Macedonian nationalism

"Macedonist" redirects here. For Other uses, seeMacedonist (disambiguation).

Flag ofNorth Macedonia

Macedonian nationalism(Macedonian:македонски национализам,pronounced[makɛdonskinat͡sionalizam]) is a general grouping ofnationalistideas and concepts among ethnicMacedoniansthat were first formed in the late 19th century among separatists seeking the autonomy of the region ofMacedoniafrom theOttoman Empire.The idea evolved during the early 20th century alongside the first expressions of ethnic nationalism among theSlavsof Macedonia. The separate Macedonian nation gained recognition during World War II when theSocialist Republic of Macedoniawas created as part ofYugoslavia.Macedonian historiographyhas since established links between the ethnic Macedonians and various historical events and individual figures that occurred in and originated from Macedonia, which range from the Middle Ages up to the 20th century. Following the independence of theRepublic of Macedoniain the late 20th century, issues of Macedonian national identity have become contested by the country's neighbours, as some adherents to aggressive Macedonian nationalism, calledMacedonism,hold more extreme beliefs such as an unbroken continuity betweenancient Macedonians(essentially anancient Greekpeople), and modern ethnic Macedonians (aSlavicpeople), and views connected to theirredentistconcept of aUnited Macedonia,which involves territorial claims on a large portion ofGreeceandBulgaria,along with smaller regions ofAlbania,KosovoandSerbia.

The designation "Macedonian"

Ogledaloissued byKiril Peychinovichand printed in 1816 in Budapest. It was inspired by a movement onMount Athosthat was fighting for a liturgical renewal within the Orthodox Church. According to the book's title page, it was written in the "most common Bulgarian language of Lower Moesia". Then geographic Macedonia was traditionally called by the local Slavic-speakers either 'Bulgaria' or 'Lower Moesia', but after theGreek War of Independencethese names were gradually replaced by 'Macedonia'.

In 1844, this "Alexander Romance"was published in Belgrade, translated from Greek into Bulgarian by Hristo Popvasilev fromKarlovo.This book, according toBlaze Ristovski,played an essential role in awakening Macedonianism, which in the middle of the 19th century was still in its infancy.

The Macedonian Questionan article from 1871 byPetko Slaveykovpublished in the newspaper Macedonia in Carigrad (nowIstanbul). In this article, Petko Slaveykov writes: "We have many times heard from the Macedonists that they are not Bulgarians, but they are rather Macedonians, descendants of the Ancient Macedonians, and we have always waited to hear some proofs of this, but we have never heard them. The Macedonists have never shown us the bases of their attitude."

Cover of the first volume ofVeda Slovena.It contains "Bulgarian folk songs from ancient times, discovered in Thrace and Macedonia". In fact, it was a forgery printed in 1874 in Belgrade under the edition of the pan-Slavic activistStjepan Verković.The aim of its authorIvan Gologanov,supported by his brother –Theodosius of Skopje,was to prove the ancient inhabitants of Thrace and Macedonia were notHellenicbutSlav-Bulgarian.

Cover of the "General History of the Macedonian Slavs", completed in 1892 in Sofia byGeorgi Pulevski.Its author who endorsed the concept of an ethnic Macedonian identity, claimed the ancient inhabitants of Macedonia were notHellenicbutSlav-Macedonian.

TheAlexander Romancetranslated into Slav Macedonian by the Greek nationalistAthanasios Souliotis(Megali Ideaadvocates) in 1907 and issued in Thessaloniki.It was typed withGreek lettersand implied to the local Slavs (which were regarded by Greek nationalists asSlavophone Greeks) that they were heirs to theancient Macedoniansand, as such, a part of the Greek world which had forgotten its native language. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Greek nationalists began to classify theGreek OrthodoxPatriarchistSlavic-speakers of Macedonia(which had already been labeled "Slavophone Greeks"at the time) as"Macedonians"in order to detach them from theBulgarian National Movementand attach them to itsGreek counterpart.

The first page ofOrohydrography of MacedoniabyVasil Kanchov– 1911. Here he concluded that the local Bulgarians andKutsovlachswho lived in the area, already called themselves Macedonians, and the surrounding nations also called them so.

During the first half of thesecond millennium,the concept of Macedonia on the Balkans was associated by theByzantineswith theirMacedonian province,centered aroundAdrianoplein modern-dayTurkey.After the conquest of theBalkansby theOttomansin the late 14th and early 15th century, the Greek nameMacedoniadisappeared as a geographical designation for several centuries.The background of the modern designationMacedoniancan be found in the 19th century,as well as the myth of "ancient Macedonian descent" among the Orthodox Slavs in the area, adopted mainly due to Greek cultural inputs. However, Greek education was not the only engine for such ideas. At that time somepan-Slavicpropagandists believed theearly Slavswere related to thepaleo-Balkantribes. Under these influences, some intellectuals in the region developed the idea on direct link between the local Slavs, the early Slavs and the ancient Balkan populations.

In Ottoman times, names such as "Lower Bulgaria" and "Lower Moesia" were used by the local Slavs to designate most of the territory of today's geographical region of Macedonia and the namesBulgariaandMoesiawere identified with each other. Self-identifying as "Bulgarian" on account oftheir language,the local Slavs considered themselves as "Rum", i.e. members of thecommunity of Orthodox Christians.This community was a source of identity for all the ethnic groups inside it and most people identified mostly with it. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Greeks also called the Slavs in Macedonia "Bulgarians", and regarded them predominantly as Orthodox brethren, but the rise ofBulgarian nationalismchanged the Greek position.At that time, the Orthodox Christian community began to degrade with the continuous identification of thereligious creed with ethnic identity,while Bulgarian national activists started a debate on the establishment of theirseparate Orthodox church.

As a result, massive Greekreligious and school propagandaoccurred, and a process ofHellenizationwas implemented among the Slavic-speaking population of the area.The very nameMacedonia,revived during the early 19th century after the foundation of the modern Greek state, with its Western Europe-derivedobsession with Ancient Greece,was applied to the local Slavs.The idea was to stimulate the development ofclose tiesbetween them and the Greeks, linking both sides to theancient Macedonians,as a counteract against the growingBulgarian cultural influenceinto the region.In 1845, for instance, theAlexander romancewas published in Slavic Macedonian dialect typed with Greek letters.At the same time the Russian ethnographerVictor Grigorovichdescribed a recent change in the title of theGreek Patriarchistbishop of Bitola: fromExarch of all BulgariatoExarch of all Macedonia.He also noted the unusual popularity ofAlexander the Greatand that it appeared to be something that was recently instilled on the local Slavs.

As a consequence, since the 1850s some Slavic intellectuals from the area adopted the designationMacedonianas a regional label, and it began to gain popularity.In the 1860s, according toPetko Slaveykov,some young intellectuals fromMacedoniawere claiming that they are notBulgarians,but they are ratherMacedonians,descendants of theAncient Macedonians.In a letter written to the Bulgarian Exarch in February 1874, Slaveykov reports that discontent with the current situation "has given birth among local patriots to the disastrous idea of working independently on the advancement of theirown local dialectand what’s more, of their own, separate Macedonian church leadership. "Nevertheless, other Macedonian intellectuals, such as theKonstantin Miladinov,continued to call their landWestern Bulgariaand worried that use of the new name would imply identification with the Greek nation.

According toKuzman Shapkarev,as a result ofMacedonists'activity, the Slavs in Macedonia had started to use the ancient designationMacedoniansalongside the traditional oneBulgariansby the 1870s.However, Shapkarev notes that the name "Macedonians" had been"imposed on them by outsiders"(i.e., the Greeks), and that the Slavs in Macedonia were using the designation "Bulgarians" as peculiarly theirs, while referring to other Bulgarians asShopi.Similarly, they referred to their own Macedono-Bulgarian dialect as Bulgarian ( "bugarski" ) in opposition to the other Bulgarian dialects, which they called "shopski".

During the 1880s, after recommendation byStojan Novaković,the Serbian government also began to support those ideas to counteract the Bulgarian influence in Macedonia, claiming the Macedonian Slavs were in factpure Slavs(i.e.Serbian Macedonians), while the Bulgarians, unlike them, were partially a mixture ofSlavsandBulgars(i.e. Tatars).In accordance with Novaković's agenda this Serbian "Macedonism" was transformed in the 1890s, in a process of the gradualSerbianisationof the Macedonian Slavs.

By the end of the 19th century, according toVasil Kanchov,the local Bulgarians called themselves Macedonians, and the surrounding nations called them Macedonians.In the early 20th century,Pavel Shatevwitnessed this process of slow differentiation, describing people who insisted on their Bulgarian nationality, but felt themselves Macedonians above all.However a similar paradox was observed at the eve of the 20th century and afterwards, when many Bulgarians from non-Macedonian descent, involved in the Macedonian affairs, espousedMacedonian identity,and that idea undoubtedly was emancipated from thepan-Bulgariannational project. During theinterwar period,Bulgaria also supported to some extent the Macedonianregionalism,especially in theKingdom of Yugoslavia,to prevent the finalSerbianizationof the local Slavs,because there was a tendency to make the nameMacedoniascorned, and the nameSouth Serbiawas imposed, while some also used simplySouthorPovardarie(after theVardarriver) as neutral names.Ultimately, the designation Macedonian changed its status in 1944, and went from being predominantly a regional, ethnographic denomination, to a national one.However, when the anthropologistKeith Brownvisited the Republic of Macedonia at the eve of the 21st century, he discovered that the localAromanians,who also call themselvesMacedonians,still label the ethnic Macedonians, and their eastern neighbors as "Bulgarians".

Origins

Statue ofGeorgi Pulevski,a major figure who endorsed the concept of an ethnic Macedonian identity, resulting in the foundation of Macedonian nationalism

In the 19th century, the region ofMacedoniabecame the object of competition by rival nationalisms, initiallyGreek nationalists,Serbian nationalistsandBulgarian nationaliststhat each made claims about the Slavic-speaking population as being ethnically linked to their nation and thus asserted the right to seek their integration.The first assertions of Macedonian nationalism arose in the late 19th century. Early Macedonian nationalists were encouraged by several foreign governments that held interests in the region. The Serbian government came to believe that any attempt to forcibly assimilate Slavic Macedonians into Serbs in order to incorporate Macedonia would be unsuccessful, given the strong Bulgarian influence in the region. Instead, the Serbian government believed that providing support to Macedonian nationalists would stimulate opposition to incorporation into Bulgaria and favourable attitudes to Serbia. Another country that encouraged Macedonian nationalism wasAustria-Hungarythat sought to deny both Serbia and Bulgaria the ability to annex Macedonia, and asserted a distinct ethnic character of Slavic Macedonians.In the 1890s, Russian supporters of a Slavic Macedonian ethnicity emerged, Russian-made ethnic maps began showing a Slavic Macedonian ethnicity, and Macedonian nationalists began to move to Russia to mobilize.

The origins of the definition of an ethnic Slav Macedonian identity arose from the writings ofGeorgi Pulevskiin the 1870s and 1880s, who identified the existence of a distinct modern "Slavic Macedonian" language that he defined as different from the other languages in that it had linguistic elements fromSerbian,Bulgarian,Church Slavonic,andAlbanian.Pulevski analyzed thefolk historiesof the Slavic Macedonian people, in which he concluded that Slavic Macedonians were ethnically linked to the people of the ancientKingdom of Macedoniaof Philip andAlexander the Greatbased on the claim that the ancient Macedonian language had Slavic components in it and thus the ancient Macedonians were Slavic, and modern-day Slavic Macedonians were their descendants.However, Slavic Macedonians' self-identification and nationalist loyalties remained ambiguous in the late 19th century. Pulevski for instance viewed Macedonians' identity as being a regional phenomenon (similar toHerzegoviniansandThracians). Once calling himself a "Serbian patriot", another time a "Bulgarian from the village of Galicnik",he also identified the Slavic Macedonian language as being related to the "Old Bulgarian language" as well as being a "Serbo-Albanian language".Pulevski's numerous identifications reveal the absence of a clear ethnic sense in a part of the local Slavic population.

TheInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization(IMRO) grew up as the major Macedonian separatist organization in the 1890s, seeking the autonomy of Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire.The IMRO initially opposed being dependent on any of the neighbouring states, especially Greece and Serbia, however its relationship with Bulgaria grew very strong, and it soon became dominated by figures who supported the annexation of Macedonia into Bulgaria, though a small fraction opposed this.As a rule, the IMRO members had Bulgarian national self-identification, but the autonomist faction stimulated the development of Macedonian nationalism.It devised the slogan "Macedonia for the Macedonians" and called for a supranational Macedonia, consisting of different nationalities and eventually included in a futureBalkan Federation.However, the promoters of this slogan declared their conviction that the majority of the Macedonian Christian Slav population was Bulgarian.

In the late 19th and early 20th century the international community viewed the Macedonians predominantly as a regional variety of the Bulgarians. At the end of the First World War there were very few ethnographers who agreed that a separate Macedonian nation existed. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Allies sanctioned Serbian control ofVardar Macedoniaand accepted the belief that Macedonian Slavs were in fact Southern Serbs. This change in opinion can largely be attributed to the Serbian geographerJovan Cvijić.Nevertheless, Macedonist ideas increased during theinterbellumin Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia and among the left diaspora in Bulgaria, and were supported by theComintern.During theSecond World WarMacedonist ideas were further developed by the Yugoslav Communist Partisans, but some researchers doubt that even at that time the Slavs from Macedonia considered themselves to be ethnically separate from the Bulgarians.The turning point for the Macedonian ethnogenesis was the creation of theSocialist Republic of Macedoniaas part of theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslaviafollowing World War II.

History

The front page of the book "Za makedonckite raboti, Sofia 1903" by Krste Petkov Misirkov.

Map of the region ofMacedoniaon the basis of an earlier publication in the newspaper "Македонский Голосъ" by theSaint PetersburgMacedonian Colony, 1913

Early and middle 19th century

With the conquest of the Balkans by theOttomansin the late 14th century, the name of Macedonia disappeared for several centuries and was rarely displayed on geographic maps.It was rediscovered during theRenaissanceby western researchers, who introduced ancient Greek geographical names in their work, although used in a rather loose manner.The modern region was not labeled "Macedonia" by the Ottomans. The name "Macedonia" gained popularity parallel to the ascendance of rival nationalism.The central and northern areas of modern Macedonia were often called "Bulgaria" or "Lower Moesia"during Ottoman rule. The name" Macedonia "was revived to mean a separate geographical region on the Balkans, this occurring in the early 19th century, after the foundation of the modern Greek state, with its Western Europe-derived obsession with the Ancient world.However, as a result of the massive Greek religious and school propaganda, a kind ofMacedonizationoccurred among the Greek and non-Greek speaking population of the area. The nameMacedonian Slavswas also introduced by the Greek clergy and teachers among the local Slavophones with an aim to stimulate the development of close ties between them and the Greeks, linking both sides to theancient Macedonians,as a counteract against the growing Bulgarian influence there.

Late 19th and early 20th century

See also:Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising

The first attempts for creation of theMacedonianethnicitycan be said to have begun in the late 19th and early 20th century.This was the time of the first expressions ofMacedonismby limited groups of intellectuals inBelgrade,Sofia,ThessalonikiandSt. Petersburg.However, up until the 20th century and beyond, the majority of the Slavic-speaking population of the region was identified asMacedono-Bulgarianor simply as Bulgarianand after 1870 joined theBulgarian Exarchate.Although he was appointed Bulgarian metropolitan bishop, in 1891Theodosius of Skopjeattempted to restore theArchbishopric of Ohridas an autonomous Macedonian church, but his idea failed.Some authors consider that at that time, labels reflecting collective identity, such as "Bulgarian",changed into national labels from being broad terms that were without political significance.

While according to some modern authors as well as pro-Macedonian sources (e.g. Nick Anastasovski), the designation 'Bulgarian' referred to all the Slavs living inRumeliaand meant nothing more thanpeasant,contemporary travellers, ethnographers and linguists, including Slovak philologistPavel Jozef Šafárik(1842), French geologistAmi Boué(1847, 1854), French ethnographerGuillaume Lejean(1861), English travel writersGeorgina Muir MackenzieandPaulina Irby(1867), Russian ethnographerMikhail Mirkovich(1867), Czech folkloristKarel Jaromír Erben(1868), German cartographerAugust Heinrich Petermann(1869), German geographerHeinrich Kiepert(1876), Austrian diplomat Karl Sax (1877), etc. clearly identified the Slavs living in the part ofRumeliacurrently known asKosovoasSerbsand only referred to the Slavs living in theMacedoniaasBulgarians.All of them also established the ethnographic boundary between Serbs and Bulgarians along theŠar Mountains.

According toJohn Van Antwerp Fine Jr.,until the late 19th century those Macedonian Slavs who had developed an ethnic identity believed they were Bulgarians.As per Raymond Detrez "Indeed, until the 1860s, as there are no documents or inscriptions mentioning the Macedonians as a separate ethnic group, all Slavs in Macedonia used to call themselves Bulgarians".The semi-official termBulgarian Millet,was used by the Ottoman Sultan for the first time in 1847, and was his tacit consent to a more ethno-linguistic definition of the Bulgarians as a separate ethnic group.Officially as a separateMilletwere recognized theBulgarian Uniatesin 1860, and then in 1870 theBulgarian Exarchists.With therise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empirethen, the classical Ottomanmillet systembegan to degrade with the continuous identification of the religious creed with ethnic identity.In this way, in the struggle for recognition of a separatenational Church,the modern Bulgarian nation was created,and the religious affiliation became a consequence of national allegiance.

On the eve of the 20th century theInternal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization(IMARO) tried to unite all unsatisfied elements in theOttoman Europeand struggled for political autonomy in the regions ofMacedoniaandAdrianople Thrace.But this manifestation of political separatism by the IMARO was a phenomenon without ethnic affiliation and theBulgarianethnic provenance of the revolutionaries can not be put under question.

The first major manifestation of ethnic Macedonian nationalism was the bookOn Macedonian Matters,published in Sofia in 1903 byKrste Misirkov.In the book Misirkov advocated for affirmation of theMacedoniansas a separate people. Misirkov considered that the term "Macedonian" should be used to define the whole Slavic population of Macedonia, obliterating the existing division between Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbians. The adoption of a separate "Macedonian language" was also advocated and he outlined an overview of the Macedonian grammar and expressed the ultimate goal of codifying the language and using it as the language of instruction in the education system. The book was written in the dialect of central Macedonia (Veles-Prilep-Bitola-Ohrid) which was proposed by Misirkov as the basis for the future language, and, as Misirkov says, a dialect which is most different from all other neighboring languages (Bulgarian and Serbian).

Another significant activist for the ethnic Macedonian national revival wasDimitrija Čupovski,who was one of the founders and the president of theMacedonian Literary Societyestablished in 1902 inSaint Petersburg.One of the members was also Krste Misirkov. In 1905 the Society publishedVardar,the first scholarly, scientific and literary journal in the central dialects of Macedonia, which later would contribute in the standardization ofMacedonian language.During the 1913–14 period, Čupovski published the newspaperMakedonski Golos'(Македонскi Голосъ) (meaningMacedonian voice)in which he and fellow members of the Petersburg Macedonian Colony propagandized the existence of a separateMacedonian peopledifferent from Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs, and sought to popularize the idea for an independent Macedonian state. Some of its articles were written byKrste Misirkov.

Balkan Wars and First World War

A World War I era ethnographic map of the Balkans by Serbian ethnologistJovan Cvijić,depicting "Slavic Macedonians" in shades of green, distinct from Bulgarians and Serbs. The western parts of Bulgaria and northeastern Macedonia are shown as populated by Serbs. In this way he promoted the idea that Macedonians were in fact Southern Serbs.

During theBalkan Warsand theFirst World Warthe area was exchanged several times between Bulgaria and Serbia. The IMARO supported the Bulgarian army and authorities when they took temporary control over Vardar Macedonia. On the other hand, Serbian authorities put pressure on local people to declare themselves Serbs: they disbanded local governments, established by IMARO inOhrid,Velesand other cities and persecuted Bulgarian priests and teachers, forcing them to flee and replacing them with Serbians.Serbian troops enforced a policy of disarming the local militia, accompanied by beatings and threats.During this period the political autonomism was abandoned as tactics and annexationist positions were supported, aiming eventual incorporation of the area into Bulgaria.

Interwar period and WWII

After the WWI, inSerbian Macedoniaany manifestations of Bulgarian nationhood were suppressed. Even in the so-calledWestern Outlandsceded byBulgariain 1920 Bulgarian identification was prohibited. The Bulgarian notes to theLeague of Nations,consented to recognize a Bulgarian minority in Yugoslavia were rejected. The members of the Council of the League assumed that the existence of some Bulgarian minority there was possible, however, they were determined to keep Yugoslavia and were aware that any exercise of revisionism, would open an uncontrollable wave of demands, turning the Balkans into a battlefield.Belgrade was suspicious of the recognition of any Bulgarian minority and was annoyed this would hinder its policy of forced "Serbianisation".It blocked such recognition in neighboring Greece and Albania, through the failed ratifications of thePolitis–Kalfov Protocolin 1924 and theAlbanian-Bulgarian Protocol (1932).

German ethnic map ofYugoslaviafrom 1940. Macedonians are depicted as a separate community, and described as claimed by Serbs and Bulgarians, but generally attributed to the last ones.

During the interwar period in Vardar Macedonia, part of the young locals repressed by the Serbs attempted at a separate way of ethnic development.Some of theleftistactivists ofMFO,IMRO (United)and theCommunist Party of Yugoslaviaexpressed Macedonian national ideas. In 1934 theCominternin accordance withIMRO (United)issued aresolution about the recognition of a separate Macedonian ethnicity.However, the existence of considerable Macedonian national consciousness prior to the 1940s is disputed. This confusion is illustrated by Robert Newman in 1935, who recounts discovering in a village inVardar Macedoniatwo brothers, one who considered himself aSerb,and the other aBulgarian.In another village he met a man who had been "a Macedonian peasant all his life" but who had been at various times called aTurk,a Serb and a Bulgarian.During the Second World War the area was annexed by Bulgaria and anti-Serbian and pro-Bulgarian feelings among the local population prevailed.Because of thatVardar Macedoniaremained the only region whereYugoslavcommunist leaderJosip Broz Titohad not developed a strongpartisanmovement in 1941. The new provinces were quickly staffed with officials from Bulgaria proper who behaved with typical official arrogance to the local inhabitants.The communists' power started growing only in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany. To improve the situation in the area Tito ordered the establishment of theCommunist Party of Macedoniain March 1943 and the secondAVNOJcongress on 29 November 1943 did recognise theMacedonian nationas separate entity. As a result the resistance movement grew and in August 1944 theMacedonian Partisansset up theAnti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia.They proclaimed aMacedoniannation-state of the ethnicMacedoniansand theMacedonianas official language. After the German troops left the area in November, the new Macedonian government started the codification of the Macedonian language.The state was later incorporated in theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.However, by the end of the war, the Bulgarophile sentiments were still distinguishable and the Macedonian national consciousness hardly existed beyond a general conviction gained from bitter experience, that rule from Sofia was as unpalatable as that fromBelgrade.

Post-World War II

See also:Bloody Christmas 1945

After 1944 thePeople's Republic of Bulgariaand theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslaviabegan a policy of making Macedonia into the connecting link for the establishment of a futureBalkan Federative Republicand stimulating the development of a distinctSlav Macedonianconsciousness.The region received the status of a constituent republic withinYugoslaviaand in 1945 a separateMacedonian languagewas codified. The population was proclaimed to be ethnic Macedonian, a nationality different from both Serbs and Bulgarians. With the proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia as part of the Yugoslav federation, the new authorities also enforced measures that would overcome the pro-Bulgarian feeling among parts of its population.On the other hand, the Yugoslav authorities forcibly suppressed the ideologists of an independent Macedonian country. The Greek communists, similar to their fraternal parties in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, had already been influenced by the Comintern and were the only political party inGreeceto recognize Macedoniannational identity.However, the situation deteriorated after they lost theGreek Civil War.Thousands ofAegean Macedonianswere expelled and fled to the newly establishedSocialist Republic of Macedonia,while thousands of more children took refuge in otherEastern Bloccountries.

Post-Informbiro period and Bulgarophobia

See also:Law for the Protection of Macedonian National Honour

At the end of the 1950s theBulgarian Communist Partyrepealed its previous decision and adopted a position denying the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity. As a result, theBulgarophobiain Macedonia increased almost to the level ofState ideology.This put an end to the idea of aBalkan Communist Federation.During the post-Informbiro period,a separateMacedonian Orthodox Churchwas established, splitting off from theSerbian Orthodox Churchin 1967. The encouragement and evolution of theculture of the Republic of Macedoniahas had a far greater and more permanent impact on Macedonian nationalism than has any other aspect of Yugoslav policy. While the development of national music, films and graphic arts had been encouraged in the Republic of Macedonia, the greatest cultural effect came from the codification of the Macedonian language and literature, the new Macedonian national interpretation of history and the establishment of aMacedonian Orthodox Church.Meanwhile, the Yugoslav historiography borrowed certain parts of the histories of its neighboring states in order to construct the Macedonian identity, having reached not only the times of medieval Bulgaria, but even as far back asAlexander the Great.In 1969, the firstHistory of the Macedonian nationwas published. Most Macedonians' attitude to Communist Yugoslavia, where they were recognized as a distinct nation for the first time, became positive. The Macedonian Communist elites were traditionally morepro-Serbandpro-Yugoslavthan those in the rest of the Yugoslav Republics.

After the Second World War, Macedonian and Serbian scholars usually defined the ancient local tribes in the area of the Central Balkans asDaco-Moesian.Previously these entities were traditionally regarded in Yugoslavia as Illyrian, in accordance with the romantic early-20th-century interests in theIllyrian movement.At first, the Daco-Moesian tribes were separated through linguistic research. Later, Yugoslav archaeologists and historians came to an agreement that Daco-Moesians should be located in the areas of modern-day Serbia and North Macedonia. The most popular Daco-Moesian tribes described in Yugoslav literature were theTriballians,theDardaniansand thePaeonians.The leading research goal in the Republic of Macedonia during Yugoslav times was the establishment of some kind ofPaionian identityand to separate it from the western "Illyrian" and the eastern "Thracian" entities. The idea of Paionian identity was constructed to conceptualize that Vardar Macedonia was neither Illyrian nor Thracian, favouring a more complex division, contrary to scientific claims about strictThraco-IllyrianBalkan separation in neighbouring Bulgaria and Albania. Yugoslav Macedonian historiography argued also that the plausible link between the Slav Macedonians and their ancient namesakes was, at best, accidental.

Post-independence period and Antiquisation

Macedonian flagfrom 1992 to 1995

See also:Antiquization

Monument ofAlexander The GreatinSkopje.In reality the city was the capital ofDardaniaand never became a part ofAncient Macedonia.

On 8 September 1991, theSocialist Republic of Macedoniaheld a referendum that established its independence fromYugoslavia.With thefall of Communism,thebreakup of Yugoslaviaand the consequent lack of aGreat powerin the region, the Republic of Macedonia came into permanent conflicts with its neighbors. Bulgaria contested its national identity and language, Greece contested its name and symbols, and Serbia its religious identity. On the other hand, the ethnic Albanians in the country insisted on being recognised as a nation, equal to the ethnic Macedonians. As a response, a more assertive and uncompromising form of Macedonian nationalism emerged.At that time the concept of ancientPaionian identitywas changed to a kind of mixedPaionian-Macedonianidentity which was later transformed to a separateancient Macedonian identity,establishing a direct link to the modern ethnic Macedonians.This phenomenon is called "ancient Macedonism", or "Antiquisation" ( "Antikvizatzija", "антиквизација" ).Its supporters claim that the ethnic Macedonians are not descendants of the Slavs only, but of theancient Macedonianstoo, who, according to them, were notGreeks.Antiquisation is the policy which thenationalisticruling partyVMRO-DPMNEpursued after coming to power in 2006, as a way of putting pressure on Greece, as well as for the purposes of domestic identity-building.Antiquisationis also spreading due to a very intensive lobbying of theMacedonian diasporafrom the US, Canada, Germany and Australia,Some members of the Macedonian diaspora even believe, without basis, that certain modern historians, namelyErnst Badian,Peter Green,andEugene Borza,possess a pro-Macedonian bias in the Macedonian-Greek conflict.

Similarparahistoricalmyths connecting the Slavs and Paleo-Balkan peoples were characteristic for Ottoman Bulgaria during the late 18th and the 19th century and later arrose in Ottoman Macedonia.Practically, until the 1940s Bulgarian academic circles and Bulgarianvolkhistory spread the same views when fighting Greek claims about the Greek origins of the ancient Macedonians.

As part of this policy, statues ofAlexander the GreatandPhilip II of Macedonhave been built in several cities across the country.In 2011, a massive, 22-meter-tall statue ofAlexander the Great(called "Warrior on a horse" because of the dispute with Greece) was inaugurated inMacedonia SquareinSkopje,as part of theSkopje 2014remodelling of the city.An even larger statue of Philip II is also constructed at the other end of the square. A triumphal arch namedPorta Macedonia,constructed in the same square, featuring images of historical figures including Alexander the Great, caused theGreekForeign Ministry to lodge an official complaint to authorities in the Republic of Macedonia.Statues of Alexander are also on display in the town squares ofPrilepandŠtip,while astatue to Philip II of Macedonwas recently built inBitola.Additionally, many pieces of public infrastructure, such as airports, highways, and stadiums have been named after ancient historical figures or entities. Skopje's airport was renamed "Alexander the Great Airport" and features antique objects moved from Skopje's archeological museum. One of Skopje's main squares has been renamedPella Square(afterPella,the capital of theancient kingdom of Macedon), while the main highway to Greece has been renamed to "Alexander of Macedon" and Skopje's largest stadium has been renamed "Philip II Arena".These actions are seen as deliberate provocations in neighboring Greece, exacerbating the dispute and further stalling Macedonia's EU and NATO applications.In 2008 a visit byHunzaPrince was organized in the Republic of Macedonia. TheHunza peopleof Northern Pakistan were proclaimed as direct descendants of the Alexandrian army and as people who are most closely related to the ethnic Macedonians.The Hunza delegation led byMir Ghazanfar Ali Khanwas welcomed at theSkopje Airportby the country'sprime ministerNikola Gruevski,the head of theMacedonian Orthodox ChurchArchbishop Stephenand the mayor ofSkopje,Trifun Kostovski.

Such antiquization is facing criticism by academics as it demonstrates feebleness of archaeology and of other historical disciplines in public discourse, as well as a danger ofmarginalization.The policy has also attracted criticism domestically, by ethnic Macedonians within the country, who see it as dangerously dividing the country between those who identify withclassical antiquityand those who identify with the country's Slavic culture.EthnicAlbanians in North Macedoniasee it as an attempt to marginalize them and exclude them from the national narrative.The policy, which also claims as ethnic Macedonians figures considered national heroes inBulgaria,such asDame GruevandGotse Delchev,has also drawn criticism from Bulgaria.Foreign diplomats had warned that the policy reduced international sympathy for the Republic of Macedonia in the then-naming dispute with Greece.

The background of this antiquization can be found in the 19th 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 included in the national mythology during the post-WWIIYugoslavia.An additional factor for its preservation has been the influence of theMacedonian Diaspora.Contemporary antiquization has been revived as an efficient tool for political mobilization and has been reinforced by the VMRO-DPMNE.For example, in 2009 theMacedonian Radio-Televisionaired a video named "Macedonian prayer"in which theChristian Godwas presented calling the people of North Macedonia "the oldest nation on Earth" and "progenitors of the white race", who are described as "Macedonoids", in opposition toNegroidsandMongoloids. This ultra-nationalism accompanied by the emphasizing of North Macedonia's ancient roots has raised concerns internationally about growing a kind of authoritarianism by the governing party.There have also been attempts at scientific claims about ancient nationhood, but they have had a negative impact on the international position of the country.On the other hand, there is still strongYugonostalgiaamong the ethnic Macedonian population, that has swept also over other ex-Yugoslav states.

Macedonian nationalism also has support among high-ranking diplomats of North Macedonia who are serving abroad, and this continues to affect the relations with neighbors, especially Greece. In August 2017, the Consul of the Republic of Macedonia to Canada attended a nationalist Macedonian event in Toronto and delivered a speech against the backdrop of anirredentistmap ofGreater Macedonia.This has triggered strong protests from the Greek side,which regards this as a sign that irredentism remains the dominant state ideology and everyday political practice in the neighboring country.Following strong diplomatic protests, however, the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of Macedonia condemned the incident and recalled its diplomat back to Skopje for consultations.

Macedonism

Damaged inscription on the Holy Sunday church (Sveta Nedela) inBitola.It reads:This holy church was erected with the contribution of the Bulgarians in Bitola on October 13, 1863.The part of the inscription that reads "Bulgarians"has been erased. There are many other deliberately destroyed Bulgarian monuments in the Republic of North Macedonia.

TheBitola inscriptionof 1016/1017. The medieval stone contains instances of the wordBulgarian.In 2006 the French consulate in Bitola sponsored and prepared a tourist catalogue and printed on its front cover the inscription. News about it had spread prior to the official presentation and was a cause for confusion among the officials of the municipality. The printing of the new catalogue was stopped because of its "Bulgarian"cover.

Front cover of the original edition ofBulgarian Folk Songscollected by the Macedonia-bornMiladinov Brothers.When the Macedonian State Archive displayed a photocopy of the book, the upper part of the page showing "Bulgarian" had been cut off.There is a similar case with the national museum of the Republic of North Macedonia which, apparently, refuses to display original works by the two brothers, because of theBulgarianlabels on some of them.

See also:Historiography in North Macedonia

"Macedonist" redirects here. For Other uses, seeMacedonist (disambiguation).

Macedonism,sometimes referred to asMacedonianism(MacedonianandSerbian:Македонизам,Makedonizam;Bulgarian:Македонизъм,MakedonizamandGreek:Μακεδονισμός,Makedonismós), is a political and historical term used in apolemicsense to refer to a set of ideas perceived as characteristic of aggressive Macedonian nationalism.Before theBalkan WarsMacedonist ideas were shared by a limited circle of intellectuals. They grew in significance during theinterbellum,both in Vardar Macedonia and among the left-leaning diaspora in Bulgaria, and were endorsed by theComintern.During theSecond World War,these ideas were supported by the Communist Partisans, who founded the Yugoslav Macedonian Republic in 1944.Following the Second World War, Macedonism became the basis of Yugoslav Macedonia'sstate ideology,aimed at transforming the Slavic and, to a certain extent, non-Slavic parts of its population into ethnicMacedonians.This state policy is still current in today'sRepublic of North Macedonia,where it was developed in several directions. One of them maintains the connection of the modern ethnic Macedonians with theancient Macedonians,rather than with theSouth Slavs,while others have sought to incorporate into the national pantheon the right-wingInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization(IMRO) activists, previously dismissed asBulgarophiles.

The term is occasionally used in anapologeticsense by some Macedonian authors,but has also faced strong criticism from moderate political views in North Macedonia and international scholars.Additionally the official website of theMacedonian Encyclopediathat is published by theMacedonian Academy of Sciences and Artsuses the word 'Macedonism' as itsdomain name.

The term is used in Bulgaria in an insulting and derogatory manner, to discredit the development of Macedonian nationalism during the 19th and 20th centuries. The term is widely seen as aGreater Serbianaspiration, aiming to split the Bulgarian people on anti-Bulgarian grounds.The term is first believed to have been used in a derogatory manner byPetko Slaveykovin 1871, when he dismissed Macedonian nationalists as "Macedonists",who he regarded a misguided (sic):Grecomans.

Macedonism as an ethno-political conception

The roots of the concept were first developed in the second half of the 19th century, in the context ofGreek,BulgarianandSerbianinitiatives to take control over the region of Macedonia, which was at that time ruled by theOttoman Empire.It was originally used in a contemptuous manner to refer to Slav Macedonians, who believed they constituted a distinctethnic group,separate from their neighbours. The first to use the term "Macedonist" was the Bulgarian authorPetko Slaveykov,who coined the term in his article "The Macedonian Question",published in the newspaperMakedoniyain 1871. However, he pointed out 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".Nevertheless, those accused of Slaveikov asMacedonistswere representative of the movement aiming at the construction of the Bulgarian standard literary language primarily on the Macedonian dialects, such asKuzman Shapkarev,Dimitar MakedonskiandVeniamin Machukovski.Another early recorded use of the term "Macedonism" is found in a report by the Serbian politicianStojan Novakovićfrom 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 a significant role in the realization of his ideas, especially through the "Association of Serbo-Macedonians"formed by him in Istanbul and through his support for theMacedonian Scientific and Literary Societyin St. Petersburg.The geopolitics of the Serbs evidently played a crucial role in the ethnogenesis by promoting a separate Macedonian consciousness at the expense of the Bulgarians (it is worth mentioning that 19th century Serbian propaganda mostly adhered to direct Serbianization, including post-WWI policy of Belgrade in Vardar Macedonia). In 1888 theMacedono-BulgarianethnographerKuzman Shapkarevnoted that, as a result of this activity, a strange, ancientethnonym"Makedonci" (Macedonians) was imposed 10–15 years prior by outside intellectuals, introduced with a "cunning aim" to replace the traditional "Bugari" (Bulgarians).

In 1892,Georgi Pulevskicompleted the first "Slavic-Macedonian General History", with a manuscript of over 1,700 pages.According to the book, the ancient Macedonians were Slavic people and the Macedonian Slavs were native to the Balkans, in contrast of the Bulgarians and the Serbs, who came there centuries later. The root of such indigenous mixture ofIllyrismandPan-Slavismcan be seen in "Concise history of the Slav Bulgarian People" (1792), written by Spyridon Gabrovski, whose original manuscript was found in 1868 by the Russian scientistAlexander Hilferdingon his journey in Macedonia.Gabrovski tried to establish a link between the Bulgaro-Macedonians on the one hand, and the Illyrians and ancient Macedonians on the other, whom he also regarded asSlavs.The main agenda of this story about the mythicalBulgaro-Illyro-Macedonianswas to assert that the Macedonian and Bulgarian Slavs were among the indigenous inhabitants of the Balkans.

Other proponents of the Macedonist ideas in the early 20th century were two Serbian scholars, the geographerJovan Cvijićand the linguistAleksandar 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 ethnonymBugari(Bulgarians) used by the Slavic population of Macedonia to refer to themselves actually meant onlyrayah,and in no case affiliations to the Bulgarian ethnicity. In his ethnographic studies of the Balkan Slavs, Cvijic devised a "Central Type"(Slav Macedonians andTorlaks), dissimilar at the same time to the "Dinaric Type"(the principal" Serb "ethnographic variant) and the"East Balkan Type"(representing the Bulgarians, but excluding even Western Bulgaria). The true Bulgarians belonged only to the" East Balkan Type "and were a mixture ofSlavs,"Turanian"groups (Bulgars,Cumans,andTurks) andVlachs,and as such, were different from the otherSouth Slavsin their ethnic composition. More importantly, their national character was decidedly un-Slavic. Bulgarians were industrious and coarse. They were a people without imagination and therefore necessarily without art and culture. This caricature of the Bulgarians permitted their clear differentiation from the "Central Type," within which Cvijic included Macedonian Slavs, western Bulgarians (Shopi), and Torlaks, a type that was eminently Slavic (i.e. old-Serbian) and therefore non-Bulgarian. Nowadays, these outdated Serbian views have been propagandized by some contemporary Macedonian scholars and politicians.

Some panslavic ideologists inRussia,former supporter ofGreater Bulgaria,also adopted these ideas as opposing Bulgaria'sRussophobicpolicy at the beginning of the 20th century, as for exampleAlexandr RittikhandAleksandr 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 GreekStruggle for Macedonia,such asGermanos Karavangelis,openly popularized theHellenicidea about a direct link between the local Slavs and theancient Macedonians.Nevertheless, in 1914 theCarnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairsreport 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 theBalkan Wars(1912–1913) Ottoman Macedonia was mostly divided between Greece and Serbia, which began a process of Hellenization and Serbianisation of the Slavic population and led in general to a cease in the use of this term in both countries.

On the other hand, Serbian and Bulgarianleft-wingintellectuals envisioned in the early 20th century some sort of "Balkanconfederation"including Macedonia, should theAustro-Hungarian EmpireandOttoman Empiredissolve. This view was accepted from theSocialist International.In 1910, the First Balkan Socialist Conference was held in Belgrade, then within theKingdom of Serbia.The main platform at the first conference was the call for a solution to the Macedonian Question. The creation of aBalkan Socialist Federationwas proposed, in which Macedonia would be a constituent state. In 1915, after the Balkan Wars had concluded, the Balkan Socialist Conference in Bucharest agreed 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 theSoviet Unionas a project of the Yugoslav communist federation. Various declarations were made during the 1920s and 1930s seeing the official adoption of Macedonism by theComintern.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. Also, the demise of the IMRO and its ideology for much of the interwar period led a part of the young local intellectuals inVardar Macedonia,regarded at that time as Serbs, to find a solution in the ideology of Macedonism.This issue was supported during the Second World War by the Communist Resistance and in 1944 the wartime Communist leaderJosip Broz Titoproclaimed thePeople's Republic of Macedoniaas part of theYugoslav Federation,thus partially fulfilling the Comintern's pre-war policy. He was supported by the Bulgarian leader from Macedonian descent and formerGeneral Secretaryof the CominternGeorgi Dimitrov,in anticipation of an ultimately failed incorporation of the Bulgarian part of Macedonia (Pirin 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 somepanslaviccircles 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 designationsBulgaro-Macedonians,Macedonian BulgariansandMacedonian Slavsin order to name their compatriots. Representatives of this circle wereGeorgi Pulevski,Theodosius of Skopje,Krste Misirkov,Stefan Dedov,Atanas Razdolov,Dimitrija Chupovskiand others. Nearly all of them died in Bulgaria. Most of the next wave Macedonists wereleft-wingpoliticians, who changed their ethnic affiliations from Bulgarian to Macedonian during the 1930s, after the recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity by theComintern,as for exampleDimitar Vlahov,Pavel Shatev,Panko Brashnarov,Venko Markovski,Georgi Pirinski, Sr.and others. Such Macedonian activists, who came from theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United)and the Bulgarian Communist Party never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias.

See also

• Macedonia (terminology)
• United Macedonia
• World Macedonian Congress
• Macedonian Question
• History of the Macedonians (ethnic group)
• Demographic history of Macedonia
• Rise of nationalism under the Ottoman Empire
• Albanian nationalism in North Macedonia