Saturday, June 26, 2010

Population Shifts in Contemporary Greek Macedonia by Iakovos D. Michailidis

Population Shifts in Contemporary Greek Macedonia by Iakovos D. Michailidis

Source:"The History of Macedonia" ,publ. Museum of Macedonian Struggle, 2010

Saturday, June 19, 2010

The role of the Communist International in the hatching of the “Macedonian nation”.

By Spyridon Sfetas
Abstract from the article The Birth of ‘Macedonianism’ in the Interwar Period” and the book “The History of Macedonia, Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, 2010”.

In historiography the view that the 'Macedonian nation' was a creation of Tito is widespread. This position can of course not be denied, since the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) had particular reasons for promoting 'Macedonianism' in Yugoslav Macedonia as a counterweight ideology to Bulgarian-Serbian competition in the interwar period. The need to detach the Slavs of Macedonia from Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian influence with the creation of a collective Slav-Macedonian identity had already been underscored in the early 20th century by a number of Slav intellectuals, such as Krste Misirkov, Stefan Dedov, Diamandi Misajkov and Dimitrija Cupovski. Foreseeing that the antagonism between Serbs and Bulgarians was continuing at the expense of the local population and that it only perpetuated Turkish rule, they sought to have the Slavs of Macedonia acknowledged as a separate community (millet). Even so, the political conditions of the early 20th century did not favour the advocacy of Slav-Macedonianism as a new collective ethnic identity, and its early proponents had very little impact on the masses. The political and ideological origins of 'Macedonianism' were essentially posed by the Third Communist International (the Comintern) in the interwar period. It is documented that the Communist International saw the Macedonian question as a tactical issue, relating to the political conditions of the time.[1] The publication of important documents for the period 1923-1925 from the Comintern archive has essentially confirmed the view that there were specific reasons as to why the Communist International was promoting a United and Independent Macedonia within a Balkan Soviet Republic. These were to assist IMRO in its attempt to create a unified front between the Bulgarian Communists, the Bulgarian Farmers and Bulgarian-Macedonian organizations for the advance of the revolution in Bulgaria, the establishment of a government of workers and farmers and the destabilization of the Balkan states.[2] According to the Communist International, the Macedonian organisations in Bulgaria should not only disassociate themselves from the influence of Bulgarian 'bourgeois' political elements, but also estrange themselves from Bulgarian nationalism. Criticising the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) for the neutral stand it took during the coup against the agrarian government of Aleksandr Stambolijski, Karl Radek expressed himself in the following way at the plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International (12-13 June 1923) in Moscow:

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Pan-Macedonian Association USA letter to Washington Times

June 14, 2010

Re: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/3/the-irresponsible-neighbor/
Dear Editor,

We do agree with Richard Rahn’s statement in his June 3, 2010 article in the Washington Times titled, The Irresponsible Neighbor: Greek Profligacy Hits Bulgaria and Macedonia: Whether you are a homeowner or a country, it is better to have responsible rather than irresponsible neighbors”. However it is more important to have neighbors that do not steal their neighbors’ property, money, credit cards and social security numbers. With such articles as Mr. Rahn’s in the Washington Times, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) is encouraged to commit such crimes: usurp its neighbor’s history, identity and culture.

We found the article profoundly insulting to Greece and to Hellenism as a whole. It is historically unfounded, profoundly biased and misleading. Mr. Rahn should know that Macedonia is a Greek province. We consider any mention of “Macedonia and Greece” as two separate.....

Thursday, June 03, 2010

The National Struggle against the Turkish Conqueror until 1830

The relative religious freedom accorded by the Turks and their toler­ance of Greek economic and social promotion were not enough to blunt the Greeks hatred for their conquerors. The Turks encountered Greek culture in Macedonia conquered it and tried to uproot it. To achieve their aim, they adopted very harsh ruling methods that made the living conditions of Greek subjects unbearable.

Most of the land in the fertile plains and valleys belonged to large pri­vate estates (ciftliks) of Moslems. Those Christian villagers who worked on these estates were serfs. In return for the right to cultivate a few acres, they surrendered a significant part of their production to the Muslim estate owner. Usually, the estate owner employed armed bands and doubled as the Ottoman state tax collector. He collected the state s share of the production, a right granted him for a feeby the sultan s treasury. Often, the same estate owner dictated the decisions of the local Muslim religious courts. In that case the pressure to his tenants became completely uncontrollable.

The craftsmen, professionals and merchants enjoyed better living con­ditions. However, they were.....