Ah Greece what have you done to deserve this? July 8, 2010
Posted by Yilan in Yunanistan.Tags: Greece, Risto Stefov
1 comment so far
While contemplating “bailing out” Greece from its current economic woes let us ponder the following;
According to a report published on December 15th, 2009 by Macedonia online
(http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/10962/2/) Greece paid journalists 130 million dollars to promote the “Greek-ness” of Macedonia.
From 1989 to 1993 the Greek Foreign Ministry, headed by Andonis Samaras, used a secret fund to pay Greek journalists 130 million US dollars to promote propaganda about the “Greek-ness” of Macedonia!
Although these funds were originally intended for external propaganda campaigns, according to the testimony given by former Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis, they ended up in the pockets of Greek journalists.
“All of the funds were put in black plastic garbage bags filled with 5,000 bank notes of cash money to be used mainly for propaganda purposes against Macedonia’s name, but instead of being sent abroad, the propaganda was directed inwards towards our own country” said Mitsotakis in front of a commission.
The payments of huge lump sums coincided with the independence of Macedonia and the strengthening of internal propaganda.
The dilemma whether the Greek Government bribed journalists and publishers across the country to write material that would promote Athens´ agenda hangs in the air. Andonis Samaras, however, publicly acknowledged that a large amount of money was paid to publishers, journalists and local officials.
What more has Greece done to deserve this you say? Well, let us look at some “other things” that Greece has done over the years;
By the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest Greece annexed 51% of Macedonia along with a large Macedonian population which Greece immediately subjugated. For a century now Greece has continuously and systematically used extreme measures to eliminate all traces of the Macedonian identity.
Greece has taken many steps including eradication, expulsion, colonization, forced denationalization and assimilation in order to destroy the Macedonian consciousness and erase the Macedonian identity forever. For example;
In 1914 Professor R.A. Reiss reported to the Greek government that: “Those whom you would call Bulgarian speakers, I would simply call Macedonians. …. I repeat the mass of inhabitants there (in Macedonia) remain simply Macedonians.”
In 1919 a Greek Commission on Toponyms issued instructions for choosing Hellenic names to replace Macedonian place names.
In 1920 the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs published an administrative booklet, “Advice on the Change of the Names of Municipalities and Villages.”
In 1920 approximately 70,000 Macedonians were forced to leave Macedonia and move to Bulgaria in exchange for approximately 25,000 so-called Greeks.
In 1923 approximately 565,000 Christian Turkish colonists from Asia Minor and approximately 55,000 colonists from Greece were settled in Macedonia.
In 1925 Greece denied the existence of Macedonians and referred to the Macedonians as “Slavophone Greeks” or as “Old Bulgarians”.
In 1926 Legislative Orders in Government Gazette #331 ordered the names of Macedonian towns, villages, mountains, lakes, rivers, etc. to be changed to Greek names.
In 1927 all Cyrillic (Macedonian) inscriptions in Macedonia were destroyed or overwritten. This included inscriptions found in Macedonian municipal buildings, churches, tombstones, and icons, prompting English journalist V. Hild to say “The Greeks do not only persecute living Slavs (meaning Macedonians)…., but they even persecute dead ones. They do not leave them in peace even in their graves. They erase the Slavonic inscriptions on the headstones, remove the bones and burn them.”
Church services in the Macedonian language were outlawed. Macedonians were forced by the Greek state to abandon their personal names and adopt Greek names assigned to them. Some of the Hellenized names still echoed their original forms. For example, Mr. Popov became Mr. Pappas whereas other Macedonian names were replaced with completely different Greek names. For example, Mr. Itskarov became Mr. Christidis, etc.
From 1926 to 1928, 1,497 Macedonian place names were converted to Greek ones. Decree 87 ordered accelerated denationalization of Macedonians. The Greek Ministry of Education sent “specially trained” instructors to accelerate conversion to the Greek language.
In 1938 Law 23666 was enacted which banned the use of the Macedonian language and strove to erase every trace of the Macedonian identity. Macedonians were fined, beaten, jailed and exiled to arid islands for simply being Macedonian by birth and/or for speaking Macedonian. Adults and children were further humiliated by being forced to drink castor oil when they were caught speaking the Macedonian language.
From 1929 to 1940, 39 more Macedonian place names were changed to Greek ones.
In 1945 Law 697 was enacted which brought into force more regulations for changing Macedonian toponyms to Greek.
In 1947 Law L-2 was enacted which arbitrarily and without due process stripped citizens of their citizenship.
In 1948 Law M was enacted which provided further means for confiscation of properties.
In 1948 approximately 28,000 Macedonian children were evacuated out of the Greek Civil War hot spots and sent to Eastern European countries. Their evacuation became permanent and the children remain exiled to this day.
In the 1950’s Greece continued to colonize Macedonian lands with colonists from Turkey, Egypt and parts of Greece.
In 1953 Greek authorities met in Solun to plan the expulsion of Macedonians and to bring Greeks from the south to colonize their lands. By decree 504 the Greek state continued to confiscate properties from Macedonians and give parcels of these lands, along with financial incentives, to Greek colonists.
In 1954 Law 2951 was enacted which called for confiscated land to be placed in the hands of Agricultural Institutions and Commissions for Expropriations which decided how to redistribute properties.
In 1959 Law 3958 was enacted which allowed for confiscation of the properties of those who left Greece and did not return within five years.
The populations of many Macedonian villages in the districts of Florina, Kastoria and Edessa were forced to swear language oaths never to speak Macedonian and to speak only Greek. The people were forced to gather at an appointed place in their respective villages and were made to take the following oath in front of Greek church, government and military officials:
“I promise before God and men and the official authorities of the state that from this day on I shall cease speaking the Slavic Idiom, which only gives grounds for misunderstanding to the enemies of our country, the Bulgarians, and that I will speak everywhere and always the official language of my fatherland, the Greek language, in which the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ is written.”
In the 1960’s Greece continued to hand over the confiscated properties of exiled Macedonians to persons of “proven Greek patriotism”.
In 1962, Decree 4234 was enacted which reinforced past laws regarding confiscated properties of exiled Macedonians and denied them the right of return.
From 1940 to 1979 another 135 Macedonian place names were changed to Greek ones.
In 1982, the Greek internal security police urged intensive campaigns to wipe out any remaining Macedonian consciousness and use of the Macedonian language. Law 106841 allowed the right of return to political exiles provided they were ethnic Greeks by birth. Macedonian exiles continue to be denied the right of return.
In 1985, decree 1540 was enacted allowing the right to reclaim confiscated properties to political exiles provided they were ethnic Greeks by birth. Macedonian exiles were denied and are still denied this right.
In 1987, Greece established special “kindergartens” for two and three year old Macedonian children to ensure they learned the Greek language and prevented them from learning the Macedonian language at home.
In the 1990’s Greece continued to colonize Macedonian lands with persons from the Caucasus who say they were Greeks.
Fear of Greek Authorities and State Harassment Greece is probably the only member of the OSCE which has not granted any freedoms and human rights to the diverse minorities living on its soil.
Apart from the Muslim Turkish minority in Western Thrace, other ethnic minorities in Greece, including the Macedonians, are prohibited from organizing their own cultural associations, schools and religious institutions.
Greece is the only member of the OSCE which does not permit the return of political refugees and others whose citizenship has been arbitrarily revoked without due process.
The present population of the Macedonian districts in Northern Greece is approximately 2 million. Approximately 1 million are of direct Macedonian descent. After nearly a century of systematic effort to denationalize the Macedonians, many succumbed and developed a Greek consciousness and refer to themselves as Greeks or Greek Macedonians. The Greek state has always portrayed the Greek identity as being more cultured and superior. The Macedonian identity has always been portrayed as an uncivilized, barbaric and dirty presence within a pure Greek space. The psychological aim is to make people abandon use of the Macedonian language. It has gotten to the point where one is looked down upon for speaking Macedonian. The language is referred to as the “local idiom.”
It is interesting to note that the Macedonian language is recognized internationally, but it is forbidden in Greece. After many generations of policies of denationalization by the Greek state, the Macedonian consciousness among the population has been badly damaged to the point where those who retain their Macedonian consciousness fear to declare it openly. This fear is difficult to comprehend by those who grew up in free and open societies. You have to experience it to understand it. Among the older generation of Macedonians the fear is pervasive and ingrained. It is as if the person is always on guard for his or her actions and words for fear that he or she will be betrayed or heard by Greek authorities. When one Macedonian was pressed further on this issue he blurted out in exasperation, “It (fear) has gotten into the genes!”
In 1993 a delegation from Human Rights Watch/Helsinki visited the Greek province of Macedonia and reported that: “Harassment of the Macedonian minority has led to a widespread climate of fear. A large number of people interviewed by the mission stated specifically that they did not want their names used, for fear of losing their jobs or suffering from the kind of harassment experienced by human rights activists—being followed, threatened and harassed.”
Why has Greece done all these things you say?
First, let me say that this is only a mild and small fraction of the “evil acts” Greece has committed against the Macedonian people. I have not mentioned what they did during the various wars, the various dictatorships and in their prisons and concentration camps over the years.
Greece has done this for two reasons;
1. To build the so-called “Greek nation”. Since there are no “real Greeks” the kind of Greeks that are descended of the ancient Greeks, Greece had to create “Greeks” by assimilation from its indigenous ethnicities or from the colonists Greece imported from Albania, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and other places. To enforce this, the Greek state had to use harsh measures and strict laws.
2. The “newly fabricated Greek nation” had no history, country or lands of its own so it had to occupy and annex “other peoples´ lands” and hide this fact. The Greek state needed to eliminate all traces of the previous owners. So to make a long story short, Greece has made every effort to extinguish the presence and erase the past of everything Macedonian in order to expropriate Macedonian history and the Macedonian land it occupied and annexed in 1912, 1913.
In 1912 and 1913 when Macedonia was invaded, occupied and brutally partitioned by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, these countries and the Great Powers of Europe knew very well that Macedonia was populated with Macedonians. They very well knew that only a decade earlier the Macedonian people rose up and fought in a Macedonian National Uprising in an attempt to create their own free, democratic and independent Macedonian state. In spite of all that Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria, along with the Great Powers of Europe, decided to ignore the Macedonians and partition their country anyway. And if that was not enough, they also took the extra step to permanently extinguish the Macedonian existence.
Guilty for what they have done, Greece, Bulgaria and the Great Powers of Europe now do not want to face the consequences of their actions and are still insisting that “Macedonians don´t exist”.
Greece, Bulgaria and some countries in Western Europe will continue to give Macedonia and the Macedonian people a hard time as long as the Macedonian people keep quiet about what has been done to them. But once the truth is out then there will be no reason for them to harass the Macedonians.
The truth is Greece and Bulgaria illegally annexed Macedonian lands that were forcibly taken away from the Macedonian people. Greece, Bulgaria and some Western European countries don´t want the world to know this! And that is the entire crux of the problem between Greece, Bulgaria and Europe on one side and the Macedonian people on the other.
It is time for the truth to be revealed!
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
Old habits never die July 2, 2010
Posted by Yilan in Macedonia, Yunanistan.Tags: Macedonia, Risto Stefov
1 comment so far
By Risto Stefov
After proving to the Greeks, a hundred times over, that Macedonians do exist and have existed since Neolithic times, or as my friend Tone from Slovenia would say “the Macedonians lived in Macedonia uninterrupted for at least 40,000 if not 70,000 or even 100,000 years!”, we still have Greeks “insisting” that Macedonians do not exist and that the only people that can call themselves Macedonians are Greeks who live in Macedonia!
How does one interpret this and what does one make of it? Allow me to say that, the way I see it, Greece and most Greeks have not changed a bit since their Philhellene patrons sent them on their way and gave them their “fake” Modern Greek identity. Greece is like a sailing ship without a rudder and no amount of “wishing” or in this case “providing proof” can change its course or attitude towards the Macedonians. What is truly “changing”, especially lately, is not the Greeks but the general population´s understanding of Greece and its treatment of the Macedonians.
Macedonians like me, born and raised in Greece, understand perfectly well where they stand with regards to Greece. What Greece has done to us is so bizarre and unbelievable that even fellow Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia have difficulty accepting it. Many think we made things up! One of the most hurtful things to hear from them is “it couldn´t have been that bad, could it? Nobody does that to people!”
It took me more than four years to get through to them, to make them understand that our plight in Greece is “real” and that indeed we were treated miserably. Think of it this way; we did not change our personal names voluntarily. We did not rename our place names voluntarily. We did not stop speaking our Macedonian language because we wanted to. We did not drink castor oil voluntarily when we were caught speaking Macedonian. We did not leave our lands and abandon our homes because we felt like it. All these things were forced upon us by Greece, the same Greece which today you call “democratic” and the “cradle of democracy”. Yes, people do “bad” things to other people and yes they were done to us Macedonians in Greece!
I suspect that my Macedonian compatriots believed me only because Greece began to show its belligerence towards the Republic of Macedonia. Then ironically, these same people began to tell me their problems with Greece and that Greece had no right to do “bad things” to them, especially since they had done nothing wrong to Greece! All I can say to them now is “welcome to my world”!
It has always been my intention to “inform” the “uninformed” Macedonians and let them know who they are dealing with, with regards to Greece. It has also been my aim to lead the Macedonians away from their “defensive” role of having to “justify themselves and their existence”, especially to the Greeks.
The Greeks, through their bizarre and unsubstantiated accusations, have become good at putting Macedonians on the defensive. All the Greeks have to do is say: “Macedonians do not exist”, “you are not Macedonians, Macedonians are Greeks”, “Tito created the Macedonian identity”, “you are Slavs who came to Macedonia during the 6th century AD”, “you are communists”, “you are autonomists”, “you are Skopjans”, “you are filthy Gypsies”, “you are Bulgarians”, “you are Fyromians”, etc. and you can be sure that, instead of walking away, Macedonians will take the defensive and respond to the accusations!
After being “shocked” by such ridiculous claims, Macedonians immediately take the defensive and, in spite of the ridiculousness of the claims, try to prove the opposite. Using factual and historical information they again and again prove to the Greeks that “yes Macedonians do exist” and here is the evidence in history books, gravestones, old newspapers, etc., which proves it. Unfortunately there is never enough “proof” or evidence to satisfy the Greek desire.
It has been my experience that Greeks “couldn´t care less” if God himself stood before them and testified that “Yes Macedonians do exist and here they are!” because the Greeks are not after “finding proof”. They just want Macedonians to “go off on tangents” and idly spin their wheels. That way they can control what Macedonians do!
I have personally watched Greeks demand proof of the Macedonians for over forty years and from what I have learned from history, they have been doing this for over two centuries. It has always been a “Greek ploy” to put Macedonians on the defensive because Greeks know that this way they can control the Macedonians! But I believe it is more complicated than that. I believe it is also an assimilation method, a technique of turning Macedonians into Greeks. No matter how much “proof” Macedonians produce, it is never enough! So there is a tendency for people to simply “give up”, accepting that the Greeks may be right and that Macedonians indeed may not exist!
You see, besides making the “existence of Macedonians” very elusive and impossible to prove, Greeks have made it easier for people to believe that they are “Greeks” because no Greek will ever question or ask a Macedonian for “proof” or ridicule them if they say they are “Greek”!
Seeking acceptance from the Greeks (I don´t know why people would want it but they do) is not “the be all and end all” of our problems as some people may think. But it does have its benefits. Seeking proof of their existence forces Macedonians to think and learn more about themselves, which has been of great benefit to me.
Macedonia´s enemies had an entire century to distort Macedonia´s history and to prove to the world that Macedonians don´t exist, implying that the only heirs of the Macedonian heritage are the Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians and Albanians. But to do this they had to use lies and deception and now that Macedonians appeared literally “out of nowhere” Macedonia´s enemies are stunned and don´t know what to say so they continue with their policy of denial insisting that, in spite of the “Macedonian presence” before them, Macedonians still don´t exist!
But, as long as Macedonians “keep taking the bait” over and over and assuming a “defensive” role, they will never break the “Greek shackles”! The Greeks “have the Macedonians where they want them” and no amount of proof will convince the Greeks to release them because frankly that is not their aim!
That is why it has been my mission to take this “war of words” away from the Greeks and deploy it in a new strategy;
(1) Continue to expose Greek (and Bulgarian) lies and propaganda about the Macedonians, and
(2) Open a new front and expose the Greek lies about themselves.
If Macedonians want to “play” on a “level playing field” with the Greeks then they must learn to go beyond always taking the defensive and once in a while take the offensive and “challenge” the Greeks regarding the validity of their identity!
By now all my readers should know that the Greeks are a “fake” identity, artificially created by the Western Philhellenes and, in spite of their lies and falsehood, they still have the “upper hand” on the Macedonians! Why is that?
Macedonians have no defense against this because as long as they continue to take the defensive, Greeks will lead them and take them where they want them to go! Case in point; “name negotiations”! We all know Greece couldn´t care less about “the name” it only cares to “destroy the Macedonian identity” but here we are “negotiating” about “the name” because Greece led us to this!
Greeks will continue to lie and deny the Macedonian right to exist as long as the Macedonians let them, as they have done in the past. The best defense for Macedonians is to take control of the situation away from the Greeks and themselves lead this “war of words”. Macedonians must learn to demand from the Greeks what the Greeks demand of them. Macedonians must challenge the “Greek right to existence” as the Greeks have done to the Macedonians!
There was “never” a need to reply to Greek demands for “proof” of our God given right to exist!
Since Macedonians are challenged on this subject, they now have the right to challenge the Greeks right back and demand of them “proof” of their existence.
Let us demand of them, what they have demanded of us for years, to “prove” that they are Greeks! Let´s attack their “Greek identity” as they have attacked ours.
It is only fair that we deliver to the Greeks what they have been delivering to us for over a century!
I also have a warning for all Macedonians to “beware” of “Greeks” and “Bulgarians” bearing gifts. Our enemies have consolidated their forces and have invaded our space. They come dressed in Macedonian clothing, call themselves “Macedonians”, speak the words we want to hear and are all around us but we cannot see them for who they are! Their motives are to divide and weaken us, to take our power away from us. So please be vigilant, trust no one and always be suspicious of everyone. This is not a joke. If we are to survive we need to look beyond what is before us; we need to be able to spot a Trojan horse and to foresee and understand the consequences associated with “offers” being made to us! Words are cheep; we need to look beyond the “sweet patriotic” words whispered in our ears!
If Greece and Bulgaria will go as far as “publicly” denying our existence then you can´t even imagine how far they will go “privately” to do us harm in every possible way!
Greece and Bulgaria are prepared to offer Macedonia entry into the European Union, if the Macedonians voluntarily change their own country´s God given name. So what is wrong with “changing” your country´s name “just a little bit”, they ask? You will still be Macedonians. Right?
Why should Macedonians do that? How is changing their own name going to benefit the Macedonians? What will be the consequences and what will the Macedonians face in the future if they do that? And most importantly, how will this benefit Greece, since Greece, our worst enemy, is the only country asking for this?
If it were up to me I would not do anything Greece asks of me because I don´t trust Greece, as my experience has shown, “nothing good for the Macedonians has ever come out Greece”! In fact, I am willing to go a step further and say that Greece has been the “worst” tormentor of the Macedonian people in Macedonia´s history!
If we rush into things because we are being challenged and put on the defensive by Greece, we will make “regrettable” mistakes.
The fact that Macedonian authorities today are in the process of “negotiating” with Greece over our name IS one such “regrettable” mistake.
It is imperative that we think very carefully before we act and be suspicious of any and all offers put before us, especially by our enemies, so that in the future we can avoid being trapped! And if we want to eliminate any risk of “making even a bigger mistake” we need to “stop” the “negotiations” with Greece NOW and immediately withdraw from these talks.
If Greece has made it its mission to destroy the Macedonian identity, what makes you think Greece will stop “if we give in a little” on our God given name?
If there is pressure from the International Community to “settle” the so-called “name dispute” as soon as possible and if Macedonian authorities do “give in” to this pressure, what makes you think this same International Community will not come back in the future again and again pressuring Macedonia to make more concessions?
The “world” usually follows “precedents” and once a “precedent” is set, Macedonia, even by another name, will have no choice but to “give in” to International pressure again and again because “Macedonia by another name” will be known as the country that “gives in” to demands. And what will “Macedonia by another name” gain by giving up its God given biblical name? Will it gain entry into the dysfunctional European Union, a union which may or may not exist in the next five years? It may or may not but are the sacrifices worth it?
Living in the Diaspora, I cannot even imagine the humiliation that Macedonians will have to endure from the Greeks, Bulgarians and their supporters if Macedonia changes its name. And what will our ancestors, who spilled blood to defend our Macedonia, say if they could speak? Will they approve of this change?
Countries like Greece and Bulgaria, which refuse to recognize the Macedonian identity, could not possibly have anything good to offer the Macedonians.
Greece and Bulgaria will continue to lie and deceive the world about the Macedonians because it is in their best interest to do so. So it us up to us Macedonians to not only expose their lies and deceit but to also expose their “motives” towards us, our lands and our country. And as a friend recently reminded me, “Greeks and Bulgarians” or rather “Grkomani and Bulgaromani” have become friends not because they want to partition the Republic of Macedonia in some future time. They have become friends because “they have already agreed to partition the Republic of Macedonia”! It will only be a matter of time if we let them!
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
There is no Greater Glory than to be a Soldier of Macedonia May 11, 2010
Posted by Yilan in Human rights abuses, Macedonia, Yunanistan.Tags: Alexander the great, Macedonia, Risto Stefov
4 comments
By Risto Stefov
At the height of Alexander the Greats´ campaign in Asia and after almost a decade of fighting and winning battle after major battle, the whole world had noticed the Macedonians. Their fame unfortunately came with a high price, paid in blood both by the Macedonian soldiers who gave their lives for this distinction and by Macedonia´s opponents who defended their territory from this unstoppable army. While fighting against its opponents, the Macedonian army demonstrated bravery, skill, discipline, determination and performed extraordinary achievements deemed impossible by ordinary men. They carried out feats like passing through impassible terrain in record time, fighting much superior opponents and winning, scaling un-scalable walls, fast marching through monsoons, etc., which gave the impression that these Macedonian soldiers were “super human”.
It didn´t take long after that for the Macedonian soldier to become somewhat of a legend; a revered hero worshipped by the young and not so young alike. This was a time when there was no greater glory in the world than to be a soldier of Macedonia; a glory remembered to this day when the words “Macedonia and Alexander the Great” are mentioned together. It was the politicians and strong leaders like Philip II, however, who wanted a “safe” Macedonian that gave this professional army its beginnings. But it was the soldiers themselves and their willingness to risk their lives who made Macedonia powerful and famous and who immortalized it on the ancient and modern maps. Macedonia before Philip´s time was no different than it is today. It was picked on by its neighbours just as it is picked on by its neighbours today.
The Illyrians were constantly invading Macedonian territories, robbing and pillaging the Macedonian population. In the fall, after the harvests, they would come with their horses and wagons, rob their crops and then set their houses on fire. The Athenians were no better. They constantly invaded the Macedonian coastlines and even built cities on Macedonian lands. They too were not beyond robbing Macedonian timber and other natural resources. It was terrible to be a Macedonian then as it is terrible to be one today when no-one respects you, your feelings, or your property. Philip II, as many kings before him, was well aware of the “Macedonian situation”. But unlike his predecessors he “did something” about it. This was not the way he wanted his people to live and be treated so he built a professional army to deal with this kind of problem. At that time Philip was not thinking of “conquering the world”. He was simply thinking of making Macedonia a safe and peaceful place for his people to live. He was willing to sacrifice resources and many lives, including his own, to give his people peace, for which he was supported by his nobles and by the Macedonian people in general.
Philip tried to talk sense into his neighbours using diplomacy and “negotiations” but they were too busy robbing and pillaging his country and his people. Well, we all know what happened next. The moral of this story is that you can talk peace all you want and “negotiate” with your enemies forever but if you don´t have the “clout” to enforce it you are wasting your time because no one is going to pay any attention! If there is any indication that history repeats itself or time runs in a circle, Macedonia today has again found itself at pre-Philippian times where its neighbours are picking on it from every side. Today there are Macedonian territories being occupied, robbed and pillaged by Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. We have the Greeks who refuse to recognize the Macedonian identity or the Macedonian state who insist that Macedonians don´t exist and that the Republic of Macedonia is populated by “Slavs”. We also have Greeks who insist that Macedonia is Greek and would like to see all of it annexed by Greece.
On the other hand we have Bulgarians who recognize a “Macedonia” but insist that the Macedonian people are Bulgarians who have “plum forgotten” that they are Bulgarians. And let us not forget Macedonia´s “internal people” who over the years came to Macedonia as guests, some as late as two or three decades ago, settled there but remain ungrateful for what they have received and now want part of Macedonia for themselves. Well it doesn´t take a genius to figure out what needs to be done to remedy the situation. But how can it be done without a Philip at the helm? If there is anything that we have learned from history it is that Macedonia was always small but has accomplished great things and much of its greatness lies in its ability to get world attention and that can be done now as it was done in ancient times; through its military! It doesn´t take a big army to get world attention, as Alexander proved this once before when he entered Asia with only fifteen thousand Macedonians soldiers and defeated the mighty Persian Empire, the greatest empire the world has seen, with an army of one million.
To do that, however, it takes a brave, dedicated and disciplined army; similar to the one we have in Macedonia today. In fact if Modern Macedonia has gained any serious attention from the world it is mainly because of its little army. Now before I get attacked for “supporting” the “men and women of war” please allow me to explain. Soldiers and armies do not create war or conflict; politicians and warmongers do. Soldiers are people like you and me, but unlike you and me soldiers take orders without question and are prepared to give their lives, even if they don´t always believe in what they are fighting for. So please do not blame the soldier for what politicians do. There is another definition of what a soldier is besides the conventional one offered by the dictionary and by those who oppose war. A soldier is a young man or woman, a mom or a dad who knows their turn will come someday to serve their country and will be called upon to drop everything in their lives and go far away to do their duty even if it means having to die while doing it. You can argue that it is their job and they were familiar with the risks when they signed up. So what´s the big deal? There is no big deal of course until you stack up your job against theirs.
Would you do whatever your boss tells you without question? Would you be prepared to die while doing your job or would you take the job knowing full well that you may never return alive? If your answer was “yes” to both questions then you unquestionably qualify to call yourself a soldier. If you answered “no” then how can you even come close to calling it a mere job. If you truly understand what “soldiering” is all about I am sure you would be hesitant to criticize the soldier. Please allow me to again emphasize that soldiers are not responsible for waging wars! I know many of you have said “what are Macedonian soldiers doing supporting NATO when NATO is not even willing to recognize Macedonia by its constitutional name or accept the Macedonians for who they are?” Again, please do not blame the soldiers for this. The soldiers themselves did not make decisions to support or not support NATO. If there is any blame to be placed, place it squarely on those that make such decisions. Irrespective of “why” Macedonian soldiers are participating in NATO missions there are also the questions of “how” Macedonians are doing in those missions and this should be of interest to all of us. It seems that the small Macedonian military abroad is making quite an impression on the NATO leading armies and their military leaders. I know Macedonian officers and soldiers have a tradition to uphold and very big shoes to fill but even by the standards of the best of today´s best, they are doing very well and as a Macedonian that makes me feel very proud. In fact the Macedonian military and its accomplishments in these NATO missions are positively influencing today´s powers and are again putting Macedonia on the world map. We as Macedonians need to understand this and give our soldiers and officers, who accepted these missions knowing very well that they may not return alive, the respect they deserve. You can still object to Macedonian soldier being sent to NATO missions and, as citizens with democratic voting rights, you can replace those who are responsible for sending our men and women on these risky missions but please do not take away their sacrifices by blaming the soldiers for these wars. Like most ordinary people, most soldiers prefer peace over war but unlike ordinary people soldiers are prepared to fight and sacrifice their lives to make our lives better. We must recognize and acknowledge that. Soldiers may be called “men and women of war” but that nomenclature is flawed because soldiers prefer peace over war. If Macedonia wants to enter the world scene as an equal then it must carefully look at where its strengths lie. Today, the way I see it, its strength lies in its small military, which in spite of its size has turned a few heads. After all Macedonia has a military tradition to follow and uphold and as the saying goes “there is no greater glory than to be a soldier of Macedonia”. Other articles by Risto Stefov: http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446 You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com blood both by the Macedonian soldiers who gave their lives for this distinction and by Macedonia´s opponents who defended their territory from this unstoppable army. While fighting against its opponents, the Macedonian army demonstrated bravery, skill, discipline, determination and performed extraordinary achievements deemed impossible by ordinary men. They carried out feats like passing through impassible terrain in record time, fighting much superior opponents and winning, scaling un-scalable walls, fast marching through monsoons, etc., which gave the impression that these Macedonian soldiers were “super human”. It didn´t take long after that for the Macedonian soldier to become somewhat of a legend; a revered hero worshipped by the young and not so young alike. This was a time when there was no greater glory in the world than to be a soldier of Macedonia; a glory remembered to this day when the words “Macedonia and Alexander the Great” are mentioned together. It was the politicians and strong leaders like Philip II, however, who wanted a “safe” Macedonian that gave this professional army its beginnings. But it was the soldiers themselves and their willingness to risk their lives who made Macedonia powerful and famous and who immortalized it on the ancient and modern maps. Macedonia before Philip´s time was no different than it is today. It was picked on by its neighbours just as it is picked on by its neighbours today. The Illyrians were constantly invading Macedonian territories, robbing and pillaging the Macedonian population. In the fall, after the harvests, they would come with their horses and wagons, rob their crops and then set their houses on fire. The Athenians were no better. They constantly invaded the Macedonian coastlines and even built cities on Macedonian lands. They too were not beyond robbing Macedonian timber and other natural resources. It was terrible to be a Macedonian then as it is terrible to be one today when no-one respects you, your feelings, or your property. Philip II, as many kings before him, was well aware of the “Macedonian situation”. But unlike his predecessors he “did something” about it. This was not the way he wanted his people to live and be treated so he built a professional army to deal with this kind of problem. At that time Philip was not thinking of “conquering the world”. He was simply thinking of making Macedonia a safe and peaceful place for his people to live. He was willing to sacrifice resources and many lives, including his own, to give his people peace, for which he was supported by his nobles and by the Macedonian people in general. Philip tried to talk sense into his neighbours using diplomacy and “negotiations” but they were too busy robbing and pillaging his country and his people. Well, we all know what happened next. The moral of this story is that you can talk peace all you want and “negotiate” with your enemies forever but if you don´t have the “clout” to enforce it you are wasting your time because no one is going to pay any attention! If there is any indication that history repeats itself or time runs in a circle, Macedonia today has again found itself at pre-Philippian times where its neighbours are picking on it from every side. Today there are Macedonian territories being occupied, robbed and pillaged by Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. We have the Greeks who refuse to recognize the Macedonian identity or the Macedonian state who insist that Macedonians don´t exist and that the Republic of Macedonia is populated by “Slavs”.
We also have Greeks who insist that Macedonia is Greek and would like to see all of it annexed by Greece. On the other hand we have Bulgarians who recognize a “Macedonia” but insist that the Macedonian people are Bulgarians who have “plum forgotten” that they are Bulgarians. And let us not forget Macedonia´s “internal people” who over the years came to Macedonia as guests, some as late as two or three decades ago, settled there but remain ungrateful for what they have received and now want part of Macedonia for themselves.
Well it doesn´t take a genius to figure out what needs to be done to remedy the situation. But how can it be done without a Philip at the helm? If there is anything that we have learned from history it is that Macedonia was always small but has accomplished great things and much of its greatness lies in its ability to get world attention and that can be done now as it was done in ancient times; through its military! It doesn´t take a big army to get world attention, as Alexander proved this once before when he entered Asia with only fifteen thousand Macedonians soldiers and defeated the mighty Persian Empire, the greatest empire the world has seen, with an army of one million.
To do that, however, it takes a brave, dedicated and disciplined army; similar to the one we have in Macedonia today. In fact if Modern Macedonia has gained any serious attention from the world it is mainly because of its little army. Now before I get attacked for “supporting” the “men and women of war” please allow me to explain. Soldiers and armies do not create war or conflict; politicians and warmongers do. Soldiers are people like you and me, but unlike you and me soldiers take orders without question and are prepared to give their lives, even if they don´t always believe in what they are fighting for. So please do not blame the soldier for what politicians do. There is another definition of what a soldier is besides the conventional one offered by the dictionary and by those who oppose war. A soldier is a young man or woman, a mom or a dad who knows their turn will come someday to serve their country and will be called upon to drop everything in their lives and go far away to do their duty even if it means having to die while doing it. You can argue that it is their job and they were familiar with the risks when they signed up. So what´s the big deal? There is no big deal of course until you stack up your job against theirs. Would you do whatever your boss tells you without question? Would you be prepared to die while doing your job or would you take the job knowing full well that you may never return alive? If your answer was “yes” to both questions then you unquestionably qualify to call yourself a soldier. If you answered “no” then how can you even come close to calling it a mere job. If you truly understand what “soldiering” is all about I am sure you would be hesitant to criticize the soldier. Please allow me to again emphasize that soldiers are not responsible for waging wars! I know many of you have said “what are Macedonian soldiers doing supporting NATO when NATO is not even willing to recognize Macedonia by its constitutional name or accept the Macedonians for who they are?” Again, please do not blame the soldiers for this. The soldiers themselves did not make decisions to support or not support NATO. If there is any blame to be placed, place it squarely on those that make such decisions.
Irrespective of “why” Macedonian soldiers are participating in NATO missions there are also the questions of “how” Macedonians are doing in those missions and this should be of interest to all of us. It seems that the small Macedonian military abroad is making quite an impression on the NATO leading armies and their military leaders. I know Macedonian officers and soldiers have a tradition to uphold and very big shoes to fill but even by the standards of the best of today´s best, they are doing very well and as a Macedonian that makes me feel very proud. In fact the Macedonian military and its accomplishments in these NATO missions are positively influencing today´s powers and are again putting Macedonia on the world map. We as Macedonians need to understand this and give our soldiers and officers, who accepted these missions knowing very well that they may not return alive, the respect they deserve. You can still object to Macedonian soldier being sent to NATO missions and, as citizens with democratic voting rights, you can replace those who are responsible for sending our men and women on these risky missions but please do not take away their sacrifices by blaming the soldiers for these wars.
Like most ordinary people, most soldiers prefer peace over war but unlike ordinary people soldiers are prepared to fight and sacrifice their lives to make our lives better. We must recognize and acknowledge that. Soldiers may be called “men and women of war” but that nomenclature is flawed because soldiers prefer peace over war. If Macedonia wants to enter the world scene as an equal then it must carefully look at where its strengths lie. Today, the way I see it, its strength lies in its small military, which in spite of its size has turned a few heads. After all Macedonia has a military tradition to follow and uphold and as the saying goes “there is no greater glory than to be a soldier of Macedonia”.
Other articles by Risto Stefov:
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov
http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446
You can contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com
How Macedonia became Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian April 20, 2010
Posted by Yilan in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Yunanistan.Tags: Bulgarian, Greek, Macedonia, Risto Stefov, Serbian
3 comments
War and the suffering in Macedonia did not end after the failed 1903 Ilinden Macedonian National Uprising. Shortly after the Uprising was suppressed Macedonia became the apple of discord between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria and to some extent Romania.
Unable to free itself from the Ottoman yoke, Macedonia became ripe for the plucking and whoever was able to muster enough strength and resources to drive out the Ottomans would have it in their possession. At that time Macedonia´s neighbours knew they could not possess Macedonia without the cooperation of the Macedonian people, so first they tried their luck at “convincing” the Macedonians that they were not “really” Macedonians but “Greeks”, on account of them being Orthodox Christians. Or they were “Serbians” on account of them supposedly speaking an “Old Serbian” language. Or “Bulgarians” because they supposedly spoke a dialect of the “Bulgarian” language and of course “Romanians” because many were Vlachs and spoke a dialect of “Romanian”.
Failing to convince the Macedonian people “that they were not Macedonians” by propaganda alone, the four then resorted to using violence through the application of illegal armed bands. However, in addition to serving their masters by doing their bidding and murdering those who refused their will, these bands, consisting mostly of thugs, also served themselves by robbing, raping, beating and murdering innocent civilians.
Now in addition to the dastardly deeds performed by the Ottoman army and the Bashibazuks (armed Muslim civilians), there were Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian armed bands roaming the Macedonian countryside preying on the Macedonian people.
The Ottoman authorities knew about them and so did the international peace keeping forces stationed in Macedonia but they did nothing to help the Macedonian population.
Unable to turn the general Macedonian population into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians to their satisfaction, by severe methods the four began to open more Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian churches and schools in Macedonia, offering Macedonian children “free education” but not in the Macedonian language. Education was offered in the Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian language respectively. Unfortunately, along with the so-called “free education” came a heavy dose of foreign propaganda. Along with their “free education” children and young adults were also offered a glamorous lifestyle, something their families in the village could not give them. Being “educated” and convinced that they would be more cultured and better off as Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians these children were then sent back home to “convince” others and also turn them into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians or Romanians.
Many of these “educated children”, as young adults, became the new teachers and priests in the Macedonian village churches and schools. In addition to preaching and teaching they also unwittingly helped Macedonia´s enemies get a foothold in Macedonia. Those young adults who found their way back to who they really were or switched loyalties usually ended up dead because their benefactors could not tolerate traitors; a tradition Greeks practice to this day.
Almost the entire Macedonian population during these times, particularly in the villages, was uneducated and could not read or write. So, many people relied on the village teacher or village priest to help them with administrative matters and filling out travel forms etc. And while they were doing a public service for their illiterate, fellow villagers these teachers and priests were doing their benefactors a favour by registering the Macedonians as Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians with a Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian sounding name depending on who was their benefactor. That is why Macedonians who traveled abroad during the late 19th century and early 20th century, before Macedonia was partitioned, had Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian sounding names. These names which exist to this day can be found in the United States, Canada and other places outside of Macedonia where Macedonians immigrated during Ottoman times.
Macedonians were never Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, Romanians, or Albanians. They were simply made to look like that for “political” reasons which became obvious after Macedonia was illegally invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912 and 1913.
Looking at this another way, there are many Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, Romanians and Albanians today who not too long ago had Macedonian ancestors!
In all this there was one organization which cared for the Macedonian population and fought to correct the injustices perpetrated and that was the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO). Unfortunately because the MRO was a great threat to Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian ambitions in Macedonia its members were hunted down and killed. In addition to killing off its members, the various factions, particularly the Bulgarians, made attempts to infiltrate the MRO and pose as patriotic Macedonians. This caused much internal strife and mistrust, which is felt to this day in modern Macedonian organizations. I must also add that even though the 19th and 20th centuries are now in the past, Macedonia´s enemies have not ceased their attempts to infiltrate Macedonian organizations. So who can blame the Macedonians for being overly suspicious?
Greek political aims in Macedonia
Greek propaganda in Macedonia began in June 1903 when Greek military officers, Pavlos Melas and Georgios Tzontas, began to hire illegal armed bands and dispatch them in Macedonia to create havoc and spread “Greater” Greek propaganda. Immediately after the August 1903 Ilinden Uprising, the secretary of the Greek consulate in Bitola, Ion Dragoumis, established a secret Greek committee to work towards the assimilation of the Macedonian people and the annexation of Macedonia to Greece. Around about the same time the Greek bishop of Kostur, Germanos Karavangelis, created an illegal armed band. In the beginning of March 1904 two Greek armed bands were created in Thessaly. Six new illegal armed Greek bands in total were created and dispatched to operate in Macedonia.
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Then in the fall of 1904 the Hellenic – Macedonian committee was formed in Athens whose job was to finance the Macedonian campaign and spread Greek propaganda in Macedonia. Most of the manpower for these illegal armed bands was hired from newly annexed Crete and manned by Greek officers.
Of all the illegal armed bands that operated in Macedonia, the Greek bands most closely cooperated with the Ottoman army and in many instances carried out missions for the Ottomans.
The goals and objectives of the Greek armed bands operating in Macedonia were regulated by a Rulebook entitled “General Instructions for the Macedonian Bands”, especially created for this purpose by the Hellenic-Macedonian Committee. The Rulebook contained three main points: 1. destroy the MRO insurgency and replace it with a Greek one; 2. eliminate all those who worked against the Greek cause; 3. convince the entire Macedonian population to join the Greek Patriarchate.
Macedonian intellectuals and leaders responded to the “Greater” Greek propaganda with appeals to the Greek population not to support the illegal armed bands in Macedonia and to oppose Hellenism, their mutual usurper.
Supported by the Sultan himself, the illegal armed Greek bands escalated their persecution of the Macedonian insurgency and of prominent intellectuals. In the eyes of the Macedonian population the entire MRO was labeled “Bulgarophile”, a false claim which is spread to this day.
According to Richard Oppenheimer, an Austrian civilian agent sent to Macedonia on April 18, 1908 who dispatched information to Aloys Aehrenthal of the Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Greek bands in Macedonia killed 531 and wounded 175 people in the period from March 14, 1906 to March 14, 1908. According to the same information, MRO insurgents fought 12 battles with the Greek bands in the period from October 26, 1904 to June 27, 1905 in Voden Region alone. From January to October 1905, MRO insurgents fought 22 battles with the illegal Greek armed bands that had infiltrated Macedonia and 3 battles with locally hired Greek bands. Most battles took place in the Kostur, Kajlari, Drama, Lerin, Bitola and other Regions of southern Macedonia.
Greek-Ottoman cooperation contributed immensely to the Greek campaign in Macedonia and as the Greek armed bands kept growing the number of Macedonian insurgents kept dwindling.
Serbian political aims in Macedonia
Serbian propaganda activities in Macedonia began before the 1903 Ilinden Uprising. In fact the foundations for Serbia´s Macedonian campaigns were laid in 1902 when a dedicated Committee for carrying out propaganda activities in Macedonia was established in Belgrade. Illegal Serbian armed bands began to infiltrate Macedonia while the Ilinden Uprising was still going on. In 1904 the number of Serbian armed bands operating in Macedonia increased significantly, especially in Ovche Pole, Azot and Poreche.
The Serbian sponsored armed bands in Macedonia also operated according to a Rulebook which listed the Serbian goals and objectives in Macedonia. According to the Rulebook Serbia´s main goal in its campaigns in Macedonia was to minimize MRO influence on the Macedonian population by eliminating its leaders and insurgents. While doing this the Serbian armed bands were to avoid contact and conflict with the Ottoman authorities, including the army and police. These goals and objectives were regulated by Articles 17, 18 and 32 of the Rulebook.
In order to achieve their goals the Serbian armed bands, like the Greek and Bulgarian ones, used terror tactics including robbing and torturing the Macedonian population. Almost every village had agents and collaborators who supported the illegal armed bands by offering them intelligence information, food and sanctuary.
Many Macedonian intellectuals tried to persuade the Macedonians, who were recruited by these bands in various functions, not to offer the foreigners assistance and to stop fighting amongst themselves, but without much success. There were many letters written to that effect which clearly demonstrated that Macedonia´s neighbours deliberately intensified fratricidal fighting and self-extermination in Macedonia. Their goal was to create conflict among the Macedonian people, invade and partition their country and destroy the essence of the Macedonian nation, as events proved true over time.
Bulgarian political aims in Macedonia
Immediately after the 1903 Ilinden Uprising was suppressed, Bulgaria officially refused to bear responsibility for the dire events created in Macedonia. But the Macedonian Question remained a part of Bulgarian foreign policy. Besides being supported by pro-Bulgarian factions within the Macedonian Liberation Movement, at the beginning of 1905, the Bulgarian government created a second political department within its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a single objective; to deal with the Macedonian Question. The long term goal of this department was to overcome all factors that hindered Bulgarian influence in Macedonia and work towards giving Macedonia autonomy as a Bulgarian protectorate. Other goals included waging war against all who got in the way including those promoting foreign propaganda in Macedonia. Bulgaria´s first priority was to infiltrate the MRO, kill off its leaders, insurgents and supporters and replace them with Bulgarian agents. This was to be accomplished through the assistance of the Bulgarian Exarchate churches and schools in Macedonia, which were financed and politically supported by the Bulgarian state and its various governments of that time.
Turkey & Macedonia 