Excellent Scholarly Essay on Macedonia!

The following is an excellent essay written by a university professor on Macedonia and the falsification of Macedonian history by communist Yugoslavia in the 1940s. This should clear up any questions on the Macedonian dispute.

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MACEDONIA THEREFORE IS GREECE!

by Dean C. Lomis, Ph.D.

(Published in the Hellenic News of America-June 1992)

Introduction

In 1944, with the predominance of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, Tito, for reasons of political expediency and given his ambitions for territorial expansion south toward warm water port in the Mediterranean, arbitrarily renamed the area - known until then as South Serbia - to the "Socialist Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia" and its inhabitants "Macedonians."

Tito's decision was also a consequence of the 1921 Moscow resolve by Comintern and the Balkan communist parties to pursue autonomy for Macedonia, and to include this most strategic region of the Balkans into the Communist camp.

After 1944, with the Yugoslavian Communist Party initiative, four non-existent constitutive elements of the created pseudo-Macedonia nation were manufactured:

1) Authority ("Macedonian" Government and Parliament).

2) Language (in 1944, the Slavic dialect of the Bulgarian language spoken in the Skopje area was named "Macedonian Language," and because as a dialect it lacked linguistic characteristics - syntax, orthography and grammar - a special committee of linguists was formed and assigned the project of transforming the dialect into a language).

3) In 1968, the atheist Communist Party established only in Skopje the autocephalous "Macedonian Church" which is not recognized by any Orthodox Patriarchate, including the Serbian, and nor even by the Vatican.

4) In 1969, the three-volume "History of the Macedonian Nation" was published and circulated self-appropriating all of Macedonia's events and personalities of the past four thousand years, shamelessly forging the history of the glorious fatherland of Aristotle and Alexander the Great.

Macedonia and Macedonians are Greek terms and no one else but the Greeks ever applied them or has the right to apply them. A Macedonian "nation" neither existed ever in the past nor does it exist today. Macedonians were Greeks, they believed in the same gods, they used the same tongue - Greek, and they shared with other Greeks the same sacred vows to the gods.

The historical and the political fraud of the Skopjans is revealed in at least four ways:

I. Historical Background

A. The Slavs arrived in the Balkans during the 6th Century, A.D. This is a historical fact which is also admitted by Skopje's ex-Nazi, former Communist and Tito proteg?, and now new super-nationalist President Kiro Gligorov (David Binder, The New York Times, January 30, 1992 & Marlise Simons, The ?ew York Times, February 3, 1992).

In the 9th Century, two Greek brothers and monks, Methodius and Cyril (Methodios and Kyrillos) illuminated them on Orthodoxy and taught them their Slavic language. Cyril is credited with inventing the Cyrillic alphabet, thereby providing a tool for the Slavs to learn to write their spoken tongue. Accordingly, the Slavs cannot and do not have any historical bond before the 6th Century, A.D,, nor any political bond prior to the 9th Century. The Macedonians existed in Greece over three millennia before.

B. In 1913 the borders between Greece and Serbia were defined on the basis of the advances of the armies of the two nations during the first Balkan war.

The borders between Greece and Bulgaria were defined at the Treaty of Bucharest. Since then the borders of the three nations have remained the same.

Macedonia, a region mostly of Greece since ancient times, was divided into three - perhaps even four - parts, with Greece keeping the largest portion of almost 55%. Yugoslavia received about 30%, Bulgaria almost 15%, and a small percentage eventually ended up in Albania. The Greek people on the portion of the Macedonian part in Greece have been there from the very beginning, over thirty -five or more centuries before the Slavs arrived. The language spoken in the Greek region is Greek - from ancient tines, whereas the language of the Yugoslavia portion is a Slavic dialect of Bulgarian (Marlise Simons, The New York Times, February 3, 1992). As a matter of fact, the portion of Macedonia in Yugoslavia "...was part of the Eastern Branch of the Roman Empire. The people who ruled over Serbia spoke Greek. Constantinople was their headquarters. Their main trade was to the South and East" (Joseph C. Harsch, The Christian Science Monitor, January 29, 1992). Hence, where do the Skopjans come from? If, as the historical record clearly indicates, and Mr. Gligorov agrees, that the Slavs came to the northern Macedonia area in the 6th Century, A.D., they are Slavs and, therefore, not Macedonians, who were Greeks. If, on the other hand, they had been there before, from the time of Alexander and earlier - which they were not, both by historical chronicles and by their own acceptance - then they are Greeks, since Alexander himself acknowledged his Hellenic birth and the times before him stand proof positive of their Greekness!

As all the ancient Greek city-states ceased to exist with the prevalence of the Romans in 168, B.C., so did Macedonia. Since then, Macedonia, like all the other Greek regions, has remained a geographical area.

During the centuries of Turkish rule, the occupied lands were divided into localities, each identified after the major city of the area. This was due to Turkish forbiddance of Greek or historical names. Thusly, writers, freedom fighters, and others became known as Righas Ferraios, Veniamin of Lesvos, Constantine Dosios Macedonian, Christopher Perraivos of Thessaly, Dominic Theotokopoulos as El Greco, and organizations as Macedonian Educational Association of Serres, Macedonian Association Alexander the Great, etc.

The portions of ancient Macedonia which were inhabited primarily by Greeks but were captured by the Serbs and the Bulgarians, eventually were incorporated into Serbia and Bulgaria respectively. The portion which was freed by the Greek army is today's "Greek" Macedonia. All the world's maps published between 1913 and 1944 refer to Macedonia only as Greek, for all knew and recognized Macedonia as part of Greece.

After 1944, the Communists manufactured a Macedonia in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, and sustained their argument in the division perpetrated by the Romans for their own security in their time. During the reign of Philip II, the Greek city-state of Macedonia contained most of modern-day Bulgaria. However, when the Bulgarians conquered that territory they incorporated it into the Bulgarian nation.

C. In 1919 Serbia incorporated Croatia and Slovenia in establishing the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, known as "Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaka." If a "Macedonian nation" existed, then it would have been the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Macedonians. The Kingdom was dissolved by the Germans in 1941. If, therefore, World War II had not occurred or, if after the War, the Communist Party had not ruled there would not have been a Macedonia issue today.

D. The term "Macedonia" was not- given only to the portion of the area which belonged to ancient Greece but to the entire region, including Skopje, which was not part of ancient Macedonia. Thus, as regional inhabitants, all the Bulgarians and the Greeks in their respective regions, and the Albanians and the Serbs in South Serbia, were called Macedonians - as regional inhabitants. Today, there is a large Albanian minority in this region - perhaps as many as 800,000 - who are protesting in being called Macedonian "citizens" rather than as Macedonians in the regional sense.

The Skopjans are attempting to make an issue out of a Slavo-Bulgarian dialect into a so-called "Macedonian language." There never was a "Macedonian" language. The ancient Macedonians, being Greek, spoke Greek. All their writings - and they are written in stone, literally - attest to the Greekness of their language. As an excuse, the Skopjans are now changing their falsified story to yet another untruth that Alexander the Great had been "Hellenized." This is not the case. Alexander's father, and their predecessors, all carried Creek names and left us their "Greek" language written in stone. For example: Aristotle (Aristotelis) means "excellent ending"; Alexander (Alexandros) means "defending man"; Philip (Philippos) means "admirer of horses.." etc. In fact, the very terms of the inhabitants and of the region itself are Greek: Macedonian (Makedon) means "tall," and Macedonia (Makedonia) means "the land of the tall," including trees, for the Macedonian region is blessed with forests with high trees.

The so-called "Macedonian language" - the really Slavophone dialect - is a mixture of idiomatic expressions derived from Greek, Albanian, Turkish, Slavic, some Latin (remnants of the Romans), and plenty of Bulgarian. The latter influence is the reason that linguists identify it mostly as a "Bulgarian dialect."

History shows how this dialect came about. The region of northern Macedonia, including the rest of South Serbia, was the crossroad of many armies and traders from the Romans to the Turks. The original Greek inhabitants were conquered by the Romans. Then the Slavs moved in during the 6th Century, A.D. The Byzantines who were the next rulers used Greek. The Bulgars, who traded between the area and Byzantium, had enormous influence on the spoken tongue. Finally, the Turkish occupation of nearly five centuries also had considerable influence on the spoken word. In addition, the existence of Greeks, Slavs, Turks, Bulgars, and Albanians cohabiting the area contributed significantly to the development of this "dialect." Consequently, therefore, if the Skopjans wish to call this "dialect" a language - which truly it is not - they must give it a proper local name: Vardarian, Skopjan, Banovinan, or whatever reflects the true identity of the area.

It is also significant to consider the exchange of populations that took place during certain periods. Between 1919 and 1936 there was an exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria. The exchange brought 46,000 Greeks from Bulgaria to Greece, while 96,000 Bulgarians from Greece went to Bulgaria. In addition, the Turks departed from the region of Macedonia left to Greece. On the other hand, Serbia did not exchange populations in South Serbia with Bulgaria. It is for this reason, therefore, that problems have existed between the two nations Serbia and Bulgaria - and one of the reasons that influenced Tito to rename in 1944 South Serbia to the Socialist Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, in order to end Bulgarian expansion aims toward that territory. Incidentally, the exchange of populations during the period was monitored by the League of Nations, after which Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey during the course of the Armenian Genocide by the Turks, who was the first chairman of the Refugee Resettlement Commission of the League of Nations in Greece, wrote in his 1929-published book, I was Sent to Athens:

(a) "Soon after Athens had reached the height of its glory under Pericles in the Fifth Century, B.C., and had started on its decline, the rise of Macedon under Philip carried Greek influence into new regions..." Cp.9); and

"When I crossed into Macedonia I realized that this was the soil from which Philip of Macedon had gone East to conquer Thrace and from which Alexander the Great had carried Greek civilization across Asia Minor, Persia, the Indus river to the gates of Delhi, leaving behind Greek settlements that had colored the life of the Near East for two thousand years..." (p.92).

[For the above, I thank Dr. Van Coufoudakis of Indiana University/Purdue University for making them available to me.]

II. Certain Irrefutable Rudiments of the "Greekness" of the Macedonians

A. The ancient Greeks had placed the habitat of their gods on Mount Olympus, in Macedonia. It would have been totally inconceivable for the Greeks to have placed the habitat of their gods in a non-Greek, "barbarian" territory.

B. The ancient Greeks also placed the habitat of the nine Muses in Osa, another Macedonian mountain, in the province of Pieria.

C. Hesiod, the Greek poet of Boeotia, refers that the Macedonia son of Zeus and Pandora was the forefather of the Macedonian people.

D. The Greek folk hero Herakles (Hercules), son of Zeus, was the head of the Macedonian people.

E. "Macedonia therefore is Greece," wrote Strabo, the Pontus-born Roman-era historian and geographer who lived circa 68, B.C. - 19, A.D.

F. The Macedonians were members of the Council of Delphi, and only Greek states were eligible and accepted for membership.

G. At least ten Macedonians won in as many Olympic Games in which, as it is known, only Greeks could compete.

H. According to Herodotus, the Father of history, the Macedonian king Alexander I (grandfather of Alexander the Great), in registering with the Olympic committee to participate in the games, registered as a descendant of Hercules, son of Zeus.

Three ancient Greek theaters still exist in Macedonia, those of Dion, Philippi, and Vergina. The ancient Greek playwright Euripides wrote the tragedy "Bachaee" in Pella, a play with a Macedonian theme, which premiered in Dion. Euripides died and was buried in Macedonia. It should he noted that in the ancient world only the Greeks had theaters, until the arrival of the Romans who copied the Greeks.

III. Holy Scriptures

A. Old Testament

1. "Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon, after his victory came out of the land of Chitim and crushed Darius, the king of the Persians and the Medes, and reigned in his place after he had already become ruler [king] of Greece" (Maccabees, 1:1.1).

2. "After he [Alexander] fell sick and perceived he was dying, he summoned his most honored officers and companions from his youth, and divided his kingdom while still alive" (Maccabees 1:1.5).

3. "Antiochus...became king in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks" [Seleucids of Macedonia] (Maccabees, 1:1.10).

4. "And the he-goat is the king of Greece [Alexander]; and the great horn between his eyes is the first king. As for his horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four nations shall rise from his nation, but not with his powers: (Daniel, 8:1-22).

Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome from 217 to 222, A.D. wrote a commentary on the text of Daniel's prophesy, which has been preserved in Greek, Iberian and Slavonic (Nicolaos K. Martis, The Falsification_of Macedonian History, P. 61). He wrote: "And the he-goat coming from the west he calls Alexander of Macedon king of the Greeks" (Hippolytus, Commentary on the Prophet Daniel 1, p. 26).

B. New Testament

1. "...they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul...went in...and some of them were persuaded...as did a great many of the devout Greeks..." (Acts, 17:1-4).

2. "many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men" (acts, 17:12).

IV. The "Sun of Vergina"

The 16-pointed star "Sun of Vergina" discovered in recent excavations as the symbol of the royal Macedonian dynasty of ancient Greece, and which is now being claimed as their own by the Skopjans, was widely used in Attica during the classical period, long before its adoption by the Macedonian royal house. The star, identical with the one decorating the larnax discovered in the tomb of Philip II of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great, at Vergina in Northern Greece, has been found as one of the elements of decoration on at least four temples of the classical era, including two on the Acropolis of Athens. The same symbol can also be seen on a 4th Century, B.C. urn on display at the Museum of Naples in Italy. It was found in Carnossa, Italy and depicts s female form inscribed with the word "Hellas" and flanked by the figures of Zeus and Athena. An interesting fact came to light recently regarding the "Sun of Vergina" being adopted as the flag symbol by Skopje. In the late forties, after Tito proclaimed South Serbia "the Socialist Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia," the new "republic" had three symbols from which to select for its new flag - the Albanian eagle, the Bulgarian lion, and the "star [not "sun"] of Vergina" which it finally chose. Since the "star" was not the "sun" that we know today - for it was not excavated until 1977, it was an ordinary sun, half-risen from behind a mountain, surrounded by a wreath centered by a snail five-pointed star, an enormous difference from the "Sun of Vergina" that Professor Manolis Andronicos excavated sixteen years ago.

It is also important to look more deeply into the self-evident falsehoods created by the Skopjians which overturn the main foundations of their communist-inspired and communist-invented myth:

1) They allege that Alexander the Great, his father Philip, and their ancestors were "Macedonian" and not Greek! If this logic were to be accepted as fact, then there were no Greeks then and there are no Greeks now, for Leonidas was Lacaedemonian, Pericles was Attican, Epaminondas was Boeotian, Pyrrhus was Epirotan, Homer was Chian (unless we take the version of the late Turkish President Turgut Ozal who, in his book: Turkey in Europe, wrote that Homer was a Turk, as well as Aristotle), and so on,including Dominic(os) Theotokopoulos who signed his great art as "El Greco." Therefore, according to the Slavic Skopjians revisionist "historians," none of the "Greeks" should be considered "Greeks." This entire distortion of history is refuted, however, by what has been aforementioned, namely: historical documents, myriads of irrefutable rudiments, the Holy Scriptures (including the Koran which refers to Alexander the Great as the king of the Greeks), and archaeological and preserved monuments all written in stone, AND STONES DON"T LIE!

2) Skopje propounds itself as the cradle of Slavic Orthodoxy and connects the Church with the "Macedonians" (not the Greeks) through the Greek monks Methodius and Cyril. This claim is refuted by Pope John Paul's 1990 circular in which he declared the two "Greek" brothers monks "Heavenly protectors of Europe."

3) The Skopjians allege that Samuel was "Macedonian," and that during his reign from 1000 to 1018, A.D. in Achris he founded the "first Macedonian nation." Samuel, however, was Bulgarian. It was for this reason, therefore, that Emperor Basil II, who was descended from the then-reigning Macedonian dynasty, when he was victorious over Samuel's forces was named "Voulgaroktonos" (Bulgar-slayer) and not "Makedonoktonos" (Macedonian-slayer). In addition, an inscription written in an old Bulgarian language, dated 1017, A.D., discovered by a Yugoslavian archaeologist in Montenegro, makes reference that Samuel presented himself to be of Bulgarian ancestry.

4) The Skopjian claim the 1902-03 insurrections as the national Macedonian uprising. This is refuted by the reports of the six foreign consuls, the dispatches of the foreign journalists stationed in the area at the time, and the records of historians all of whom referred to these disturbances as local uprisings of "Bulgarians" known as "komitazes." Dr. Wayne Vucinich, former professor of history at Stanford University and author of Serbia Between East and West, wrote in 1960: "...in 1902, two Bulgarian officers precipitated an uprising in the vicinity of Bitolj...and in August...an insurrection...was suppressed within two months."

Also of significance is the Skopjians' deception of the Vatican in 1986 when they exhibited at the Vatican Museum Greek Byzantine icons as "Macedonian." This was strongly denounced by the Archbishop of Athens, resulting in an immediate Vatican statement (a) not recognizing the Church of Skopje, and that "it was deceived" by the Skopjians. Since then, Pope John Paul has taken several measures against the Skopjians, including his 1989 decision to stop addressing his Christmas and Easter messages also in the so-called "Macedonian" language. This particular action constitutes the most significant Catholic condemnation to the non-existence of a pseudo-Macedonia.

There is also the issue of Greek inscriptions. In all of antiquity, in all of Macedonia, there never was an existence of any inscription of the so-called "Macedonian language," anywhere. This, of course, is clearly evident from the fact that the Slavs of northern Macedonia did not arrive there until the 6th Century, A.D., and their Slavic Bulgarian dialect did not even have a written form until Cyril devised an alphabet for them in the 9th Century. As Dr. Guliano Bonfante, former professor of romance languages at Princeton University, wrote in 1960: "The language now spoken as Macedonian is a Bulgarian dialect. It has no connection with the ancient Macedonian [Greek] except for the fact it is spoken in the same region."

All the historical documents - from Herodotus and Plutach to the Old and New Testaments, and from other historians after the House of Philip Dynasty - have shown nothing other than the Hellenic period of nearly three centuries from Philip, through Alexander the Great, to Alexander's successors. It should be emphasized that it was due to the Macedonians that the Greek language - their own indigenous language - and Greek civilization were spread throughout the known world of the time, and influenced the Old Testament to be translated into Greek and the New Testament to be written in Greek. Furthermore, Greek was the language that was used to transmit Christianity throughout the Greek-speaking world of which Macedonia was an integral part.

An excellent example is Alexandria in Egypt, where the Macedonian Ptolemies established first their rule and then their influence for seven centuries, and where the laboratory sciences (anatomy, astronomy, biology, chemistry [alchemy], geography, mathematics, physics, zoology, etc.) advanced. It was in Alexandria also where the Theological Academy functioned during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, A.D., and where the Greco-Christian civilization laid its early foundations. Through out the period, the Macedonian Ptolemies used nothing but Greek, for they knew no other language since Greek was their native tongue. Thus, the internationalism of Hellenism and the universality of Christianity, which influenced so decisively the Romans, the Byzantines, the Renaissance, and the contemporary world of today, are the results of the works and successes of Alexander the Great and his successors.

It is also necessary to mention the German invasion of Greece on April 6, 1941, during World War II. The attack came from the Bulgarian region against the Greek defense line in Macedonia, and after Turkey abrogated its bilateral defense treaty with Greece, in agreement with Germany, only hours before the German invasion. The battle of Macedonia was fought by the Greeks only and so heroically that it surprised even Hitler himself. In central Macedonia, the fighters were above all Greeks, with few units of Australians, Britons, and New Zealanders. Contrarily, when the Germans entered Skopje - the capital of the then-South Serbia province of Yugoslavia - after only a three-day German military campaign, the German army was received as liberators with thousands of Bulgarian flags flying. As Dr. Vucinich wrote in 1960: "During World War II...the followers of IMRO [Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization]...were supported financially and politically by Fascist Italy, Hungary, Germany, and Bulgaria...At the end of World War II, the control of [northern] Macedonia passed to the Yugoslavian Communist Party, and became a new source of trouble in the Balkans. It was from [Tito's created Socialist Yugoslavian Republic of] Macedonia that Communists organized [their] activity against Greece in 1947 and 1948." The Greek nation paid a very heavy price to defend the homeland: 685,000 homes destroyed, 100,000 of its people killed, and 29,000 of its children abducted into the "Socialist Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia" to be converted for their eventual return to Greece as Communists and separatists.

Last, but certainly not least, there is also the significant "Circular Airgram" (868.014) of 26 December 1944 by then-Secretary of State Edward Stettinius, in immediate response to Tito's pronouncement of a "Macedonian nation," which reads as follows:

"The Department has noted with considerable apprehension increasing propaganda rumors and semi-official statements in favor of an autonomous Macedonia, emanating principally from Bulgaria, but also from Yugoslav Partisan and other sources, with the implication that Greek territory would be included in the projected state.

"This Government considers talk of Macedonian "nation," Macedonian "Fatherland," or Macedonian "national consciousness" to be unjustified demagoguery representing no ethnic or political reality, and sees in its present revival a possible cloak of aggressive intentions against Greece."1

This "Circular" has established America's foreign policy regarding the pseudo-Macedonian issue. Any diversion from that policy would be contrary to America's credibility to its commitment(s). In the final analysis, U.S. recognition of the pseudo state would be tantamount to a Communist victory after the end of the Cold War on an issue that our nation opposed them, during the Cold War.

In conclusion, in view of all the above, it is absurd that after a recorded history of some five millennia the Greeks have to prove to the world all over again that "Macedonia therefore is Greece." The preposterous Skopje theories of the existence of a "Macedonian nation," of a "Macedonian language," and of a "Macedonian minority," are not only contrary to the historical facts, but also offensive not only to the Greeks but also to every civilized human being!

Just a few pointers that need to be addressed.

Kiryllos did not "teach" the Slavs their "language". The Slavic language was already there, but they though then their alphabet which was apllied to their language.

Also, we should be aware that there is a Slav minority in Greece, but they are very small in numbers. But also, many Greeks adopted slavic names and language as well, just like Asia Minor Greeks adopted turskih names and language. There is an area in Skopje called "Karpos", doesnt sound very slavic to me, I wouldnt be surprised if many "slavo mac's" are in fact Greek in origin.

ANYWAYS, JUST THOSE POINTERS, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THE ANCIENT MACEDONIANS WERE GREEKS, BUT IM NOT FOND OF ALEXANDER'S SUCCESS.

Excellent article adelfos.

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To P.T.

Actually you are right on the mark. Racially speaking slavo-macs as well as majority of Bulgarians (and turks from western Turkey) are of mainly eastern-mediternian type (like a big number of people in Greece) which can only be associated with Byzantine Greeks since it corresponds most of their territory perfectly (it exists in Aegean Greece, Aegean and Pontic Turkey, Romanian coast, north black sea coast in regions such as Crimea) and no other source can be associated for this type but Byzantine Greek. One thing is clear slavo-macs and bulgarians are not racially slavic in origin since they are not of neodanubian racial type (as are neither most of southern slavs unlike majority of actual or real balto-slavs such as Polish, Ukrainians, Whiterussians and Russians), nor turkic proto-bulgarian origin since the only racial type that can be associated to some extent with them is so called turanid (mixed mongoliod type while protobulgars were mainly mongoliod like most of original turkics such as huns and avars for example) which exists only in northeastern bulgaria. The dinaric in western Macedonia can be associated with Illyrians while Dinaric in Bulgaria can be associated with Thracians.

Learn about racial composition of Europe
http://www.geocities.com/zakus_1999/Races.html

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From races of Europe about Bulgarians

Bulgaria

The Bulgarians are a composite people, with the following racial elements easily discernible: (a) a medium to tall-statured Atlanto-Mediterranean; a partially blond Neo-Danubian, of typical snub-nosed form; a Nordic; a Dinaric, with the usual Alpine corollary; (e) a brachycephalic central Asiatic Turkish or Tatar form. The basic element is the Atlanto-Mediterranean, which probably goes back to the Neolithic; the Neo-Danubian is probably of both Slavic and Ugrian introduction, although some of it may be older; the Nordic may be of several origins, including Thracian; the Dinaric is simply the result of Bulgarian admixture with local elements in Macedonia; the Turkic is found mostly in eastern Bulgaria, and then among townsmen and shepherds rather than among agriculturalists. Of these varied elements, the first two are the most important, and the first more than the second. The presence of a strongly entrenched Atlanto-Mediterranean population of Neolithic date in all of the lowland Balkans south and east of the Iron Gate is becoming increasingly evident.

http://www.fikas.no/~sprocket/snpa/chapter-XII15.htm

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Also culture of slavo-macs and bulgarians is mainly hellenic and not similar to balto-slavic culture whatsoever.

Even their languages are heavily influenced by Greek language.

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About Bulgarian language

Bulgarian has several traits that make it unique (together with Macedonian) among the Slavic languages. Due to severe Greek language influence it has a definite article that comes after the noun (as do the Scandinavian Germanic languages) - for example, in Bulgarian: zhena (woman) and zhenata (that woman, the woman). Bulgarian lost the case system that existed in Common Slavic, the language from which all Slavic languages descended. In Bulgarian languages, as in English, prepositions have replaced cases as a way of showing the grammatical relationships between different parts of a sentence-for example, in Bulgarian: knigata za zhenata (the book about the woman) and dadoh knigata na zhenata (I gave the book to the woman). All that happened because of longtime Greek influence. But the language, however, have preserved the Common Slavic vocative form.

http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/slav/bulgarian.html

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About slavo-mac language

Moreover, it is very interesting. Like Bulgarian, its closest relative, Macedonian has got a definite article (due to Greek influence) placed at the end of the noun. Macedonian has got a number of features that are unique among the Slavic languages. These features include the loss of cases in nouns, adjectives and pronouns; a suffixed definite article (with three forms in Macedonian, as in the examples knigava, meaning "the book near me"; knigata, meaning "the book"; and knigana, meaning "the book over there"; and a large variety of verb tenses. The verb also has witnessed and nonwitnessed forms. Like Bulgarian and Serbian, Macedonian has a large number of borrowings from the Turkish language and a significant number from the Greek language.


http://indoeuro.bizland.com/tree/slav/macedonian2.html

I wouldn't say that those people are only linked to the Byzantine empire. The Black Sea region was colonized by the ancient Greeks, thus leaving their marks of their helenistic culture. Some examples of those are Pontian Greeks, and the Greeks in N.Russia (before the Pontian Greeks settled, etc..). These are all descendants of the ancient Greeks that intermixed with local populations, thus creating neo-greek races.

I think when the author of the article stated that Cyril "taught them their Slavic language" he meant "written language" rather than spoken language, as the Slavs did of course know how to speak before they were influenced by Byzantine culture. Unfortunately, this point is poorly worded in an inexplicit manner and may make people think that the article claims that the two monks created the Slavic spoken language. (Which is of course a bogus claim.)

As for Greeks living in FYROM, it is possible, but most likely they have been assimilated.

During the Greek Civil War while the Paedomazoma was going on, 28,000 Greek children (some of which who were forcibly abducted by communists and some that were voluntarily sent away by their parents) were sent to various Soviet satellites. Some of the children transported to Yugoslavia were programmed to beleive that they were not Greeks but "Macedonians".

Tito wanted to eventually use them in an attack against Greece. Some of them eventually discovered their Greek roots, but not all. So yes, there are definitely some Slav-Macedonians who have Greek origins.

Why exactly aren't you fond of Alexander the Great's conquests? He did not conquer people to exploit, but to enlighten. He did not see people he conquered as second class citizens but part of a larger brotherhood. In India, even to this day, Alexander the Great is not seen as an enslaver or tyrant but as a revered popular figure (as far as I've heard).

excellent essay. i didn't have enough patience to read every lengthy response. i would like to say that "macedonian" is bulgarian. of couarse there's a mish-mash of other languages but as already stated, it's basically bulgarian.

my sister's godmother was once telling me that a greek pm made "macedonian" forbidden in greece...meaning, the teaching of that "language", so, the northern greeks continued to speak it in their homes and now, most have sided with fyrom. is there anyone who can give me any more information on that issue?

my sister's godmother was once telling me that a greek pm made "macedonian" forbidden in greece...

Well, as far as I know Slav-Macedonians (Skopjians) are not allowed to make organizations under Macedonia unless it has the standard connotation of the world (ie. the historical, Greek, Macedonia as opposed to the fictional creation of Tito) but this may apply to other ethnic groups as well.

Slav-Macedonian (to my knowledge) is not allowed to be taught under the term "Macedonian" however it is allowed to be taught under any other name (like Skopjian, I'm guessing).

But keep in mind that my information on this particular topic was NOT from a reliable source so I may be COMPLETELY WRONG about what I just wrote. (Basically meaning that you should take whatever I just wrote above very lightly.)

I know that Metaxas banned the Bulgarian language from being spoken in Greece. Tito had not yet created "Macedonian" so that was never banned during that period (as it never existed then).

meaning, the teaching of that "language", so, the northern greeks continued to speak it in their homes and now, most have sided with fyrom. is there anyone who can give me any more information on that issue?

There's no way northern Greeks side with FYROM. I think they are the most vehemently opposed to FYROM in all of Greece (since they live in Macedonia and it is very personal for them when their national and regional history is attacked).

I am pretty sure that clear majority of northern Greeks are proud of their Greek heritage. Even if the ancient Macedonians (Greeks) were not Greeks to begin with, then they absolutely nothing toi do with slavic population, and would be closer linked to ethnic Greeks. With that in mind, I think that many Skopians forget that many Ionian Greeks created colonies in S. Macedonia as well, so how can they lay claims that they were of Slav stock?

In response to Plutonas, I am not fond of Alexander for one reason: He murdered many Greeks as he rose to power. Two examples of these;

One example was the levelling of Thebes (Thessalia). They murdered all the men and sold the women and children to slavery except for the house of Pindar, Alexander's favorite poet (see Plutarch's "Alexander").

Another example was the leveling of Ionia b/c he named them as being "traitors" for siding with the Persians,
even though they had no choice b/c the Persians already destryed Miletus as a warning to stop an Ioanian greek revolt against Persian rule.

and did he not also murder his father in cahoots with his mother to get the throne?

this may cause a stir, but i really don't know why Greeks in general worship Alexander quite so much as a hero. Don't misunderstand - I have no desire to turn his history over to the slavs, but I'm just curious -is it because for the most part the ancients were not war-mongeres and Alexander was one of the few to perform imperialistic acts on behalf of Greece? Isn't what he did to others exactly what happened to us under the Ottomans? Just wondering...

If you were to choose between Alexander and say the playwrights (sophocles, aeschylus and euripides) or the philosopahers (Plato, Aristotle, Socrates) - who do you think really represents the glory of ancient Greece best?

The Macedonian question is too big for me to answer now. I'll do it when I have time. There were some people of Slavic origin in Greece who where talking a dialect they called "Makedonitika" since it was only spoken there. They DIDN'T mean they were the only Macedonians but that it was spoken ONLY in Macedonia.

Lianis of P.A.S.O.K. from Florina,said once that his grandmother was talking in that dialect oo, and I have a friend who has Greek relatives who use this dialect also. After the nationalistic noises started from Yukoslavia, Greece, once again panicked and the use of that dialect was forbiden.

People who talked that dialect felt for this and other reasons threatened and left for what is now F.Y.R.O.M. These are the ones who say that are Greeks etc. Plz let's not get into the civil-war time accusations of who did what to whom 'cause it's over and done with.

Personally I believe that the Paidomazoma story is bull (I'm not saying that an occurence or two may not have happened but that it wasn't the communists' plan or anything like that).

As for Alexander the Great. Personally I prefer Eyripides in particular much much more . The story about his father's death is not clear. Many say that he didn't kill or plan to kill him.

There are many reasons for his adoration. One of the most important worlwide is that he paved the way for Christianity by giving the world the first "international" language, Greek.

That's why the gospels were written in Greek and not aramaic or sth and why it was so easy for the new religion to expand (latin was quite common too but, esp in the Eastern regions of the Roman Empire Greek remained the "international" language for at least the common people)

Plz let's not get into the civil-war time accusations of who did what to whom 'cause it's over and done with. Personally I believe that the Paidomazoma story is bull (I'm not saying that an occurence or two may not have happened but that it wasn't the communists' plan or anything like that).

Actually the Paedomazoma was well documented by Greek and international sources. The United Nations which gives a number of approximately 28,000 children either forcefully abducted or voluntarily given away by their parents to communists.

The plethora of evidence proving the reality of this horrific event is unrefutable. If you ever get the chance you should read "A Child's Grief A Nation's Lament: A Modern Greek Tragedy, 1946-1949" by Panayiotis Diamadis, et al. The book only uses neutral and impartial sources to prove its claims beyond any doubt.

Unfortunately, the book is currently out of print (the only way I was able to read it myself is because I had the author sent me a faxed copy).

Hmmmmmmmm I have to check on that.

Do you know where I can find this report?

It is extremely interesting

UNSCOB (United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans) was the organization that monitored the abductions and started investigating Greece's allegations after February 1948. The United Nations keeps an archive of all its documents, you can request to research (or buy photocopied pages) the relavant volume by going to

http://www.un.org/Depts/archives/index.html

You're looking for: "United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans. Records, 1948-1952" You can find info on the volume (and other archived info) at:

http://www.un.org/Depts/archives/datarecs.html

However, this is impractical since the Archives are in New York (you'll have to fly there if you want to see them) so the best bet is to try to find the book I told you about, as it excerpts them on many occassions. Since the book is out-of-print, it will be hard finding it, but if you want I can private message you the bibliographic info as well as the publishing houses's business address.

I'm also told by the author that he hopes to see a second, expanded version of the book in the future.

after chinese the largest nation in the world; altogether around 250.000.000 I believe. Despite a difference inbetween our languages that came with a long history of intermarriages and contacts with other nations we are still able to understand each other if we speak our tribal language (tribal - reflects on different tribes such as Russians, Checks, Polacks, Serbs, Bulgarians etc.) Even Germans have troubleshooting in understanding themselves towards to a region where they r from because of varietatis in their own dialects.
Nevertheless, language spoken by Macedonian Slavs or what would u call a Skopjans is not a mish-mash bulgarian language; it is just a south slavic dialect much closer to Serbo-Croatian than to Bulgarian.

Love to everybody

Could you please kindly inform what brought you to the conclusion that the so-called Macedonian language is closer to the Serbo-Croatian than to Bulgarian?

first we are much closer to each other than bulgarians, second we have lived in the same state for while and third it is just one of the languages that south slavs use so as I've tried to explain, differences in Serb, Croatian and language of Macedonian slavs are not that big...

What do you think? That would come here with your childish understandings and try to make us believe that you have a mere grasp of the Bulgarian history in Macedonia?


First,there WAS A HISTORY BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE KINGODM OF THE SOUTH SLAVS. To begin with Kuber,move to Tsar Samuil, otets Paisij, the Miladinov brothers, go over the Bulgarian revolutionary resistance against the Servian occupiers and Servian propaganda, the participation of Bulgarian volunteers en masse from Macedonia against the Servians during the Balkan Wars, VMRO, the murder of Alexander in Marseilles and end up with the politicial trials pursed against the socially active Bulgarian community in Vardarska banovina.

Go play the old Yugoslav song somewhere else.

The period from 1944 to 1991 could not alter significantly the Bulgarian character of the 1944-codified 'Macedonian language'.It still contains a number of proto-Bulgar words,it still lacks the grammar cases,it is still marked by a wider variety of witnessed and non-witnessed tenses than the rest of the Slavic linguistic family.

All these attiributes prove the scientifically attested Bulgarian nature of the nonexistent Macedonian language.

The hilarious cyrillics they utilise gives the unexpecting reader the misleading impression of closeness to Servian, but this is where the exclusevely graphic similarities end.

I hope you feel the love...

Hey Plutonas, I'm interested in the book you mentioned above entitled "A Child's Grief A Nation's Lament: A Modern Greek Tragedy, 1946-1949" by Panayiotis Diamadis, et al. Even though it's out of print as you say, is there any way to obtain this book? Please help! Thanks.