On September 8, the Republic of Macedonia celebrates its Independence Day. Independence from a single state - Yugoslavia, the collapse of which entailed not only a series of bloody wars on the territory of several post-Yugoslav states at once, but also a significant deterioration in the socio-economic situation in the emerging sovereign states.
Modern Macedonia is not identical to that historical, ancient Macedonia, whose famous ruler was included in all history books. No, of course, part of modern Macedonia in ancient times was still part of the Macedonian kingdom - only the southernmost part. And modern Macedonia occupies the northwest of a vast historical area. This region is now divided between three states - Greece (southern part - Aegean Macedonia), Bulgaria (north-eastern part - Pirin Macedonia) and Macedonia proper (Vardar Macedonia).
However, after the emergence of sovereign Macedonia in 1991, Greece categorically protests against the country's use of this name, seeing in this an attempt on its northern region of the same name. Therefore, at the insistence of Greece, the United Nations uses the name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” for Macedonia. In itself, such a designation emphasizes some artificiality of this state, which has existed for the past 23 years. Indeed, if you look closely at the history of Macedonia, it becomes clear that all of it is full of uncertainties even regarding the national identification of the Macedonians themselves.
Macedonians and the phenomenon of "ethnic construct"
The Macedonians are a small people referred by ethnographers to the South Slavs. However, the opinions of the closest neighbors of the Macedonians about the ethnicity of the latter differ. Thus, in Bulgaria there is a widespread point of view that the Macedonians are Bulgarians, and the Macedonian language is a dialect of the Bulgarian language. In Greece, it is generally accepted that the Macedonians are none other than the Slavic Greeks who have undergone Bulgarian and Serbian influence. Finally, in Serbia one can find statements that the Macedonians are Serbs who were under Bulgarian influence, or that the Macedonians are an independent people (by this Serbian historians sought to secure the territory of Macedonia, which was part of Yugoslavia, from claims from Bulgaria, which saw a group of the Bulgarian population in the Macedonians). In fact, the territory of Vardar Macedonia - that is, the actual modern Republic of Macedonia, has historically been inhabited by both Serbs and Bulgarians. The vicissitudes of the historical and political development of this region led to the "Bulgarianization" of the Serbs and to the simultaneous formation of two identities among the local population - Bulgarian, characteristic of the period until the second half of the 20th century, and Macedonian, characteristic of a more modern period of history.
As a matter of fact, the ethnic identity of modern Macedonians was formed only in the twentieth century, after the end of the Second World War. As you know, there are two main approaches to ethnic identity - primordialism and constructivism. Primordialism views ethnos as a kind of initial community with given characteristics, whose formation took place historically and by itself. Constructivism, on the other hand, believes that the emergence of ethnic groups and ethnic identities occurs through artificial construction in accordance with the interests of certain political elites. Thus, the Russian researcher V. A. Tishkov, who can be ranked among the leading domestic representatives of the constructivist concept of ethnic identity, considers the ethnos as the result of purposeful efforts to create it, "nation-building". So, the emergence of Macedonian ethnic identity fully fits into the constructivist concept of the origin of ethnic groups.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of the historical region of Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire and was inhabited by a multinational population. Greeks, Albanians (Arnauts), Aromanians (a small Roman-speaking people related to Romanians), Bulgarians, Gypsies, and Jews lived here. In southern, Aegean Macedonia, the Greek and Greek-speaking population prevailed, while Serbs and Bulgarians inhabited Vardar and Pirin Macedonia.
Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 gave impetus to a serious redistribution of the political map of the Balkan Peninsula. As a result of the war, the Treaty of San Stefano was concluded, according to which the whole of Macedonia was to become part of the Bulgarian principality. However, such a strengthening of the Slavic Orthodox state in the Balkans was not included in the plans of the Western states, which began to protest against the outcome of the San Stefano Peace. On top of that, the Greeks of Aegean Macedonia were not going to be part of the Bulgarian principality and started an uprising. In 1879, at the Berlin Congress, it was decided to leave Macedonia as part of the Ottoman Empire. However, this was not to the liking of the Bulgarians and Orthodox Slavs of Macedonia. As a result, starting from the end of the 19th century, Macedonia was rocked by anti-Turkish uprisings, in which both Serbs and Bulgarians took part. At the same time, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia were each playing their own game, trying to enlist the support of the Macedonian population and, in the event of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, annex the territory of Macedonia. At the same time, it goes without saying that the Greek part of the population of Macedonia gravitated towards Greece, while the Slavs tended mainly to the side of Bulgaria. By the beginning of the twentieth century. The Macedonian cultural and political elite identified themselves as Bulgarians and wanted the reunification of Macedonia with Bulgaria, which was explained, first of all, by the active assistance to the Macedonian rebels from Bulgaria, the opening of Bulgarian schools and churches in Macedonia, and charitable activities. Naturally, Bulgaria sought to instill a Bulgarian identity in the Macedonian population, while Serbia, which opposed it, gradually moved from claims that Macedonians are Serbs to more profitable, as it seemed to the Serbian leaders, statements that the Macedonians are simply an Orthodox Slavic-speaking mass without a clear national identity and therefore may lean towards both Bulgarian and Serbian identity.
At the same time, by the beginning of the twentieth century. the cultural and political concept of "Macedonism" is also being formed, which recognizes the status of a special national community - the Macedonians - for the Slavic population of Macedonia, and the status of a separate Macedonian language for the language. The origin of the concept of "Macedonism" was Krste Petkov Misirkov (1874-1926), a Macedonian-Bulgarian historian, philologist and public and political figure. In modern Macedonia, he is considered the father of the theoretical foundations of Macedonian statehood. By the way, Misirkov received his education in Russia - first at the Poltava Theological Seminary, and then at St. Petersburg University, from which he graduated with honors from the Faculty of History and Philology. When entering the university, he indicated the nationality "Macedonian Slav". In 1903 g.in Sofia, Misirkov's book "On the Macedonian Question" was published, in which he substantiated the originality of the Macedonian language and culture. Misirkov saw a political solution to the Macedonian question in the uprising of the Macedonian population in order to achieve their own autonomous state.
Balkan Wars and Macedonian insurgency
In 1893, the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MPO) was created on the territory of Macedonia, which set as its goal an armed struggle for the creation of an autonomous Macedonian state. In 1896 it was named the Secret Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (TMORO) and in the period from 1898 to 1903. led a partisan struggle against the Ottoman administration in Macedonia. In 1903, the famous Ilinden Uprising broke out, as a result of which the Krushevskaya Republic was created, which lasted 10 days and was destroyed by Turkish troops. After the suppression of the uprising, the organization continued to exist, but underwent an actual split. The right and left factions emerged. The ideological differences between them were fundamental, since the right side of the TMORO advocated the inclusion of the Macedonian autonomous state in Bulgaria, and the left side opposed this and considered it necessary to create a Balkan Federation. Since 1905, TMORO has received the name of the Internal Macedonian-Odrin Revolutionary Organization (VMORO).
The liberation of Macedonia from the rule of Ottoman Turkey followed as a result of the two Balkan wars of 1912-1913. The first Balkan War began on October 9, 1912 and ended on May 30, 1913. In it, the Balkan Union of Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro opposed Ottoman Turkey and inflicted a serious defeat on it. The territory of the former Turkish possessions in the Balkans - Macedonia, Thrace and Albania - was occupied by the Allied troops. According to the London Peace Agreement, the Ottoman Empire renounced all Balkan possessions and the island of Crete, the fate of Albania, inhabited to a large extent by Muslims, was subject to separate consideration. Ultimately, the independence of Albania was nevertheless proclaimed, although in reality the Albanian state was in the strongest political and economic dependence on neighboring Austria-Hungary and on Italy, with which the Albanians, especially their Catholic part, had long-term cultural and economic ties.
The consequences of the war have already caused confrontation between the countries of the Balkan Union. The main reason was the status of Macedonia, which Bulgaria wanted to see as part of Great Bulgaria. The Second Balkan War lasted only a month - from June 29 to July 29, 1913 and consisted in the hostilities of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece against Bulgaria (later Ottoman Turkey and Romania also entered the war against Bulgaria). Naturally, Bulgaria was unable to resist the coalition of several states and the war ended with the defeat of the Bulgarian army. As a result of the peace concluded in Bucharest on August 10, 1913, Macedonia was divided between Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia. Strictly speaking, this is how the history of the future Yugoslav Macedonia, which arose on the site of Serbian Macedonia, began.
However, the subordination of Vardar Macedonia to the Serbian kingdom was not included in the plans of the Macedonian elite, who considered themselves to be Bulgarians and did not want to assimilate in the Serbian environment. Already in 1913, two anti-Serb uprisings were raised - Tikve - on June 15, and Ohridsko-Debr - on September 9. Both uprisings were suppressed by Serbian troops quite harshly, after which the Internal Macedonian-Odrin Revolutionary Organization turned to terrorist acts and partisan struggle against the Serbian administration of Macedonia. The anti-Serb struggle of the Macedonian rebels intensified after the end of the First World War, spurred on by the Bulgarian special services, interested in maintaining the positions of the pro-Bulgarian forces in the region.
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, a new state appeared in the Balkans - the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSKhS), which in 1929 was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The lands of Vardar Macedonia also became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1925, with the support of the Bulgarian special services, the VMRO created a 15,000-strong partisan army in the Vardar Banovina (province) of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and began an armed struggle against the Serbian government. The Bulgarian government was interested in stopping the process of strengthening the Serbian national identity among the Macedonian population and convincing the latter of its belonging to the Bulgarians.
It was during the First World War and the interwar years that the formation of the Macedonian ethnic identity began. In many ways - not without the intervention of Western powers interested in the disintegration of the Balkan Slavs. The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO), which emerged instead of VMORO, adopted the idea of creating a "Great Macedonia" within Vardar, Pirin and Aegean Macedonia. Thus, a new vast state could appear in the Balkans as an alternative to Great Bulgaria, Great Serbia, Great Greece. Although the idea of creating "Great Macedonia" also threatened the territorial integrity of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government supported the VMRO, since it saw it as an instrument to counter the strengthening of Yugoslavia's positions. Alexander Protogerov, Todor Aleksandrov, Ivan Mikhailov led the VMRO in the interwar period, enjoying the support of both the Bulgarian special services and, on the other hand, Croatian Ustasha and Albanian nationalists interested in the collapse of Yugoslavia.
The largest terrorist act of the VMRO was the murder in Marseille in 1934 of the Yugoslav King Alexander I Karadjordjevich and the French Foreign Minister Louis Bartoux. The Croatian Ustash and the German Abwehr helped in the preparation of the terrorist act of the VMRO. The direct perpetrator of the murder was the Macedonian revolutionary Velichko Dimitrov Kerin, better known as Vlado Chernozemsky, one of the most serious and trained militants of the VMRO. Wounded during an assassination attempt by the police, he died in prison a day after the murder of the Yugoslav king and the French minister. The arrival of the militant and the execution of the assassination attempt was organized by the Macedonian revolutionaries in close conjunction with the Ustasha.
During the Second World War, from 1941 to 1944, the territory of Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia was occupied by Bulgaria, which was one of the allies of Nazi Germany. The liberation of Bulgaria by Soviet troops entailed the withdrawal of Bulgarian and German military units from Macedonia. For a short time, the VMRO was activated here, nurturing a plan for the creation of the Independent Republic of Macedonia, but the introduction of Greek and Yugoslav troops into the region put an end to the activities of the pro-Bulgarian Macedonian nationalists.
From socialism to independence
Vardar Macedonia, originally called the People's Republic of Macedonia, became part of the newly created Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. In 1963, after the FPRY was renamed the SFRY - the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia also changed its name - it became the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (SRM). In fact, during the existence of socialist Yugoslavia, the policy of strengthening the Macedonian national identity continued, as a result of which the Serbian population of the region rapidly “Macedonized” and began to consider itself Macedonians. They even created their own Macedonian Orthodox Autocephalous Church, which, however, has not yet been recognized as canonical by all other Orthodox churches (formerly, Macedonian parishioners belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church). We can say that the existence within the SFRY was the first real experience of Macedonian statehood, albeit an autonomous one, which laid the foundation for the Macedonian national identity. That is, in fact, it was the socialist regime of Yugoslavia, pursuing a policy of stimulating Macedonian self-awareness, that contributed to the final separation of the Macedonian population from the Serbs.
Like other republics that were part of the SFRY, Macedonia had a constitution, government, parliament, official language, and its own academy of sciences and arts. The specificity of the Yugoslav federal state was that, unlike the Soviet Union, in addition to the all-Yugoslav armed forces, each subject of the SFRY had its own territorial armed forces. Macedonia also had those. However, within the SFRY, Macedonia remained the least developed republic. Its economy was seriously inferior not only to Slovenian and Croatian, but also to Serbian, Montenegrin and even Bosnian. Despite certain centrifugal sentiments among part of the intelligentsia, Macedonia did not participate in the process of the collapse of Yugoslavia as actively as Slovenia, Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina. The independence of Macedonia was obtained peacefully on September 6, 1991, and subsequently the Macedonians did not take part in armed conflicts between Serbs, Croats and Muslims on the territory of Yugoslavia. Obviously, the independence of Macedonia was proclaimed "by inertia" after Slovenia and Croatia, the most industrially developed republics that were culturally close to the countries of the "western" civilizational path, seceded from Yugoslavia on June 25, 1991.
What did the declaration of independence give Macedonia? First of all, the deterioration of the socio-economic situation in the republic. Within the framework of a unified Yugoslavia, Macedonia was, although economically the least developed agricultural region, its social position was smoothed out due to the inclusion of its economy in the unified Yugoslav system of economic ties. Today Macedonia is one of the poorest countries in Europe (along with Albania). The absence of serious deposits of minerals, underdeveloped industry - mainly textiles, tobacco and distillery, determine the agricultural nature of the Macedonian economy. Macedonia grows tobacco, grapes, sunflowers, vegetables and fruits. Livestock raising also takes place. However, the agricultural sector, especially represented by weak private farms, cannot guarantee the country even a more or less acceptable economic situation. Moreover, the European Union has long defined the spheres of influence on the agricultural market. Like other Balkan states, Macedonia is becoming a supplier of cheap labor to neighboring more or less prosperous countries.
Macedonian Kosovo
The economic backwardness of Macedonia is aggravated by the presence of extremely serious interethnic contradictions. Despite the fact that Macedonia has a very small population - just over 2 million people, many ethnic groups live here. First of all, these are the Macedonians themselves (64%), as well as Turks, Gypsies, Serbs, Bosnians, Aromanians and Meglenites (Roman-speaking peoples). The largest national minority in the country are the Albanians, who officially make up more than 25% of the country's population. The settlement of Macedonia by Albanians began during the years of the Ottoman Empire's domination over the Balkans. In 1467-1468, that is, at the beginning of the Ottoman rule on the peninsula, there were only 84 Albanian households in the entire Macedonian province of the Ottoman Empire. This indicates that Albanians did not actually live in Macedonia, with the exception of 84 households, most likely people who accidentally settled here.
However, the situation with the settlement of Albanians changed during the further domination of the Ottoman Empire in the region. Albanians in Ottoman Turkey had a privileged position, primarily due to their greatest Islamization in comparison with other Balkan peoples. The Turks preferred to settle the Albanians in the regions inhabited by the Slavs, thereby diluting the Slavic population and creating "centers of counterbalance". Since the time when the independent state of Albania appeared in 1912, the Albanian nationalists hatched a project to create a "Great Albania", which was to include the western lands of Macedonia. This project was supported, first of all, by the Italians, who saw the Albanian nationalists as the conductors of their influence in the Balkans, but other Western states had nothing against the strengthening of Albanian nationalism, for which any non-Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe were desirable allies (that the Hungarians, that the Romanians that the Albanians), which could be opposed to the Slavs and, therefore, Russia and Russian influence in the region.
During the Second World War, Albania, controlled by the Italian fascists, even occupied a piece of Macedonia, thus dividing it with Bulgaria. After the proclamation of independence of Macedonia in 1991, separatist sentiments intensified in the Albanian environment. The Albanians boycotted the independence referendum itself. But in 1992, a referendum on autonomy was held in the Albanian regions of Macedonia, which was declared invalid by the country's authorities. In the capital Skopje, riots of Albanians took place, as a result of which several people died. That is, practically from the very beginning of its independent existence, young Macedonia faced the factor of Albanian separatism. The further separatist activity of the Albanian minority was due to several factors. First, Albanians are the fastest growing ethnic group in Macedonia. If in 1991 they accounted for 21% of the country's population, now they are more than 25%. Albanians have the highest birth rates. Secondly, the separatist struggle of their fellow tribesmen in Kosovo became an example for the Macedonian Albanians. Finally, Albanian separatism is actively supported by both Western countries, including the United States, and Islamic states.
It should be noted here that unlike Albania itself, where a significant part of the Albanians are Christians, both Catholics and Orthodox, in Macedonia the Albanian population is exclusively Muslim. Indeed, during the years of Ottoman rule in the Slavic regions, the Turks preferred to settle the Islamized minorities to strengthen their positions. Accordingly, since the 1980s. both Kosovar Albanians in Serbia and Albanians in Macedonia have close ties with the intelligence services of Islamic states, including Saudi Arabia, as well as with international foundations and fundamentalist organizations.
The fighting in Serbian Kosovo led to a flood of refugees, mostly Albanian, poured into Macedonia, which contributed to the growth of the already rather large Albanian population of the country. The Kosovar Albanians influenced the Macedonian and in terms of establishing separatist sentiments, the idea of creating a "Greater Albania". At the end of 1999, following the pattern and likeness of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the National Liberation Army was created in Macedonia, led by Ali Ahmeti. Officially, it proclaimed as its goal an armed struggle for the creation of Albanian autonomy as part of a confederal Macedonian state, however, the Macedonian authorities rightly saw real separatism here and the prospect of severing the northwestern territories with areas of compact settlement of Albanians from the country. In January 2001, Albanian extremists launched regular attacks on military units and police in northwestern Macedonia. In addition to attacks on the authorities, Albanian militants terrorized the peaceful Slavic and non-Albanian population in general in the northwestern regions.
In the city of Tetovo, a kind of Albanian capital of the country, where an Albanian university has been operating since 1995 and where 70% of the population are Albanians, in March 2001 there were clashes between the forces of law and order and Albanian extremists. 15 March 2001 militants fired at police in Tetovo and went freely to Kosovo. On March 17, 2001, Albanian extremists attacked a police station in Kumanovo. The Macedonian armed forces were forced to intervene in the conflict. On March 19, Macedonian tanks entered Tetovo, on March 20, artillery shelling of the positions of Albanian militants began, and on March 21, Macedonian helicopters hit the Albanian positions. By March 27, Macedonian troops, pushing the Albanian militants back into Kosovo, reached the country's border, liberating a number of villages.
In June 2001, Macedonian forces surrounded the village of Arachinovo, where 400 ANO fighters were based. Along with the militants, 17 American military instructors were also surrounded. However, they were all rescued by the private military company MPRI with the actual support of the American contingent, which played the role of a "human shield" between the Macedonian troops and the Albanians and allowed the ANO militants to leave the territory of the village without hindrance. On August 10-12, special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out a sweep in the village of Lyuboten, as a result of which 10 Albanian militants were shot. It is significant that for this, the commander of the special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Johan Tarchulovsky, was convoyed to The Hague and, by the verdict of the International Tribunal, received ten years in prison.
Is there sovereignty?
As we can see, in Macedonia, the United States and NATO also provided de facto support to the Albanian separatists, but did not go to open aggression against the Macedonian state like the Serbian scenario, since Macedonia never came out from anti-American positions and positioned itself rather as a satellite of NATO and the European Union. Therefore, the United States and NATO put pressure on the Macedonian government and it abandoned the policy of forceful suppression of the Albanian illegal groups. On August 13, 2001, the Ohrid Agreements were concluded between the Macedonian and Albanian political parties. They, in particular, provided for the gradual decentralization of the Macedonian state in the direction of expanding the rights of the Albanian minority. In reality, this means the gradual legalization of Albanian separatism. The areas of compact residence of Albanians in every possible way demonstrate their "otherness", emphasize the temporary nature of their formal presence in Macedonia. They do not hesitate to raise Albanian flags over buildings, moreover, an Albanian police force has been formed, staffed by former ANO militants.
But even the Ohrid agreements did not guarantee peace to Macedonia on its territory. Since the Albanian militants understand only strength and see in such negotiations a manifestation of the weakness of the Macedonian state, and in the mediation of the United States and Europe - the support of the Albanian movement by the West, they switched to more radical actions. In addition to the moderate Army of National Liberation, the Albanian National Army is also active in Macedonia. It officially aims to create a "Greater Albania". After the 2001 Ohrid agreements, the ANA continued armed attacks and sabotage against the Macedonian authorities and the peaceful Macedonian population. The areas of compact residence of Albanians along the border with Kosovo have become, thanks to the activities of the ANA, a real "hot spot". Periodically, there are real clashes between Macedonian law enforcement and Albanian militants. The latter, however, do not neglect to detonate bombs in the Macedonian capital Skopje, take hostages from among the peaceful Macedonian citizens - all with the tacit connivance of the "world community" in the person of the United States and the European Union.
Almost every year, riots take place in Macedonian cities, initiated by Albanian radicals, and the Albanian unemployed youth are the direct participants. Due to the low level of education, high birth rate, contempt for peaceful professions, Albanian youth join the ranks of urban lumpen and marginalized, or enter the path of criminal activity, engaging in drug trafficking, armed attacks, etc. Such a social environment turns out to be very susceptible to the calls of the separatists, especially if the latter guarantee the receipt of weapons and money when joining their formations.
It is obvious that the Albanians, even taking into account their "youth" in comparison with the Slavic population (a consequence of the high birth rate) and radicalism, would not have been able to fully resist the power structures of Macedonia and, moreover, Serbia, had they not enjoyed the support of the United States. If the organizations of Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East provide Albanian separatists with direct financial, material and personnel assistance, the United States and the EU countries actually legitimize the activities of Albanian extremists on an international scale, declaring the Albanians a discriminated minority, supporting their activities through pseudo-peacekeeping operations.
In turn, the Macedonian government, being a pro-Western satellite, does not even think to confront the real threats to the country's territorial integrity, the security of the Slavic population, the survival of the Slavic culture and Christian religion in this ancient region. Thus, in 2008, the Macedonian government officially recognized the sovereignty of Kosovo, thereby violating the interests of its Slavic and Orthodox neighbor, Serbia, and the culturally, linguistically and religiously related Kosovar Serbs. Obviously, the desire to demonstrate their loyalty to the United States and the EU countries turned out to be more important for the Macedonian government.
Thus, we see that the political and economic situation in Macedonia has seriously deteriorated in the twenty-three years since the country's independence was proclaimed. Although the country seems to be "sovereign", no one listens to its voice, not only on a global scale, but also on a European and even Eastern European scale. The country is unable to defend itself from external and even internal enemies, as well as to ensure a decent existence for most of its population. The problem of relations with the Albanian part of the country's population, which is growing numerically and radicalized, feeling the nourishment of the United States and the Islamic world, is aggravating every year, puts Macedonia on the brink of a possible civil war and total social collapse.
