The Republic of Macedonia - History
Posted on Mon 13th Jul 2015 at 14:35
The Republic of Macedonia is a wonderful place to explore as a tourist. Stobi vineyards have been home to ancient shrines for many centuries and the cellars used to mature the wine is surrounded by the remnants of the archaeological site.To help you enjoy the wines you drink, and hopefully encourage you to one day visit, we’ve put together a quick guide to Macedonia’s history.HistoryThe country is named after the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, which in turn was named after its people, the Macedonians. The word
he Republic of Macedonia is a wonderful place to explore as a tourist. Stobi vineyards have been home to ancient shrines for many centuries and the cellars used to mature the wine is surrounded by the remnants of the archaeological site. To help you enjoy the wines you drink, and hopefully encourage you to one day visit, we’ve put together a quick guide to Macedonia’s history. History The country is named after the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia, which in turn was named after its people, the Macedonians. The word derives from the Greek for tall, suggesting that this was how the other Greeks described the lanky inhabitants of this region! As you can imagine, there was some dispute between the two Macedonian regions as to who was allowed to use the name and, given that both still exist today, there is still widespread confusion. The Republic of Macedonia, as it is now officially called, is located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It came into being in 1991, when it declared independence from the former Yugoslavia. It’s bordered by Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece (it takes up a third of the overall region of Macedonia, shared by Greece and Bulgaria) and Albania.
As you can tell from the ancient ruins at Stobi, the region has a strong Roman and Greek history. Parts of it were incorporated into the Kingdom of Macedon in 356BC by Phillip II, but it was not until his son, Alexander the Great, conquered the rest of the region that all the area was united. The region was later transformed into the Province of Macedonia under Roman rule, which occurred around 146BC. As a consequence, most of the inhabitants from this point on would have grown up speaking both Latin and Greek. Fast forward a few centuries, and the Slavic people began to settle in the Balkan region – which included Macedonia. As a result, the neighbouring Bulgars wrested control of the region away from the ruling Byzantines and proceeded to dominate the area for centuries, introducing Christianity in the 9th century. In 1014, however, the Byzantine Empire struck back, taking over rule until around the 13th century – when the Bulgarians again gained control. After domination of the kingdom had switched back again once more, the Serbians and finally the Ottoman Empire had a go at ruling the troubled Balkan region. The Ottomans, fortunately for the purposes of concision, remained in control for around five centuries. Movement towards an independent Macedonia began to arise in the late 19th century, with various revolutionary organisations springing up across the still Ottoman-controlled territory.
The most famous of these is perhaps the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, which organised an uprising against the Ottomans in 1903. Although the uprising was quashed, with many lives lost, the events are considered a crucial cornerstone in forming the Macedonian Republic. Following the two Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913, and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkan territories were divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. Macedonia was given to Serbia, which itself became part of Yugoslavia after the first World War. There was still a great belief in creating an independent Macedonia amongst the populace, however, and between the first and second World Wars the socialist organisation Comintern even made explicit provisions for recognising a separate Macedonian nation and language. During the Second World War Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis powers, but this did not prevent changes happening within the region. In 1944 the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia proclaimed the People's Republic of Macedonia as part of the People's Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and remained an acting government until the end of the war. During this period the Macedonian alphabet was cemented by linguists, and the new republic became one of the six making up the Yugoslav federation. In 1991 Macedonia peacefully ceded from Yugoslavia, with 8 September now commemorated as Independence Day because on this day the referendum on independence took place. Although the country was destabilised during the Kosovo war, when 360,000 Albanian refugees flooded in, it is now a peaceful and flourishing country that is on the waiting list to join the UN.