Macedonian nationalism
Encyclopedia
Macedonian nationalism is a term referring to the ethnic Macedonian version of nationalism
.
by limited groups of intellectuals in Belgrade
, Sofia
, Thessaloniki
and St. Petersburg. After the Berlin Treaty, the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) united all unsatisfied elements in the Ottoman Empire
and struggled for political autonomy for the regions of Macedonia
and Odrin Thrace
. Ivan Katardzhiev, an academician and historian from the Republic of Macedonia, who is considered to be one of the best specialist on the National Liberation Movement in Macedonia, asserts that the individual manifestations of separatism by the IMARO revolutionaries from the beginning of the 20th century are a political phenomenon without ethnic affiliation and that the Bulgaria
n ethnic provenance of the IMARO revolutionaries can not be put under question. Even more so, since the regin in which IMARO was interested in was not only Macedonia but Thrace as well. Until 20th century and beyond the majority of the Slavic-speaking population of the region was identified as Macedono-Bulgarian or simply as Bulgarian and after 1870 joined the Bulgarian Exarchate
. However, some authors consider that labels reflecting collective identity, such as "Bulgarian
", changed into national labels from being broad terms that were without political significance. At the beginning of 20th Century H. N. Brailsford
, described the Slavic speakers from Macedonia as related both with Serbs
and Bulgarians, but without clear defined ethnic consciousness. However, he accepted that a part of this population is "definitely Serbs", while the other part is "clearly Bulgarians". This confusion is illustrated by Robert Newman in 1935, who recounts discovering in a village in Vardar Macedonia
as part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia
two brothers, one who considered himself a Serb
, and the other considered himself a Bulgarian. In another village he met a man who had been, "a Macedonian peasant all his life", but who had varyingly been called a Turk
, a Serb and a Bulgarian. In 1934 the Comintern
issued a resolution about the recognition of Macedonian ethnicity
. The existence of a separate Macedonian national consciousness prior to the 1940s is disputed. Anti-Serban and pro-Bulgarian feelings among the local population at this period prevailed. Because of that Vardar Macedonia
was the only region where Yugoslav
communist leader Josip Broz Tito
had not developed a strong Partisan movement after its annexation to Bulgaria in 1941. To improve the situation, in 1943 the Communist Party of Macedonia was established. But the Bulgarians soon fell into the old Balkan trap of centralization. The new provinces were quickly staffed with officials from Bulgaria proper who behaved with typical official arrogance to the local inhabitants. According to some researchers, by the end of the war a tangible Macedonian national consciousness did not exist and bulgarophile
sentiments still dominated in the area, but others consider that it hardly existed beyond a general conviction gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that from Belgrade
".
to recognize Macedonian national identity
. The region received the status of a constituent republic within Yugoslavia
and in 1945 a separate Macedonian language
was codified. The population was promulgated ethnic Macedonian, a nationality different from both Serbs and Bulgarians. However the situation deteriorated after the Greek Communists lost the Greek Civil War
. Thousands of Aegean Macedonians
were expelled and fled to the newly-established Socialist Republic of Macedonia
, while thousands more children took refuge in other Eastern Bloc
countries. Аs well at the end of the 1950s the Bulgarian Communist Party
repealed its previous decision and adopted a position denying the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity. As result in Macedonia the Bulgarophobia increased almost to the level of State ideology. This put the end of the idea of the Balkan Communist Federation
about unification of all of Macedonia under Communist rule. On the other hand, the Yugoslav authorities forcibly suppressed the ideologists of an independent Macedonian country. Later a separate Macedonian Orthodox Church
was established too, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church
in 1967. The encouragement and evolution of Macedonian culture has had a far greater and more permanent impact on Macedonian nationalism than has any other aspect of Yugoslav policy. While development of national music, films and the graphic arts has been encouraged in Macedonia, the greatest cultural effect has come from the codification of the Macedonian language and literature, the new Macedonian national interpretation of history and the establishment of a Macedonian Orthodox Church
. In 1969 also the first History of the Macedonian nation was published. The past was systematycally falsified to conceal the truth, that most of the well-known Macedonians had felt themselves to be Bulgarians and generations of students were tought the pseudo-history of the Macedonian nation.
held a referendum that established its independence from Yugoslavia
, under the name of the Republic of Macedonia
. With the fall of Communism, the breakup of Yugoslavia and the consequent lack of a Great power
in the region, the Republic of Macedonia came into permanent conflicts with its neighbors. As a response a more assertive and uncompromising strand of Macedonian nationalism emerged.
This is the so called ancient Macedonism, whose supporters have claimed the ethnic Macedonians are not related to the Slavs, but are direct descendants of the ancient Macedonians
, who were not Hellenes. The background of this “antiquization” can be found in the 19-th Century and the myth of ancient descent among Orthodox Slavic-speakers in Macedonia. It was adopted partially due to Greek
cultural inputs. This idea was also been included in the national mythology during the post-WWII Yugoslavia
. An additional factor for its preservation has been the influence of the Macedonian Diaspora
. Contemporary antiquization, has been revived as an efficient tool for political mobilization and has been reinforced by the ruling party - VMRO-DPMNE. This ultra-nationalism accompanied by the emphasizing of Macedonia’s ancient roots has raised a concerns internationally about growing a kind of authoritarianism by the governing party. There have also been attempts to scientific claims to ancient nationhood, but they had a negative impact on the international position of the country.
"Macedonism" (Macedonian
: Македонизам, Serbian
: Македонизам, and Greek
: Μακεδονισμός) is a political term used in a polemic
sense to refer to a set of ideas perceived as characteristic of aggressive Macedonian nationalism by some Bulgarian and Greek authors. The term Macedonism has been also used to describe a Yugoslav Macedonia's dominant state ideology, aimed at transforming the Slavic and, to a certain extent, non-Slavic parts of its population into ethnic Macedonians. This state policy is still current in today's Republic of Macedonia. The term is occasionally used in international scholarship and in an apologetic
sense by some Macedonian authors. Macedonism has also faced strong criticism from moderate political views in the Republic of Macedonia and international scholars.
, Bulgaria
n and Serbia
n initiatives to take control over the region of Macedonia, which was at that time ruled by the Ottoman Empire
. It was originally used in a contemptuous manner to refer to Slav Macedonians, who believed they constituted a distinct ethnic group
, separate from their neighbours. The first to use the term "Macedonist" was the Bulgarian author Petko Slaveykov
, who coined the term in his article "The Macedonian Question", published in the newspaper Makedoniya
in 1871. However, he pointed that he had heard for the first time of such ideas as early as 10 years prior, i.e., around 1860. Slaveykov sharply criticised those Macedonians espousing such views, as they had never shown a substantial basis for their attitudes, calling them "Macedonists". Another early recorded use of the term "Macedonism" is found in a report by the Serbian politician Stojan Novaković
from 1887. He proposed to employ the macedonistic ideology as a means to counteract the Bulgarian influence in Macedonia, thereby promoting Serbian interests in the region. Novaković's diplomatic activity in Istanbul and St. Petersburg played significant role for the realization of his ideas, especially through the “Association of Serb-Macedonians” formed by him in Istanbul and through his support for the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society in St. Petersburg. In 1888 the Macedono-Bulgarian ethnographer Kuzman Shapkarev
noted as result from this activity that a strange, ancient ethnonym
: "Macedonci" (Macedonians) was imposed 10–15 years ago by some weird intellectuals, introduced probably with a "cunning aim" to replace the traditional one: "Bugari" (Bulgarians).
Next proponents of this ideas were two other Serbian scholars, the geographer Jovan Cvijić
and the linguist Aleksandar Belić. They claimed the Slavs of Macedonia were "Macedonian Slavs", an amorphous Slavic mass that was neither Bulgarian, nor Serbian. Cvijić further argued that the traditional ethnonym Bugari (Bulgarians) used by the Slavic population of Macedonia to refer to themselves actually meant only rayah
, and in no case affiliations to the Bulgarian ethnicity. The geopolitics of the Serbs evidently played the crucial role in the ethnogenosis by promoting a separate Macedonian consciousness at the expense of the Bulgarians. Some panslavic ideologist in Russia
, former supporter of Greater Bulgaria
, also adopted this ideas as opposing Bulgaria's Russophobic policy at the beginning of 20th century, as for example Alexandr Rittikh
and Aleksandr Amfiteatrov
. At the beginning of the 20th century, the continued Serbian propaganda efforts had managed to firmly entrench the concept of the Macedonian Slavs in European public opinion and the name was used almost as frequently as Bulgarians. Simultaneously the proponents of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia as Germanos Karavangelis
openly popularized the Hellenic idea about a direct link between the local Slavs and the ancient Macedonians
. Nevertheless in 1914 the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
report states that the Serbs and Greeks classified the Slavs of Macedonia as a distinct ethnic group "Macedonians Slavs" for political purposes and to conceal the existence of Bulgarians in the area. However after the Balkan Wars
(1912–1913) Ottoman Macedonia was mostly divided between Greece and Serbia, which had as result processes of Hellenisation, respectively Serbianisation of the Slavic population and led in general to a ceasing the use of this term in both countries.
On the other hand Serbian and Bulgarian left-wing intellectuals envisioned in the early 20th century some sort of "Balkan confederation
" including Macedonia, should the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire
dissolve. This view was accepted from the Socialist International
. In 1910, the First Balkan Socialist Conference was held in Belgrade, then within the Kingdom of Serbia
. The main platforms at the first conference was the call for a solution to the Macedonian Question. It was offered to create a Balkan Socialist Federation and Macedonia would be a single state in it. After the Balkan Wars in 1915, it was confirmed on the Balkan Socialist Conference in Bucharest to create a Balkan Socialist Federation, and that divided from the imperialists Macedonia would be united into its framework. This ideology later found fruition with the support of the Soviet Union
as an advent of Yugoslav communist federation. Various declarations were made during the 1920s and 1930s seeing the official adoption of Macedonism by the Comintern
. In turn declarations were made by the Greek, Yugoslav and Bulgarian communist parties, as they agreed on its adoption as their official policy for the region. In 1944 the wartime Communist leader Josip Broz Tito
, proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the Yugoslav Federation, thus partially fulfilling the Comintern’s pre-war policy. He was supported by the Bulgarian leader from Macedonian descent and former General Secretary
of the Comintern, Georgi Dimitrov
in anticipation of a failed incorporation of the Bulgarian Macedonia into the People's Republic of Macedonia, and of Bulgaria itself into Communist Yugoslavia.
, Kraste Misirkov, Stefan Dedov, Atanas Razdolov, Dimitrija Chupovski and others. Nearly all of them died in Bulgaria. Most of the next wave Macedonists were left-wing politicians, who changed their ethnic affiliations from Bulgarian to Macedonian during 1930s, after the recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity by the Comintern
, as for example Dimitar Vlahov
, Pavel Shatev
, Panko Brashnarov
, Venko Markovski
, Georgi Pirinski, Sr. and others. Such Macedonian activists, who came from the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United)
and the Bulgarian Communist Party never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias. Many of the them were later purged from their political positions, then isolated, arrested, imprisoned or executed by the federal authorities of Communist Yugoslavia.
Other, related areas of Macedonian–Bulgarian national polemics relate to:
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
.
Late 19th century beginning
The development of the Macedonian ethnicity can be said to have begun in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is the time of the first expressions of ethnic nationalismEthnic nationalism
Ethnic nationalism is a form of nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity. Whatever specific ethnicity is involved, ethnic nationalism always includes some element of descent from previous generations and the implied claim of ethnic essentialism, i.e...
by limited groups of intellectuals in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and St. Petersburg. After the Berlin Treaty, the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) united all unsatisfied elements in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and struggled for political autonomy for the regions of Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Odrin Thrace
East Thrace
East Thrace or Eastern Thrace , also known as Turkish Thrace, is the part of the modern republic of Turkey that is geographically part of Europe, all in the eastern part of the historical region of Thrace; most of Turkey is in Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor. Turkish Thrace is also called...
. Ivan Katardzhiev, an academician and historian from the Republic of Macedonia, who is considered to be one of the best specialist on the National Liberation Movement in Macedonia, asserts that the individual manifestations of separatism by the IMARO revolutionaries from the beginning of the 20th century are a political phenomenon without ethnic affiliation and that the Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n ethnic provenance of the IMARO revolutionaries can not be put under question. Even more so, since the regin in which IMARO was interested in was not only Macedonia but Thrace as well. Until 20th century and beyond the majority of the Slavic-speaking population of the region was identified as Macedono-Bulgarian or simply as Bulgarian and after 1870 joined the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
. However, some authors consider that labels reflecting collective identity, such as "Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
", changed into national labels from being broad terms that were without political significance. At the beginning of 20th Century H. N. Brailsford
H. N. Brailsford
Henry Noel Brailsford was the most prolific British left-wing journalist of the first half of the 20th century.The son of a Methodist preacher, he was born in Yorkshire and educated in Scotland, at the High School of Dundee...
, described the Slavic speakers from Macedonia as related both with Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
and Bulgarians, but without clear defined ethnic consciousness. However, he accepted that a part of this population is "definitely Serbs", while the other part is "clearly Bulgarians". This confusion is illustrated by Robert Newman in 1935, who recounts discovering in a village in Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
as part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
two brothers, one who considered himself a Serb
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
, and the other considered himself a Bulgarian. In another village he met a man who had been, "a Macedonian peasant all his life", but who had varyingly been called a Turk
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, a Serb and a Bulgarian. In 1934 the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
issued a resolution about the recognition of Macedonian ethnicity
Resolution of the Comintern on the Macedonian Question
The resolution of the Comintern of January 11, 1934 was an official policitical document, in which for the first time, an authoritative international organization provides direction for recognizing of the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and Macedonian language.In June 1931 the registrar...
. The existence of a separate Macedonian national consciousness prior to the 1940s is disputed. Anti-Serban and pro-Bulgarian feelings among the local population at this period prevailed. Because of that Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
was the only region where Yugoslav
Yugoslavs
Yugoslavs is a national designation used by a minority of South Slavs across the countries of the former Yugoslavia and in the diaspora...
communist leader Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
had not developed a strong Partisan movement after its annexation to Bulgaria in 1941. To improve the situation, in 1943 the Communist Party of Macedonia was established. But the Bulgarians soon fell into the old Balkan trap of centralization. The new provinces were quickly staffed with officials from Bulgaria proper who behaved with typical official arrogance to the local inhabitants. According to some researchers, by the end of the war a tangible Macedonian national consciousness did not exist and bulgarophile
Bulgarophiles
Bulgarophiles - , ; ; ; is a term used for people from region of Macedonia and region of Pomoravlje who regard themselves as Bulgarians. It is most often used pejoratively, as the term implies that these people are not really Bulgarian....
sentiments still dominated in the area, but others consider that it hardly existed beyond a general conviction gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that from Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
".
Post World War II
After 1944 Communist Bulgaria and Communist Yugoslavia began a policy of making Macedonia into the connecting link for the establishment of new Balkan Federative Republic and stimulating here a development of distinct Slav Macedonian consciousness. With the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia as part of the Yugoslav federation, the new authorities also started measures that would overcome the pro-Bulgarian feeling among parts of its population. The Greek communists as well as its fraternal parties in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, had already been influenced by the Comintern and it was the only political party in GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
to recognize Macedonian national identity
National identity
National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status....
. The region received the status of a constituent republic within Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and in 1945 a separate Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
was codified. The population was promulgated ethnic Macedonian, a nationality different from both Serbs and Bulgarians. However the situation deteriorated after the Greek Communists lost the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
. Thousands of Aegean Macedonians
Aegean Macedonians
Slavic speakers are a linguistic minority population in the northern Greek region of Macedonia who are mostly concentrated in certain parts of the peripheries of West and Central Macedonia, adjacent to the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. A smaller group exists in East Macedonia adjacent to...
were expelled and fled to the newly-established Socialist Republic of Macedonia
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
, while thousands more children took refuge in other Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries. Аs well at the end of the 1950s the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
repealed its previous decision and adopted a position denying the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity. As result in Macedonia the Bulgarophobia increased almost to the level of State ideology. This put the end of the idea of the Balkan Communist Federation
Balkan Communist Federation
The Balkan Federation was a project about the creation of a Balkan federation or confederation, based mainly on left political ideas.The concept of a Balkan federation emerged at the late 19th century from among left political forces in the region...
about unification of all of Macedonia under Communist rule. On the other hand, the Yugoslav authorities forcibly suppressed the ideologists of an independent Macedonian country. Later a separate Macedonian Orthodox Church
Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric or just Macedonian Orthodox Church is the body of Christians who are united under the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, exercising jurisdiction over Macedonian Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Macedonia and in exarchates in the Macedonian...
was established too, splitting off from the Serbian Orthodox Church
Serbian Orthodox Church
The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...
in 1967. The encouragement and evolution of Macedonian culture has had a far greater and more permanent impact on Macedonian nationalism than has any other aspect of Yugoslav policy. While development of national music, films and the graphic arts has been encouraged in Macedonia, the greatest cultural effect has come from the codification of the Macedonian language and literature, the new Macedonian national interpretation of history and the establishment of a Macedonian Orthodox Church
Macedonian Orthodox Church
The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Ohrid Archbishopric or just Macedonian Orthodox Church is the body of Christians who are united under the Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, exercising jurisdiction over Macedonian Orthodox Christians in the Republic of Macedonia and in exarchates in the Macedonian...
. In 1969 also the first History of the Macedonian nation was published. The past was systematycally falsified to conceal the truth, that most of the well-known Macedonians had felt themselves to be Bulgarians and generations of students were tought the pseudo-history of the Macedonian nation.
Post-independence period
On September 8, 1991, the Socialist Republic of MacedoniaSocialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...
held a referendum that established its independence from Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, under the name of the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
. With the fall of Communism, the breakup of Yugoslavia and the consequent lack of a Great power
Great power
A great power is a nation or state that has the ability to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength and diplomatic and cultural influence which may cause small powers to consider the opinions of great powers before taking actions...
in the region, the Republic of Macedonia came into permanent conflicts with its neighbors. As a response a more assertive and uncompromising strand of Macedonian nationalism emerged.
This is the so called ancient Macedonism, whose supporters have claimed the ethnic Macedonians are not related to the Slavs, but are direct descendants of the ancient Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
, who were not Hellenes. The background of this “antiquization” can be found in the 19-th Century and the myth of ancient descent among Orthodox Slavic-speakers in Macedonia. It was adopted partially due to Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
cultural inputs. This idea was also been included in the national mythology during the post-WWII Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. An additional factor for its preservation has been the influence of the Macedonian Diaspora
Macedonian diaspora
The Macedonian diaspora consists of ethnic Macedonian emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, the United States and others. It is a result of historical and modern day emigration. It is claimed that the diaspora numbers over a million people...
. Contemporary antiquization, has been revived as an efficient tool for political mobilization and has been reinforced by the ruling party - VMRO-DPMNE. This ultra-nationalism accompanied by the emphasizing of Macedonia’s ancient roots has raised a concerns internationally about growing a kind of authoritarianism by the governing party. There have also been attempts to scientific claims to ancient nationhood, but they had a negative impact on the international position of the country.
Macedonism
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
: Македонизам, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Македонизам, and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Μακεδονισμός) is a political term used in a polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
sense to refer to a set of ideas perceived as characteristic of aggressive Macedonian nationalism by some Bulgarian and Greek authors. The term Macedonism has been also used to describe a Yugoslav Macedonia's dominant state ideology, aimed at transforming the Slavic and, to a certain extent, non-Slavic parts of its population into ethnic Macedonians. This state policy is still current in today's Republic of Macedonia. The term is occasionally used in international scholarship and in an apologetic
Apologetics
Apologetics is the discipline of defending a position through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of reason. Early Christian writers...
sense by some Macedonian authors. Macedonism has also faced strong criticism from moderate political views in the Republic of Macedonia and international scholars.
Macedonism as ethno-political conception
The roots of the concept were first developed in the second half of 19th century, in the context of GreekGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n initiatives to take control over the region of Macedonia, which was at that time ruled by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. It was originally used in a contemptuous manner to refer to Slav Macedonians, who believed they constituted a distinct ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
, separate from their neighbours. The first to use the term "Macedonist" was the Bulgarian author Petko Slaveykov
Petko Slaveykov
Petko Rachov Slaveykov was a noted nineteenth-century Bulgarian poet, publicist, public figure and folklorist.-Early years and educational activity:...
, who coined the term in his article "The Macedonian Question", published in the newspaper Makedoniya
Makedoniya (newspaper)
Makedonia was a Bulgarian newspaper edited and published by Petko Slaveykov in Istanbul with aim to help the foundation of an independent Bulgarian Church...
in 1871. However, he pointed that he had heard for the first time of such ideas as early as 10 years prior, i.e., around 1860. Slaveykov sharply criticised those Macedonians espousing such views, as they had never shown a substantial basis for their attitudes, calling them "Macedonists". Another early recorded use of the term "Macedonism" is found in a report by the Serbian politician Stojan Novaković
Stojan Novakovic
Stojan Novaković , was a Serbian literary critic, scholar, politician and diplomat, and the foremost Serbian historian of nineteenth century, holding the post of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia on two occasions.He was born in the western Serbian city of Šabac and died in the southern city of...
from 1887. He proposed to employ the macedonistic ideology as a means to counteract the Bulgarian influence in Macedonia, thereby promoting Serbian interests in the region. Novaković's diplomatic activity in Istanbul and St. Petersburg played significant role for the realization of his ideas, especially through the “Association of Serb-Macedonians” formed by him in Istanbul and through his support for the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society in St. Petersburg. In 1888 the Macedono-Bulgarian ethnographer Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Shapkarev
Kuzman Anastasov Shapkarev, , was a Bulgarian folklorist, ethnographer and scientist from Macedonia, author of textbooks and ethnographic studies and a significant figure of the Bulgarian National Revival. He is considered an ethnic Macedonian in the Republic of Macedonia.- Biography :Kuzman...
noted as result from this activity that a strange, ancient ethnonym
Ethnonym
An ethnonym is the name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms and autonyms or endonyms .As an example, the ethnonym for...
: "Macedonci" (Macedonians) was imposed 10–15 years ago by some weird intellectuals, introduced probably with a "cunning aim" to replace the traditional one: "Bugari" (Bulgarians).
Next proponents of this ideas were two other Serbian scholars, the geographer Jovan Cvijić
Jovan Cvijic
Jovan Cvijić was a Serbian geographer, president of the Serbian Royal Academy of Sciences, and rector of the University of Belgrade. A world-renowned scientist, Cvijić is considered the founder of geography in Serbia.-Early life and family:Jovan Cvijić was born on October 11 Jovan Cvijić...
and the linguist Aleksandar Belić. They claimed the Slavs of Macedonia were "Macedonian Slavs", an amorphous Slavic mass that was neither Bulgarian, nor Serbian. Cvijić further argued that the traditional ethnonym Bugari (Bulgarians) used by the Slavic population of Macedonia to refer to themselves actually meant only rayah
Rayah
A rayah or reaya was a member of the tax-paying lower class of Ottoman society, in contrast to the askeri and kul...
, and in no case affiliations to the Bulgarian ethnicity. The geopolitics of the Serbs evidently played the crucial role in the ethnogenosis by promoting a separate Macedonian consciousness at the expense of the Bulgarians. Some panslavic ideologist in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, former supporter of Greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria
Greater Bulgaria is term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and Moesia...
, also adopted this ideas as opposing Bulgaria's Russophobic policy at the beginning of 20th century, as for example Alexandr Rittikh
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Rittikh
Aleksandr Fyodorovich Rittikh or Alexander Rittich was an Imperial Russian general, cartographer, ethnographer and journalist, adherent of the Panslavism. Father of Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Rittikh.- Works :...
and Aleksandr Amfiteatrov
Aleksandr Amfiteatrov
Alexander Valentinovich Amfiteatrov ; was a Russian writer and historian.-Biography:Born a priest's son in Kaluga, he was trained as a lawyer but became a journalist and popular novelist. In 1902 he was exiled for writing a satirical article on the imperial family...
. At the beginning of the 20th century, the continued Serbian propaganda efforts had managed to firmly entrench the concept of the Macedonian Slavs in European public opinion and the name was used almost as frequently as Bulgarians. Simultaneously the proponents of the Greek Struggle for Macedonia as Germanos Karavangelis
Germanos Karavangelis
Germanos Karavangelis was born in Stipsi, Lesbos.He was a metropolitan bishop of Kastoria, in communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, from 1900 until 1907, appointed in the name of the Greek state by the ambassador of Greece Nikolaos Mavrokordatos and was one of the main...
openly popularized the Hellenic idea about a direct link between the local Slavs and the ancient Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
. Nevertheless in 1914 the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is a New York City-based a 5013 public charity serving international affairs professionals, teachers and students, and the attentive public. Founded in 1914, and originally named Church Peace Union, Carnegie Council is an independent and...
report states that the Serbs and Greeks classified the Slavs of Macedonia as a distinct ethnic group "Macedonians Slavs" for political purposes and to conceal the existence of Bulgarians in the area. However after the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
(1912–1913) Ottoman Macedonia was mostly divided between Greece and Serbia, which had as result processes of Hellenisation, respectively Serbianisation of the Slavic population and led in general to a ceasing the use of this term in both countries.
On the other hand Serbian and Bulgarian left-wing intellectuals envisioned in the early 20th century some sort of "Balkan confederation
Confederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
" including Macedonia, should the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
dissolve. This view was accepted from the Socialist International
Second International
The Second International , the original Socialist International, was an organization of socialist and labour parties formed in Paris on July 14, 1889. At the Paris meeting delegations from 20 countries participated...
. In 1910, the First Balkan Socialist Conference was held in Belgrade, then within the Kingdom of Serbia
Kingdom of Serbia
The Kingdom of Serbia was created when Prince Milan Obrenović, ruler of the Principality of Serbia, was crowned King in 1882. The Principality of Serbia was ruled by the Karađorđevic dynasty from 1817 onwards . The Principality, suzerain to the Porte, had expelled all Ottoman troops by 1867, de...
. The main platforms at the first conference was the call for a solution to the Macedonian Question. It was offered to create a Balkan Socialist Federation and Macedonia would be a single state in it. After the Balkan Wars in 1915, it was confirmed on the Balkan Socialist Conference in Bucharest to create a Balkan Socialist Federation, and that divided from the imperialists Macedonia would be united into its framework. This ideology later found fruition with the support of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as an advent of Yugoslav communist federation. Various declarations were made during the 1920s and 1930s seeing the official adoption of Macedonism by the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
. In turn declarations were made by the Greek, Yugoslav and Bulgarian communist parties, as they agreed on its adoption as their official policy for the region. In 1944 the wartime Communist leader Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
, proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the Yugoslav Federation, thus partially fulfilling the Comintern’s pre-war policy. He was supported by the Bulgarian leader from Macedonian descent and former General Secretary
General Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the Comintern, Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov , also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov , was a Bulgarian Communist politician...
in anticipation of a failed incorporation of the Bulgarian Macedonia into the People's Republic of Macedonia, and of Bulgaria itself into Communist Yugoslavia.
Early adherents
The first Macedonian nationalists appeared in the late 19th and early 20th century outside Macedonia. At different points in their lives, most of them expressed conflicting statements about the ethnicity of the Slavs living in Macedonia, including their own nationality. They formed their pro-Macedonian conceptions after contacts with some panslavic circles in Serbia and Russia. The lack of diverse ethnic motivations seems to be confirmed by the fact that, in their works they often used the designations Bulgaro-Macedonians, Macedonian Bulgarians and Macedonian Slavs in order to name their compatriots. Representatives of this circle were Georgi Pulevski, Theodosius of SkopjeTheodosius of Skopje
Theodosius of Skopje was a controversial religious figure from Macedonia who was a Bulgarian language scholar and translator. He was initially involved in the struggle for an autonomous Bulgarian Church and later in his life he became a member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He is known for...
, Kraste Misirkov, Stefan Dedov, Atanas Razdolov, Dimitrija Chupovski and others. Nearly all of them died in Bulgaria. Most of the next wave Macedonists were left-wing politicians, who changed their ethnic affiliations from Bulgarian to Macedonian during 1930s, after the recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity by the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
, as for example Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Vlahov
Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia and member of the left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement...
, Pavel Shatev
Pavel Shatev
Pavel Potsev Shatev , , was a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the left wing of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization , BMARC before 1902)...
, Panko Brashnarov
Panko Brashnarov
Panko Brashnarov was a revolutionary and member of the left wing of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization . As with many other IMARO members of the time, historians from the Republic of Macedonia consider him an ethnic Macedonian, whereas historians in Bulgaria consider him...
, Venko Markovski
Venko Markovski
Venko Markovski, in Bulgarian and Macedonian Венко Марковски, born as Veniamin Milanov Toshev; was a Bulgarian and Macedonian writer, poet and Communist politician.-Biography:...
, Georgi Pirinski, Sr. and others. Such Macedonian activists, who came from the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United)
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United)
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization , commonly known in English as IMRO...
and the Bulgarian Communist Party never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias. Many of the them were later purged from their political positions, then isolated, arrested, imprisoned or executed by the federal authorities of Communist Yugoslavia.
Contemporary ideas
Among the views and opinions that are often perceived as representative of Macedonian nationalism and criticised as parts of "Macedonism" by those who use the term are the following:- The notion of unbroken racial continuity between the modern ethnic Macedonians and a part of the ancient autochthonous peoples of the region, in particular the ancient MacedoniansAncient MacedoniansThe Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
; (see: Ancient history of the Republic of Macedonia) - The idea that there is a fundamental ethnogenetic distinction between Macedonians and Bulgarians; (see: Ethno-genetic origins of the South-Slavic people.)
- The opinion that the term BulgariansBulgariansThe Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
used in Medieval and Ottoman Macedonia meant in fact common peasants or Christian Slavs, but in any case affiliations to the Bulgarian ethnicity. - IrredentistIrredentismIrredentism is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. Some of these movements are also called pan-nationalist movements. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural...
political views about the neighbouring regions of Greek MacedoniaMacedonia (Greece)Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
("Aegean MacedoniaAegean MacedoniaAegean Macedonia is a term that refers to the Greek region of Macedonia. It is currently mainly used in the Republic of Macedonia, including in the irredentist context of a United Macedonia. The term is also used in Bulgaria as the more common synonym for Greek Macedonia, without the connotations...
") and parts of southwest BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
("Pirin Macedonia") and about the existence of significant ethnic Macedonian minorities in these areas, connected to the irredentist concept of a United MacedoniaUnited MacedoniaUnited Macedonia is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia in southeastern Europe, which they claim as their homeland, and which they assert was wrongfully divided under the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, into a single...
. - The belief that the medieval migration of Slavs is a fictional concept coined by Communist Yugoslavia and that no such migration in the Balkans occurred; (see: South SlavsSouth SlavsThe South Slavs are the southern branch of the Slavic peoples and speak South Slavic languages. Geographically, the South Slavs are native to the Balkan peninsula, the southern Pannonian Plain and the eastern Alps...
) - The opinion that an ethnogenetic connection exists between the Macedonians and the Hunza people, going back to the time of Alexander the Great.
- The belief that Republic of Macedonia neighbors have organized a huge propaganda across the world, containing false history and portraying a wrong picture about its people as a young nation, although the Macedonians are in fact the forefathers of the modern Europeans. (see: Foreign relations of the Republic of MacedoniaForeign relations of the Republic of Macedonia-Key priorities:Key priorities in the foreign relations are:* Promotion of the Republic of Macedonia as a NATO candidate country, active participation within the established institutional framework – Partnership for Peace, EAPC, implementation of the NATO Membership Action Plan – aiming at creating...
) - The idea that the internationally accepted term HellenismHellenistic civilizationHellenistic civilization represents the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE...
is wrong and has to be replaced with a new one - Macedonism, which is more correct in historical aspect.
Other, related areas of Macedonian–Bulgarian national polemics relate to:
- The presence of the Bulgars in Medieval Macedonia and the lack of ethnogenetic connection to today's Macedonians in contrast to the Bulgarians; (see Kouber)
- The ethnic character of various medieval historical figures and entities, including the saints CyrilSaints Cyril and MethodiusSaints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...
and Methodius, the medieval Tsar SamuilSamuil of BulgariaSamuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...
and his kingdom, and the medieval Archbishopric of OhridBulgarian Archbishopric of OhridThe Archbishopric of Ochrid was an autonomous Orthodox Church under the tutelage of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople between 1019 and 1767...
; - The historical role of the Bulgarian ExarchateBulgarian ExarchateThe Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
and the ethnic character of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization; - The historical role of various Macedonian insurgent movements during OttomanOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule (see Ilinden Uprising) and during the Bulgarian occupation of Macedonia in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
; (see National Liberation War of Macedonia) - The opinion that a separate Macedonian nationhood and ethnicity are an artificial product, result of the Serbian propagana during the 19th and the CominternCominternThe Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
policy during the 20th century. (see: Balkan Communist FederationBalkan Communist FederationThe Balkan Federation was a project about the creation of a Balkan federation or confederation, based mainly on left political ideas.The concept of a Balkan federation emerged at the late 19th century from among left political forces in the region...
) - The belief that the Macedonians constitute a regional ethnographic subgroup of the Bulgarian people and the Macedonian languageMacedonian languageMacedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
is a dialect of Bulgarian. (see Macedonian Bulgarians)
See also
- Demographic history of MacedoniaDemographic history of Macedonia- Early history :The region of Macedonia is known to have been inhabited since Paleolithic times. Early historical inhabitants of the region were the Ancient Macedonians, Phrygians, Thracians and Illyrians. Thracians in early times occupied mainly the eastern parts of Macedonia but were also...
- Macedonian Question
- History of the Macedonians (ethnic group)History of the Macedonians (ethnic group)The history of the ethnic Macedonians has been shaped by population shifts and political developments in the southern Balkans, especially within the region of Macedonia...