lKo

B}-|MA

=
fr

Toumba, hessa|oniki: prehistori sett|ement

To, ovi: ooog oooq,

4.000

YEARS

MACET) o NA
OF GR EE
MDD0N

cIvLAToN
TH,

u ND

MACDON N QUE ST2N F:. A bief suey

uropen fmily in the course of he Sth millennium - spred thrughout the re

knn tody s northem Greece.

erly centuries of the second millennium 'C' three bsic roups cn lredy be
distinguished:

Duing

the

Seprte phs of expnsion. one group pushed southwrds towrds Sere (minlnd) Gree ce nd th Peloponne sls. A

() The South - stem group mnde up f lonins,

secnd settled in the reon of Doris where it megedwith the locl popuaion to produce the Doriaru. third roup mde iS wy to Thessly, hilst fouh, clling themselesMx6g (Mkednins), settled in h
The Mkedniru - speking Greekdilect s did ll the other ribes origining from the

rcdian nd one h eolian Greek dialect.

stem group, minly cmp ) The of the popuous tibe of the Mkedni'
(c
-We o se

(b) The ,stern group lih is two inguistic subgroups' one speking the
d

region known t these dys s Souhem nd Centrl Greek Mcedonia.

.[|.estem,

. Macednia in histo Mcedni in ntiqui

istric nd rchaeologicl eidence pints t th,e existence of Geek - speking inhabinns occupying the ruged northcm sopes f Pind.os mountnin s erty s 2200 2100 3"C, These Greek tibes - hought to hae split fom the min bulk of the n.do -

Wth the nins leding the wy nd he eolic - spekingtibes (chins, Lpithes, Minons et, l,) folowing suit, stedy Southwrd expnsion of ll these proto hcllenic peoples cn be obserued s centuies go . Thir migrtion brought them into contct l'ih th pre-hellen,ic tibes in th
south such s th Cetans, n insulr people who had eoled sophisticted culure.

entured southwrd nd hus did not come into ery contct with the Creo - insulnr populatior y the 8th cenrury B.C., hweer, the Mcedonins re drwn een more clsety to the rest of the GreekWorld. orestis

Mkednoi - remined, for few centuries, outside the minstrem of Hellenic culure becuse, unlike their kinsmen, they neer

The Westem roup' i'e. the Mkednoi were nmerous enough to follow four

bihplce of th Mcedonin dynasty of the geds nd Temenids, gos b, of cue,

menioned s erly s

(the region known dy s sori) b

th 7h cenury

s th'e

thenme of city in Mkedoniwhichothis dy is clled rgos orestikn to distiguish it

=A

TEXlKo BF|MA

MACEDONA,

4.000

YEARS oF GREE ctvLz^ToN

Ste, one ought t mention. this pont that there is considerble controersy monSt scholrs s to the extent which the Sls, ,ho settled in Mcedonin territories ere

nd ws subsequently diided int four

fterthe decisie btte f \tdn in 168 'C. that Mcedni finlly fell to the Rmns
dminis trti e
r e gio

the reign of the pigones (i'e' lexnder's Successors) nd fostered the cretion f mny city - SteS gemed for lmost t|ryo centuries by Mcedonin kings' t s only

who estblished the mediel Bulgrin

ns.

Mce donin proinces thi ed nd ttrcted new settlerc frm lhe ,st nd ftom ts,

Under the Romn occuption the

ppernce for the first time. nscriptins shw, howeer, that s fr s lnguge is

hile ewish communiies mie their

''ere

known Peloponnesin nmeske. The fct tht the sme rume' rgos, ppers in ntiquity in plces s fr prt s Mcedonia ndthe Peloponnesus is one more piece of eidence shoing hw much these ncient Greek tribes hd in

[,om

its rther better

grduly Helenized.

concerned most of these Setters

southwrds'

Mcedonin ing wh fought ginst both yzntines nd Bulgrins, Byzntine Sources' howeer, ree tht Smuel's kingdm in tle 10th century S muti ntionl in essence, extending oer ugi nd her regions fuher nofilwcrds nd

Middle ges, tht Smuel ws Sl

ugoslli for instnce, nintin th there were no Bulrins in Mcedoni duingthe

''Bulgrised''' Histrins frm Skopje

common.

Vttie (region of mount Vermion), orde nd lmopi. They crossed the rier xios nd stepped into Chlkidiki either driing wy or ssimilting the indigenous ibes lredy estblished there (such s the Pelsgins).

During the 7th nd 6th centuries the Mcedonins pushed estwrds of orestis nd populted the princes f Pieri,

nd on its cpitl city Thessoniki in prticulr, s it grduly deelped t

yznine mpire'

successfully repelled' The indes left no ethnic trce in Mcedni, n 324 'D' the cpit of the stem Rmn mpire ws trnsferred to yzntium, fct which hns significn impct on Mcedoni in generl

Goths nd other kindred tribes were

During the 3rd century .D., ttcks by

n ny cse, whateer i.ts precise ethnic identity, the fct remins tht Smuel's kingdom, in spite f its dynmism, did not bolish Byzntine suzerinty in Mcedoni

still thriing in Greek Mcedni, hd

the countryside, n the otherhnd, especily in Nhem Mcedoni - ie, in the territries
in,

nd did nt signifi cntb lter its ethnologicl cmposition' he lnrge populti,on centres,

remined slidly nd continuusly Greek' n

becme the secnd mst impnt ci|y of the

shred tody beteen ugsli

Bulgri, nd

Mcedni in the Byzntine er(. Descent of Sas.

With the exception of some Ltin nd other tribl setlements, tle bsiclty Greek popultion f Mcednin remined more or less unchnged up to the 7th century 'D' when rious Sl tribes (Drguite,
permission f the Byzntine uthities these tribes set up smll Saic encnes encl,es knon to the yzntines s ''Sclninie''.

certin areS fuher t the south - the Slaic element seemedo be much nnihitin f
th'e

nd'

better entreched, Neertheless the

Byzntine nperr Vssilis

Vugrktoos ('.-he Sllyer of Bulgrs'') in 1]th century' nrked Hellenic reil in the wlle re'
th.e

Bulgrin kingdom by he

From t lestthe 5thcentury nwrds the isoltion of the Mcedonins StrS t be broken down s the more sophisticted South begins - thrugh better se nd and
trnspofi - to infitrte the regin, by Setting up
c

lnie s in C hnlkidiki.

Strymonite, Sgudite et' l.) begn settling in he Mcednin regin, By

Recent rchaeolgic finds, in cnjunction

reil is t its hi.ghest point' The fc that the ncient Mcedonins belonged to the v,orld of the ellenes is hardly disputedby schoars'

During the reign f mynts, Philip nd lemnder he Gret, the Mcedonin

Howeer, this sho - lied mpire, 'yhich preceded the ottom(ln occuption f the Mcednic' S Prfessor

During he 14th century' the Serbin empire of Ducn encomp(]Ssed Mcedoni.

personl nd plnce nnmes' the dffisin of Greek anguge nd culture throughout the then knwn 'ord by lexnder the Gre

with linguistic nlyses, the discoery of Scores of new inscripins with Greek

continuiy f Greek culture in time nd the Strong bonds uniting the Mcedonins t ther Greeks geogrphiclly. The ltestfinds t Vergin nd Dion' fully corroborte this
iew'

nd the Mcedonins, estblish the

uhorities nd repetedly ttcked - withut - the city of Thessloniki, n 688, ,mperor ustinin defeted them in decisie bttle nd deped mny f them t ihyni in si Minor. For considerble period f time fier thb, the Ss lied t pece with their enirn,ment while mny f thenwere hellenized'
SucCeSS

continully fought ginst the Byzntine

Throughut the 7th century the Sls

lkn's, di d nt subs tnti'ly le r th e ethnic

Serbin rule left in this wke few more Slic ences long itl tles of gre't,
lb

composition of the popultin f . Vklpus expins in his History f Mcedni.

e it trns ient, e mpire' on'e shul dd here tht such sneht hazy rnemories of pst grndeur were instrumentl in fomenti,ng the naionlistic nd irredentist wkening f the Serbin ntion duing the 19th century nd

Prto - ulgrins, begn, in trn, t

infiltrte the lknn penirsul nd subjugte

Finnish

themseles cme under thret hen, ius - Ttric tribes, collectiely known s

n tle follwing centuries the Sls

Mcedni,

in

the fornultion

it,s clims on

Mcedni under the Romns

retined its eenic chrcteristics duing

Mcedoni' S geogrcphicl

the Sls in the territies hich mke up tdy's ulgri, These tribes 'ere Soon
linguis
imi l te d by th e S l s nd the re s ulting rnix ture p r duc e d te'' B ugi nS''
t

entity,

ic

lly

ss

Mcedoni S blnket erm to coer the greter p f lbni, Nhem. Thrce (sem Rumeli) s'ell s ,reS belonging t Westem (i'e, tdy Greek) Thrce' So, t

someht' Byzntine uthors used

t must be pinted out .t this juncture tht in yzntine S well s in ottomntimes the mening of the term Mced,ni hd tered

TX|KO BHMA

q=
MACEDONIA,

4.000

meningless ten in he ethnic Sense; it hd gegrphic connottion- The'' Mcedonin Dynsty'' f yzn ti n e mp erors for instnce included sereigns cming fm Thrce.

be Mcedonin'' |aS not only

''

YEARS oF GREEK ctvtL^ToN

lso grdully ost Some f its former

dmi.nnt culture in the Qre. Drwing Suppo, guidnce nd mrl sustennce frm the Greek c|egl, mSSeS of Chrbtins in Mced'oni becme re f their Greek identity' Mny Sa - speking Christins sent their child.ren to Greek schools, fought
ginst the ottm.ns during the Greek wr reutionry moements of Mcedni in the 19th centu|y' fighting fr he union of Mcedni with the free Greek Stte'

Mcedoni under ottomn rue

The ottomn rue in the 15th cenrury brought bout gret chnges in the popuation of the Blkns in gener nd of Mcedoni in pfiiculnr, Rughly speking, the Christins tookto the mountins, the elite

f libertin, nd jin,ed the Greek

the hrshness of ottomn rule nd the humilitins reseedfornon - Muslims took to slm. These Greek - speking Muslims, knon s VIdS' were to be found in certinprts of the zniregin, srecently s 1912, when Mcedoniaws liberted. on the other hnd Turkmns uruks) were brought in by the ottomns to settle the depopulted region in Centrl Mcedoni,

took t the West, Thse unble to cope with

Greco - S.ic rilry in Mcedoni

Bulgi.n church, cled the xrchte, in 1870, mrked tle beginning of struggle

The estblishment f the i'ndependen't

Mcedoni s the coeted pple f discord' n effect, the strugle consisted f ech side tryingto scefiinthe ntionlidentiy f the

between Greeks nd Bulgrins, with

dffirent critei in n effort

slophne mSSeS liing in the centrI

region.

saonic idim ws the Bulgrins 'bsic cierion fr distinguishing between the tto min ethnic groups' Ntionl cnsciousness

t promte their respectie ntionl gls, Use of the locl

sitution sbilized somewht nd the Christins retumed to the plins frm the
mountins, one must nt forget, in this contet, tht the st ottomn mpire ws continuly criss - crossed by popultion moements' T quote from Professor Vklpoulos istory of Mcedoni (pge
7):
''

From he 17th century onwrds the

to enlist the support f 7ret mny

uprising - pprpritely nmed ''liden''

n the fermth of Greece's defet in the 1897 wr ginst Turkey, Buli mnged

fctr tht cunted for the Greek

enumertos. The most bjectie estimtes cn be obtined by loking t the sttistics

Ptrirchte of Constntinople \S the

nd ffilitin to the cumenicl

Sphones' n the summer f 1903, during the religius festil of the Prphet lis n
_

inhabitnts, creting ne settlements' new ys of ffi nd ne' prblems, Whie Turks re coming nd settling in rious prts f West, Centrl nd st Mcedoni, Gree|<s of Thessy nd picullnry of Mcedoni end 'piruS' re moing nd dncing pecefully towrds the Nofih, to Serbi,

Muslims nd Christins he the in eery directin wrds nd within Mcedoni, to intermrry nd fuse ith the locl
chnce to moe freely

Greek cmmunities nd towns including rusho in Nofihem Mcedni' Greeks

cme under gret pressure in Mcedni.

broke out with disstrous corSequences' The ottomn rmy suppressed the rebellion in bloodbth nd in the prcess destroyed mny

nd payed n furs to either of the two ril ethnic groups in, Mcedoni. The

cmpiled by the common ottomn oppressor' wh hdnpfiicunr xe t gind

ottomn census crried out
.

ilmi Psh (1904) 8e the follwing

b'

Goemor

results:

n 1904, they respnded by gnising rmed bnds f Greek Mcednins, whose struggle ginst the Turl<s nd Bulgrins lsted unti 1908. rmed detchments of
olunteers from the free Greek stte, from Crete nd ther regins stil under the ottomnyke, ere fomed, trined, rmed

vil. f Thesslnik 373,227 207,317 Yil. f Monstir 26],283 178,412

643,500
395,729

Greeks

Bulgrins

Austri nd Hun9r!, to ulgri nd

Romni, creting Greek communities in
illges or strengthening ery old (Greek) popultion muclei .., Southem Sls nd priculrly Bulgrins, descending suth in serch of empoymer, reie, in cerfuinplts
their cities, estbishing Country - towns nd

nd sent t help the indigenus Greeks f Mcedoni in teir struggle. t is interesting

to note that in mst regions, the Greek bnls

settlements dting from the Mile ges, or crete new settlements for themseles'''

of Mcedoni old remnnts of Slic

The S|nic elenent is thus sengthened while he Saic - Bulgrin lnguge girs

ulgrins'' Grecomns',, mening,' fntic Gre eE<s''' Such mobilistion wS effe ctie in counterccting the Bulgrin expnsinry
schemes in the re nd mnged to presere Greek scendncy in Southem, nd, Centrl Mcedni unti| the libertin of te whole regin during the lkn wrs'

were composed' of Slophones, fighting fr the Hellenic cuse. Fr their Greek ntionl consciousness, they were lbeled by the

The Blkn wrs (1912 - 1913) ge Greece the mjor p f the Thesslniki nd Monstir (ito) ilyets (with the exception of certin nohem proinces which now beong t ugosn nd ulgrin Mcedni)' More precis ey the M cedonin regions were ppoioned s follows: Greek Mcedoni34,603 sq. km 51.57o ugsl Mcedoni25,74 sq' km 38.32 ulgrin Mcedni6,789 sq, km 10.11%

thnolgicI chnge in Greek Mcedoni

groundbthinthe Noh (i'e. inwhatis tdy ugosl Mcedoni) nd in the centrl region. Horyeers of the l\th century, Greek scendncy in the econmic, socil nd eductionl fields tumed Greek into the

the height of the Grec - ulgin cnJlict in Mcedoni both sides published
their wn sttistics of the ethnic composition

nother 53,000 ulgrins left in

rs lsted (1912 - 19), tens f thousnds of Bulgrins deprted from Mcedoni'

Duing the next 10 - 5 ye|S (913 925) the ethnologicl mp of Mcedoni becme lmost unrecognisble' |hile the
the 'twenties, s result of oluntry exhcnge of popuations between Greece nnd' Bulgi,

of the popultion f Mcednic, employing

=g

XlKo BHMA

MACEDOA,

4.000

YEARS oF GREE ctvLz^ToN

1,341,000

which ws foreseen by the Trety f Neuilly, 0n,the Slaphones of Westem Mcedoni styed behind S most of them considered thenseles t be Greeks, t the Sme time flwingtle Grec - Turkishexchnge, er 700'a00 Greeks from Turkey estbished hemseles in Greek Mcedoni'

populltions wS completed, the Legue of Ntins prduced the fllwing sttisticl d't peining Greek Mcedoni:

n 926, ft,er the exchnge of

Greeks Muslims Bulgrins

88.8o 0.1o

2,000
77,000

5,7ok
6,0

Miscellneus (ews)

9,000

1,51],000 100.0o
Two yers erlier, in 1924, Greece nd ulgri signed protcol within the frmework f the Legue of Ntions kno,n s the Protocol f r - Politis, Under it,g Slophone ppultins within her borders ulgin' Serbi which, in the mentime hld recognized he Sla inhbitnts f her p f Mcedoni' S Serbs, ws strongfo
s

terns Greece wS to recognise the

ulgrin ethnic identity to the s _ speking inhbitnts just suth of the

pposed to Greece's inititie t cnfer

Serbin brder, To ,show her disgreement, Serbi immeditey retlited by declaring the Greco - Serbi.n llince pct of 913 null nd id' Men,while, public outcry ginst this protocl with'in Greece itself - especilly

Mcedoni - reched such propoion.S that Legue of Ntions ccepted this decisin, nd the Prtcl neer becme binding greement' Since then, Greece cnsidered
the remining S - speking inhbitnt,y s

by slophne brder cornmunities in

the Greek prliment refused to rtify it, The

Pe||a, whih

has been inhabited ontinuous|y from

the prehistori years with the name Bounomeia |is by the foot of two hi||s. The ity was first a|led
Pe||a by Herodotus,|ts important geographial position, near the mouth of the river Axios, was reognized by king Arheaos (413-399 B,c,), patron of the arts, progressive and well known to a|| Greeks, who moved there from Aigaithe apital of Macedonia.ln Pella, Archelaos brought together great artists in his ourt, among them the great painter Zeuxis and the tragi poet Eurypides. |t beame the birthp|ae of Phi|ip || and his son Alexander the Great.This is the city where, after Philip's exhortations, the great philosopher Aristotle ame and taught poIitis and phiIosophy

he iron cuirass is unique, as it is on|y example to have suh br}tliant go|d decoration on a| sides' So is a pair of gi|ded bronze greaves, whih are oa different size and shape, implying that the deeased was lame, and thus proving that the tomb belongs to Phitip ll.

ntinI cnsciouSneSS wS Greek

irrespectie f hei.r emnculr.

Slophone Greeks, nd this ws ccepted with re|ief by their s mjrity, s their

to Alexander the Great.Philip ll, under whose reign Pel|a became the enter of He||enism, \/as an

exciting personality and his asent to the throne of Maedonia opened new roads in Greek history, his important king aS a great so|dier and, main|y, an inomparable dip|omat, one of the best of a|| ages'The exavations have brought to |ight the ity of Pe||a of the he||enisti years, with straight streets and water - supply and sewage systems, laid out under the Hippodamean system, |ike the ity of O|ynthos in Cha|kidiki,The forum of Pe|a oupied an area as |arge as other anient ities and had shops and workshops. The he|lenisti two - storey houses, with ourtyards f|anked by o|umns, and o|orfu| mosaideorated foors, are spetau|ar.

|t

is we|l known that the anient Greeks p|aed in the tombs of their dead many items, which they

believed would be essentialto them in the next life. his exp|ains the presence of otferings of great value made from many materials in the royal tombs of Vergina.he so|id go|d |arnax, shaped |ike a smal| wooden box, was found p|aed in a marb|e sarophagus, and is deorated with the sixteen pointed Maedonian Star, symbo| of the Maedonian Dynasty.The opening of the |arnax rea||ed to those present Homer,s desription of the buria| of l-lector: the bones of the deeased and a precious go|den reath with oak leaves and a0rns.

population exchnges, Thus, so fr s Greek Mcedoni wS concemed, there ws n serius problem lefi, p fro* ugri's irredentismwhich still sought n pporunity to stke once gin clims on' Greek nd Serbin ugoslin - Mcedoni'

few yers lter (1927) new Greek ulgrin ccord settled l utstnding econmic issues rising from the mss

t ws on, duing the Secon'd World Wr that these clims tok concrete frm, with the ccuption of prt of Greek Mcedoni nd Thrce by the ulgrin' aW, lredy Hitler's lyl lty in the Blkns, s for the Sl,ophones, number of hem went

thrugh n identity crisis. While most remrined firmy ttched to Helenism, others joined the ulgrin nd Nzi

XlKo BHMA

r_
MCEDONA,
4.000
intem centrifugl trends in country with So rnny ntionlities, mkes it imperIie for elgrde to be seen t c(ter penly nd

collbortors turned int ugosl

''

ugsl regime. Thus, oernight, in chmeleon trnsformti on, ulgin fscist

Mcedni n'' communi-sts'

Germny, hese cllbortors deseed the ulgincmp' nd joinedthe dherents of the ''Mcednin'' policy ini,tited by the new

com'ptriots. ryith he defet f Nzi

occuption uthoities nl persecuted their

dditin to this, the need to counterc

YEARS oF GREE ctvLAToN

publicly fr ech one'S pfiicular ntinl

spirtirs, CertinEy in so doing, it often gie Greece good cSe fr offence' Fulty wre of these inteml prbems nd. moties, the

. Special issues
Mcedonin Questin in ur dys is pliticl dispue between ugosli nd Bulgri in which Greece is only indirectly
The

Greek side refrins' aS best s it cn, f,om ggrting the sitution by undulging in public inectie, unless penly prooked'

on the ''Mcednn Question''

on the ''Mcednin ntion''

s redy mentioned' the Greeks do not recognize tht ''Mcedonin ntion', hns been in existence for ]3 centuries (sic), s the ugosn,s clim' n tking this ttitude hey re consistent with histry s there is no Source either in the yzntine er or during the ottmn rule tht hs eer mentined the existence f such ntion, t is well knon, that yzntine ,mperrVssilis hs been (Vulgrktonos) nd nt the ''Slyer of Mcedonins''' Th.is is histoicl fct nd cnnot be disputed' on the other hnd,

Mcedoni. ugslic's occsinl

inoled' The fc thtugosli des try to inole Greece by rising the issue f non existent minrity shuld be ttributed minly to elgrde's tcticI mneuering nd hs nthing to do with present relities in Greek criticisms of Greece coud be interpreted s

n eeny blnced policy towrds ll ccupiers of ''Mcedonins'', be they Bulgrins, Greeks r bnins, n

clled the '' Slyer f Bulgrs''

of the 17tl, 18th nd l9h centuries, frequently mention in their reporrs

rius trellers, s well s foreign crsuls

century' duringthe Greek - Bugrin Strugge for predominn'ce in the still ottomn - held Mced.ni, there ws, of cource, mention f Mcedonins but nly in the sense thnt they (Bulgins or Greeks) were inhbitnts of

Bulgins or Sls' There is no mention f ethnic ''Mcednins'' whtsoeer' t the end f the ]9th nd beginning f the 20tl

Thessa|oniki; Statue of Otavian Augustus 27 Bc AD 14

Mcedoni'

p(]rties of the kns spke of the existence f ''Mcedonin'' nd ''Thrci(n'' peoples,

follwers f Tno. During'the periocl beween the two World Ws, he cnmunist
but ithout consisent Set of guments 's t the distinctie ntionl idenity of these

Mcedoni in BuEgri; 'nd'the ''nteml Mcedonin Reolutionry ognistion''

nd were seeking the integrtion of

fL

The conflict tht o,)uo,d in the peiod of this struggle (904 - 1908) mng the rious orgnistions - i.e. the Verhoists, ryho were guided by the 7oenxment of Sofi

(MRo)' who docted the cretion f n cutonomous Mcedniln Stte - wS not

''Mcednins'', but between unionist nd utonomist Bulgins' n ther words, it ]'.S debte similnr to the one tht ws

conflict between Bulgrin's nd

struggles

rised during the Cretn nd Cypriot fr libertion between supporters f

ensis n the ne hncl nd self - goemment

From the tomb of th Great umu|us of Vergina, there is one more testimony that Maedonia as part of Greee.There are 47 marble grave stelai of the Sth, 4th, and 3rd entury B.C., which deorated the tombs of common Maedonian itizens, with Greek names'

s n one coud ttribute Seprte Cretn or Cypit ntionl identiy to the d,ctes f utnorny or independence' So no one culd think f cknwledging Seprte
''Mcednin'' ntinl consciousness to the

or independence on the other, respectie,

In the Sth entury A.D,, the bui|ding of the Rotunda, which was origina||y a santuary of eus, was onerted into a churh and was deorated with mosaics whih are among the best exam|es of early - christian art.ln 860 4.D., the monks Cyril and Methodius, natives of Thessaloniki, translated the Holy Bible to the slavic language, creating at the same time the slavi a|phabet, and went on to c0nvert the slaves to Christianity,

:-El
MACEDONA,
4.000

EX|KO BHMA

YEARS oF GREE ctvtLI^ToN

Mcedonins' S it pr,es tht een ordinry peple not in ny wy connected ith the ry fmi, or the ,so - cled ''helleniyed eite'', bre ordirulry Greek nmes ike ny citizen of thens, Thebes r Spfi' s pinted ut befre, lith he pSsge f time lnst millennium lter, Sls did settle in Mcedoni eentully, but there h,g been n mpire or lter during the ottomn mpire that ny of th,ese Sls in ny wy meited

poor cbury nd no rmmr or Synt'

inhbitnts of nrthern Mcedni -i'e' regins f southem ugsi nd SW ugri - wS wys cnsidered to be ulgri.n dilect, n regi.ns borderin,g lbni, r in the nhem' border zne f Greece, it tok the frm of lcl idim repete wih' lbnin nd Greek words, respectiely, t ws spoken idiom with
ndeed, the infiuence of Greekws suchthlt Slphone inhbitnts in pre - ryr Greek M ce doni, c ould h rdly unde rstnd nti e s f Sofi or Skopje'

The lnguge spoken by the Sl - speking

idence ryh(tsoeer duing the yzntine

singling out S Seprte group nd still less

fterWorldWr '

''Thrcin people'' 'were neer herd of gin

''peoples''. The proof

of this is tht

the

on the ''Mcedonin minorit'' in Greece

indisputble tht in the pst there he been in Greece persons consideing themsees to be Sls, who decared themsees nw s ulgrins nd no, s Sn - Mcedonins. fter the Nzi occuption nd, the ensuing ciil wr hese persons took refuge minfo in ugsli, once there, Ihey were thorughly
The concept of ''Mcedonin'' minity in Greece is dfficu one to grsp. t is

distinguished hemseles s Greek ptiots fighting ginst schemes to in,corporte Gre ek Mcedni t n eighbouing countries, These persons 're tolly integrted in Greek sciety nd mke lube contribution to the Greekntin's wefre nd' de,elopmen'

persons who chose

the locl Sa popultion' n dditin, n,umber f Sl - conscius Greek citizens, wh did nt flee to ugosli emigrted to ious oe|SeS cunties, Cein bilingul

nl s

indctinted in the new ehnic ''i'deolog/''

re sult

hey ide ntifie d thems ele s w ith

lingeingbonds between the nguge f ugosla Mcedonins nd Bulgrin. Their net Step wS to crete Seprte vlritten lnguge funded n the diect spken in centrl ugosl Mcedoni s well s on nssie borrowings frm Serbin, Russin n,d ther Sl lnguges' The nguge thus constructed s chistened ,'iterry Mcedonin,' nd So Sooner ,s it lunched thn it wS reco7nized in the ugsl constitution S one of tle three officil anguges f the Federtin,
off ny

'' Scilist Republi'c of Mcedoni'{'' S Set up inugosli, the new regime there, mde n ll ut effort, to rise the lcl dilect t the rnk of respectble nguge' Swrms f linguists, phioogist nd other such scholrs conegedin Skpje nd set outfirst, to bre.k

fter the wr, howeer, when

the

Bulgrirs s rue'

scholrs tht such Sls s lied, in Mcedoni in the 19th nd ery 20th centuries cnsidered hemseles to be

being lbeled '' Mcednin'S'' ' Greek histrins Suppo the ,iew of most foreign

ugsl Mcedonia cn y no lid clim to the use of the Ierm Mcedoni een S purely gegrphic term' Wi.th the exceptin

Mcedni: geogrphicl term The re coered by present - dy

of nrro strip, less hn hundred kilometers wide beyond he Greek brd,er,

Mcedoni, t woud' be historiclly more ccurte to cl this region Drdni' This rgument is histoicly lid but it hs lst

this re

'yS

neer p(trt of ncien

m,uch

o remin in

Greece

few geing Slophones still liing in the border reS nd sti ble t spek their
rther

ugrin connection, Wht it hs dne, is t becme een ess compreherible to the

Literry,' Mcednin'', howeer, hns nt nnged t shke off, cnincingy the

s Shr (Scrdus) muntin (i.e' noh of Skpje) be'cme ppulrly - lthoug"h unscientificlly - knn s Mcedoni,
Tday, fier Mce dni's

()ttomn period, the hole re s fr nrth

f is potency since, during

the

Turks

poor locl Greco - Sl idim,

on'' Mcednin histry''

ignring llfctu eidence nd ll bjectie inteprettins of such eidence, they he endowed tleir newfo cnstructed ntion with

Durin8 the lst 30 yerS' better communictions nd trnsp rt,

improements
urbnistion' together with much higher

ugosl scholnrs he completely reritten the hi.stry of Mced.oni. By ttlly

Greeks tke ffence when the ugsls peddle the ntion of Mcedni not nly s

constiutes the S. Rep' of Mcedni, ulgri hold the remining 10, The
ntionl, histoicl nd gegrphicl enti.ty, but trisected ne, known underthe regionl

equilent to 51 of the whle constitute the region of Greek Mcedni. pproximtely 39 belongs tugosli nd., since 1944,

in 1912 - t91j,

li

the suth-em p(rt

bertion from the

t *r

in ed'uctin' nd rpid

stndrd f iinghae drmticlly reduced bilinguism. Wht does hppen now is tht
Greel<s in Nohem Greece, ctie in the touist business, re emingnot just nglish, lnguges ofugosni in ordert cpe with Greece from their neighbuing country'

pproprited from their neighbouring

n(ionS.

trditions, culture, nd history

Germn or French, but ls the ious

Mcedonins h)ere not Greek is not the outcome f scientific ressessrnent f

Their theory tht the ncient

Mcedni'' (ulgin). n the Greek iew, '' Gre e k M c e d o ni '','' g o S l M c e d o ni,'' nd ulgrin Mcedoni,c'' re more ppropite terms' S they cerly denoe ech
''

nmes''Vrdr Mcedoni'' (ugosl) ''egen Mcedoni'' (Greek) nd ''Pirin

re gin's

the unending flow of tourists coming to

Mcedonin seprteness een t tht

existing eidence but merely to to prmote

on the ''Mcednin

.nguge',

Until the Second Word Wr, there ws no such ting S ''Mcedonin'' lnguge,

ll of 'hich ber Greek nmes' These tombstones, fr instnce, proide strng e,idence of the hellenic origin's of the

remote er. t flies in he fce of recent finds inVegin nd. Dion of score,s of tombstones

ech belongs' The bstinte insistence on newlycined terms which im t show the unity of the geogrphicl re of Mcedoni
''

dentifiction

itl the s tte t which

nd the tem,porry Ste of its

mong neighbours, nd reie suspicins
dismemberme nt'', shke mutu
c

onfidence

bout old - fshioned territori pretentins'

ffi