a process of ethnic cleansing by the Belgrade authorities, and Greek Macedonia was ravaged by the Greek Civil War, which broke out in December 1944 and did not end until October 1949. The Greek Civil War (ο Eμφύλιος, "the Civil War" fought from 1946 to 1949 by the Governmental forces receiving logistical support by the United Kingdom
After this civil war, a large number of former ELAS fighters who took refuge in communist Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and described themselves as "ethnic Macedonians" were prohibited from reestablishing to their former estates by the Greek authorities. Most of them were accused in Greece for crimes committed during the period of the German occupation.
Macedonia in Balkan Wars, World War I and II
The Balkan Wars
The imminent collapse of the Ottoman Empire was welcomed by the Balkan states, as it promised to restore their European territory. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908-1922 began with the watershed event of Young Turk Revolution and ended with the partitioning of the Empire The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 proved a nationalistic movement thwarting the peoples' expectations of the empire's modernization and hastened the end of the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional To this end, an alliance was struck among the Balkan states in Spring 1913. The First Balkan War, which lasted six weeks, commenced in August 1912, when Montenegro declared war on the Ottoman Empire, whose forces ultimately engaged four different wars in Thrace, Macedonia, Northern and Southern Albania and Kosovo. The Macedonian campaign was fought in atrocious conditions. The retreat of the Ottoman army from Macedonia succeeded the desperate effort of the Greek and Bulgarian forces to reach the city of Thessalonica, the "single prize of the first Balkan War" for whose status no prior agreements were done. In this case possession would be equal to acquisition. The Greek forces entered the city first liberating officially, a progress only positive for them. Glenny says: "for the Greeks it was a good war" .
The first Balkan War managed to liberate Balkans from Turks and settled the major issues except Macedonia. In the spring 1913 the Serbs and Greeks begun the 'Serbianization' and the 'Hellenization' of the parts in Macedonia they already controlled, while Bulgarians faced some difficulties against the Jews and the Turkish populations. Serbianisation ( serbianization, serbization) (србизација srbizacija, сърбизация посръбчване is a term used to describe Hellenization (or Hellenisation) is a term used to describe the spread of Greek culture. Moreover, the possession of Thessalonica was a living dream for the Bulgarians that were preparing for a new war. For this, the Bulgarian troops had a secret order to launch surprise attacks on the Serbs. Greece and Serbia acknowledging the Bulgarian plans signed a bilateral defensive agreement (May 1913) . Consequently, Greece and Serbia decided to attack Bulgaria in its moment of maximum weakness, exhausted by its sacrifice the previous winter. Besides, they had to fight also the Romanians who were claim Bulgarian lands.
The treaty of Bucharest (August 1913) took off most of the Bulgarian conquests of the previous years. Large part of Macedonia became Southern Serbia, including the territory of what today is the Republic of Macedonia and Aegean Macedonia became Northern Greece. Greece almost doubled its territory and population size and its northern frontiers remain today, more or less the same since the Balkan Wars. However, when Serbia acquired 'Vardarska Banovina' (the present-day Republic of Macedonia), it launched having expansionist views aiming to descend to the Aegean, with Thessalonica as the highest ambition. However, Greece after the population exchange with Bulgaria, soon after its victory in the Balkan wars, managed to give national homogeneity in the Aegean and any remaining Slavic-speakers were absorbed.
World War I
After the World War I Macedonian Campaign the status quo of Macedonia remained the same. The Macedonian Front (or Salonika front) resulted from an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915 against the combined attack The establishment of the 'Kingdom of Serbians, Croats and Slovenes' in 1918, which in 1929 was renamed 'Yugoslavia' (South Slavia) predicted no special regime for Skopje neither recognized any Macedonian national identity. In fact, the claims to Macedonian identity remained silent at a propaganda level because, eventually, north Macedonia had been a Serbian conquest.
The situation in Serbian Macedonia changed after the Communist Revolution in Russia (1918-1919). According to Sfetas, Comintern was handling Macedonia as a matter of tactics, depending on the political circumstances. In early 1920s it supported the position for a single and independent Macedonia in a Balkan Soviet Democracy. In actual fact, the Soviets desired a common front of the Bulgarian communist agriculturists and the Bulgarian-Macedonian societies in order to destabilize the Balkan Peninsula. IMRO, under the protection of Comintern, promoted the idea of an independent Macedonia in a Federation of Balkan states, unifying all Macedonians. However, the possible participation of Bulgaria in a new war, on the Axis side, ended the Soviet support some years later. The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries
World War II
Bulgaria was forced to join the Axis powers in 1941, when German troops prepared to invade Greece from Romania reached the Bulgarian borders and demanded permission to pass through Bulgarian territory. The Axis powers also known as the Axis alliance Axis nations Axis countries or sometimes just the Axis were those Countries Threatened by direct military confrontation, Tsar Boris III had no choice but to join the fascist block, which officially happened on 1 March 1941. Boris III Tsar of Bulgaria (January 30 1894 &ndash August 28 1943 originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver ( Boris Clement Robert Mary Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. There was little popular opposition, since the Soviet Union was in a non-aggression pact with Germany.
On April 6, 1941, despite having officially joined the Axis Powers, the Bulgarian government maintained a course of military passivity during the initial stages of the invasion of Yugoslavia and the Battle of Greece. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Battle of Greece (also known as Operation Marita, Unternehmen Marita was a World War II battle that occurred on the Greek mainland and in southern Albania As German, Italian, and Hungarian troops crushed Yugoslavia and Greece, the Bulgarians remained on the side-lines. The Yugoslav government surrendered on April 17. Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. The Greek government was to hold out until April 30. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule On April 20, the period of Bulgarian passivity ended. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. The Bulgarian Army entered the Aegean region. The goal was to gain an Aegean Sea outlet in Thrace and Eastern Macedonia and much of eastern Serbia. Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country The so-called Vardar Banovina was divided between Bulgaria and Italians which occupied West Macedonia. The Vardar Banovina or Vardar Banate or in Serbo-Croat: Вардарска бановина in Cyrillic; Vardarska banovina in Latinic
During the German occupation of Greece (1941-1944) the Greek Communist Party-KKE was the main resistance factor with its military branch EAM-ELAS (National Liberation Front). The National Liberation Front (EAM ( Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο (ΕΑΜ, Ethniko Apeleftherotiko Metopo) was the main movement of the The Greek People's Liberation Army ( Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός, Ellinikos Laïkos Apeleftherotikos Stratos) abbreviated Although many members of EAM were Slavic-speaking, they had either Bulgarian, Greek or distinct Macedonian conscience. To take advantage of the situation KKE established SNOF with the cooperation of the Yugoslav leader Tito, who was ambitious enough to make plans for Greek Macedonia. The National Liberation Front (abbreviated NOF) (Народно Ослободителен Фронт (НОФ transliterated Narodno Osloboditelen Front For this he established the Anti-Fascistic Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) giving an actual liberating character to the whole region of Macedonia. Besides, KKE was very positive to the option of a greater Macedonia, including the Greek region, since it realized that a victory in the Greek Civil War was utopic. The Greek Civil War (ο Eμφύλιος, "the Civil War" fought from 1946 to 1949 by the Governmental forces receiving logistical support by the United Kingdom Later EAM and SNOF disagreed in issues of policy and they finally crashed and the latter was expelled from Greece (1944).
Beyond World War II
The end of the War did not bring peace to Greece and a strenuous civil war between the Government forces and EAM broke out with about 50,000 casualties for both sides. The Greek Civil War (ο Eμφύλιος, "the Civil War" fought from 1946 to 1949 by the Governmental forces receiving logistical support by the United Kingdom The defeat of the Communists in 1949 forced their Slav-speaking members to either leave Greece or fully adopt Greek language and surnames. The slav minorities were discriminated against, and not even recognised as a minority. Since 1923 the only internationally recognized minority in Greece are the Muslims in Western Thrace.
Yugoslav Macedonia was the only region where Yugoslav communist leader Tito had not developed a Partisan movement because of the Bulgarian occupation of a large part of that area. To improve the situation, in 1943 the Communist Party of 'Macedonia' was established in Tetovo with the prospect that it would support the resistance against the Axis. Tetovo (Тетово; Tetova Tetovë Kalkandelen is a city in the northwestern part of Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by In the meantime, the Bulgarians' violent repression led to loss of moral support from the civilian population. By the end of the war "a Macedonia national consciousness hardly existed beyond a general conviction, gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that from Belgrade. Bur if there were no Macedonian nation there was a Communist Party of Macedonia, around which the People's Republic of Macedonia was built".
Tito thus separated Yugoslav Macedonia from Serbia after the war. It became a republic of the new federal Yugoslavia (as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia) in 1946, with its capital at Skopje. Skopje (Скопје; Shkup or Shkupi is the Capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population Tito also promoted the concept of a separate Macedonian nation, as a means of severing the ties of the Slav population of Yugoslav Macedonia with Bulgaria. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Although the Macedonian language is very close to Bulgarian, the differences were deliberately emphasized and the region's historical figures were promoted as being uniquely Macedonian (rather than Serbian or Bulgarian). Macedonian () is the official Language of the Republic of Macedonia and is a part of the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group A separate Macedonian Orthodox Church was established, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church, but it has not been recognized by any other Orthodox Church, including the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. History Origins After the fall of the First Bulgarian Empire, the Emperor Basil II acknowledged the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian The Serbian Orthodox Church ( Serbian: Српска Православна Црква / Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva; СПЦ / SPC) or the History Early history Christianity in Byzantium existed from the time of the Twelve Apostles, but it was in the year 330 that the Roman Emperor The Communist Party sought to deter pro-Bulgarian sentiment, which was punished severely; convictions were still being handed down as late as 1991.
Tito had a number of reasons for doing this. First, as an ethnic Croat, he wanted to reduce Serbia's dominance in Yugoslavia; establishing a territory formerly considered Serbian as an equal to Serbia within Yugoslavia achieved this effect. Secondly, he wanted to sever the ties of the Macedonian Slav population with Bulgaria because recognition of that population as Bulgarian would have undermined the unity of the Yugoslav federation. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Third of all, Tito sought to justify future Yugoslav claims towards the rest of Macedonia (Pirin and Aegean), in the name of the "liberation" of the region. Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known This article is about the term "Aegean Macedonia" for the region in Greece see Macedonia (Greece. The potential "Macedonian" state would remain as a constituent republic within Yugoslavia, and so Yugoslavia would manage to get access to the Aegean Sea. Etymology In ancient times there were various explanations for the name Aegean.
Tito's designs on Macedonia were asserted as early as August, 1944, when in a proclamation he claimed that his goal was to reunify "all parts of Macedonia, divided in 1912 and 1913 by Balkan imperialists". To this end, he opened negotiations with Bulgaria for a new federal state, which would also probably have included Albania, and supported the Greek Communists in the Greek Civil War. The Greek Civil War (ο Eμφύλιος, "the Civil War" fought from 1946 to 1949 by the Governmental forces receiving logistical support by the United Kingdom The idea of reunification of all of Macedonia under Communist rule was abandoned as late as 1949 when the Greek Communists lost and Tito fell out with the Soviet Union and pro-Soviet Bulgaria. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991
Across the border in Greece, Slavophones were seen as a potentially disloyal "fifth column" within the Greek state by both the US and Greece, and their existence as a minority was officially denied. Indigenous minorities in Greece are relatively small and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous A fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group to which it is expected to be loyal such as a Nation. Greeks were resettled in the region many of whom emigrated (especially to Australia) along with many Greek-speaking natives, because of the hard economic conditions after the Second World War and the Greek Civil War. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Although there was some liberalization between 1959 and 1967, the Greek military dictatorship re-imposed harsh restrictions. The situation gradually eased after Greece's return to democracy, although even as recently as the 1990s Greece has been criticised by international human rights activists for "harassing" Macedonian Slav political activists, who, nonetheless, are free to maintain their own political party (Rainbow). This page refers to the Greek political party for other uses see Rainbow party. Elsewhere in Greek Macedonia, economic development after the war was brisk and the area rapidly became the most prosperous part of the region. The coast was heavily developed for tourism, particularly on the Halkidiki peninsula. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel Chalkidiki, also Halkidiki or Chalcidice, less often Khalkidiki and rarely Chalkidice (Χαλκιδική xalkʲiðiˈkʲi is one of the
Under Georgi Dimitrov, Soviet loyalist and head of the Comintern, Bulgaria initially accepted the existence of a distinctive Macedonian identity. Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov (Георги Димитров Михайлов also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov (Георгий Михайлович Димитров A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. The Comintern ( Com munist Intern ational also known as the Third International) was an international Communist organisation founded in Moscow It had been agreed that Pirin Macedonia would join Yugoslav Macedonia and for this reason the population declared itself "Macedonian" in the 1946 census. Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known This caused resentment and many people were imprisoned or interned in rural areas outside Macedonia. Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known After Tito's split from the Soviet bloc this position was abandoned and the existence of a Macedonian nation or language was denied. During the Cold War, the term Communist Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) was used to refer to the Soviet Union and countries it either controlled or that were
Attempts of Macedonian historians after the 1940s to claim a number of prominent figures of the 19th century Bulgarian cultural revival and armed resistance movement as Macedonians has caused ever since a bitter resentment in Sofia. The History of Bulgaria as a separate country began in 632 AD with the establishment of Old Great Bulgaria, which stretched from east of the Sea Bulgaria has repeatedly accused the Republic of Macedonia of appropriating Bulgarian national heroes and symbols and of editing works of literature and historical documents so as to prove the existence of a Macedonian Slav consciousness before the 1940s. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Republic of Macedonia (Република The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people The publication in the Republic of Macedonia of the folk song collections 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' by the Miladinov Brothers and 'Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians' by Serbian archaeologist Verkovic under the "politically correct" titles 'Collection' and 'Macedonian Folk Songs' are some of the examples quoted by the Bulgarians. The Republic of Macedonia (Република The Miladinov Brothers (Братя Миладинови Bratya Miladinovi; Браќа Миладиновци Braќa Miladinovci) Dimitar Miladinov (1810-1862 The Bulgarians (българи balgari) are a South Slavic people generally associated with the Republic of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language The issue has soured the relations of Bulgaria with former Yugoslavia and later with the Republic of Macedonia for decades. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian The Republic of Macedonia (Република
Birth of the Republic of Macedonia
Kiro Gligorov, the president of Yugoslav Macedonia, sought to keep his republic outside the fray of the Yugoslav wars in the early 1990s. Kiro Gligorov (Киро Глигоров) born May 3, 1917 in Štip, then Kingdom of Serbia (now the Republic of Macedonia) was The Yugoslav Wars were a series of violent conflicts in the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY that took place between 1991 and Yugoslav Macedonia's very existence had depended on the active support of the Yugoslav state and Communist Party. As both began to collapse, the Macedonian authorities allowed and encouraged a stronger assertion of Macedonian Slav national identity than before. This included toleration of demands from Macedonian Slav nationalists for the reunification of Macedonia. The Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia were unhappy about an erosion of their national rights in the face of a more assertive Macedonian Slav nationalism. Albanians ( Albanian: Shqiptarë, Macedonian: Албанци Albanci) are the largest ethnic minority in the Republic Some nationalist Serbs called for the republic's re-incorporation into Serbia, although in practice this was never a likely prospect, given Serbia's preoccupation with Bosnia and Croatia. Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between
As communism fell throughout Eastern Europe in the late 20th century, Macedonia followed its other federation partners and declared its independence from Yugoslavia in late 1991. In 1991, the (then Socialist) Republic of Macedonia held a referendum on independence which produced an overwhelming majority in favor of independence. The referendum was boycotted by the ethnic Albanians, although they did create ethnic political parties and actively contributed in the Macedonian government, parliament etc. The republic seceded peacefully from the Yugoslav federation, declaring its independence as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian: The Republic of Macedonia (Република Bulgaria was consequently the first country to officially recognize Republic of Macedonia's independence - as early as February 1992, followed by other countries as well. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Republic of Macedonia (Република The new Macedonian constitution took effect November 20, 1991 and called for a system of government based on a parliamentary democracy. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Kiro Gligorov became the first President of the new independent state, succeeded by Boris Trajkovski. Kiro Gligorov (Киро Глигоров) born May 3, 1917 in Štip, then Kingdom of Serbia (now the Republic of Macedonia) was Boris Trajkovski (Борис Трајковски) ( June 25, 1956 – February 26, 2004) was the president of the Republic In early January of 2001 armed conflict took place between the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army (UÇK) militant group and the Republic of Macedonia's security forces. The insurgency in the Republic of Macedonia ( January - November 2001) was an armed conflict which began when the ethnic Albanian National The National Liberation Army ( Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare Kombëtare - UÇK; Macedonian: Ослободителна народна The conflict partially ended with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement by the government of the Republic of Macedonia and Albanian representatives on August 13, 2001 which provided for greater rights for Macedonian Albanian population. The Ohrid Framework Agreement was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Albanian representatives on August 13, Events 3114 BC - According to the Lounsbury correlation the start of the Maya calendar. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. In January of 2002, the Macedonian conflict ended when the amnesty was announced to Albanian irregulars and rebels. Occasional unrest continued throughout 2002.
Controversy: the Republic of Macedonia and Greece
A controversy exists in regard to whether or not any parts of the historic region of Macedonia are incorporated in the present-day Republic of Macedonia, as very little if any of the ancient Macedonian kingdom is. Background See also Foreign relations of the Republic of Macedonia#Greece, Foreign relations of Greece#Balkans Controversy and conflict There is also controversy, however, with regard to the Slavic peoples who are concentrated in less than half of the region. They first arrived in the late 6th and early 7th centuries AD when Slavic-speaking populations overturned Macedonia's Greek ethnic composition. The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions [7] As a result, the appropriation by the "Republic of Macedonia" of what Greece held as its "Greek symbols", raised concerns in Greece as well as fuelling nationalist anger. [8] This anger was reinforced by the legacy of the Civil War and the view in some quarters, that members of Greece's Slavic-speaking minority were pro-Yugoslavian and presented a danger to its borders. Indigenous minorities in Greece are relatively small and the country is largely ethnically homogeneous The status of the Republic of Macedonia became a heated political issue in Greece where demonstrations took place in Athens while one million Macedonian Greeks took to the streets in Thessaloniki in 1992, under the slogan: "Macedonia is Greek", referring to the name and ancient history of the region, not posing a territorial claim against their northern neighbor. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia Initially, the Greek government objected formally to any use of the name Macedonia (including any derivative names) and also to the use of symbols such as the Vergina Sun. Interpretations of the symbol The significance of the Vergina Sun is unclear On the other hand, also in 1992, demonstrations by more than 100,000 ethnic Slav Macedonians took place in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, over the failure to receive recognition and supporting the constitutional name of the country. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Skopje (Скопје; Shkup or Shkupi is the Capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population
The controversy was not just nationalist, but it also played out in Greece's internal politics. The two leading Greek political parties, the ruling conservative New Democracy under Constantine Mitsotakis and the socialist PASOK under Andreas Papandreou, sought to outbid each other in whipping up nationalist sentiment and the long-term (rather than immediate) threat posed by the irredentist policies of Skopje. New Democracy ( ND, Greek: Νέα Δημοκρατία Néa Dimokratía) founded in 1974 is the main center-right political party in Greece Constantine Mitsotakis (Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης or Konstantinos Mitsotakis) (born October 18, 1918) Greek politician The Panhellenic Socialist Movement, better known as PASOK ( Greek: Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα Pa nellinio So Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (Ανδρέας Γ Παπανδρέου ( 5 February, 1919 23 June, 1996) was a Greek economist To complicate matters further, New Democracy itself was divided; the then prime minister, Mitsotakis, favored a compromise solution on the Macedonian question, while his foreign minister Adonis Samaras took a hard-line approach. Antonis (or Andonis Samaras (born May 23 1951) is a Greek politician and former Member of the European Parliament for New Democracy The two eventually fell out and Samaras was sacked, with Mitsotakis reserving the foreign ministry for himself. He failed to reach an agreement on the Macedonian issue despite United Nations mediation; he fell from power in October 1993, largely as a result of Samaras causing the government's majority of one, to fall, in September 1993. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security
When Andreas Papandreou took power following the October 1993 elections, he established a "hard line" position on the issue. Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (Ανδρέας Γ Παπανδρέου ( 5 February, 1919 23 June, 1996) was a Greek economist The United Nations recommended recognition of the "Republic of Macedonia" under the temporary name of the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (or FYROM for short), which would be used internationally while the country continued to use "Republic of Macedonia" as its constitutional name. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The United States and European Union (therefore, including Greece) agreed to this proposal and duly recognized the Republic of Macedonia. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the This was followed by new, though smaller demonstrations in Greek cities against what was termed a "betrayal" by Greece's allies. Papandreou supported and encouraged the demonstrations, boosting his own popularity by taking the "hard line" against the Republic of Macedonia. In February 1994, he imposed a total trade embargo on the country, with the exception of food, medicines and humanitarian aid. The effect on the Republic of Macedonia's economy was limited, namely because the real damage to its economy had been caused by the collapse of Yugoslavia and the loss of central European markets due to the war. Also, many Greeks broke the trade embargo by entering through Bulgaria. However, the embargo had bad impact on the Republic of Macedonia's economy as the country was cut-off from the port of Thessaloniki and became landlocked because of the UN embargo on Yugoslavia to the north, and the Greek embargo to the south. Thessaloniki (Θεσσαλονίκη), Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of Macedonia The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Later, the signing of the Interim accord between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia marked the increased cooperation between the two neighboring states. The blockade had a political cost for Greece, as there was little understanding or sympathy for the country's position, and exasperation over what was seen as Greek obstructionism from some of its European Union partners. Athens was criticized in some quarters for contributing to the rising tension in the Balkans, even though the wars in the former Yugoslavia were widely seen as having been triggered by the premature recognition of its successor republics, a move to which Greece had objected from the beginning. It later emerged that Greece had only agreed to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in return for EU solidarity on the Macedonian issue. In 1994, the European Commission took Greece to the European Court of Justice in an effort to overturn the embargo, but while the court provisionally ruled in Greece's favor, the embargo was lifted by Athens the following year before a final verdict was reached. The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive branch of the European Union. This article refers to the European Union court not the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe The Court of Justice This was for the "Republic of Macedonia" and Greece to enter into an "interim agreement" in which the Republic of Macedonia agreed to remove any implied territorial claims to the greater Macedonia region from its constitution and to drop the Vergina Sun from its flag. In return, Greece lifted the blockade.
Some countries have recognized the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name, notably the United States,[9] the People's Republic of China[10] and Russia,[11] and also its neighbours Bulgaria,[12] Serbia,[13] Croatia,[14] Slovenia,[15] Turkey[16] etc,[17] although as the country is referred in the UN only under the provisional reference the "former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", the constitutional name is generally used only in bilateral relations and in relations where a state not recognizing the constitutional name is not a party. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Croatia (Hrvatska ˈxȓvatska officially the Republic of Croatia ( Republika Hrvatska) is a southern Central European country at the crossroads between Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia (Republika Slovenija) is a Country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches
Discussions continue over the Greek objection regarding the country's name, but without any resolution so far. [18] The Greek government have linked progrees on this issue to the Republic of Macedonia's accession to the European Union and NATO (for more on this, see Accession of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union). The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The North Atlantic Treaty The accession of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the European Union is one of the highest strategic priorities for the country's government
Controversy: the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria
There are controversial census data about the number of Macedonian Slavs in Bulgaria. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people In the censuses during stalinistic period in 1946 and 1956 - 200,000 and 187,000 citizens have declared themselves as Macedonians respectively. In 2001 only 5,071 citizens declared as Macedonians. Bulgarian governments throughout the period continued their policy of non-recognition of Macedonians as a distinct ethnic group. There were repeated complaints of official harassment of Macedonian activists in the 1990's. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Attempts of Macedonian separatist organization UMO Ilinden to commemorate the grave of revolutionary Yane Sandanski throughout the 1990's were usually hampered by the Bulgarian police. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Yane Ivanov Sandanski or Jane Ivanov Sandanski (Яне Сандански Јане Сандански ( May 18, 1872, Vlahi Ottoman Empire Several incidents of mobbing of UMO Ilinden members by pro-Bulgarian organization IMRO activists were also reported. After the Bulgarian Electoral Committee endorsed in 2001 the registration of a wing of UMO Ilinden, which had dropped separatist demands from its Charter, the mother organization became largely inactive. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian No major incidents or harassment has been reported since then.
There are several Macedonian organizations in Bulgaria: Traditional Macedonian Organization Ilinden, later renamed to IMRO independent - Ilinden, registered in 1992 at the Sofia City Court. Later, in 1998, the organization was registered as a public NGO. The United Macedonian Organization (UMO) - Ilinden is another organization. In 1990, the Blagoevgrad District Court refused to register this organization as some parts of the organization statute weren't in accordance with the Bulgarian Constitution. In October 1994 this association split up on three different factions. Later two wings were unified under the UMO Ilinden - PIRIN organization. In 1998 the European Commission of Human Rights gave admissibility to two out of five complaints of Macedonians from Pirin Macedonia. There is a newspaper published by the Macedonian organizations in Bulgaria: Narodna Volja (People's Will) which is printed in 2,500 copies. [19]
Cases of harassment of pro-Bulgarian organisations and activists have been reported in the Republic of Macedonia. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Republic of Macedonia (Република In 2000 several teenagers threw smoke bombs at the conference of pro-Bulgarian organization 'Radko' in Skopje causing panic and confusion among the delegates. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Skopje (Скопје; Shkup or Shkupi is the Capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population The perpetrators were afterwards acclaimed by the Macedonian press as national heroes. The Republic of Macedonia (Република 'Radko' was later banned by the Macedonian Constitutional Court as separatist. The Republic of Macedonia (Република The organization has continued its activity, though mostly in the cultural field.
In 2001 'Radko' issued in Skopje the original version of the folk song collection 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' by the Miladinov Brothers (issued under an edited name in the Republic of Macedonia and viewed as a collection of Slav Macedonian lyrics). The Miladinov Brothers (Братя Миладинови Bratya Miladinovi; Браќа Миладиновци Braќa Miladinovci) Dimitar Miladinov (1810-1862 The book triggered a wave of other publications, among which the memoirs of the Greek bishop of Kastoria, in which he talked about the Greek-Bulgarian church struggle at the beginning of the 20th century, as well the Report of the Carnegie Commission on the causes and conduct of the Balkan Wars from 1913. Kastoria (Καστοριά Kastoriá, ˌkasto̞ɾˈja is a city in northern Greece in the periphery of West Macedonia. Neither of these addressed the ethnic Macedonian population of Macedonia as Macedonians but as Bulgarians. The Macedonians (Македонци transliterated Makedonci) also referred to as Macedonian Slavs --> --> are a South Slavic people Being the first publications to question the official Macedonian position of the existence of a distinct Macedonian identity going back to the time of Alexander the Great (Macedonism), the books triggered a reaction of shock and disbelief in Macedonian public opinion. The Republic of Macedonia (Република Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' The scandal after the publication of 'Bulgarian Folk Songs' resulted in the sacking of the Macedonian Minister of Culture, Dimitar Dimitrov. The Republic of Macedonia (Република
As of 2000, Bulgaria started to grant Bulgarian citizenship to members of the Bulgarian minorities in a number of countries, including the Republic of Macedonia. The vast majority of the applications have been from Macedonian citizens. As at May, 2004, some 14,000 Macedonians had applied for a Bulgarian citizenship on the grounds of Bulgarian origin and 4,000 of them had already received their Bulgarian passports. In June, 2004, the Macedonian state television announced with alarm that at least one member of every fourth household in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia had already received a Bulgarian passport or had at least applied for one. The last quoted number so far was of 63,000 Macedonians (the number has not been confirmed officially) by the Macedonian daily Vecher on April 5, 2005. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 2006 the former Macedonian Premier and chief of IMRO-DPMNE Ljubčo Georgievski became a Bulgarian citizen. Ljubčo Georgievski (Љубчо Георгиевски Любчо Георгиевски (born January 17, 1966 in Štip, SR Macedonia, then
The rules governing good neighbourly relations agreed between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia were set in the Joint Declaration of February 22, 1999 reaffirmed by a joint memorandum signed on January 22, 2008 in Sofia. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian The Republic of Macedonia (Република Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) Sofia (София ˈsɔfija is the Capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria, with a population of 1395568 in the Capital Municipality [20]
See also
- Demographic history of Macedonia
- Macedonia (Greece)
- Republic of Macedonia
- History of Bulgaria
- History of Europe
- History of Greece
- History of Greek Macedonia
- History of Serbia
- History of the Balkans
- History of the Republic of Macedonia
- Irredentism
- Macedonia (terminology)
- Macedonia
- Blagoevgrad Province
References
- ^ a b Wilkinson, H. This article is about the region spanning several countries in southeastern Europe for the demographics of the Republic of Macedonia, see Demographic history of the Macedonia ( Μακεδονία, Makedonía,) is a geographical and historical region of Greece in southeastern Europe The Republic of Macedonia (Република The History of Bulgaria as a separate country began in 632 AD with the establishment of Old Great Bulgaria, which stretched from east of the Sea The history of Europe describes the passage of time from humans inhabiting the European continent to the present day The History of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically and the territory now composing the modern state of Macedonia is a Geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe whose area was re-defined in the early 20th century One of the first Serbian states Raška, was founded in the first half of the 7th century on Byzantine territory by the Unknown The Balkans is an area of southeastern Europe situated at a major crossroads between mainland Europe and the Near East. This article is about the history of the Southeast European country Irredentism is any position advocating Annexation of territories administered by another State on the grounds of common Ethnicity or prior historical possession The definition of Macedonia is a major source of confusion and debate due to the overlapping use of the term to describe geographical political and historical areas languages Blagoevgrad Province (област Благоевград oblast Blagoevgrad or Благоевградска област Blagoevgradska oblast) also known R. 1951. Maps and Politics (a review of the ethnographic cartography of Macedonia), p120. Liverpool University Press
- ^ “Macedonia Redux”, Eugene N. Borza, The Eye Expanded: Life and the Arts in Greco-Roman Antiquity
- ^ N. G. L. Hammond, "Connotations of 'Macedonia' and of 'Macedones' Until 323 B. C. ", The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 45, No. 1, (1995), p. 122
- ^ The Balkans: from Constantinople to Communism. Dennis P Hupchick. New York
- ^ see the Macedonia (food) article for bibliography
- ^ Krste Petkov Misirkov, "On the Macedonian Matters", Sofia 1903
- ^ Macedonia. Macedonia or macédoine is a Salad composed of small pieces of Fruit or of Vegetables Fruit macedonia or Macedonia de frutas is (2006). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved June 16, 2006, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service: [1]
- ^ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; "A Name for a Conflict or a Conflict for a Name? An Analysis of Greece's Dispute with FYROM”,. 24 (1996) Journal of Political and Military Sociology, 285. Retrieved on 2008-02-11. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu.
- ^ Republican-controlled federal government: Background Note: Macedonia. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz
See also: Democratic-controlled Congress uses the designation "Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)": NATO NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate). The Democratic Party is one of two major Political parties in the United States, the other being the Republican Party. The United States Congress is the bicameral Legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses Retrieved on 2007-06-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1381 - Peasants' Revolt: in England, rebels arrive at Blackheath. - ^ People's daily. China, Macedonia Sign Joint Communique on Normalization of Relations. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire.
- ^ PM Gruevski signs Yeltsin book of condolence. Retrieved on 2007-09-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France.
- ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria, Diplomatic Missions, Macedonia. Retrieved on 2007-01-25
- ^ Embassy of the Republic of Serbia. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Skopje Republic of Macedonia. Retrieved on 2007-01-02. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 366 - The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers invading the Roman Empire.
- ^ 23 29.03.1993 Odluka o osnivanju Veleposlanstva Republike Hrvatske u Republici Makedoniji, sa sjedištem u Skopju
- ^ Uradni list RS 21/1992, Uredbeni del
- ^ NATO Update - Week of 9-15 June 1999. Retrieved on 2007-09-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 96 - Nerva is proclaimed Roman Emperor after Domitian is assassinated
- ^ "New Draft Resolution Won't Change US Position Towards Macedonia - Foreign Ministry", MIA news agency, Skopje. 9 August 2007
- ^ Floudas, Demetrius Andreas; "Pardon? A Name for a Conflict? FYROM's Dispute with Greece Revisited”. in: Kourvetaris et al (eds. ), The New Balkans, East European Monographs: Columbia University Press, 2002, p. 85.
- ^ http://www.greekhelsinki.gr/pdf/cedime-se-bulgaria-macedonians.PDF
- ^ Bulgarian Policies on the Republic of Macedonia: Recommendations on the development of good neighbourly relations following Bulgaria’s accession to the EU and in the context of NATO and EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. Sofia: Manfred Wörner Foundation, 2008. 80 pp. (Trilingual publication in Bulgarian, Macedonian and English) ISBN 978-954-92032-2-6
External links
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
- General
- Bulgarian perspective
- Ethnic Macedonian perspective
- Greek perspective
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