MACEDONIA - FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO TODAY (15)
PART OF THE BOOK “SELECTED PAPERS FOR MACEDONIA”
BY SLAVÉ KATIN
Many foreign and domestic authors have written about the historical development of Macedonia from ancient times until today. Some of them tried to fake the Macedonian history while others did not hesitate to present the real historical facts about Macedonia and the Macedonian people. From the vast of literature we can conclude that during this long period rich in various events and turmoil, only two peoples have called themselves Macedonians: the ancient Macedonians and the present Macedonians, who now live in the area of ethnic Macedonia and all the continents.
In a conversation with Gojko Jakovleski, alias Gojko Delchev Rafkin – Goce Makedonski he said that the rich history of Europe it is difficult to find a people such as the Macedonian, who has had so much turmoil with its national constitution.
It is difficult to find other people in the world who have had such a stormy history. Each storm hit the Macedonian people leaving certain consequences. Not one war has avoided Macedonia. During its history Macedonia was in the middle of all misfortunes which occurred in that region, and the Macedonians received the first heavy strikes.
The destiny of many people was their history and the history of the Macedonians was their destiny. According to the chronology of the last thirteen centuries, Macedonians have been under various occupations for nine centuries. They were under Ottoman rule for 517 years, 225 years under Byzantine rule, 76 years under Bulgarian occupation, 83 years under Serbian occupation, and Macedonians have only felt freedom in the last 72 years.
The people whose most beautiful song and best folk dance are called “teshkoto” ("the hard one ") could hardly have a different destiny and more difficult past. Antic Macedonia has been not only cut by different swords and scimitars, sabers and daggers, but it was a place of many clashes and a crossroads of many different cultures. And precisely that Macedonia was and is the cradle of civilization, not only being one of the oldest, but rather the oldest civilization.
Macedonia is probably the only country in the world that has not changed its name. It has been named after God Macedon, the God of light and the son of Zeus. Known researchers of mythology are of the opinion that the word Zeus comes from the Macedonian word ‘star’, so the symbol of Macedonia was the star with sixteen solar rays or the Kutlesh sun with sixteen rays (Vergina - Palatica)
Macedonia as a geographic region occupies the central part of the Balkan Peninsula, the area which is surrounded on the north by the mountains Shar Planina, Skopska Crna Gora, Kozjak, Osogovo and Rila and on the south by Bistrica River and the shore of the Aegean Sea to the mouth of the Mesta River. Bigla Mountain and watershed of the rugged mountains of Korab, Jablanica, Grammos and Pindos encircle Macedonia from the west and the River Mesta and the western parts of the Rhodope Mountains from the east. Within these borders Macedonia covers an area of 67,741.2 square kilometers.
Many historical and archaeological findings, whose sources are from Macedonia and which Macedonians should be proud of, confirmed numerous facts of Balkan, European and world significance. Among the many characteristics of Macedonia are the following:
Alexander III of Macedonia (Alexander the Great) was born In Macedonia. Together with his father Philip II of Macedonia they represent a milestone in the history of warfare, tactics and supreme army leadership;
Ancient Macedonia as the first European empire has established specific goals and behavior with the oppressed peoples, such as respect for the cultures of the conquered, non-application of violence and looting of those who voluntarily agreed to join the Empire, determination of characteristic state insignia and organizing special defense of the territories;
The Macedonians were the first in Europe to have adopted Christianity as a religion and spread it to Europe and Asia;
Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius who translated the Christian church books into the original Slavic alphabet (Old Macedonian) with roots from Macedonia are of Macedonian origin;
The first Slavic University - from which besides Christianity, a genuine Slavic culture was formed and spread - was also opened in Ohrid;
The most famous Byzantine ruler Justinian, whose legal provisions are taught at all world universities even today, was born in the village of Taor, near Skopje;
The "father" of modern Turkey, Kemal Atatürk was born in Macedonia; and
One of the most human women in the world, Mother Teresa, was born in Skopje.
Therefore, it is rightfully said that Macedonians always have, and will continue to exist for as long as the world exists, because it is difficult to uproot a people from the land where it has lived for centuries despite all the atrocities, violence and denial of its Macedonian nationality.
It is widely known that, according to their characteristics and customs, the Macedonian people are linguistically and ethnically different from the peoples of the neighboring countries. It is for this reason that, since 1913, the foreign bourgeoisies have spread their power over Macedonia, establishing a policy of physical extermination of the Macedonian people and changing the ethnic composition in their own favor.
The decades-long process of ethnic cleansing, of Hellenization, Serbianisation, Bulgarianisation and Albanianisation, deletion of Macedonian history and its interpretation according to the needs of the great powers is a process of erasing the Macedonian national identity and existence. The exodus of Macedonians as a result of wars and oppressive regimes is one of the most tragic ethnic cleansings committed to a people in recent European history.
The problem of the Macedonian exodus is the axis around which the counterfeited history of its neighbors gravitates. Exodus can be studied from historical, political, psychological, ethical and other aspects. As an object of our study, it expresses in the most obvious way the individual and collective suffering of the Macedonian people. Unfortunately, today national and political oppression dominates throughout the Aegean and Pirin Macedonia. There, the nationalists, traitors and chauvinists make great efforts to depersonalize the Macedonian national spirit and to destroy and bury the rich historical and cultural past of the Macedonian people, which is mentioned in the works of many intellectuals, sufferers, travel-writers and well-wishers.
Macedonia has won its centuries-old freedom, but only in the Vardar part of Macedonia. It won this through the National Liberation war waged during World War II against the German, Bulgarian and Italian fascist occupiers. For the first time in its history,on the second of August 1944 the Macedonian people gained its independence and state after almost five years of bloody battle in which it suffered more than 20,000 casualties of war. Since 1991, Macedonia has been experiencing a difficult period in its democratic transformation. It has been struggling with the tough economic, social, ethnic, religious and other problems which have disturbed the country.
Despite having the status of a UN member, associate member of the European Union, the Council of Europe and many international organizations, the young Macedonian state still cannot resolve the issues regarding the pressures from the neighboring countries and those concerning the global interests of the large states manifested in the Balkans.
To be continued
By Slave Nikolovski-Katin
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