Principality of the Pindus

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Principality of the Pindus
Printsipat di la Pind
1941–1942
Common languages
Fascist Italy (unrecognized)
• 1941–1942
Alcibiades Diamandi
Historical eraWorld War II
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Kingdom of Greece
Kingdom of Greece
Part of a series on
Aromanians
Geographical distribution
Major settlements
Culture
Language and identity
Religion
History
Related groups

The Principality of the Pindus (Aromanian: Printsipat di la Pind; Greek: Πριγκιπάτο της Πίνδου; Italian: Principato del Pindo; Romanian: Principatul de Pind) is a name given to describe a self-declared autonomous Aromanian political entity in the territory of Greece during World War II.[1][2]

In 1941, the territory of Greece was occupied by Italy, Germany and Bulgaria during World War II. At that time, Alcibiades Diamandi, an Aromanian residing in Samarina who had earlier been the lead of a previous attempt to create an Aromanian political entity, was active with an organization that later literature named the Roman Legion.[3][4]

As part of the activity of the organization in the areas of mainly

Fascist Italy[3] and Nazi Germany,[4] as well as by the Greek collaborationist government[5] and by fascist-ruled Romania.[6]

Background

Since

irade) of 22 May 1905 by Sultan Abdulhamid, so the Ullah millet ("Vlach millet", for the Aromanians) could have their own churches and schools.[7] This was a diplomatic success of Romania in European Turkey in the last part of the 19th century.[8]

Romania then funded the construction and operation of many schools in the wider region of Macedonia and Epirus. These schools have continued their operation even when some of the territories of the region of Macedonia and Thrace passed to Greek authority in 1912. Their financing by Romania continued in 1913 with the agreement of the then Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos.[9] In such Romanian schools, there was a coordinated effort to promote the idea of Romanian identity among Aromanians. Graduates of these schools who wanted to continue their education usually went to educational institutions in Romania.

In 1917, a short-lived polity, which has been described as the "Samarina Republic" posteriorly, was declared during World War I, though it would be disestablished on the same year. In some sources, this entity is also called "Principality of the Pindus".[7][9]

History

Main article: Roman Legion (1941–1943)
Map of Axis-occupied Greece with the polity of the Principality of the Pindus highlighted in yellow

The Aromanians were part of the projects for the dismemberment of Greece set up by the Italians. When the 11th Army occupied the areas in 1941, their commanders received orders by

Ancient Romans and that the Aromanians had taken shelter in the Pindus Mountains against barbarian invasions, to be used at the appropriate moment.[11]

After the

fall of Greece to the Germans in spring 1941 and the division of the country among the Axis powers, Alcibiades Diamandi created a collaborationist organisation known as the Roman Legion with the support of the Italian occupation authorities and promoted the idea of an Aromanian canton or semi-independent state, called several decades later by the name "Principality of Pindus" that would encompass northwestern Greece. Diamandi also met the Greek collaborationist Prime Minister, Georgios Tsolakoglou, but Tsolakoglou refused to accommodate his demands.[5] In reality Italian "military authorities refused to permit any form of self-administration by the Aromanians in the awareness that their irredentist aspirations, or appeals for annexation to Italy, were a masquerade by a minority movement seeking political and economic revenge".[3] In addition, Nazi Germany also explicitly refused to approve of the creation of such an entity.[4] The fascist government of Romania under Ion Antonescu also rejected Diamandi's plans for the principality.[6]

From mid-1942 on, the armed

Greek Resistance made its presence felt, fighting against the Italians and their collaborators and the leader of the Roman Legion, Diamandi, left for Romania in July 1942, to be allegedly followed by his second in command and successor Nicolaos Matussis.[12] Matussis abandoned the separatist movement shortly after Diamandi and followed him to Romania. However, Matussis maintained up until his death that the charge of collaboration against him was fabricated and that he was not associated with the Roman Legion.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85065-381-3
    .
  2. ISBN 978-1-85065-534-3
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 0-521-84515-7
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-285803-0
    .
  5. ^ a b Γρηγοριάδης, Σόλων Ν. (1982). Συνοπτική ιστορία της εθνικής αντίστασης, 1941-1944 (in Greek). Εκδόσεις Κ. Καπόπουλος. pp. 49–50.
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-92-9069-161-7
    .
  7. ^ a b The ethnicity of Aromanians after 1990: the Identity of a Minority that Behaves like a Majority, Thede Kahl, Ethnologia Balkanica, Vol. 6 (2002), σελ. 148
  8. ISBN 9780262014205
    .
  9. ^ a b The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities, Harris Mylonas, Cambridge University Press, 2013, σελ. 134
  10. ^ Davide Rodogno. Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. Cambridge University Press, 2006. p. 105.
  11. ^ Davide Rodogno. Fascism's European empire: Italian occupation during the Second World War. Cambridge University Press, 2006. pp. 105-106.
  12. ^ (in Greek) Η άλλη Ξένη Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, from the To Vima newspaper

Sources

  • Arseniou Lazaros, Η Θεσσαλία στην Αντίσταση
  • Andreanu, José, Los secretos del Balkan
  • Iatropoulos, Dimitri, Balkan Heraldry
  • Toso, Fiorenzo, Frammenti d'Europa
  • Zambounis, Michael, Kings and Princes of Greece, Athens 2001
  • Papakonstantinou Michael, Το Χρονικό της μεγάλης νύχτας (The chronicle of big night)
  • Divani, Lena, Το θνησιγενές πριγκιπάτο της Πίνδου. Γιατί δεν ανταποκρίθηκαν οι Κουτσόβλαχοι της Ελλάδας, στην Ιταλο-ρουμανική προπαγάνδα.
  • Thornberry, Patrick and Miranda Bruce-Mitford, World Directory of Minorities. St. James Press 1990, page 131.
  • Koliopoulos, Giannēs S. (a.k.a. John S. Koliopoulos), Plundered Loyalties: Axis Occupation and Civil Strife in Greek West Macedonia. C. Hurst & Co, 1990. page 86 ff.
  • Poulto, Hugh, Who Are the Macedonians? C. Hurst & Co, 1995. page 111. (partly available online: [1])
  • After the War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation, and State in Greece By Mark Mazower (partly available online: [2])
  • Kalimniou, Dean, Alkiviadis Diamandi di Samarina (in Neos Kosmos English edition, Melbourne, 2006)
  • Seidl-Bonitz-Hochegger, Zeitschrift für Niederösterreichischen Gymnasien XIV.

External links

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