History of the Macedonians (ethnic group)
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The history of
Ancient period
The region of present-day
The
Middle Ages
Settlement
Arrival of the Slavs
The Slavic tribes invaded the Balkan Peninsula in the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries CE, settling in the
Successive Byzantine emperors tried to directly incorporate the Slavs of the region of Macedonia into the socio-economic system of the Byzantine state, with varied success. Emperors Constans II (656) and Justinian II (686) had to resort to military expeditions and forced re-settlement of large numbers of Slavs to Anatolia, forcing them to pay tribute and supply military aid to the empire.[9]
Arrival of Kuber and the Sermesianoi
Historical records document that in 682AD - 685AD a
Christianization and adoption of Cyrillic alphabet
The historical phenomenon of Christianization, the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once, also includes the practice of converting pagan practices, pagan religious imagery, pagan sites and the pagan calendar to Christian uses. After Roman Empire was declared a Christian Empire by Theodosius I in 389, laws were passed against pagan practices over the course of the following years. The Slavic tribes in Macedonia accepted the Christianity as their own religion around the 9th century mainly during the reign of prince Boris I of Bulgaria. The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process of converting 9th century medieval Bulgaria to Christianity as state religion.
The creators of the
In the early 9th century, most of the region of Macedonia (excluding the area of Thessaloniki), as well as large parts of the Balkan peninsula, were incorporated into the
In the 13th century, the region was briefly passed to
From the 13th century, Macedonia was incorporated into the
Ottoman Empire, Turkification and Islamization
This expansion of medieval states on the Balkan Peninsula was discontinued by the occupation of the Ottoman Empire in the 14th century. The region of Macedonia remained part of the Ottoman Empire for the next 500 years, until 1912.
during the Ottoman rule. Overall, the large majority of local Bulgarians remained Christian.Modern era
During the rule of the Ottomans, the local Bulgarians, Serbs, Albanians and others organized a number of uprisings:
This prompted the
The
Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia all wished to claim Macedonia, as a key strategic part of their newly formed kingdoms. Throughout the 19th century, each kingdom tried to claim Macedonia as its own. This was done through the media of church and education, particularly between Greece and Bulgaria. Through the advancement of Greek or Bulgarian language, and provision of local priests either from the
Ilinden Uprising and after
In 1893, the
The failure of the 1903 insurrection resulted in the eventual split of the IMRO into a left wing (federalist) and a right wing. The left-wing faction opposed Bulgarian nationalism and advocated the creation of a
After the
Balkan Wars
During the Balkan Wars, former IMRO leaders of both the left and the right wings joined the Macedono-Odrinian Volunteers and fought with the Bulgarian Army. Others like Yane Sandanski with their bands assisted the Bulgarian army with its advance and still others penetrated as far as the region of Kastoria in the Villayet of Monastir.[3] In the Second Balkan War, IMRO bands fought the Greeks and Serbs behind the front lines, but were subsequently routed and driven out. Notably, Petar Chaulev was one of the leaders of the Ohrid Uprising in 1913 organized jointly by IMRO and the Albanians of Western Macedonia.
The Balkan Wars resulted in important demographic changes to the European territories of the Ottoman empire, especially after they were defeated and forced out of the region. What we may call 'Ottoman Macedonia' was divided between the Balkan nations, with its northern parts going to Serbian, the southern to Greece, and the northeastern to Bulgaria.
The wars were an important precursor to World War I, to the extent that Austria-Hungary took alarm at the great increase in Serbia's territory and regional status. This concern was shared by Germany, which saw Serbia as a satellite of Russia. Serbia's rise in power thus contributed to the two Central Powers' willingness to risk war following the assassination in Sarajevo of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria in June 1914.
World War I
The attack on the Balkans by the Central Powers was begun by Austria, who initially suffered setbacks by fierce Serbian resistance. It was not until Germany sent its troops that broke the resistance and allowed its allies, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria to advance. Bulgaria occupied much of Macedonia, advancing into Greek Macedonia too, ever desirous of the area. The IMRO, led by Todor Aleksandrov, maintained its existence in Bulgaria, where it played a role in politics by playing upon Bulgarian irredentism and urging a renewed war to 'liberate' Macedonia. This was one factor in Bulgaria allying itself with Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. The IMRO organized the Valandovo action of 1915, which was an attack on a large Serbian force. In September 1915, the 11th Macedonian division in Bulgarian army was established with over 40 000 men — Bulgarian refugees from the Serbian army, volunteers etc. The Bulgarian army, supported by the organization's forces, was successful in the first stages of this conflict, managed to drive out the Serbian forces from Vardar Macedonia and came into positions on the line of the pre-war Greek-Serbian border, which was stabilized as a firm front until end of 1918.
In September 1918, the Serbs, British, French and Greeks broke through on the Macedonian front and Tsar Ferdinand was forced to sue for peace. Under the
Macedonia under Serbia
The territory of the present-day state of North Macedonia came under the direct rule of Serbia (and later the
Greece, like all other Balkan states, adopted restrictive policies towards its minorities, namely towards its Slavic population in its northern regions, due to its experiences with Bulgaria's wars, including the
The Slavic speakers that stayed in northwestern Greece were regarded as a potentially disloyal minority and came under severe pressure, with restrictions on their movements, cultural activities and political rights. [5] Many emigrated, for the most part to Canada, Australia, the United States, and other Eastern European countries like Bulgaria. The Greek names for some traditionally Slavic or Turkish speaking areas became official and the Slavic speakers were forced to change their Slavic surnames to Greek sounding surnames, e.g., Nachev becoming Natsulis. A similar procedure was applied to Greek names in Bulgaria and Serbia (e.g. Nevrokop becoming Goce Delchev).[34] In Greece, there was a government sponsored process of Hellenization.[34] Many of the border villages were closed to outsiders, ostensibly for security reasons.[citation needed] The Greek government and people have never recognized the existence of a distinct "Macedonian" ethnic group, as the term "Macedonian" is already reserved for the ethnic Macedonian population that has traditionally inhabited Greece's northernmost region (Greek Macedonia). According to Peter Trudgill Slavic speakers in northern Greece with a non-Greek national identity have tended or forced to leave Greece. As a result, the overwhelming majority of remaining Slavic speakers were forced and now declare themselves as Greeks [35]
On August 10, 1920, upon signing the
In 1924 IMRO entered negotiations with the
Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation, the Comintern decided to discredit him and published the contents of the Manifesto on 28 July 1924 in the "Balkan Federation" newspaper. IMRO's leaders Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov promptly denied through the Bulgarian press that they've ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery.
The policy of assassinations was effective in making Serbian rule in Vardar Macedonia feel insecure but in turn provoked brutal reprisals on the local peasant population. Having lost a great deal of popular support in Vardar Macedonia due to his policies Ivan Mihailov, a new IMRO leader, favoured the internationalization of the Macedonian question.
He established close links with the Croatian
During the 1930s, the Comintern prepared a Resolution about the recognition of the Macedonian nation. It was accepted by the Political Secretariat in
World War II
Upon the outbreak of World War II, the government of the Kingdom of Bulgaria declared a position of neutrality, being determined to observe it until the end of the war, but hoping for bloodless territorial gains. But it was clear that the central geopolitical position of Bulgaria in the Balkans would inevitably lead to strong external pressure by both sides of World War II.
Bulgaria was forced to join the
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
At the beginning of the war in the Balkans, Macedonia shows how complicated the situation was. The political sympathies were intertwined with the national feelings. As a rule, the pro-Serbian elements were for the English-French Allies and the pro-Bulgarian, for the Axis powers. Besides, some of the former revolutionary activists were not far from the thought of solving the Macedonian question through accession of Macedonia, or parts of it, to Italy. The followers of Ivan Mihailov fought for pro-Axis and pro-Bulgarian Macedonia. In this situation, the population was divided in different groups. And time was crucial.
Thus, on April 8, 1941, in
Ten days later, when the Bulgarian army entered Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia on April 19, 1941, it was greeted by most of the population as liberators.
IMRO was also active in organizing the resistance of the Bulgarian population in
Local recruits and volunteers formed the Bulgarian 5th Army, based in Skopje, which was responsible for the round-up and deportation of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola. Harsh rule by the occupying forces encouraged some Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito.[45] In Greece, it has been estimated that the military wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the Democratic Army of Greece (DSE) had 14 000 soldiers of Slavic Macedonian origin out of total 20 000 fighters. Some Macedonians which had been supporters of Communist partisan movement few in the Italian occupied area to Tito's Partisan resistance movement, fighting the occupying Bulgarians, Germans and Italians as well as opposing the Serbian royalist Chetniks. The Macedonian resistance at the end of the war had a strongly nationalist character, not at least as a reaction to Serbia's pre-war repression.
On 2 August 1944 in the St.
On 5 September 1944, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and invaded the country. Within three days the Soviets occupied the northeastern part of Bulgaria along with the key port cities of Varna and Burgas. The Bulgarian Army was ordered to offer no resistance to the Soviets. On 8 September 1944, the Bulgarians changed sides and joined the Soviet Union in its war against Nazi Germany.
After the declaration of war by Bulgaria on Germany, Ivan Mihailov - the IMRO leader arrived in German-occupied Skopje, where the Germans hoped that he could form a Macedonian state with their support. Seeing that the war is lost to Germany and to avoid further bloodshed, he refused. The Bulgarian troops, surrounded by German forces and betrayed by high-ranking military commanders, fought their way back to the old borders of Bulgaria. Three Bulgarian armies (some 500,000 strong in total) entered Yugoslavia in September 1944 and moved from Sofia to Niš and Skopje with the strategic task of blocking the German forces withdrawing from Greece. Southern and eastern Serbia and Macedonia were liberated within a month.
Macedonians after World War II
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The People's Republic of Macedonia was proclaimed at the first session of the
Vormer members of the
Following the war, Tito separated Yugoslav Macedonia from Serbia, making it a republic of the new federal Yugoslavia (as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia) in 1946. He also promoted the concept of a separate Macedonian nation, as a means of severing the ties of the Slavic population of Yugoslav Macedonia with Bulgaria, although the Macedonian language is close to and largely mutually intelligible with Bulgarian, and to a lesser extent Serbian. The differences were emphasized and the region's historical figures were promoted as being uniquely Macedonian (rather than Bulgarian or Serbian). A separate Macedonian Orthodox Church was established, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1967 (only partly successfully, because the church has not been recognized by any other Orthodox Church). The ideologists of a separate and independent Macedonian country, same as the pro-Bulgarian sentiment, was forcibly suppressed.
Tito had a number of reasons for doing this. First, 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 population with Bulgaria as recognition of that population as Bulgarian could have undermined the unity of the Yugoslav federation. Thirdly, Tito sought to justify future Yugoslav claims towards the rest of geographical Macedonia; in August 1944, he claimed that his goal was to reunify "all parts of Macedonia, divided in 1915 and 1918 by Balkan imperialists." To this end, he opened negotiations with Bulgaria for a new federal communist state (see Bled agreement), which would also probably have included Albania, and supported the Greek Communists in the Greek Civil War. The idea of reunification of all of Macedonia under Communist rule was abandoned in 1948 when the Greek Communists lost the civil war and Tito fell out with the Soviet Union and pro-Soviet Bulgaria.
Tito's actions had a number of important consequences for the Macedonians.
The critics of these claims question the number as it would imply roughly a third of the male Christian population at that time. And the reasons of imprisonment, they argue, were multiple as there were Macedonian nationalists, Stalinists, Middle class members, Albanian nationalists and everybody else who was either against the post war regime or denounced as one for whatever reasons. Unlike the time before World War II, when Macedonia was hotbed for unrest and terror and about 60% of the entire royal Yugoslav police force was stationed there,
After World War II, ethnic Macedonians living in Greece organized themselves in
The Macedonians in Albania faced restrictions under the Stalinist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha, though ordinary Albanians were little better off. Their existence as a separate minority group was recognized as early as 1945 and a degree of cultural expression was permitted.
As ethnographers and linguists tended to identify the population of the Bulgarian part of Macedonia as Bulgarian in the interwar period, the issue of a Macedonian minority in the country came up as late as the 1940s. In 1946, the population of
Macedonians after the establishment of an independent Macedonian state
The country of North Macedonia officially celebrates 8 September 1991 as Independence day, with regard to the referendum endorsing independence from Yugoslavia, albeit legalizing participation in "future union of the former states of Yugoslavia". The Republic of Macedonia remained at peace through the Yugoslav wars of the early 1990s. A few very minor changes to its border with Yugoslavia were agreed upon to resolve problems with the demarcation line between the two countries. However, it was seriously destabilized by the Kosovo War in 1999, when an estimated 360,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo took refuge in the country. Although they departed shortly after the war, soon after, Albanian radicals on both sides of the border took up arms in pursuit of autonomy or independence for the Albanian-populated areas of the Republic.
A short conflict was fought between government and ethnic Albanian rebels, mostly in the north and west of the country, between March and June 2001. This war ended with the intervention of a NATO ceasefire monitoring force. In the
In this period, it has been claimed by Macedonian scholars
The supporters of
A similar judgment
See also
- Demographic history of Macedonia
- A list of prominent ethnic Macedonians
- Macedonian nationalism
- Political views on the Macedonian language
- Macedonian Bulgarians
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