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Antiquization ( mk, антиквизација), otherwise known as ancient Macedonism ( mk, links=no, антички македонизам), is a term used mainly to critically describe the identity policies conducted by the
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
VMRO-DPMNE Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity ( mk, Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за ...
-led governments of
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
in the period between 2006 and 2017. In the contemporary Macedonian discourse, antiquization refers to the identitarian policies based on the assumption that there is a direct link between today's
ethnic Macedonians Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identif ...
and
Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...
.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 13. The politics of the
ex-Yugoslav The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
era therefore not only embrace the revival of the ancient heritage of the Ancient Macedonians, including the heritage of Philip II and his son
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
, but also seek to depict a coherent continuity of history and descendancy from the ancient
Kingdom of Macedon Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
until the modern
Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
in order to prove the uninterrupted existence of the contemporary Macedonians. Criticized as
pseudohistoric Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudohist ...
, this idea remains widespread in North Macedonia despite the fact that there is no evidence for the alleged ethnic continuum.


Definition of 'antiquization'

The expression “antiquization” originates from the history of arts and describes "the Renaissance practice of giving a city the appearance of ancient Rome or Athens through the introduction of structures organized in the classical mode". Critics use the term "antiquization" in order to reveal "a state-framed set of actions such as direct interventions in the public space and in the public sphere of society in general".


Narrative referred to as 'antiquization'

The narrative promoted by VMRO-DPMNE goes back to the ancient Kingdom of Macedon, continues with personalities from
early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
, distinguished historical figures who were born in or ruled in or around
Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
and also embraces a group of freedom fighters who struggled for Macedonian independence.Muhić, Maja; Takovski, Aleksandar (2014): Redefining National Identity in Macedonia. Analyzing Competing Origins Myths and Interpretations through Hegemonic Representations. In ''Etnološka tribina'' 44 (37), p 141. In ancient times
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
was the first who united the
Greek city-states ''Polis'' (, ; grc-gre, πόλις, ), plural ''poleis'' (, , ), literally means "city" in Greek. In Ancient Greece, it originally referred to an administrative and religious city center, as distinct from the rest of the city. Later, it also ...
and created the basis for the
empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
which, later on, was expanded by his son, Alexander III of Macedon, also known as
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. Alexander's empire is regarded as being important for the spread of
Hellenistic culture In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
, arts and sciences in much of the
Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...
. Modern scholarly discourse has produced several hypotheses about the Macedonians' place within the Greek world, about whether the
Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...
were
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
and whether the Ancient Macedonian language was a form of the
Greek language Greek ( el, label=Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southern Al ...
or related to it. In parts of the available ancient literature they are described as a Greek tribe, in others the Ancient Macedonians were regarded as
barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...
s by the Athenians, and who were gradually
Hellenized Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...
. But what the general consensus does agree on is that Philip II was the one who united most of the Greek states, and his son Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world, all the way to
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In the narrative brought forward by the VMRO-DPMNE, Alexander the Great was clearly not a Greek. According to this version of history, most of the cultural achievements which are perceived as being of Greek origin by historians and laypersons around the world are actually ethnic Macedonian achievements. Therefore, in the view of some, Hellenism’s true name would actually be ''Macedonianism''. The Republic of North Macedonia would thus be the owner of great cultural heritage, which always had been denied by the world. And as the then
Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia } The prime minister of North Macedonia ( mk, Премиер на Северна Македонија, al, Kryeministri i Maqedonisë së Veriut), officially the President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Претсед ...
Nikola Gruevski Nikola Gruevski ( mk, Никола Груевски, pronounced ; hu, Nikola Gruevszki; born 31 August 1970) is a Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Mac ...
put it, it can finally present its true history that has been silenced for so long. North Macedonia, in this view, is seen as the cradle of European civilization.Kubiena, Michael (2012): Skopje 2014-Musealizing the City, Re-inventing History? In ''The Western Balkans Policy Review'' 2 (1), p. 88. In the contemporary Macedonian narrative, modern Macedonians concede that they speak the
Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...
, a southern Slavic language. It is the general consensus in historical sciences that Slavic people immigrated into the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and the region of Macedonia around the 6th century. From a nationalist Macedonian perspective, the Slavic people assimilated to the
autochthonous population Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
, who were direct descendants of the
Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...
, and intermingled with other local groups - but not the other way around. Rather than solely claiming Slavic descent, they claim that they are descendants from several local groups, one of which were the Ancient Macedonians. Similar conflicts or diverging perspectives on the true course of history emerged around heroic Slavic-speaking figures from the geographic region Macedonia who fought against the rule of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, such as
Dame Gruev Damyan Yovanov Gruev (,The first names can also be transliterated as ''Damjan Jovanov'', after Bulgarian Дамян Йованов Груев and Macedonian Дамјан Јованов Груев. The last name is also sometimes rendered as ''Gr ...
and
Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/Macedonian language, Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев ...
. However, whether or not these figures desired an independent Macedonia free from neighboring rule, or to liberate Macedonia and unite it with Bulgaria to form a
Greater Bulgaria Bulgarian irredentism is a term to identify the territory associated with a historical national state and a modern Bulgarian irredentist nationalist movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, which would include most of Macedonia, Thrace and ...
, is still very much disputed to this day. Similarly to
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and other Balkan states see North Macedonia presenting, as Macedonian, heroes whom Greece and Bulgaria claim to be Greek or Bulgarian respectively.Georgievski, Boris (2009): Ghosts of the Past Endanger Macedonia's Future: Balkan Insight. BalkanInsight. Available online at http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ghosts-of-the-past-endanger-macedonia-s-future, checked on 3/12/2015. In the modern Macedonian narrative, these people evidently fought for an independent Macedonian state with a Macedonian nation and identity that is clearly distinct from the Slavic Bulgarian identity. In this narrative there is little space for the impact of more than five hundred years of Ottoman rule and 63 years of Yugoslav rule in the region.


Examples of 'antiquization'

Strongly promoted by VMRO-DPMNE politicians, the recollection of Macedonia's heroic past is supported by (pseudo-) scientists, media and civil society efforts. Some historians emphasize the before-mentioned historical continuity;Vangeli, 2011: 20: “For instance, the newest official “History of the Macedonian People” published by the Institute for National History in 2009, argues that during the interaction of the immigrant Slavs and the native Ancient Macedonians, the ancient features prevailed and defined the development of the region (Ĉepreganov et al.). This resembles a major revision of the Institute’s position, which since its foundation, had argued that after the Great Migration, Slavs imposed their culture in the new lands, thus Macedonian culture was Slavic. Mitko Panov, the major author of the chapters on ancient and medieval history, has published a series of articles (“Antiĉkite Makedonci”; “Vizantiskiot kontinuitet”) stating that Ancient Macedonians “kept on existing as a people, preserving its ethnic hallmarks and traditions” even in the period of the Great Migration, which influenced the “self-identification” of the immigrant Slavs, even the whole Byzantine culture. He has argued that the political “tendency of the historiography in SFRY based (. . .) on the relations between Belgrade and Athens” has produced ignorance towards the obvious continuity of Ancient Macedonians (Panov, “Antiĉkite Makedonci”)”. archaeologists and linguists present spurious evidence for the resemblance of the language of the ancient Macedonians – a Hellenic language – and the modern Macedonian – a south Slavic language; genealogists offer the alleged scientific proof of the similarity of the DNA of ancient Macedonians and the DNA of the modern Macedonians,Vangeli, 2011: 20: “Particularly valuable has been the survey by the Swiss project iGenea whose findings were interpreted to prove that “Macedonians have more ancient Macedonian blood” than Greeks, which, on the other hand, have sub-Saharan origin (Aleksovska). While the survey has stirred very positive public reactions, officials have not used it as part of the antiquization process.” whereas their neighboring Greeks have to accept that a blood relationship with the ancient Macedonians cannot be testified.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), p. 31. The extensive cultural politics described by “antiquization” not only describe an identitarian narrative promoted by VMRO-DPMNE. It also supports this narrative with the renaming of important public places, the staging of public events, architectural projects and interference in public education. The former City Stadium was renamed “
Philip II Arena Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
”. The
Skopje International Airport Skopje International Airport ( mk, Меѓународен аеродром Скопје, translit=Megjunaroden aerodrom Skopje, ), also known as Skopje Airport ( mk, Аеродром Скопје, translit=Aerodrom Skopje), and Petrovec Airport ...
was called “Alexander the Great”, just as one of the main motorways, which is part of the pan-European Corridor Nr. 10. A central square in Skopje bears the name “Pella Square” named after
Pella Pella ( el, Πέλλα) is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It is best-known for serving as the capital city of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and was the birthplace of Alexander the Great. On site of the ancient cit ...
, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedon.Gromes, Thorsten (2012): Ohne Staat und Nation ist keine Demokratie zu machen. Bosnien und Herzegowina, Kosovo und Makedonien nach den Bürgerkriegen. 1. Aufl. Baden-Baden: Nomos (Studien der Hessischen Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 17) p. 163.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), pp. 18ff. Moreover, traces of so-called “antiquization” can even be found in history schoolbooks. The most explicit, Macedonia's new politics of history become visible in Europe's currently most ambitious urban development project “
Skopje 2014 Skopje 2014 ( mk, Скопје 2014) was a project financed by the Macedonian government of the then-ruling nationalist party VMRO-DPMNE, with the official purpose of giving the capital Skopje a more classical appeal. The project, officially anno ...
”. The numerous statues which represent supposed Macedonian heroes, the newly erected
triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...
Porta Makedonija, the lately constructed buildings for cultural and governmental purposes in neo-Baroque and
Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
, the renewed facades of old socialist blocks, the new and the recently redesigned bridges: It all gives the impression of a manifestation of the Macedonian identity politics being carved in stone.Koteska, Jasna (2011): Troubles with History: Skopje 2014. Available online at http://www.artmargins.com/index.php/2-articles/655-troubles-with-history-skopje-2014 , checked on 3/12/2015.Muhić, Maja; Takovski, Aleksandar (2014): Redefining National Identity in Macedonia. Analyzing Competing Origins Myths and Interpretations through Hegemonic Representations. In ''Etnološka tribina'' 44 (37), pp. 142ff. The figures displayed in the project range from
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
,
Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...
(Emperor of the Roman
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
), and Christian missionaries of the 1st millennium to revolutionary characters of the late 19th and early 20th century. According to Valentina Bozinovska, chair woman of the state commission for relations with religious communities, " ..the Skopje 2014 project is a statement of all that we have had from the ancient period until today. For the first time we have a chance to create a tangible manifestation of Macedonian identity. ..Civilization practically started here". The sum paid by the project's main investor VMRO-DPMNE, range, depending on the source, from 80 to 200 million
Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s. Some critics even predict a total sum up to 500 million Euros. In addition, new traditions are being (re-)invented in the way that Ancient Macedonian holidays are added or existing holidays expanded with Ancient Macedonian features and/or new ceremonies. Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), pp. 19ff. Another example fitting into the antiquization narrative is based on an ethnological study in the
Hunza Valley The Hunza Valley ( bsk, , Wakhi: '; ur, ) is a mountainous valley in the northern part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, formed by the Hunza River, bordering Ishkoman to the northwest, Shigar to the southeast, Afghanistan's Wa ...
of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, situated in the Pakistani part of the
Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
. The study revealed that people of the Burusho tribe maintain the legend of being descendants of soldiers of the army of Alexander the Great, and therefore regard North Macedonia as their homeland. As a consequence, in 2008 a delegation of the Hunza royal family visited the Republic of Macedonia and was “welcomed home” by the Prime Minister, the Archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Mayor of Skopje and a flag-waving crowd. Further, as part of a governmental campaign, videos were broadcast that featured Alexander the Great as the liberator of African and Asian people, saying, it is not Macedonian to retreat. On another occasion the movie “
Macedonian prayer Macedonian Prayer (Macedonian Cyrillic: Македонска молитва - ''Makedonska molitva'') was a short film, functioning as a public service video produced in December 2008 and aired daily for the first several weeks of 2009 on a nation ...
” was broadcast by the state-governed national television at prime time. Being directed by a member of the Diaspora organization
World Macedonian Congress The World Macedonian Congress (shortened as WMC or SMK; '' mk, Светски македонски конгрес; Svetski makedonski kongres'') is a self-declared "non-formal parliament of the ethnic Macedonians". It presents itself as an organ ...
, this movie claims that the Macedonians were created by God before anyone else and that they constitute the origin of the
white race White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...
. Analyses of Macedonian textbooks revealed that the recent politics of history have also influenced the knowledge taught in schools. For instance, this is demonstrated in the way the particularity of the ethnic Macedonians throughout the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and the
Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
is delineated.


Traces of 'antiquization' in the past

Macedonian antiquization as it can be observed recently, is regarded as a rather young phenomenon that developed its full potential for political mobilization in the last years, as a substantial element of the political agenda of the ruling party
VMRO-DPMNE Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity ( mk, Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за ...
. Yet earlier traces of antiquization, though not described as such, can be found. Some see the background of antiquization in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the “myth of ancient descent among Orthodox Slavic speakers in Macedonia, adopted partially due to Greek cultural inputs”.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 13. In an article from 1871, published in the newspaper "Macedonia" by
Petko Slaveykov Petko Rachov Slaveykov ( bg, Петко Рачов Славейков) (17 November 1827 OS – 1 July 1895 OS ) was a Bulgarian poet, publicist, politician and folklorist. Biography Early years and educational activity Slaveykov was born in ...
, he maintained, that he had heard during the 1860s, some young Slavic intellectuals from Macedonia were claiming that they are not
Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
, but rather Macedonians, descendants of the
Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...
. However, they never provided any proves supporting their views. The newspaper had the title "Macedonia", as its main task per Slaveykov himself, was to educate these misguided (
sic The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
):
Grecomans Grecoman or Graecoman (Greek: Γραικομάνοι, ''Grekománoi'', Bulgarian: Гъркомани, ''Garkomani'', Macedonian: Гркомани, ''Grkomani'', Romanian: ''Grecomani'', Albanian: ''Grekomanë'', Aromanian: ''Gricumanji'') is a ...
there, whom he called Macedonists. In 1875
Georgi Pulevski Georgi Pulevski, sometimes also Gjorgji, Gjorgjija Pulevski or Đorđe Puljevski ( mk, Ѓорѓи Пулевски or Ѓорѓија Пулевски, bg, Георги Пулевски, sr, Ђорђе Пуљевски; 1817–1895) was a Mija ...
published a "Dictionary of three languages" where he mentions that the homeland of the Macedonian nation North is Macedonia and that land is most famous for the rule of the great king Alexander. These opinions were based on the incorrect claims that the Ancient Macedonians were in fact
Early Slavs The early Slavs were a diverse group of tribal societies who lived during the Migration Period and the Early Middle Ages (approximately the 5th to the 10th centuries AD) in Central and Eastern Europe and established the foundations for the S ...
. In 1934 the communist activist
Vasil Ivanovski Vasil Atanasov Ivanovski (Bulgarian: Васил Атанасов Ивановски; 18 October 1906, Golovrade – 1991, Sofia) also known by his pseudonym Bistrishki, was a Bulgarian communist activist, publicist, "theoretician of the Macedonian ...
in his article: "Why we Macedonians are a separate nation" criticizes the Greek chauvinists for claiming: "...the tribe of the ancient Macedonians, as well as the leaders of that tribe - Macedon, Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great - as an integral part of the ancient Greeks".


Ancient Macedonian narratives

Important for endorsing such beliefs were anti-Bulgarian attempts by secular and religious Greek institutions. One of these Greek approaches was the spread of the myth of the origin from Alexander the Great and Ancient Macedonians. Greek priests and academics tried to convince the local Orthodox Slavic-speaking population that they were Macedonians, directly related to Alexander the Great, and, as a result, Greeks. The aim was to persuade these people to turn away from Slavic exertion of influence and to accept the authority of the government in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 15. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century in the geographic region called Macedonia, which constituted the last part of the Ottoman Empire on the Balkan Peninsula that still had not gained independence, a serious struggle emerged about the national affiliation of the Christian Slavs. However, the claims of the already independent states
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
overlapped considerably, since they all could refer to Macedonia having been part of their correspondent empire during the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. Wherever one might locate the origin of Ancient Macedonian nationhood among parts of the Orthodox Slavic speaking population: national myths inspired by antiquity did not play an important role in any of the events that
Macedonian historiography Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the German historian it has preserve ...
regards as a milestone of present-day Macedonian state- and nationhood – above all the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden (Bulgarian/ Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia), 2 August Geographic locations Bulgaria * Ilinden, Blagoev ...
and the
Kruševo Republic The Kruševo Republic ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Крушевска Република, ''Kruševska Republika''; rup, Republica di Crushuva) was a short-lived political entity proclaimed in 1903 by rebels from the Secret Macedonian-Adrianop ...
in 1903. Michael Kubiena states that at the times of the
Macedonian Struggle The Macedonian Struggle ( bg, Македонска борба; el, Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; mk, Борба за Македонија; sr, Борба за Македонију; tr, Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, po ...
and the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
, considerable parts of the local populations worried more about social and economic stability, than about “dying for nationalisms”. "Ethnicity was as much the consequence as the cause of this unrest; revolutionary violence produced national affiliations as well as being produced by them". Furthermore, "there have neither been any references towards Alexander the Great or Ancient Macedonia in the iconography and the popular mythology of the interwar platforms for the Macedonian national liberation. As well, they have been absent in the partisan movement during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and were not referred to in the proclamation of the Macedonian statehood in 1944". A narrative that comes close to the notion of Ancient Macedonian nationhood during the coming into being of a modern Macedonian state, was the idea of a
United Macedonia United Macedonia ( mk, Обединета Македонија, ''Obedineta Makedonija''), or Greater Macedonia (, ''Golema Makedonija''), is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region ...
, which was based on the estimated territory of the Ancient Kingdom of Macedon under the rule of Philip II. Early national poets used those borders in order to define a corresponding nation in their writings. The
ASNOM The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia ( mk, Антифашистичко собрание за народно ослободување на Македонија (АСНОМ), ''Antifašističko sobranie za narodno oslo ...
manifesto (English: Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia; Macedonian: Antifašističko Sobranie za Narodno Osloboduvanje na Makedonija) took reference to the “shameful partition” of Macedonia in the course of the Balkan Wars and it contained the appeal to the “Macedonians under Bulgaria and Greece” to take part in the anti-fascist fight and the struggle for Macedonian unification. Under the rule of
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
in Yugoslavia, the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
was recognized for the first time as an individual ethnic and political entity. Yet, some regard the reason for the recognition of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia by Tito and his government as a pragmatic decision, inasmuch as the Macedonian national consciousness seemed a rather strong force, whose suppression might have been a demanding task. The notion of a "United Macedonia" was also regarded as a crucial resource for Tito's expansionist ideas. The ideal was a greater
Balkan Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
through the inclusion of Bulgaria and Greece. These plans stopped when Greek and Yugoslav communists split due to the discord between Tito and
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
. Important for the Macedonian nation-building process was the standardization of the
Macedonian language Macedonian (; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic branch. Spoken as a first language by around two million ...
, as well as the publication of a national history. For this reason the Institute for National History was founded in 1948 through a government decree. What followed was the formation and reformation of national creation myths in academic circles and institutions, spearheaded by the Institute for National History and influenced by the interplay of politics, national interests and historiography and the subsequent creation of “historical ‘Masterpieces’” in order to support the uniqueness of Macedonia.Troebst, Stefan (2003): Historical Politics and Historical “Masterpieces” in Macedonia before and after 1991. New Balkan Politics – Journal of Politics (3). Available online at http://www.newbalkanpolitics.org.mk/item/Historical-Politics-and-Historical-%E2%80%9CMasterpieces%E2%80%9D-in-Macedonia-before-and-after-1991, checked on 3/27/2015.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 16. According to Stefan Troebst, concerning this matter, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia has been regarded as an exception among the Yugoslavian states, since “the ideology of Yugoslavianism proclaimed in 1952 was here once again subordinated to the one of Macedonism”. In Yugoslav times, several narratives of origin existed and the myth of Ancient Macedonian origin was incorporated in the nation building process. Nevertheless, according to Vangeli (and contrasting Troebst's view), this narrative was subordinated to the narrative of Yugoslav (i.e. South Slav) origin, which played a central role in Tito's Yugoslavian nation-building process. However, references to antiquity, for instance by means of official history books, were institutionalized already in Yugoslavian times. As Vangeli analyzes, the notion of Macedonian ancient history “
till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...
was taken with a reserve, and was mostly instrumentalized in the disputes with Bulgarian historiography and also as a protection from the nationalist discourse among certain Macedonians that was based on the idea of ‘returning the Bulgarian consciousness’ of Macedonians”. Although official institutions used the recollection of antiquity in moderate ways, Ancient Macedonian narratives were crucial for the nationalism of parts of the
Macedonian Diaspora The Macedonian diaspora ( mk, Македонска дијаспора, ''Makedonska dijaspora'') consists of ethnic Macedonian emigrants and their descendants in countries such as Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, ...
. Agnew states, that “the 1980s had seen the emergence in Yugoslav Macedonia and in the Macedonian Diaspora (particularly in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
) of a ‘‘Macedonism’’ or
Macedonian nationalism Macedonian nationalism (, ) is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts among ethnic Macedonians that were first formed in the late 19th century among separatists seeking the autonomy of the region of Macedonia from the Ottoman Emp ...
that drew exactly opposite conclusions about the ‘‘ethnicity’’ of ancient Macedonia and Alexander the Great than did
Greek nationalism Greek nationalism (or Hellenic nationalism) refers to the nationalism of Greeks and Greek culture.. As an ideology, Greek nationalism originated and evolved in pre-modern times. It became a major political movement beginning in the 18th century, ...
”. There has been evidence, that organization established by members of the Macedonian Diaspora in Australia, Canada and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
used ancient Macedonian symbols for representation purposes already before 1980. Further it has been argued, that ethnic Macedonian refugees who fled from
Greek Macedonia Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...
in the times of the
Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
, were crucial for this initial development of antiquization, as the narrative of ancient descent has been regarded as credible among Greeks and ethnic Macedonians or Slavs in Greece. Some members of the Macedonian diaspora even believe, without basis, that certain modern historians, namely
Ernst Badian Ernst Badian (8 August 1925 – 1 February 2011) was an Austrian-born classical scholar who served as a professor at Harvard University from 1971 to 1998. Early life and education Badian was born in Vienna in 1925 and in 1938 fled the Nazis wit ...
, Peter Green, and
Eugene Borza Eugene N. Borza (3 March 1935 – 5 September 2021) was a professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught from 1964 until 1995. Academic career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Borza came from a family of immi ...
, possess a pro-Macedonian bias in the Macedonian-Greek conflict.


Post-independence period

When the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence in 1991 and hence re-opened the national question, it faced criticism and denial from various sides and in various ways, which might have served as a source of inspiration for nationalistic discourses and later antiquization.Muhić, Maja; Takovski, Aleksandar (2014): Redefining National Identity in Macedonia. Analyzing Competing Origins Myths and Interpretations through Hegemonic Representations. In ''Etnološka tribina'' 44 (37), p. 138. While most states accepted the young state, some countries denied the independency of a Macedonian nation, the existence of a Macedonian language and the singularity of a Macedonian identity. Even nowadays, for instance, many Bulgarians, although officially recognizing the Republic of North Macedonia, still regard Macedonians as ‘actually’ being Bulgarians.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), pp. 33ff. Another controversial subject is the
autocephaly Autocephaly (; from el, αὐτοκεφαλία, meaning "property of being self-headed") is the status of a hierarchical Christian church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. The term is primarily used in Eastern O ...
of the
Macedonian Orthodox Church The Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MOC-AO; mk, Македонска православна црква – Охридска архиепископија), or simply the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC) or the Archdiocese o ...
. In the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
, most churches are organized on a national level. The independence of an Orthodox church is thus directly linked to a nation's recognition. However, to this day, the Serbian,
Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
churches do not acknowledge the Macedonian Orthodox church, which can be interpreted as calling the existence of a Macedonian nation into question.Kubiena, Michael (2012): Skopje 2014-Musealizing the City, Re-inventing History? In ''The Western Balkans Policy Review'' 2 (1), pp. 82ff. The most known conflicts with neighboring countries, which influence Macedonia's politics till the present, are the flag and name dispute with Greece.


Name and flag dispute with Greece

Already shortly after the independence in 1992, official institutions gradually highlighted the ancient past more and more. The post-independence version of the official “History of the Macedonian People” dealt with the topic of the Ancient Macedonian Kingdom on 200 pages. In comparison, the edition from the year 1969 needed only 20 pages to treat the same topic. At the same time, the
flag of the Republic of Macedonia The flag of North Macedonia is the national flag of the North Macedonia, Republic of North Macedonia and depicts a stylized yellow sun on a red field, with eight broadening rays extending from the center to the edge of the field. It was created by ...
, the first public display of what later has been called antiquization, caused serious tensions with its neighboring country Greece. The new flag of the Republic of Macedonia depicted the Star of Vergina. This symbol, appearing in ancient Greek art of the period between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC and also depicted in the golden Larnax of Philip II, discovered in the 1970s, is regarded by some as the symbol of the Argead dynasty, the ancient royal family of the kingdom of Macedon. It is claimed by Greece to be an integral part of its cultural and historical heritage.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 17. This flag dispute went along with the infamous name dispute, since Greece also would not accept the name “Republic of Macedonia” for its neighboring country, as it feared usurpation of history as well as territorial claims from the Slavic-Macedonian side. Further, Greece rejects the term “Macedonian” for the description of the south Slavic language spoken in the Republic of Macedonia, as well as for the local population. Due to political pressure by the Greek government, which eventually led to the signing of an Interim Accord in 1995, Macedonia temporally adopted the name “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” for international use, removed the Star of Vergina from its flag and erased all allegedly
irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent sta ...
clauses from its constitution. The Republic of Macedonia also had to refrain from using symbols that constitute a part of Greece’ historic or cultural patrimony. In the aftermath of this agreement most narratives of Ancient Macedonian descent were suspended by official institutions. Yet, the myths of Ancient Macedonian origin never totally disappeared in all political and academic circles. Similarly, the ancient past remained a substantial part of Macedonian national history in history textbooks. The name dispute with Greece, which has been resolved in the
Prespa agreement The Prespa agreement,; In mk, Договорот од Преспа, translit=Dogovorot od Prespa or Преспански договор, ''Prespanski dogovor'' also known as the Treaty of Prespa, the Prespes deal or the Prespa accord, is an agre ...
, renaming the country from ''Macedonia'' to ''North Macedonia'', is not only a matter of political conflict, but through the construction of history and claims for heritage, this matter is advanced by scientific advocates for national causes on both sides.Kubiena, Michael (2012): Skopje 2014-Musealizing the City, Re-inventing History? In ''The Western Balkans Policy Review'' 2 (1), p. 86.
Étienne Balibar Étienne Balibar (; ; born 23 April 1942) is a French philosopher. He has taught at the University of Paris X-Nanterre, at the University of California Irvine and is currently an Anniversary Chair Professor at the Centre for Research in Modern Eu ...
describes the importance of a nation's name for the national identity.Balibar, Etienne (1991): The Nation Form. History and Idiology. In Etienne Balibar, Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein (Eds.): Race, nation, class: ambiguous identities: Verso, pp. 86–106. The consequent contestation of the name chosen by Macedonia obviously is a cause of frustration for the Macedonian government and parts of the population. If no solution will be found, the name dispute threatens to further block Macedonia's membership in the
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
as well as its accession to the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Nikola Gruevski Nikola Gruevski ( mk, Никола Груевски, pronounced ; hu, Nikola Gruevszki; born 31 August 1970) is a Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Mac ...
, Macedonia's former prime minister and leader of the VMRO-DPMNE, stated that “his government and the population are not willing to tolerate ‘blackmailing’ by their Greek neighbors and perceive their request for a name-change as a threat to Macedonian identity”. Negating Macedonia's name and identity is thus perceived as negating the existence of Macedonians in general. In this manner, the name dispute plays a crucial role in the strengthening of national discourses, artistic production and serious tensions between the two major ethnic groups in Macedonia. For some ethnic Macedonians the name of the country has an existential meaning, since it is inseparably linked to their nation. For other population groups in North Macedonia the country's name does not have this importance. They were rather unsatisfied that the government was not willing to concede in this matter, which would improve the foreign policy situation of the country and, hence, the country's economical opportunities.


NATO and European Union accession

In April 2008, Greece blocked the
accession of Macedonia to NATO Accession refers to the general idea of joining or adding to. It may also refer to: *Accession (property law) * Accession, the act of joining a treaty by a party that did not take part in its negotiations; see Vienna Convention on the Law of Trea ...
with a veto at the Bucharest summit. Subsequently, in 2009, the Greek government prevented the Republic of Macedonia from getting a date on part of the European Union for starting accession talks. The
Accession of North Macedonia to the European Union The accession of North Macedonia to the European Union has been on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU since 2005, when it became a candidate for accession. Macedonia submitted its membership application in 2004, thirteen years ...
is still pending.Graewert, Tim (2015): Die Regierungen Makedoniens 1990–2014 zwischen regionaler Vorbildfunktion und autoritärer Versuchung. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), p. 25. It has been argued, that since then, antiquization has “snowballed into a wider phenomenon”. As Macedonia's president
Gjorge Ivanov Gjorge Ivanov ( mk, Ѓорге Иванов, ; born 2 May 1960) is a Macedonian politician, who served as the 4th President of North Macedonia from 2009 to 2019. Early and personal life Born at Valandovo, Ivanov finished primary and secondary sch ...
announced, “the Classical drive” has its roots in “the frustration and depression felt after the NATO Summit in Bucharest”. According to Graewert, the political elite of Macedonia enabled a peaceful secession from war-torn Yugoslavia in 1991. Ten years later they managed the relatively mild, compared to the
Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...
, settlement of the armed conflict with the UÇK. In a regional comparison these achievements have been regarded as a best-practice model. Thus, in 2005 Macedonia was rewarded with the status of an EU candidate country. But since Greece stopped Macedonia's NATO accession in violation of the law of nations, on the one hand, the Macedonian government has surrendered to the
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic votin ...
temptation and increasingly shown semi-
autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perh ...
tendencies, and on the other hand, the self-consciousness of the majority of ethnic Macedonians has been additionally perpetuated.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 22. The potentially upcoming EU membership had been perceived as an important step for Macedonia's economic progress. And the NATO affiliation had been regarded as a promise that violent incidents such as the 2001 conflict would not be repeated. The fact of being excluded from these organizations despite the investments and reforms that had been undertaken, ultimately revitalized the uncertainty concerning the country's economic and security perspectives. This has strengthened the “defeatist attitude”, that, irrespective of the efforts of the Macedonian government, Greece and other opponents would always find a possibility to block Macedonia's progress. “The main engine driving nation-state building has not been Albanian-Macedonian relations, but rather the tensions with Greece over Macedonia’s name, particularly acute since the Greek veto to Macedonia’s NATO membership in 2008. The widely pursued antiquization campaign, including the megalomanic project Skopje 2014, have emphasized promoting one ethnic defined identity”. On the other hand, it has been argued, that Greece showed vigorous reactions to the initial antiquization policies, such as the renaming of Skopje's airport in 2007, which subsequently altered Greece's attitude towards the Republic of Macedonia. In the end, the name issue and next to it the symbolic dispute about the ancient Macedonian heritage became the last obstacle on Macedonia's unsuccessful way to negotiations for full EU membership.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 25.


VMRO–DPMNE's arrival to power

In the Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006, VMRO-DPMNE became the largest power in the
Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia The Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Собрание на Република Северна Македонија, sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut), or the Sobranie ( mk, Собрание, "Assembly"), is t ...
. Since the
Macedonian parliamentary election, 2008 Early parliamentary elections were held in Macedonia on 1 June 2008, after the Assembly voted to dissolve itself on 12 April 2008. The result was a victory for the VMRO-DPMNE-led alliance, which won 63 of the 120 seats in the Assembly. Backgroun ...
, the ruling party, led by Prime Minister
Nikola Gruevski Nikola Gruevski ( mk, Никола Груевски, pronounced ; hu, Nikola Gruevszki; born 31 August 1970) is a Macedonian politician who served as Prime Minister of Macedonia from 2006 until his resignation, which was caused by the 2016 Mac ...
, formed a coalition with the largest Albanian party,
DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
(Democratic Union for Integration). It is this period after the arrival to power of the VMRO-DPMNE that is inseparably linked to antiquization, since it is the time when the myths of ancient nationhood gained new importance due to VMRO-DPMNE's devotion to nationalist and identitarian politics. It is the time when antiquization gained its full potential for political mobilization, when the “name of Alexander the Great was used to simply depict the nation’s grandeur and to nourish the people’s spirit” and when the VMRO-DPMNE “aimed to gain the loyalty of Macedonian nationalists once again” through the celebration of national mythology. It is this period, which experienced all the example of antiquization described above.


Perceptions of 'antiquization'


Government (VMRO-DPMNE) position

The perceptions of the identitarian and historical politics of VMRO-DPMNE in North Macedonia and across the globe differ strongly. VMRO-DPMNE presents its policies and their visual manifestation as the representation of the true Macedonian history. According to this viewpoint, it is not inventing but representing history as it was and rewriting a hidden history. The antiquization politics and Skopje 2014 are often represented as being conducted and facilitated by the government. This is applicable to the VMRO-DPMNE, the leading party of the government, which seeks to represent issues of the ethnic Macedonian majority of the country, but as Ulf Brunnbauer points out, the coalition partner DUI, rejects these policies.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), p. 29. Proponents of the government's politics of the recollection of ancient Macedonian origin and its display in Skopje 2014 argue that “it neatly offers a linear chronological overview of all things Macedonian”. In this view, Skopje 2014 is seen as an opportunity for history to neutrally speak for itself, as if the understanding and presentation of history would not be ideologically and politically disputed but rather obvious and objective. Accordingly, this (re)presentation of history is thus not influenced by VMRO-DPMNE's ideological beliefs. The term “antiquization”, which reveals a willing recollection and re-interpretation of an alleged ancient past, is thus dismissed by government proponents as an “invented
neologism A neologism Greek νέο- ''néo''(="new") and λόγος /''lógos'' meaning "speech, utterance"] is a relatively recent or isolated term, word, or phrase that may be in the process of entering common use, but that has not been fully accepted int ...
in a broad anti-Macedonian Conspiracy theory, conspiracy that tries to undermine Macedonia's true historical grandeur.


Critical perspectives on 'antiquization'

The recollection of antiquity of the VMRO-DPMNE, so-called antiquization, experiences strong criticism from various directions and for various reasons. Macedonian and international civil society, scholars, oppositional politicians and neighboring countries, in particular Greece and Bulgaria, express their dislike. A lot of criticism refers to political, legal, esthetical and financial aspects concerning Skopje 2014. This article focuses mainly on criticism about the historical and political content and implications of the whole narrative referred to by “antiquization”, from which Skopje 2014 constitutes only one, but a very noticeable aspect.


Ethno-nationalistic discourse

Among critics, antiquization is seen as an ethno-nationalistic discourse that is built around the outstanding figure of Alexander the Great. This power-ridden hegemonic discourse is mainly imposed by the political elite and the VMRO-DPMNE and is based upon a process of rereading history. Such a process of the highly selective nationalist reading of history, the selective remembering and un-remembering of specific matters is regarded as essential for nationalist political mobilization. As mentioned above, some sections of the scientific and pseudo-scientific public increasingly fostered this process.


Myths of continuity and autochthony

Linked to this nationalistic discourse is the construction of a national Macedonian identity. According to Brunnbauer, the Macedonian state just starts to get engaged with a project which its neighboring countries performed already in the course of the 19th century: to design a historical myth, which is based upon the ideas of historical continuity and
autochthonous Autochthon, autochthons or autochthonous may refer to: Fiction * Autochthon (Atlantis), a character in Plato's myth of Atlantis * Autochthons, characters in the novel ''The Divine Invasion'' by Philip K. Dick * Autochthon, a Primordial in the ' ...
origin. The aim is to “prove” or to convince Macedonians to believe in the continuity of ‘the’ Macedonian history and the direct descent of the modern ethnic Macedonians from the Ancient Macedonians. The endeavor is nothing less than drawing an uninterrupted line from the ancient Kingdom of Macedon to the present, in order to emphasize the great achievements of the Macedonian nation, its heritage and its peculiarity. From a nationalist Macedonian perspective, the self-portrayal as descendants of the Ancient Macedonians has the advantage of presenting the Macedonians as an autochthonous people. In this way, a claim on Macedonian territory can be substantiated. In the words of
Margaret MacMillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan, (born 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson Univer ...
"History provides much of the fuel for nationalism. It creates the collective memories that help to bring the nation into being. The shared celebration of the nation’s great achievements – and the shared sorrow at its defeat – sustain and foster it. The further back the history appears to go, the more solid and enduring the nation seems – and the worthier its claims". These claims not only contain territory. The principle of autochthonism also comprises the historical right of a nation to control certain symbols – “the older the nation is imagined, the more powerful it is, thus the more right it has to manifest its dominion”.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), pp. 23ff. In the Macedonian case the government attempts to legitimize its right to the name and the remaining symbolical capital of Macedonia by means of the supposed straight link with the Ancient Kingdom. The myth of autochthony also supplies the need to distinguish ethnic Macedonians from their neighbors and ethnically differing compatriots, as it suggests that the ancestors of the Macedonians lived in this area before it was populated by the ancestors of the neighboring peoples. Balibar refers to the myth of origins and national continuity as "an effective ideological form, in which the imaginary singularity of national formation is constructed daily, by moving back from present into history". However, unpleasing for the Macedonians is the fact that substantial components of their myth already constitute fundamental elements of the interpretation of national history from their neighboring countries. As a consequence they experience aggressive repudiation for their claims Another point of critique against the antiquization narrative and Skopje 2014 aims at the alleged neatly “linear chronological overview of all things Macedonian”. Maja Muhić and Aleksandar Takovski regard this claim as ironic, since they almost cannot find any correlation between the represented figures that are used to demonstrate the continuity of Macedonian national identity. A challenge for the continuity narrative and a reason for the conflicting national historical claims of the different states in the Balkans is the dynamic and changeful past of this region. A part of what is nowadays called the geographical region of Macedonia, belonged to the Ancient Kingdom of Macedon. Thereafter, at various times, the term ‘Macedonia’ covered different administrative districts of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, and the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. None of these districts was permanent or stable. Already in Byzantine times, Byzantine writers used the terms “Macedonia” and “Macedonians” in different, sometimes unclear and misleading ways. “The generally accepted knowledge in today’s historiography holds that for
Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
, as well as for later in Byzantium, the term Macedonia/ Macedonians has a regional/provincial/geographical meaning, and certainly not an ethnic one”. If one neglects the debate about the exact numbers, there is a rather broad consensus that during the Ottoman Empire the geographic region Macedonia was populated by
Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic o ...
,
Albanians The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
,
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
,
Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate mainly Romanians but also Aromanians, Megleno-Romanians, Istro-Romanians and other Easter ...
,
Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
,
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
and other smaller groups. However, throughout the Middle Ages and up until the early 20th century the Slavic speaking majority in the region of Macedonia were more commonly referred to (both, by themselves and outsiders) as Bulgarians. However, in pre-nationalist times, terms such as "Bulgarian" did not possess a strict ethno-nationalistic meaning in modern aspect. Accordingly, in the last phase of the Ottoman Empire, fierce fighting arose about the national affiliation of these people. Subsequently, at the time of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Serbs tried to include Macedonia into their states. In the end, all occurrences, events and ruptures that took place in the geographical region of Macedonia are neither a sequence of linear developments nor the inherent property of a single nation state. Nonetheless, in the attempt to consolidate their national identity, the newly emerging states in the Balkans tried to confirm singularity by claiming historical events and figures as being exclusively their own. Even if the notion of Ancient Macedonian descent might seem explicable if one considers the name dispute with Greece and the challenges to a Macedonian identity, and also if one takes into consideration the need to gain points in the ethnic-Macedonian part of the electorate: the narrative of continuity and autochthony is not the only choice available.


Reasons and motivation for 'antiquization'

Several scholars see VMRO-DPMNE's promotion of so-called antiquization as a reaction to the stagnation of Macedonia's foreign affairs due to Greek opposition to Macedonia's efforts for EU and NATO-membership. According to this view, Gruevski's government thus prioritized its consolidation of power on the national level as well as it aims at fostering Macedonia's nation building process.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), p. 30. Christopher Flood describes these kinds of processes in a more general manner. Therefore, political myths and grand narratives, as for example ancient Macedonian nationhood, come up as a consequence of a situation in which a society experienced some kind of trauma. Others point out that the glory of a national hero like Alexander the Great helps to overcome what has been called the ‘moral crisis of
post-communism Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...
’: the situation of a country that still has to handle the burden of a complex and tiresome post-communist transition, smoldering ethnicized tensions, a weak economy and low living standards. Vangeli, therefore, summarizes that “antiquity-inspired Macedonian nationalist rhetoric has emerged as a ‘compensation for backwardness’ (Hanák)See: Hanák Péter: „A National Compensation for Backwardness“, Studies in East European Thought, 46. 1 – 2 (1994): 33–45. brought by the unsuccessful regime change and the incomplete consolidation of the new regime". However, as outlined above, Greece's opposition is also motivated by Macedonia's recollection of its alleged ancient history and descent. Both countries thus enter a vicious circle if one follows the argumentation that Greece's opposition was due to Macedonia's antiquization and Macedonia's antiquization was due to Greece's opposition. Still, antiquization seems to effectively address the negative sentiments of some Macedonians and their feeling of being rejected. The notion of being descendants of a glorious and famous empire comforts some Macedonians and is used to strengthen national pride. The government's rhetoric of the glorious Macedonian past offers distinction from their neighbors, a legitimation for the national struggle and thus serves as an inspiration for political movements. At the same time the image of the celebrated past is contrasted to the image of a problematic and questionable present and in the end it is used for the mobilization of the masses. Macedonian antiquization can be described as an act of communication that aims at two directions; inward as well as outward. One aims at the inner nation building process, the other at the representation of North Macedonia in the international sphere. By using names like Alexander the Great for its airports and highways, the Republic of Macedonia tried to mobilize the potential of antiquity and to gain the impact of globally known and recognized names. Further, the image of antiquity is used for tourism advertisements on international television. Government-funded campaigns promote North Macedonia as the ‘Cradle of Culture’ or bear the title ‘
Macedonia Timeless ''Macedonia Timeless'' ( mk, Македонија Вечна, Romanization of Macedonian, transliterated Makedonija Večna) is a series of promotional tourist videos about the Republic of North Macedonia. The videos showcase scenery from the Balk ...
’ while presenting Macedonian archaeology and ancient heritage. In the same way, the monuments and buildings that constitute a part of Skopje 2014 are believed to help to improve Macedonia's image for international visitors and to attract tourists on a long-term basis.


Skopje 2014: monocultural history vs. multicultural reality

The urban planning project Skopje 2014 plays an outstanding and exceptionally visible role in Macedonia's identitarian politics and virtually can be seen as an illustration of the whole process of antiquization. Hence, this ‘mass-production of tradition’ and its ‘statuomania’ also is a central object of critique. Critics regard Skopje 2014 as a nationalistic construction site, where nation building gets a new meaning. Here the government literally builds a national identity. In addition to the critique in terms of the content, the opposition's discourse harshly criticizes Skopje 2014 on several other grounds, including financial embezzlement and corruption; circumvention of local government laws, urban planning, and building permits; the non-transparent manner of planning and decision making; an unprofessional and devastating architectural concept; aesthetic
kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
; ‘cultural rape’ that demonstrates a lack of understanding of national and cultural values; and an expression of political
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), p. 28. Nebosja Vilic, a professor at the Faculty of Arts in Skopje, sees the main problem of the project in the missing democratic public discussion. The sponsors of Skopje 2014, in contrast, try to avoid public debate and ideas of international as well as local experts and neglect them.Kubiena, Michael (2012): Skopje 2014-Musealizing the City, Re-inventing History? In ''The Western Balkans Policy Review'' 2 (1), p. 93. A major critique is obviously the high costs of the project. While government sources talk about total costs of about 80 million
Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s, critics estimate a total sum of approximately 500 million Euros. And this in times in which 30 to 40 % of Macedonia's population are unemployed. Many voices complain about such high and unfeasible costs and that the funds could have been invested differently, especially in times of a poor economic situation in Macedonia. The VMRO-DPMNE-led government has been accused of constantly prioritizing cultural policies over objective problems: in the course of a
global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
, the Macedonian government spends vast amounts of its state budget on the erection of statues, the construction of monumental buildings and archaeological excavations encouraged by the myths of ancient Macedonian descent instead of focusing on real problems. In this manner identity questions could also serve as a distraction. The government, on the contrary, brings forward the argument of economic benefit. It promotes Skopje 2014 as an investment encouraging the growth of the local economy, creating new jobs and acquiring extra income from newly attracted tourists. Some scholars consider Skopje 2014 in its role as the most visible aspect of antiquization as a spectacular turning point in regard to official narratives of Macedonian national identity, turning away from previous narratives of national identity. As described in the narrative referred to as antiquization, according to them, Skopje 2014 intends to construct an explicit narrative of Macedonian identity by manufacturing a continuity from antiquity over the Middle Ages to the time of Macedonia's struggle for nationhood, and incorporating this into Skopje's built environment. Visitors in the city centre of Skopje can observe the emergence of the sculptured picture of a nation who praises its uninterrupted history of 2500 years and its heroes, not considering whether they are being 'borrowed' from other nations, derive from shared histories or earlier, rival forms of state formationKubiena, Michael (2012): Skopje 2014-Musealizing the City, Re-inventing History? In ''The Western Balkans Policy Review'' 2 (1), p. 90. A nation who achieved fame in the past, who spread European civilization, a nation who defended its originality and independence against seemingly superior adversaries, who obtained its nationhood, a nation who is therefore meant for greater things. Skopje 2014 " us fabricates an idealized, aesteticized version of Macedonian history, by selectively transforming the world of experience into a representation of an ideological tendency and by erasing others”. Noticeable is the gender-specific iconography of the monuments of Skopje 2014. Besides
Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was bo ...
there is only one other woman represented in a central position. A nameless pregnant woman who gives birth to a child, breast-feeds it, and subsequently nurtures it. This fountain constellation is called “Mothers of Macedonia”. The represented men, however, bear names and fight for the nation. In Brunnbauer's view, this perfectly illustrates the understanding of
gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...
s in traditional 19th century
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
.Brunnbauer, Ulf (2015): Zwischen Eigensinn und Realitätsflucht: "Skopje 2014" als Bau an der Nation. In ''OST-WEST Europäische Perspektiven'' 16 (1), pp. 34ff.


Neglecting Ottoman and Yugoslav times

At first sight it seems ironic that social scientists assert that the identitarian policies of VMRO-DPMNE and its manifestation in Skopje 2014 present disrupted narratives, since the way the past is remembered simply ignores and in its consequence deletes important parts of the history of the region. Critics point out that the remembrance of the Ottoman times is neglected, although over five hundred years of Ottoman rule and culture left its traces in the whole region. They even speak about a “de-Ottomanization” process obliterating Ottoman heritage and moving away from
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. Also the Yugoslavian times, which had significant impact on the young Macedonian state as well, are cut out of the alleged historical continuity. For VMRO-DPMNE both periods constitute an
anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
: the Ottoman rule – the so-called Turkish yoke – is regarded as the dark 500 years. The affiliation to the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
is seen as the time of suppressing Macedonia's striving for autonomy. The intended cutting off of the socialist legacy again seems ironic, since it was under the guidance and as part of the SFRY that the Republic of Macedonia was constituted for the first time in the year 1944. In Muhić and Takovskis’ view, Skopje 2014 “aims at creating a Macedonian, Orthodox Christian national identity amidst competing neighbouring agendas and the multicultural setting of the country. It does so by tearing apart, fragmenting and creating discontinuous segments of the organic tissue of the history of this region and country for the benefit of a few and the loss of the vast majority of Macedonian citizens”. Also other authors describe Skopje 2014 as a project aimed at redefining Skopje's urban character within a short time. New buildings disguise and hide the modernist constructions of the Yugoslav period as well as the
Ottoman architecture Ottoman architecture is the architectural style that developed under the Ottoman Empire. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk architecture, Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influen ...
of the Čaršija (the Old Bazaar), which have been the two most distinctive characteristics of the city.Graan, Andrew (2013): COUNTERFEITING THE NATION? Skopje 2014 and the Politics of Nation Branding in Macedonia. In ''Cultural Anthropology'' 28 (1), p. 161. “Instead, the project promises Skopje a new image, one that will deliver Macedonia a properly “European” capital, at once attractive to outsiders and worthy of national pride”.


Inter-ethnic tensions

Further, critics claim, that the identitarian politics, by writing a mono-ethnic and mono-cultural history, not only leave out certain parts of the country's history, but that the multicultural reality of the Republic of Macedonian is being ignored. Disregarding the Ottoman and Muslim heritage, emphasizing the Christian cultural imprint, focusing only on matters regarding the origin of ethnic Macedonians and ignoring the multicultural Macedonian reality, pushes the Albanian population and other minority groups such as Turks, Vlachs, Serbs and Roma to the side and signals that they are not an integral part of Macedonian history and, hence, Macedonia.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 24. Some critics describe that the multicultural approach that was elaborated in the
Ohrid Framework Agreement The Ohrid Framework Agreement ( mk, Охридски рамковен договор, Ohridski ramkoven dogovor) was the peace deal signed by the government of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) and representatives of the Albanian m ...
(OFA) in 2001 and improved the conditions of the Albanian population, is now rejected due to antiquization and Skopje 2014. It has also been stated that this mono-ethnic display and interpretation of history symbolically degrades ethnic Albanians to the status they had before the 2001 agreement. This is to say that antiquization and Skopje 2014 erode the basis of the post-OFA Macedonian society, i.e. the inclusive model of representation and the recognition of
cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...
. Leading to a re-ethnicization of multiple levels of society.Spaskovska, Ljubica (2012): The fractured ‘we’ and the ethno-national ‘I’: the Macedonian citizenship framework. In ''Citizenship Studies'' 16 (3–4), p. 392. Even
Sam Vaknin Shmuel "Sam" Vaknin (born April 21, 1961) is an Israeli writer and professor of psychology.Vaknin, Sam"Curriculum Vitae" samvak.tripod.com, accessed October 27, 2021 He is the author of ''Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited'' (1999), was t ...
, a former advisor to Prime Minister Gruevski, delineated antiquization as an anti-Albanian nation-building project, rather than being
anti-Greek Anti-Greek sentiment (also known as Hellenophobia ( el, ελληνοφοβία, translit=ellēnophobía), anti-Hellenism, ( el, ανθελληνισμός, translit=anthellinismós), mishellenism ( el, μισελληνισμός, translit=misell ...
or anti-Bulgarian. Also other authors regard Skopje 2014 as a message in the permanent tensions between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority. They coincide in their view upon Skopje 2014 having an ethnic-Macedonian connotation, ignoring the ethnic plurality of the city. In Brunnbauer's view, this also serves to demonstrate the Macedonian claim to ownership of “their” capital, which they see threatened by the Albanians. Skopje 2014 does not offer any space for symbols of reconciliation. For instance the 2001 conflict between mainly ethnic Macedonian armed forces and the Albanian guerilla is remembered and represented only from an ethnic-Macedonian perspective. The "strategic positioning of some of the religion-inspired statues rather appear as a provocation of the predominantly Muslim Albanian community". The construction of a new Orthodox church on the main city square, as it had been planned and presented in the Skopje 2014 promotion video, could so far be prevented due to engaged protest. Albanians from the local intelligentsia and political class have publicly expressed concerns over antiquization with politician Abdurahman Aliti stating it sent "a message to Albanians that they are newcomers in this country and have nothing to do here." Journalist Sefer Tahiri said that antiquization aimed at returning the country to a "pre 2001 period... to a mono-ethnic state consisting of Macedonians only". DUI were mainly quiet about antiquization with little dissent in its ranks as expressed by Musa Xhaferi who said "if you ask the Albanian public, it thinks that this project is a provocation, although perhaps it is not the project's goal." To shift attention from Albanians being absent from the Skopje 2014 project, the Macedonian government agreed to fund
Skanderbeg Square The Skanderbeg Square () is the main plaza in the centre of Tirana, Albania. The square is named after the Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu. The total area is about 40,000 square metres. The Skanderbeg Monument dominates the ...
built around the existing Skanderbeg monument in the part of Skopje with a majority Albanian population. The Muslim Macedonian speaking (Torbeš) population does not identify with the actions of the VRMO-DPMNE government and its politics of Antiquization that aimed to present a Macedonian history dating to an ancient past. Likewise the Macedonian Muslim community also does not associate itself with the figure of Alexander the Great. Antiquization and Skopje 2014 are widely perceived as causing deterioration in inter-ethnic relations. Minority groups in Macedonia oppose the one-sided ethnocentric approach of antiquization and leading Albanians have warned about the growing frustration among non-Macedonians. Furthermore, Skopje 2014 is largely regarded as blocking Macedonia's
European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
process, which some observers consider as one main strategic goal of Albanian politics in Macedonia.Gromes, Thorsten (2012): Ohne Staat und Nation ist keine Demokratie zu machen. Bosnien und Herzegowina, Kosovo und Makedonien nach den Bürgerkriegen. 1. Aufl. Baden-Baden: Nomos (Studien der Hessischen Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 17), p.164.Vangeli, Anastas (2011): Nation-building ancient Macedonian style: the origins and the effects of the so-called antiquization in Macedonia. In ''Nationalities Papers'' 39 (1), p. 24. Thus, an enduring blockade of the integration could foster ethnic conflicts. And according to Gromes, without the perspective of the accession to the European Union, the incentive disappears to further work on ethnic balancing and the implementation of the OFA. In this manner, the name dispute and the struggle about historical heritage with neighboring Greece could heavily burden Macedonian-Albanian relations. A Survey reveals that 17 percent of the ethnic Macedonians and 78 percent of the ethnic Albanians favor a change of the constitutional name “Republic of Macedonia”. Another survey indicates that 82 percent of the ethnic Macedonians prioritize the name “Republic of Macedonia” over NATO and European Union accessions.


Intra-Macedonian tensions

It has been argued, that the antiquization process illustrates a situation of power imbalance and power abuse within Macedonian internal politics. It has been described that the government-led discourse attempted to silence opposing voices and by doing so risking the elimination of public space and the emergence of insuperable ideological, political and social gaps in an already unstable social and political realities. These societal fissures do not only run along ethnic lines but even disunite ethnic Macedonians for various reasons, as for instance believing in Slavic or Ancient descent or supporting VMRO-DPMNE or
SDSM The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалдемократски сојуз на Македонија – СДСМ, ''Socijaldemokratski Sojuz na Makedonija'' – SDSM, sq, Lidhja socialdemokrate e Maqedonisë – LSDM) is a ...
.


Consequences of 'antiquization' from a critical perspective

The processes in North Macedonia that have been called antiquization, show, which significance the ones in power give to history as a resource for political legitimacy and mobilization. Externally, the enterprise of revising North Macedonia's official history and work on the national self-image of ethnic Macedonians has negatively influenced the dynamics of the name dispute with Greece and, hence, deteriorated the international position of the country. Simultaneously, it has fostered inter-ethnic tensions and posed serious challenges for the weak multicultural society. However, with regard to home affairs, antiquization seems to have fulfilled its purpose. VMRO-DPMNE wins elections on a regular basis, which, according to Brunnbauer do not entirely meet European standards of fairness, but still represent a realistic picture of the political preferences in the country. To the strong criticism of antiquization, the Macedonian government and its proponents replied by defending their indentitarian policies and by further fortifying antiquization. Yet, critics warn about increasing ethnic and other social fissures and a growing fragmentation of the relatively unstable society. Again others consider a continuing blockade of Macedonia's European integration as the country's main threat, as they regard the European integration as the only option for keeping the Macedonian state together and avoiding its disintegration. Surveys from the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities Skopje (ISSHS) on the effects of Skopje 2014 on the perceptions of the population of Skopje revealed a high degree of uncertainty regarding their national identity. In a poll asking people to choose the historical period that defines the Macedonian national identity, the breakdown of responses was as follows: Independence (from 1991) 13%; enlightenment period (19th century) 26%; the revolutionary period (beginning of the 20th century) 31%; SFRY 30%. Following the results of a supplementary national poll, carried out by ISSHS in September 2013, only 5.8% of the general population viewed antiquity as a historically and culturally defining period for Macedonia, whereas among ethnic Macedonians the result was 7.6%. “These results show that there is a great discrepancy between the population’s sentiment and the narrative the Government seeks to promote”.


See also

*
Dacianism Dacianism is a Romanian term describing the tendency to ascribe, largely relying on questionable data and subjective interpretation, an idealized past to the country as a whole. While particularly prevalent during the regime of Nicolae Ceaușesc ...
*
Macedonian nationalism Macedonian nationalism (, ) is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts among ethnic Macedonians that were first formed in the late 19th century among separatists seeking the autonomy of the region of Macedonia from the Ottoman Emp ...
*
United Macedonia United Macedonia ( mk, Обединета Македонија, ''Obedineta Makedonija''), or Greater Macedonia (, ''Golema Makedonija''), is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region ...


Notes


References

{{Authority control Politics of North Macedonia Identity politics Historical revisionism Society of North Macedonia Macedonian nationalism Greece–North Macedonia relations Modern history of North Macedonia Historiography of North Macedonia Origin hypotheses of ethnic groups Pseudohistory Propaganda in North Macedonia