Where did we lose our country? - Introduction
By Risto Stefov
January 23, 2011
Ksantika, one of my readers wrote:
Dear Risto,
I don’t want to pull you away from your current writing, you have done a lot for the Macedonian cause, but I do want to suggest to you something more. The most painful segment of Macedonia’s history has been “the loss of our country and our sovereignty, a fate which we all have to live with to this day”. “Where did we go wrong?”
I also would like you and your readers to have a look at my blog and videos found at this link:
http://forum.kajgana.com/showthread...-извори-за-Македонците!&p=4006692#post4006692
Regards, Ksantika
Dear Ksantika,
I know I haven’t written much about this because it has been a struggle for me as well for several reasons. For starters, there has always been a Macedonia since ancient times, recreating it as a modern state should not have been a difficult task. So why did it not happen?
The Macedonian people were not only aware of the name Macedonia but have always had an historic connection to it. Macedonia and its past glory have always existed and will continue to exist in the narrative of the Macedonian people. Also, the Macedonian people, unlike any of the other people in the Balkans, were a nation with a large majority having a well developed Macedonian national consciousness before they had a country. Looking at this from another angle, there are many reasons why the Macedonian people should have had their own country a long time ago. Yet it did not happen! Why not? And you are right, as long as this subject remains a mystery, our history will be incomplete. And worse, as long as we are not aware of our past mistakes, we are bound to repeat them!
So as a nation of people where did we go wrong and what could we have done differently to change the outcome?
Before I get to the details of examining the historic crossroads that faced our ancestors in their quest to free themselves and to create their own country, I would like to make a few comments about where I see us standing today.
One of the mistakes we are making today is that, instead of having our own strategy, we seem to be reacting to “issues”, real or perceived, brought to us by others.
For example, we seem to be comfortable with the idea of calling some of our Macedonian territories a “Greek province” because others called it that. We know very well how Greece obtained those Macedonian territories but so far we have not made any effort to reveal that fact, either officially or publicly.
Instead of agreeing that these Macedonian territories are a “Greek province ‘also’ called Macedonia” because others call them that, we should have our own strategy and should be calling them officially and publicly “Greek occupied Macedonia” because no matter how we look at it, from our point of view, that is exactly what they are!
By not objecting to the fact that others, including Greece, recognize an illegitimate “Greek province ‘also’ called Macedonia” we give credence and support not only to Greece occupying these Macedonian territories but also the right of Greece to challenge the legitimacy of the Republic of Macedonia.
Let us take a few historic steps backwards and examine what “really” happened in the years following the dawn of the 20th century. Let us publicly and officially show the world “how and when Macedonia became Greek”.
Have we forgotten how Greece came to possess the so-called “Greek province ‘also’ called Macedonia”? Isn’t that the same Macedonian territory that was illegally invaded, occupied and partitioned by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria during the two Balkan Wars of 1912, 1913? Isn’t that the 51% of Macedonia that was awarded to Greece by the Great Powers by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest? Isn’t that the very same Macedonia that our Macedonian ancestors fought to liberate in 1903, only ten years before the Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians brutally snatched it right out of our hands? Why have we not made these facts officially and publicly known?
The fact is that the so-called “Greek province ‘also’ called Macedonia” belongs to the Macedonian people and not to Greece. Greece’s legitimacy to the possession of these lands should have been challenged the moment Greece declared that “Macedonia was Greek” and when Greece officially and publicly, through every medium, announced to the world that the Republic of Macedonia had “territorial pretensions” against a Greek territory also called Macedonia. Right then and there Greece had the door wide open for things to be sorted out, with historical facts, as to whom Macedonia belongs! But instead of explaining to the world how “Macedonia became Greek”, in spite of the Ilinden 1903 Uprising, the Macedonian side decided to back down, allowing Greece to not only keep the Macedonian territories it illegally annexed in 1913 but gave Greece the go ahead to challenge the legitimacy of the Republic of Macedonia! The Macedonian government even made changes to the Macedonian constitution declaring that it does not have “territorial pretensions” towards its own peoples’ territories. And we the Macedonian people accepted all that without question and without a single note of protest! And today we wonder why Greece is interfering in our affairs and demanding that we change the God given name of our fatherland? Do we not see what is happening here?
Even if we did not have the power to do anything about reclaiming our Macedonian territories when Greece opened that door for us, we could have at least officially and publicly, for the record, told our side of the story. We owed it to those who fought, spilled their blood and died to free Macedonia so that we could have a better future! But we didn’t even do that!
Today many Macedonians stand against the so-called “name negotiations” between Macedonia and Greece with good reason. But the authorities in Skopje continue to knuckle down to Greek and external demands to continue to negotiate, risking not only what our ancestors fought for and lost in the past but what we already hold in our hands; the future of the entire Macedonian nation! This mistake can be easily remedied by the Macedonian side pulling away from these so-called “name negotiations”!
When Greeks made the claim that the “Modern Greeks are the descendents of the ancient Greeks” and at the same time made adamant claims that “Macedonians do not exist” they not only opened the door for debate but gave the Macedonian side the perfect opportunity to challenge the Greeks on both claims!
When the Greeks said “Macedonians do not exist” we should have reacted with a counter claim saying that “the Modern Greeks are not the descendents of the ancient Greeks” and here is why! Those who today call themselves “Greeks” did not exist as “Greeks” before the Greek state was artificially created by the Philhellenes in the early 1800’s. In fact it is more accurate to call these people “Albanians’, “Vlachs”, “Latins”, “Turks”, “Macedonians” and so on than to call them “Greeks, descendents of the ancient Greeks”.
Unlike the Macedonians who were a nation before they had a country, there was no “Greek nation” before there was a Greek state. In other words, the Greek nation was artificially constructed to fit the country that was created for it by the Philhellenes. The people that made up the so-called “Greek nation” were assimilated Albanians, Vlachs, Turks, Macedonians and others who happened to live in that region. Therefore it is more accurate to say that the “Modern Greeks” are the descendents of the 19th century Albanians, Vlachs, Turks and 20th century Macedonians than it is to say that they are the descendents of the ancient Greeks from 2,600 years ago!
Why haven’t we uncovered these “historical facts” with dates, names and places that prove that the majority of “Modern Greeks” today are not only the descendents of Albanians and Vlachs, but that their ancestors were not even indigenous to Greece. Why haven’t we shown the world that most of today’s Modern Greeks are the descendents of Albanian and Vlach immigrants who colonized the southern part of Greece between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. These are not myths but historical facts readily available to everyone. What has the Macedonian side done officially and publicly to prove that it is the “Greeks” who do not exist and are not who they claim to be: not the Macedonians? So far they have done nothing!
Even though it can easily be proven that the Modern Greeks of today are not the descendents of the ancient Greeks, no Macedonian in authority, to this day, has challenged that assertion. Even in view of the fact that Greeks have officially denied the existence of the Macedonians, for many decades now, the Macedonian side has done nothing to challenge the Greeks. Are we incapable or do we simply not care?
By denying our existence Greece has opened the doors and has given us a chance to challenge it once and for all about its own existence. Yet no Macedonian in authority has accepted that challenge! Why not?
I believe that all of our current problems stem from our inability to stand up to Greece and to all those who deny our name, our human rights and our right to exist!
It is our country and our identity that is at stake here and we cannot afford to enter into negotiations and accept deals that are harmful to us and to our future.
It should be obvious to everyone by now that no matter how much we “compromise”, it will never be enough to please Greece. Historically we were forced to compromise when Macedonia was invaded, occupied and partitioned against our wishes in 1912, 1913. We were forced to compromise when our new occupiers took our lands, exiled, or assimilated us and erased our identity and language. We were forced to compromise when our names were changed and we were given Greek names against our will. We were forced to compromise when colonists were settled on our lands against our wishes. We were given no choice when we were forced to accept all these compromises. But today we have a choice and our choice must be “no more compromises”.
How many people in the world do you think know of the many “compromises” Macedonians were forced to make in the past? I would bet that not many know! Why is that?
How many Macedonians do you think know of our past “compromises”, that we as a people were forced to make? Here too I would hazard to guess that not too many know! Why is that?
Many painful “compromises” have already been made and still our neighbours to the south are not “pleased”! So ask yourselves “how many more compromises must we make to satisfy the Greeks?”
Take it from me; the only thing that will satisfy the Greeks is to see us become extinct! If nothing but our extinction can satisfy the Greeks, why then are we “negotiating” with them? Why then are we giving them the time of day?
We are in the right, yet we act as if we are in the wrong! Why is that?
Perhaps it was not the right time to stand up to our enemies, as so many of you have reminded me in the past, but then when is the right time? And what will our enemies do if we truly stand up to them and officially and publicly tell our side of the story, the way we experienced it? Will they hate us any more? Can they do us any more harm than wish for our extinction? What more harm can they do to us? Start a war: like the one Milosevic waged in Yugoslavia? If that were possible Greece would have already done it!
Is it not obvious to everyone what the Greeks are doing? They want us to disappear from the face of the earth. That will solve many of their problems but they can no longer do it by force so they are attempting to do by bribes and blackmail. Why are we letting them? In fact why are we letting them lead us and run us around in circles? It is up to us to say “NO” to “negotiating” with them, especially about the name of our fatherland”! It is up to us to say “NO MORE COMPROMISES”! It is within our right to say “NO”!
In fact, it is our duty to take a step even further and bring these people to justice! The least we can do is officially and publicly let the world know what they have done to us. Let the world know of the past compromises they already forced us to make and demand an end to any further “compromises”!
To be continued.
