Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
aspirations, 1870–1912
Vladislav B. Sotirović
Mykolas Romeris University
1
“Nationalism is political principle according to which political unity (i.e. state) should be overlapped with national unity
(i.e. nation)”, Gellner E., Nations et nationalisme, Paris: Editions Payot, 1989, p.13.
The term Macedonia had different understandings throughout the history. During the time
of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon, 356−323, reign 336−323 B.C.), Kingdom of
Macedonia was considered to be an area encompassing present-day territories of Vardar, Aegean and
Pirin Macedonia, western Thrace, southern Serbia‟s province of Kosovo & Metochia and parts of
Albania and Epirus. According to Nicolaos K. Martis, in narrow geographical terms, ancient
Macedonia occupied the lands of southern parts of present-day Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (without Skopje/Scupi) and the northern Greece up to the Mt. Olimpus and just before
the Maritza River.2 The Romans used the term of Macedonia for their province in the central Balkans
which incorporated and present-day Albania and in early Byzantine times Macedonia was a separate
theme, one of the Byzantine administrative provinces, but it was located in modern-time region of
Thrace. Finally, when the Ottomans conquered the biggest portion of the Balkan Peninsula in the 14th
c. Thrace was generally known as Macedonia. However, in a broader geographical sense under the
term of Macedonia it is considered mainly the territory extended from Mt. Shara and Skopje‟s Crna
Gora on the north-west, through Osogovo and Mt. Rila on the north, to Mt. Rhodope on the north-
east, to the Aegean Sea and the River Aliakmon (Bistritsa) on the south and finally to the beyond of
the Lakes of Prespa and Ochrida on the south-west. In this case the area of Macedonia covers a large
portion of the east-central parts of the Balkan Peninsula including the valley of the Vardar (Axios)
River, the Aegean littoral from a mouth of the Aliakmon River to a mouth of the Mesta River into
the Aegean Sea, the whole parts of the Ochrida and Prespa Lakes, and the city of
Salonica/Thessaloniki as an administrative, economic and cultural centre of the area.3
Macedonia associates with the names of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great
(Alexander III of Macedon). However, Macedonia from 1371 to 1912 was a part of the Ottoman
Empire without its own administrative-provincial name (pashalik or vilayet). Once a central part of
the Ottoman Empire (in the 15th c.), during the peak of the glory of the Ottoman history (1521−1683)
Macedonia was in fact located on the empire‟s periphery. However, with declination of the Ottoman
2
Martis K. M., The Falsification of Macedonian History, Athens, 1984, p. 41.
3
MacDermott M., Freedom or Death. The Life of Gotsé Delchev, London & West Nyack. It is clear that a significant
portion of Albanian claimed ethnic space of present-day west FYR Macedonia is in fact historical part of geographic
Macedonia.
4
About this period of Ottoman/Turkish history see: Hammer von J., Historija Turskog/Osmanskog/Carstva, vol. 3,
Zagreb, 1979, pp. 500−568. The (constitutional) revolution of July 1908 was the result of the military actions of the
Ottoman officers belonged to the Unionist movement of the Third (Macedonian) and Second (Thracian) Army (Zürcher
J. E., Turkey. A Modern History, London-New York: I. B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 1994, p. 97).
5
The “Macedonian Question” was composed by three sub-questions: 1. What territory constituted Macedonia? To which
state or states it should belong? and 3. What was a national affiliation of the peoples from Macedonia? (Perry D. M., The
Politics of Terror. The Macedonian Liberation Movements 1893−1903, Durham and London, 1988, p. 2; Adanir F., Die
Makedonische Frage: Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1908, Wiesbaden, 1979).
6
Shaw S. J. and Shaw E. K., History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, vol. II, Cambridge, 1976−1977, p. 208.
7
Božić I., Ćirković S., Ekmeĉić M., Dedijer V., Istorija Jugoslavije, Beograd, 1973, p. 289.
The Ottoman census of 1905 regarding the main part of Macedonia is giving an exaggerated
number of Muslim population including and Albanians, but it can be useful to estimate the relative
number of Greeks, Serbs and Bulgarians, reckoned on the religious bases but not on the linguistic
one:
Macedonian Christian population in 1905
Orthodox Greeks 648,962
Orthodox Bulgarians 557,734
Orthodox Serbs 167,601
Elisabeth Barker is in opinion that 50% of the estimated number of “Orthodox Greeks” have
been in fact ethnic Slavs but who lived under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate in
Constantinople. Nevertheless, dominance of Bulgarians over Serbs is clearly visible.17
We have to stress that from the time of the Ottoman regime there is no reliable statistics
with regard to Macedonia‟s population. Substantial changes in numbers of Macedonia‟s inhabitants
are caused by the Balkan Wars 1912−1913. According to the British Foreign Office‟s (London)
16
Cvijić J., Remarks on the Ethnography of the Macedonian Slavs, London, 1906; Hron K., Das Volkstum der Slawen
Makedoniens, 1890, reprint Skopje, 1966.
17
Pettifer J., The New Macedonian Question, New York, 2001, p. 6.
Slavs 1,150.000
Turks 400,000
Greeks 300,000
Vlachs 200,000
Albanians 120,000
Jews 100,000
Gypsies 10,000
Among all nations living in Macedonia (and the Balkans) only the Albanians had (wrong
and politicized) claim to be autochthonous people in this region.18 The southern Albanian tribes – the
Tosks – are believed to be the lineal descendants of the ancient region of Epirus. However, their
northern compatriots – the Ghegs – are wrongly claiming to be descendants of Antique Illyrians who
in fact are most probably the Slavic Serbs as the only aboriginal Balkan inhabitants.19
Macedonia and national aspirations by the Serbs, Bulgarians, Albanians and Greeks
18
According to several reliable Byzantine and other mediaeval sources, Balkan Albanians came to Europe - island of
Sicily - from the Caucasus‟ Albania in the 9th c. In the year of 1043 they emigrated from Sicily to present-day central
Albania (ex. Ataliota M., Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, Weber, Bonn, 1853, p. 18). This fact is recognized
and by Albanian historians Stefang Pollo and Arben Puto (Pollo S., Puto A., The History of Albania, London, Boston,
Hebley: Routledge & Kegan, 1981, p. 37).
19
Деретић И. Ј., Антић П. Д., Јарчевић М. С., Измишљено досељавање Срба, Београд: Сардонија, 2009.
20
Probably, the best example of this “fight of rights” is Bulgarian-Serbian case from 1913 when both sides sent to Paris
separate ethnographical maps of Macedonia done by respected academicians. Bulgarian point of view was presented by
Vasil Kanchov‟s map (all Macedonia‟s Slavs are ethnic Bulgarians) while Serbian point was represented by Jovan
Cvijić‟s map (Macedonia‟s Slavs are composed by “Serbo-Croats”, Bulgarians and “Slavs of Macedonia”). Both maps
are printed as appendices in: International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, The
other Balkan wars: 1914 Carnegie Endowment Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and
Conduct of the Balkan Wars/introduction with reflections on the present conflict by George F. Kennan, Carnegie
Endowment for international peace, Washington, 1993.
intellectual and cultural points of view completely Hellenized. In short, a matter of spiritual life was
taken into consideration as a crucial point of determination of the Greek nationhood.
The next step in formulation of Greek claims over Macedonia was to link Hellenism, which
had actually Athenian cultural background, with the Byzantine Empire (330−1453) – a medieval
universal empire proclaimed by Greek historians to be a Greek national state in the Middle Ages.
Regardless the fact that during ten centuries of Byzantine history Macedonia was ruled not
exclusively by Constantinople but also by foreigners as Serbian and Bulgarian kings and emperors
and even by the Frankish (Latin) kings (during some periods of the Latin Empire, 1204−1261), for
Greek propaganda legitimate overlord upon Macedonia was only Byzantium, and Byzantium had
21
Brailsford H. N., Macedonia. Its Races and their Future, New York, 1971, p. 194.
22
See, for instance, the book The Falsification of Macedonian History, Athens, 1984, written by Nicolaos K. Martis,
especially pp. 20−53.
23
The fact is that although the Latin West recognized the Byzantine claim to the antique Roman legacy for several
centuries, after Roman-Catholic Pope Leo III (795−816) crowned Charles the Great, king of the Franks, as the “Roman
Emperor” on December 25th, 800, an act which eventually led to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire (962−1806),
the Latin West started to favour the Franks and began to refer to the Byzantium or the “Eastern Roman Empire” largely
as the Empire of the Greeks (Imperium Graecorum) (Royal Historical Society, Transactions of the Royal Historical
Society: Sixth Series. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001, p. 75). However, Byzantium was overwhelmingly
multinational with ethnic Greeks as a minority.
24
Stavrianos L. S., The Balkans since 1443, New York, 1958, pp. 59−62.
25
Treptow W. K. (ed.), A History of Romania, The Center for Romanian Studies, The Romanian Cultural Foundation,
Iaşi, 1996, pp. 203−211.
26
Поповић В., Источно питање, Београд 1928, see chapter „Унутрашње пропадање Турске и буђење Хришћана
крајем XVI и почетком XVII века”, pp. 61−67; Castellan G., History of the Balkans From Mohammed the Conqueror
to Stalin, New York, 1992, pp. 145−155, 248−263.
27
It is no matter what their native language or ethnic background are: all of them are classified by the Ottoman
authorities as the “Greeks” since the Ottomans divided their subjects according to the confession (milet system).
28
Brailsford H. N., Macedonia. Its Races and their Future, New York, 1971, p. 196.
29
See, for instance: Haus-Hof-und Staatsarchiv, Politishes Archiv, Wien, “Circular letter in Greek language, addressed
by Greek Archbiship Philaretos to the priests and the population of Vakouphokhōria, Koritsa”, September 20 th, 1892,
XIV/21, Albanien XIII/18.
30
Using this model of spiritual-cultural nationdom the Italians claimed after the Italian unification in 1861 all Italian-
speaking population of Istria, Dalmatia and Adriatic islands as “Italians” including and their Italian-language written
culture as “Italian”.
31
See more about “Megali Idea” in 3rd chapter under the headline “Nation building, the „Great Idea‟ and National Schism
1831−1922” in Clogg R., A Concise History of Greece, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992, pp. 47−99.
The same author claims that Macedonian confessional situation was as follows:
32
“Information from Procopius Ceasarienses about a Slav attack on the Balkan Peninsula, in the region of Niš and
Thessalonica”, p. 19, “Information from John of Ephesus on the settlement of Slavs in the Balkan Peninsula”, p. 20,
“Information about the miracle of St Demetrius of Thessalonica and the settlement of the Proto-Bulgars Maurus and
Kouber in the Bitola plain”, p. 21, “Information from the Byzantine writer Ioannes Cameniata about some settlements on
the plain of Thessalonica paying taxes to the Bulgarian people”, p. 22 in Bulgarian Academy of Science, Macedonia.
Documents and Material, Sofia 1978.
33
ibid, “Excerpt from the second Life of Nahum concerning the arrival of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in the
Bulgarian lands, and the big monastery and church built by Nahum in Ohrid on the orders of the Bulgarian Tsar Boris”,
p. 22; Bulgarian Academy of Science, Information Bulgaria. A short encyclopedia of the People's Republic of Bulgaria,
Oxford, New York, Toronto, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, 1985, p. 153.
34
Бартл П., Албанци. Од средњег века до данас, Београд: CLIO, 2001, pp. 94−97.
Orthodox 27,8%
Muslims 52,8%
Roman Catholics 15%
At the same time, Schandler claims that there were 77% of Albanian Muslims out of total
Albanian folk in these four Ottoman vilayets.35 Three of them – Scodra, Ioanina and Bitola – were
created in 1865 while fourth – Kosovo – later on. Each of these four vilayets had a large population
of the other, non-Albanian, nationalities. However, since the majority of Albanian population was
Muslim one, the central Ottoman authorities regarded them as the Ottomans.
An extension of Albanian territorial pretensions on Ancient Serbia and Macedonia, on the
territories where Albanian population was not in majority, was one of the crucial sources for frictions
and struggling between Albanian political organizations on the one hand and two Serbian
independent states, Montenegro and Serbia, on the other one. According to the programs of both
Albanian leagues, that is of Prizren and Ipek (Peć), a new Albanian either autonomous province
within the Ottoman Empire or ultimately independent state had to consists four principalities: I)
Southern Albania with Epirus and the city of Ioanina, II) Northern and Central Albania with the
areas around Scodra (Scutari), Tirana (Tiranё) and Elbasan, III) Macedonia with the cities of Debar,
Skopje, Gostivar, Prilep, Veles, Bitola and Ohrid, and IV) “Ancient Serbia” (Kosovo & Metochia,
Raška/Sandžak and Vardar Macedonia) with the cities/towns of Prizren, Gnjilane, Peć, Đakovica,
Mitrovica, Priština, Kumanovo, Novi Pazar and Sjenica.36 The decesions of international community
concerning the Balkan affairs contributed as well to the interethnic frictions between Albanians and
their neighbours at the turn of the 20th c. Both international treaties from 1878, San Stefano and
Berlin, handed over certain lands populated by Albanians at that time to the other states. According
to Albanian historiography, an inability of Ottoman government to protect Albanian interests, who
have been 70% of Muslim faith and mainly loyal Ottoman subjects,37 compelled Albanians from
Kosovo & Metochia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Epirus, to organize themselves for national
defence and to require the status of autonomous administration of united Albanian province within a
total ethnolinguistic space of Albanians. Albanian feudal aristocracy opposed the Sultan's
(Abdülmecid, 1839−1861) programme of reforms – Tanzimat (meaning „reorganization“), likewise
Bosnian-Herzegovinian nobles of Muslim faith.38 Both of them resented officials sent to their
provinces from Istanbul preffering to be governed by their own administrations composed by local
Muslim feudal lords - begs. Albanians and Bosnian-Herzegovinian Muslims as well did not support
military reforms based on general recruitment for the purpose to create a modern and more effective
Ottoman army. Albanians wished to retain traditional procedures of recruitment and to be led in the
battles by their own military leaders.
Bulgarian theory upon Macedonia‟s national identity overwhelmingly accepted and stressed
the fact that Macedonia was inside the borders of Bulgarian state enlarged by the first Bulgarian
Emperor, Simeon (893−927). Within a framework of Bulgarian claims with regard to the question of
Macedonia‟s identity during the time of the Middle Ages the cases of Emperor Samuilo and Ivan
Vladislav are the most disputable. According to Bulgarian historiography, “Samuilo‟s Uprising”,
35
Schanderl H-D., Die Albanienpolitik Österreich Ungarns und Italiens 1877−1908, Wiesbaden, 1971, pp. 9−10.
36
Stuli B., Albansko pitanje 1878−1882, Rad JAZU, 318, Zagreb, 1959, pp. 321−323.
37
The Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876−1909) had very high opinion about a loyalty of Muslim Albanians. For that reason,
Sultan‟s personal body-guard was made primarily by Muslim Albanians.
38
Popović V., Istočno pitanje, Beograd, 1928, pp. 146−149.
39
Zlatarski V., Istoriя na bъlgarskata dъržava prez Srednite vekove. T.1 Pъrvo bъlgarsko carstvo, Ĉ.2 Ot slavяnizaciяta
na dъržavata do padaneto na Pъrvoto carstvo (852−1018), 2 izd. Sofiя 1971; Petrov, P., Obrazuvane i ukrepvane na
zapadnata Bъlgarska dъržava, Godišnik na Sofiйskiя universitet (FIF) LIII/2 (1959), pp.135−190.
40
“Information by the Byzantine writer Cecaumenus about the Bulgarians in Macedonia and about the Bulgarian tsars
Samuil and Ivan Vladislav”, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Macedonia. Documents and Material, Sofia, 1978, p. 27.
41
“Charters granted by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II to the Bulgarian Church after his conquest of Bulgaria”,
Bulgarian Academy of Science, Macedonia. Documents and Material, Sofia, 1978, p. 30.
42
“The Byzantine historian Scylitzes describes the uprising of the Bulgarians under the leadership of Peter Delyan”, p.
49, “The Byzantine historian Scylitzes describes the uprising of the Bulgarians under the leadership of Georgi Voyteh in
1072”, p. 53, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Macedonia. Documents and Material, Sofia, 1978.
included into Bulgarian state and in such a way, Bulgarian nationalistic dreams upon Macedonia
based on both historical and ethnolinguistic rights would be realized. An importance of St. Stefano
Bulgaria for Bulgarian nationalistic aspirations over Macedonia alongside with the creation of
Bulgarian Exarchate became in the recent future crucial and most influential for the very reason that
all Bulgarian plans to create united Bulgaria have been based on the Treaty of St. Stefano.
Serbian case
Serbian claims upon the destiny of Macedonia and her inhabitants have been radically
different in comparison to Bulgarian case for the reason that Serbian demands were mainly based on
“historical rights”, but not and/or ethnolinguistic once. Serbian political propaganda did not insist so
43
See: Стевановић М., Душаново царство, Београд: Књига-комерц, 2001.
44
Стефановић Караџић В., „Срби сви и свуда“, Ковчежић за историју, језик и обичаје Срба сва три закона, том
I, Беч, 1849; Sotirović B. V., Lingvistički model definisanja srpske nacije Vuka Stefanovića Karadžića i projekat Ilije
Garašanina o stvaranju lingvistički određene države Srba, Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 2006.
45
Brailsford H. N., Macedonia. Its Races and their Future, New York, 1971, p. 101.
46
About the project see: Љушић Р., Књига о Начертанију, Београд: БИГЗ, 1993.
47
About Serbian-Bulgarian War of 1885−1886 see, for instance: Јовановић С., Српско-бугарски рат. Расправа из
дипломатске историје, Београд, 1901, and Миловановић М., Пловдивски преврат и српско-бугарски рат, Дело,
1902, књ. XXIV, Београд, pp. 5−21.
the largest one in Serbian history by that time, was approved by the Byzantine emperor in 1299 when
king Milutin married the Byzantine princess Simonida; a marriage which brought him annexed
portion of Macedonia as the dowry. A period of realm of Serbian emperor Stefan Dušan
(1331−1355) became the most important dealing with the “historical rights” of Serbian nationalistic
propaganda and work upon Macedonia. Namely, this ruler conquered a large portion of the
Byzantine Empire between the years from 1345 to 1348 and established the largest Serbian state in
whole Serbian history, which extended from the Rivers of Sava and Danube to the Gulf of Corinth
and from the River of Drina to the River of Mesta. At that time the whole of Macedonian territory
was under the borders of Serbian state (present days Vardar Macedonia, Pirin Macedonia and
Aegean Macedonia). A capital of the state continued to be the city of Skopje where three significant
political events occurred with reference to the Serbian mediaeval history. Namely, in Skopje in the
year of 1346 the Serbian Patriarchate was proclaimed, the Serbian ruler was crowned as the emperor
and the most important Serbian law-codex (Душанов законик) was announced by reading.48 These
facts were crucial ones for the future Serbian nationalistic propaganda: Skopje was a capital of the
glorious Serbian Empire where the ruler was crowned for emperor and where the supreme state law-
48
Јовић М., Радић К., Српске земље и владари, Крушевац, 1990, pp. 68−80.
References
Adanir F., Die Makedonische Frage: Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1908, Wiesbaden,
1979.
Ataliota M., Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, Weber, Bonn, 1853.
51
Карић В., Србија. Опис земље, народа и државе, Београд, 1887, colored map “Карта распрострањења Срба”, pp.
240−241.
52
Ibid., pp. 240−241.
53
Ibid., pp. 91−92, 242−243.
54
Ibid., p. 96.
55
Ibid., p. 243.