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http://modern-macedonian-history.blogspot.com Last Update: 18th Jan 2009
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Modern Macedonian question - What is it all about?
 
Introduction
[1]
 
The "Macedonian Question" is a major and many-faceted issue presentingmanifold political, national and historical problems. In recent decades ithas been rekindled and nowadays has acquired perilous dimensions. Thisproblem, however, is not only a concern of our times: it dates back to the19th c., right after the Greek War of Independence of 1821.This issue was initially raised by the Bulgarians; mainly by thoseBulgarians of the diaspora who, in attempting to achieve nationalrehabilitaion, made territorial claims on Macedonia. These Bulgariannationalistic feelings were considerably reinforced by the establishmentof the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870), and in particular by the Treaty of SanStefano (March 1878), according to which northern and centralMacedonia was annexed to Bulgaria. Of course, the Treaty of Berlin(June/July 1878) reinstated Ottoman domination in the region, but thetemporary ceding of Macedonian areas to the Bulgarians encouragedthese claims, while the establishment of the Bulgarian Principality (1878)and the annexation of Eastern Rumelia to Bulgaria (1885) created newcentres of propaganda. By the end of the century there had led to theformation of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization(IMRO,1893) and the Central Committee (1985) which adopted systems ofviolence and armed intervention often tolerated by the Ottomanauthorities.Serbia's claims to a free passage to the Aegean sea and its attempts towin over thje Slav-speaking population of NW Macedonia by infiltratingthe Church and Education, as well as Rumanian claims on the Vlach-speaking Greeks, date back to the end of the 19th c., while the claims ofthe Albanians at the end of the 19th c. included the vilayets of Monastirand Thessaloniki in their autonomist programme. It must note howeverthat these situations never supported the existence of a seperateMacedonian nationality. The crisis deepened at the beginning of the 20thc. and led to the Macedonian Struggle (1904-1908) and to the two BalkanWars (1912-13) which resulted in the liberation of Macedonia from theTurksih yoke nad the recognition of the predominance of Hellenism in thearea through the annexation of the largest part of Macedonia to Greece.Bulgarian aspirations were pursued in other forms both during the inter-
 
http://modern-macedonian-history.blogspot.com Last Update: 18th Jan 2009
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war period and after World War II. Then a new, radically revisedYugoslavian communist policy was formulated with an integratedprogramme aimed at putting forward the existence of a seperateMacedonian Nation. Today, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, theproblem has become more acute since the once autonomous Republic ofSkopje now demands to be recognized by the international community asan independent state with the spurious name of Macedonia.The present document cannot fully examine all the issues that have beenmentioned. However, there is a comprehensive bibliography in spite of thefact that there has not yet been a systematic and objective exploitationof all the records and other sources. This paperis an attempt to be asinformative as possible and to provide an enlightening historical review ofthe problem as it appears from the end of the World War II until today.
 
The birth of the 'People's Republic of Macedonia'
In Europe there are many place-names which have strong historicalassociations, but none more so than Macedonia
[2].
It is a measure of thefame of the ancient Macedonians, that their name has survived for over2,500 years to describe a corner of the Balkan Peninsula, long after theythemselves ceased to play any important part in European history.Today the geographical boundaries of Macedonia are difficult to define,however, little is known about the new 'Macedonian question'.For instance:How well known is it in the world that in the Balkans there are twoMacedonias, separated by a common frontier?How many people know that the northern small landlocked SlavonicMacedonia, known officially as the Former Yugoslav Republic ofMacedonia (FYROM), has a seat at the UN, whereas the historical GreekMacedonia does not, because it is not a state but only a province ofGreece?How many people know how and when this multi-ethnic state was created?In order to forge a new nation-state from a population, various parts ofwhich possess a different national/ ethnical background or consciousness,
 
http://modern-macedonian-history.blogspot.com Last Update: 18th Jan 2009
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 you need three key elements: a political motive, fabricated history and afabricated language.Let's examine how the state of FYROM was created.The geographical area which makes up FYROM today did not appear as'Macedonia' on any map before the Second World War. Its population ismainly Slavonic and Albanian. In 1944 Tito announced the creation of the'People's Republic of Macedonia' in order to provide a launching pad fromwhich to lay claim to Greek Macedonia and the warm-water port ofThessaloniki
[3].
While the Western Allies were busy planning the futureof the Balkans, others had already shaped it. By the last quarter of 1944,the communists were the indisputable rulers in Yugoslavia and wereworking hard to become so in Bulgaria too.POLITICALLY Tito had turned the old "Southern Serbia" (named asVardarska Banovina) into the "People's Republic of Macedonia", withouttaking the trouble to consult his Bulgarian or Greek comrades as heentertained designs for the incorporation of all parts of geographicalMacedonia into his new federal unit
[4].
The 'People's Republic ofMacedonia' was a political creation only, since its population, a polyglotconglomeration of nationalities, had no substantial "Macedonian" nationalconsciousness. Tito's Macedonia, with Skopje as its capital, was createdin the same manner as Stalin's Belorussia after the end of the Bolshevikrevolution.ETHNOLOGICALLY, Tito's new "Macedonian" republic was to be forgedout of a population with ethnic and linguistic ties to Albania, Bulgaria orSerbia. The 1940 official Yugoslav census recognized only two largeethnic groups in Vardar Province: Slavs at 69% and Muslims at 31%. In1945, three years after the formation of the 'People's Republic ofMacedonia', the Slavs disappeared from the census and were replaced by66% 'Macedonians'!By recognizing the existence of a separate 'Macedonian' nation, theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia was able to gain control of VardarMacedonia and justify retaining it as part of the Yugoslav federation
[5].
 In order to accomplish this it was necessary to eliminate the sense ofBulgarian national identity shared by many inhabitants of the area. Sincethis was clearly not in the interests of Yugoslavia, and since the inter-war
of 00

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