- History of modern Macedonia (Greece)
:"This article is about the modern history of the Greek region of Macedonia; for the history of the larger geographical region, see
Macedonia (region)#History .In the 19th cent. the national revival in the
Balkans began; national and religious antagonism flared, and conflict was heightened by the Ottoman policy of playing one group against the other. Meanwhile theOttoman Empire lost control over the major sections ofGreece ,Serbia , andBulgaria , each of which claimed Macedonia on historical or ethnical grounds. In theTreaty of San Stefano (1878), which terminated the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, Bulgaria was awarded the lion's share of Macedonia. However, the settlement was nullified by theEurope an powers in the same year (seeCongress of Berlin ), and Macedonia was left under direct Ottoman control.After the Greco-Turkish war of 1897, which proved a disaster for
Greece , Bulgarian nationalism started strengthening in Macedonia. Thus it came about that on the feastday (20 July) of the Prophet Elijah in 1903 there was a Slavic uprising, known as the Ilinden Uprising, which the Ottoman army soon suppressed.Greek Struggle for Macedonia
The rising, however, made plain the danger that Macedonia might be lost for ever, which stimulated a general mobilisation on the part of the
Greeks . So it came about, in 1904, that the armedGreek Struggle for Macedonia began, lasting until 1908. During this period, units made up of volunteers from the free Greek state, fromCrete and from other areas poured into region of Macedonia in solidarity with the local "Macedonomachoi" (the name of the Greek Macedonian fighters). Together, they confronted the Bulgarian-backed Slav Macedonian forces in an attempt to assert hegemony over the central and southern parts of Macedonia.Balkan Wars
The
Balkan Wars (First and Second), of 1912-13 put an end to five centuries of Ottoman domination in Macedonia.First Balkan War
The antagonisms between the Christian states (
Serbia ,Montenegro ,Greece andBulgaria ) still persisted, and after the successful conclusion of theFirst Balkan War , they resurfaced, especially over the partition of Macedonia. InTreaty of London, 1913 the allies (see:Balkan League ) disagree about the division of Macedonia.econd Balkan War
Greece and Serbia turned against Bulgaria in the
Second Balkan War , and theTreaty of Bucharest (1913) left Bulgaria only a small share of Macedonia, the rest of which was divided roughly along the present lines.In 1913 following the Treaty of Bucharest The region was divided among
Greece that tookGreek Macedonia (composed of most of the vilayets of Thessaloniki and Monastir),Serbia that tookVardar Macedonia (todayRepublic of Macedonia ) andBulgaria that took what is nowBlagoevgrad Province . This was followed by massive population movements. Thousands of Slavophones fled to Bulgaria.World War I
In World War I the Salonica (present-day Thessaloníki) campaigns took place in Macedonia. After the war Macedonia became a hotbed of agitation and insurrection, directed largely from Bulgaria.
Bulgaria and Serbia had fought two wars in the last 30 years, the first war in 1885 (see
Serbo-Bulgarian War for details), the second in 1913 (see theSecond Balkan War for details). The result was, the Bulgarian government felt that Serbia had stolen land which rightfully belonged to them and when the Central Powers offered to give them most of the land they claimed, the Bulgarian government was convinced.The political situation in Greece was confused. Officially Greece was neutral but the king Constantine I was pro-German while the prime minister, Venizelos was pro-French. At first Greece supported the French-British military support of Serbia, then they opposed it, finally they settled for officially opposing it but not fighting the superior Allied armies that landed in Thessaloníki. The Germans, trying to win Greek to their side in the war, were careful not to cross the Greek border in Macedonia.In May of 1916, General Sarrail demanded that the Greek army de-mobilize (reduce its strength) and the Greek government complied with this demand. However this action further pushed the Greek government to side with the Central Powers.
Treaty of Lausanne
The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) put an end to the traditional Greek policy of the "Great Idea". This allowed the Greek governments of the inter-war years to turn their attention to the country's domestic affairs and to the building of the modern Greek state. The "new lands", including Macedonia, experienced difficulties at first in absorbing the influx of refugees but were later to play a leading part in the economic and social upsurge of modern Greece and her people.
The population exchanges among
Greece ,Turkey , andBulgaria after 1923 resulted in the replacement by Greek refugees fromAsia Minor of most of the Slavic and Turkish elements in Greek Macedonia.Greek Macedonia experienced radical demographic transformations with the arrival of the Greek refugees; the Greeks, who had been the 43% in 1913, were estimated to be the 89% of the population of Greek Macedonia in 1928.
Bulgarian relations with Yugoslavia (before 1929 the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ) remained strained over the Macedonian question. Frontier incidents were frequent, as were Yugoslav charges against Bulgaria for fostering theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a nationalist group that used violence, in Yugoslavia. Macedonian Slavs agitation against Serbian rule culminated (1934) in the assassination of King Alexander ofYugoslavia by a Slav Macedonian nationalist atMarseilles .World War II
In World War II Thrace and eastern Greek Macedonia were occupied (1941–44) by Bulgaria, which sided with the Axis Powers. The Bulgarian government maintained a course of military passivity until 20 April 1941, when German troops crushed Greece and
Yugoslavia . In April 1941, theBulgarian Army entered the Aegean region, hoping for gaining an Aegean Sea outlet inThrace and Eastern Macedonia, and occupied a territory between the river Struma and a line of demarcation running throughAlexandroupoli andSvilengrad west of Evros with the cities of Alexandroupoli ("Дедеагач, Dedeagach"),Komotini ("Гюмюрджина, Gyumyurdzhina"),Serres ("Сяр, Syar"),Xanthi ("Ксанти"), Drama ("Драма") andKavala ("Кавала") and the islands ofThasos andSamothrace .The
Principality of Pindus and Voivodship of Macedonia an autonomous statelet under Italian control existed between 1941-1943 in thePindus mountain and some part of both Greek and Slavic Macedonia. The Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front or SNOF was a major force in Greek Macedonia.The Bulgarian armistice treaty of 1944 restored the pre-war boundaries, which were confirmed in the peace treaty of 1947. The Yugoslav constitution of 1946 made Yugoslav Macedonia an autonomous unit in a federal state, and the Slav Macedonian people were recognized as a separate nationality. Many Greeks from
Bitola settled inFlorina andKastoria after theSecond World War .Greek Civil War
Much of the
Greek Civil War was fought in Greek Macedonia. TheCommunist Party of Greece or KKE and theDemocratic Army of Greece or DSE were heavily established in Greek Macedonia. The National Liberation Front was established by ethnic Macedonians in Greece to assist with the war effort. The Macedonian language was taught to many ethnic Macedonians in Greece and the Slavic Macedonian culture was able to flourish. However, when theKKE lost the Greek Civil War thousands of people who fought for the Communist side fled Greece. Thousands of Children were also evacuated from Greek Macedonia. [Simpson, Neil (1994). Macedonia Its Disputed History. Victoria: Aristoc Press, 101,102 & 91. ISBN 0646204629]Tension over Macedonia continued in the early postwar years. During the
Greek Civil War there was much conflict betweenGreece andYugoslavia over Macedonia, and the breach between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria after 1948 helped to make the Macedonian question explosive. However, with the settlement of the civil war and with the easing of Yugoslav-Bulgarian relations after 1962, tension over Macedonia was reduced. A 1982 amnesty law stated "all Greek by Genus who during the civil war of 1946-1949 and because of it have fled abroad as political refugees" had the right to return, excluding those who identified as non-Greek. [cite book
title= Denying Ethnic Identity; The Macedonians Of Greece
last= Human Rights Watch
first= Helsinki
authorlink=
coauthors=
year= 1994
publisher= Human Rights Watch
location= New York
isbn= 1564321320
pages= ] In 1990, theSocialist Republic of Macedonia elected its first non-Communist government and the following year a sovereign and independentRepublic of Macedonia was born.Greek Macedonia today
Today Macedonia (Greek: Μακεδονία, "Makedonia") is
Greece 's largest geographical region and it occupies the northern part of the country.*
West Macedonia , occupies the west section of Macedonia including the prefectures of Kastoria, Florina, Kozani and Grevena.*
Central Macedonia , occupies the central section of Macedonia including the prefectures of Thessaloniki, Chalkidiki, Imathia,Pieria , Pella, Kilkis and Serres.*and
East Macedonia and Thrace , occupies the east section of Macedonia (two prefectures of which are in Macedonia and the rest prefectures are in Thrace) including the prefectures of Drama and Kavala.The geographical region of Macedonia also includes the
male -only autonomousmonastic republic ofMount Athos .80 000 Child Refugees fleeing from Greek Macedoniaee also
*
Demographic History of Macedonia
*History of the Republic of Macedonia
*Macedonia
*Macedonians
*Slav Macedonians
*Macedonian Question
*Macedonia (terminology) References
*cite book | author=
H. N. Brailsford | title=Macedonia: Its Races and Their Future | publisher= | year=1971 | id=ISBN
*cite book | author=H. Lydall | title=Yugoslavia in Crisis | publisher= | year=1989 | id=ISBNExternal links
* [http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr An on-line review on Macedonian affairs, history and culture]
* [http://www.culture.gr/4/42/421/42103/42103a/e42103a1.html Macedonian Struggle Museum]
* [http://www.ime.gr/chronos/en/ Official Site For Greek History]
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