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, region3 = , pop3 = 81,745 (2006 census) – 90,000 (est.) descendants of migrants from the
region of Macedonia Macedonia () is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid 19th century. T ...
, ref3 = , region4 = , pop4 = 50,000 – 70,000 (est., incl. descendants) , ref4 = Simpson, Neil (1994). Macedonia Its Disputed History. Victoria: Aristoc Press. pp. 92. . , region5 = , pop5 = 26,000 (est.) , ref5 = Peter, Hill. (1989) The Macedonians in Australia, Hesperian Press, Carlisle , region6 = , pop6 = 30,000 (est.) , ref6 = , region7 = (
Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...
) , pop7 = 7,500 (est.) , languages = Macedonian,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, religions =
Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
,
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 ...
Slavic speakers are a minority population in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, who are mostly concentrated in certain parts of the peripheries of
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and
Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...
, adjacent to the territory of the state 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 ...
. The language called "Slavic" in the context of Greece is generally called "Macedonian" or "Macedonian Slavic" otherwise. Some members have formed their own emigrant communities in neighbouring countries, as well as further abroad.


History


Middle Ages and Ottoman rule

The
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
took advantage of the desolation left by the nomadic tribes and in the 6th century settled the Balkan Peninsula. Aided by the Avars and the
Bulgars The Bulgars (also Bulghars, Bulgari, Bolgars, Bolghars, Bolgari, Proto-Bulgarians) were Turkic semi-nomadic warrior tribes that flourished in the Pontic–Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. They became known as nomad ...
, the Slavic tribes started in the 6th century a gradual invasion into the Byzantine lands. They invaded Macedonia and reached as far south as Thessaly and the
Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...
, settling in isolated regions that were called by the Byzantines ''Sclavinias'', until they were gradually pacified. At the beginning of the 9th century, the Slavic Bulgarian Empire conquered Northern Byzantine lands, including most of Macedonia. Those regions remained under Bulgarian rule for two centuries, until the conquest of Bulgaria by the
Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
of the
Macedonian dynasty The Macedonian dynasty (Greek: Μακεδονική Δυναστεία) ruled the Byzantine Empire from 867 to 1056, following the Amorian dynasty. During this period, the Byzantine state reached its greatest extent since the Muslim conquests, ...
Basil II Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( gr, Βασίλειος Πορφυρογέννητος ;) and, most often, the Purple-born ( gr, ὁ πορφυρογέννητος, translit=ho porphyrogennetos).. 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar S ...
in 1018. In the 13th and the 14th century, Macedonia was contested by the Byzantine Empire, the
Latin Empire The Latin Empire, also referred to as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, was a feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. The Latin Empire was intended to replace the Byzanti ...
, Bulgaria and Serbia but the frequent shift of borders did not result in any major population changes. In 1338, the geographical area of Macedonia was conquered by the
Serbian Empire The Serbian Empire ( sr, / , ) was a medieval Serbian state that emerged from the Kingdom of Serbia. It was established in 1346 by Dušan the Mighty, who significantly expanded the state. Under Dušan's rule, Serbia was the major power in the ...
, but after the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 most of the Macedonian Serbian lords would accept supreme Ottoman rule. During the Middle Ages Slavs in South Macedonia were mostly defined as Bulgarians, and this continued also during 16th and 17th centuries by Ottoman historians and travellers like
Hoca Sadeddin Efendi Hoca Sadeddin Efendi ( ota, خواجه سعد الدین افندی; 1536/1537 – October 2, 1599İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı'', Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 118. ) was an Ottoman scholar, official, and histo ...
,
Mustafa Selaniki Mustafa Selaniki ( tr, Selanıkî Mustafa; "Mustafa of Salonica; died 1600), also known as Selanıkî Mustafa Efendi, was an Ottoman scholar and chronicler, whose ''Tarih-i Selâniki'' described the Ottoman Empire of 1563–1599. See also *Salo ...
, Hadji Khalfa and
Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
. Nevertheless, most of the Slavic speakers had not formed a
national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...
in modern sense and were instead identified through their
religious affiliations Religious identity is a specific type of identity formation. Particularly, it is the sense of group membership to a religion and the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's self-concept. Religious identity is not necessarily the ...
. Some Slavic speakers also converted to
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 ...
. This conversion appears to have been a gradual and voluntary process. Economic and social gain was an incentive to become a Muslim. Muslims also enjoyed some legal privileges. Nevertheless, the rise of European nationalism in the 18th century led to the expansion of the Hellenic idea in Macedonia and under the influence of the Greek schools and the
Patriarchate of Constantinople The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...
, and part from the urban Christian population of Slavic origin started to view itself more as Greek. In the
Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid The Archbishopric of Ohrid, also known as the Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid *T. Kamusella in The Politics of Language and Nationalism in Modern Central Europe, Springer, 2008, p. 276 *Aisling Lyon, Decentralisation and the Management of Ethni ...
the Slavonic liturgy was preserved on the lower levels until its abolition in 1767. This led to the first literary work in vernacular modern Bulgarian, History of Slav-Bulgarians in 1762. Its author was a Macedonia-born monk
Paisius of Hilendar Saint Paisius of Hilendar or Paìsiy Hilendàrski ( bg, Свети Паисий Хилендарски) (1722–1773) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of ''Is ...
, who wrote it in the
Bulgarian Orthodox The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...
Zograf Monastery The Saint George the Zograf Monastery or Zograf Monastery ( bg, Зографски манастир; el, Μονή Ζωγράφου, ''Moní Zográphou'') is one of the twenty Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Mount Athos (the "Holy Mountain") in ...
, on
Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
. Nevertheless, it took almost a century for the Bulgarian idea to regain ascendancy in the region. Paisius was the first ardent call for a national awakening and urged his compatriots to throw off the subjugation to the Greek language and culture. The example of Paisius was followed also by other Bulgarian nationalists in 18th century Macedonia. The Macedonian Bulgarians took active part in the long struggle for independent
Bulgarian Patriarchate The Bulgarian Orthodox Church ( bg, Българска православна църква, translit=Balgarska pravoslavna tsarkva), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria ( bg, Българска патриаршия, links=no, translit=Balgarsk ...
and Bulgarian schools during the 19th century. The foundation of the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870) aimed specifically at differentiating the Bulgarian from the Greek population on an ethnic and linguistic basis, hence providing the conditions for the open assertion of a Bulgarian national identity. On the other hand, the
Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
(IMARO) was founded in 1893 in Ottoman
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
by several Bulgarian Exarchate teachers and professionals who sought to create a militant movement dedicated to the autonomy of Macedonia and Thrace within the Ottoman Empire. Many
Bulgarian exarchists Bulgarian Millet ( tr, Bulgar Milleti) was an ethno-religious and linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term ''Bulgarian millet'', was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...
participated in the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
in 1903 with hope of liberation from the Porte. In 1883 the Kastoria region consisted of 60,000 people, all Christian, of which 4/9 were Slavophone Greeks and the rest 5/9 were Grecophone Greeks, Albanophone Greeks and
Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
. File:Ethnographic map Ami Boué, 1847.jpg, French ethnographic map of the Balkans by
Ami Boue AMI or Ami may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media *AMI-tv, a Canadian TV channel **AMI-télé, the French-language version * AMI-audio, a Canadian audio broadcast TV service *''Ami Magazine'', an Orthodox Jewish news magazine Businesses ...
, 1847. File:Ethnographic map of the South Balkans, Pallas Nagy Lexikon, 1897.jpg, The nationalities of southeastern Europe according to ''Pallas Nagy Lexikona'', 1897. File:Bulgarians in 1912.jpg, The regions of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by ethnic Bulgarians in 1912, according to the Bulgarian point of view. File:Hellenism in the Near East 1918.jpg, Greek ethnographic map from 1918, showing the Macedonian Slavs as a separate people.
File:Seals of Voden Bulgarian Municipality Crop.jpg, Bulgarian Exarchate seal of the Voden (Edessa) municipality, 1870. File:Zoupanishta-Greek-school-pupils.jpg, Pupils of the Greek school of Zoupanishta, near
Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
. File:Solunska Gimnazija 11.maj.jpg,
Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki ( bg, Солунска българска мъжка гимназия „Св. св. Кирил и Методий“, ''Solunska balgarska mazhka gimnazia „Sv. sv. Kiril i ...
celebrating Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, c. 1900. File:KonikovoGospel.jpg, The title page of the
Konikovo Gospel Dytiko ( gr, Δυτικό) is a village in the Pella (regional unit), Pella regional unit, Greece. In 2011 the population was 454. History Historically Dytiko was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian village named Konikovo ( bg, Кониково, gr, Κον ...
, printed in 1852.
From 1900 onwards, the danger of Bulgarian control had upset the Greeks. The Bishop of
Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
,
Germanos Karavangelis Germanos Karavangelis ( el, Γερμανός Καραβαγγέλης, also transliterated as ''Yermanos'' and ''Karavaggelis'' or ''Karavagelis'', 1866–1935) was known for his service as Metropolitan Bishop of Kastoria and later Amaseia, Pon ...
, realised that it was time to act in a more efficient way and started organising Greek opposition. Germanos animated the Greek population against the IMORO and formed committees to promote the Greek interests. Taking advantage of the internal political and personal disputes in IMORO, Karavangelis succeeded to organize guerrilla groups. Fierce conflicts between the Greeks and Bulgarians started in the area of Kastoria, in the
Giannitsa Giannitsa ( el, Γιαννιτσά , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece. The municipal unit Gian ...
Lake and elsewhere; both parties committed cruel crimes. Both guerrilla groups had also to confront the Turkish army. These conflicts ended after the revolution of " Young Turks" in 1908, as they promised to respect all ethnicities and religions and generally to provide a constitution.


Balkan Wars and World War I

During the Balkan Wars, many atrocities were committed by Turks, Bulgarians and Greeks in the war over Macedonia. After 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 ...
ended in 1913, Greece took control of southern Macedonia and began an official policy of
forced assimilation Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of lif ...
which included the settlement of Greeks from other provinces into southern Macedonia, as well as the linguistic and cultural
Hellenization 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 ...
of Slav speakers. which continued even after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The Greeks expelled Exarchist churchmen and teachers and closed Bulgarian schools and churches. The Bulgarian language (including the Macedonian dialects) was prohibited, and its surreptitious use, whenever detected, was ridiculed or punished. Bulgaria's entry into World War I on the side of the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
signified a dramatic shift in the way European public opinion viewed the Bulgarian population of Macedonia. The ultimate victory of the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
in 1918 led to the victory of the vision of the Slavic population of Macedonia as an amorphous mass, without a developed national consciousness. Within Greece, the ejection of the Bulgarian church, the closure of Bulgarian schools, and the banning of publication in Bulgarian language, together with the expulsion or flight to Bulgaria of a large proportion of the Macedonian Bulgarian intelligentsia, served as the prelude to campaigns of forcible cultural and linguistic assimilation. The remaining
Macedonian Bulgarians Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians ( bg, македонци or македонски българи), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of eth ...
were classified as " Slavophones". After the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
, the Balkan Wars and especially after the First World War more than 100,000 Bulgarians from Greek Macedonia moved to Bulgaria. There was agreement in 1919 between Bulgaria and Greece which provided opportunities to expatriate the Bulgarians from Greece. Until the
Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) The Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, ota, گرب جابهاسی, Garb Cebhesi) in Turkey, and the Asia Minor Campaign ( el, Μικρασιατική Εκστρατεία, Mikrasiatikí Ekstrateía) or the Asia Minor Catastrophe ( el, Μικ ...
and the
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey ( el, Ἡ Ἀνταλλαγή, I Antallagí, ota, مبادله, Mübâdele, tr, Mübadele) stemmed from the "Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations" signed at ...
in 1923 there were also some
Pomak Pomaks ( bg, Помаци, Pomatsi; el, Πομάκοι, Pomáki; tr, Pomaklar) are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims inhabiting northwestern Turkey, Bulgaria and northeastern Greece. The c. 220,000 strong ethno-confessional minority in Bulgaria is ...
communities in the region.


Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)

During the Balkan Wars IMRO members joined the
Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps The Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps ( bg, Македоно-одринско опълчение, ''Makedono-odrinsko opalchenie'') was a volunteer corps of the Bulgarian Army during the Balkan Wars. It was formed on 23 September 1912 ...
and fought with the Bulgarian Army. Others with their bands assisted the Bulgarian army with its advance and still others penetrated as far as the region of Kastoria, southwestern Macedonia. In the Second Balkan War IMRO bands fought the Greeks behind the front lines but were subsequently routed and driven out. The result of the Balkan Wars was that the Macedonian region was partitioned between Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia. IMARO maintained its existence in Bulgaria, where it played a role in politics by playing upon Bulgarian
irredentism 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 ...
and urging a renewed war. During the First World War in Macedonia (1915–1918) the organization supported Bulgarian army and joined to Bulgarian war-time authorities. Bulgarian army, supported by the organization's forces, was successful in the first stages of this conflict, came into positions on the line of the pre-war Greek-Serbian border. The Bulgarian advance into Greek held Eastern Macedonia, precipitated internal Greek crisis. The government ordered its troops in the area not to resist, and most of the Corps was forced to surrender. However the post-war
Treaty of Neuilly The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine (french: Traité de Neuilly-sur-Seine) required Bulgaria to cede various territories, after Bulgaria had been one of the Central Powers defeated in World War I. The treaty was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly ...
again denied Bulgaria what it felt was its share of Macedonia. From 1913 to 1926 there were large-scale changes in the population structure due to ethnic migrations. During and after the Balkan Wars about 15,000 Slavs left the new Greek territories for Bulgaria but more significant was the Greek–Bulgarian convention 1919 in which some 72,000 Slavs-speakers left Greece for Bulgaria, mostly from Eastern Macedonia, which from then remained almost Slav free. IMRO began sending armed bands into Greek Macedonia to assassinate officials. In the 1920s in the region of Greek Macedonia 24 chetas and 10 local reconnaissance detachments were active. Many locals were repressed by the Greek authorities on suspicions of contacts with the revolutionary movement. In this period the combined Macedonian-Adrianopolitan revolutionary movement separated into
Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation (Bulgarian: Вътрешна тракийска революционна организация, ''Vatreshna trakiyska revolutsionna organizatsiya'', ITRO) was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation ...
and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. ITRO was a revolutionary organization active in the Greek regions of
Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to t ...
and Eastern Macedonia to the river Strymon. The reason for the establishment of ITRO was the transfer of the region from Bulgaria to Greece in May 1920. At the end of 1922, the Greek government started to expel large numbers of
Thracian Bulgarians Thracians or Thracian Bulgarians ( Bulgarian: Тракийски българи or Тракийци) are a regional, ethnographic group of ethnic Bulgarians, inhabiting or native to Thrace. Today, the larger part of this population is concentra ...
into Bulgaria and the activity of ITRO grew into an open rebellion. Meanwhile, the left-wing did form the new organisation called
IMRO (United) The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (1925–1936) (Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация - обединена, ''Vatreshna makedonska revolyucionna organizatsiya - O ...
in 1925 in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. However, it did not have real popular support and remained based abroad with, closely linked to the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
and the
Balkan Communist 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 ...
. IMRO's and ITRO's constant fratricidal killings and assassinations abroad provoked some within Bulgarian military after the coup of 19 May 1934 to take control and break the power of the organizations, which had come to be seen as a gangster organizations inside Bulgaria and a band of assassins outside it.


Interwar period

The Tarlis and Petrich incidents triggered heavy protests in Bulgaria and international outcry against Greece. The Common Greco-Bulgarian committee for emigration investigated the incident and presented its conclusions to
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
in Geneva. As a result, a bilateral Bulgarian-Greek agreement was signed in Geneva on September 29, 1925, known as Politis-Kalfov protocol after the demand of the League of Nations, recognizing Greek Slavophones as Bulgarians and guaranteeing their protection. Next month a Slavic language primer textbook in Latin known as
Abecedar :''Note: "Abecedar" is also the name of the primer (1st grade school book) in Romanian.'' The ''Abecedar'' was a school book first published in Athens, Greece in 1925. The book became the subject of controversy with Bulgaria and Serbia when cite ...
published by the Greek ministry for education, was introduced to Greek schools of Aegean Macedonia. On February 2, 1925, the Greek parliament, under pressure from
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 ...
, rejected ratification of the 1913 Greek-Serbian Coalition Treaty. Agreement lasted 9 months until June 10, 1925, when League of Nations annulled it. During the 1920s the Comintern developed a new policy for the Balkans, about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, which saw a chance for using this well developed revolutionary movement to spread revolution in the Balkans. In the so-called
May Manifesto The "May Manifesto" of May 6, 1924 was a paper in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned region of Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, su ...
of 6 May 1924, for first time the objectives of the unified Slav Macedonian liberation movement were presented: "independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, forming a
Balkan Communist 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 ...
". In 1934 the Comintern issued also a
special resolution {{refimprove, date=August 2011 In business or commercial law, an extraordinary resolution or special resolutionSome jurisdictions use both terms, but meaning slightly different things. For example, in the United Kingdom, an extraordinary resolutio ...
about the recognition of the Slav Macedonian ethnicity. This decision was supported by the
Greek Communist Party The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
. The 1928 census recorded 81,844 Slavo-Macedonian speakers or 1.3% of the population of Greece, distinct from 16,755 Bulgarian speakers.Mavrogordatos, George. ''Stillborn Republic: Social Coalitions and Party Strategies in Greece, 1922–1936''. University of California Press, 1983. , p. 227, 247 Contemporary unofficial Greek reports state that there were 200,000 "Bulgarian"-speaking inhabitants of Macedonia, of whom 90,000 lack Greek national identity. The bulk of the Slavo-Macedonian minority was concentrated in
West Macedonia Western Macedonia ( el, Δυτική Μακεδονία, translit=Ditikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia. Located in north-western Greece, it is divided into the regional unit ...
. The census reported that there were 38,562 of them in the ''nome'' (district) of
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
or 31% of the total population and 19,537 in the ''nome'' of
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
(
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 ...
) or 20% of the population. According to the prefect of Florina, in 1930 there were 76,370 (61%), of whom 61,950 (or 49% of the population) lacked Greek national identity. The situation for Slavic speakers became unbearable when the Metaxas regime took power in 1936. Metaxas was firmly opposed to the irredentist factions of the Slavophones of northern Greece mainly in Macedonia and Thrace, some of whom underwent political persecution due to advocacy of irredentism with regard to neighboring countries. Place names and surnames were officially Hellenized and the native Slavic dialects were banned even in personal use. It was during this time that many Slavic speakers fled their homes and emigrated to 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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
. The name changes took place according to the Greek language.


Ohrana and the Bulgarian annexation during WWII

''Ohrana'' were armed detachments organized by the Bulgarian army, composed of pro-Bulgarian oriented part of the Slavic population in occupied Greek Macedonia during
World War II 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 ...
, led by Bulgarian officers. In 1941 Greek Macedonia was occupied by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops. The Bulgarian troops occupied the Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace. The Bulgarian policy was to win the loyalty of the Slav inhabitants and to instill them a Bulgarian national identity. Indeed, many of these people did greet the Bulgarians as liberators, particularly in eastern and central Macedonia, however, this campaign was less successful in German-occupied western Macedonia. At the beginning of the occupation in Greece most of the Slavic speakers in the area felt themselves to be Bulgarians. Only a small part espoused a pro-Hellenic feelings. The Bulgarian occupying forces began a campaign of exterminating
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 ...
from Macedonia. The Bulgarians were supported in this ethnic cleansing by the Slavic minority in Macedonia. In the city of
Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
in May 1941, over 15,000 Greeks were killed. By the end of 1941, over 100,000 Greeks were expelled from this region. Unlike Germany and Italy, Bulgaria officially annexed the occupied territories, which had long been a target of Bulgarian irridentism.Mazower (2000), p. 276 A massive campaign of "
Bulgarisation Bulgarisation ( bg, българизация), also known as Bulgarianisation ( bg, побългаряване) is the spread of Bulgarian culture beyond the Bulgarian ethnic space. History A number of government policies are considered to be exa ...
" was launched, which saw all Greek officials deported. This campaign was successful especially in Eastern and later in Central Macedonia, when Bulgarians entered the area in 1943, after Italian withdrawal from Greece. All Slav-speakers there were regarded as Bulgarians and not so effective in German-occupied Western Macedonia. A ban was placed on the use of the Greek language, the names of towns and places changed to the forms traditional in Bulgarian. In addition, the Bulgarian government tried to alter the ethnic composition of the region, by expropriating land and houses from Greeks in favour of Bulgarian settlers. The same year, the German High Command approved the foundation of a Bulgarian military club in Thessaloníki. The Bulgarians organized supplying of food and provisions for the Slavic population in Central and Western Macedonia, aiming to gain the local population that was in the German and Italian occupied zones. The Bulgarian clubs soon started to gain support among parts of the population. Many Communist political prisoners were released with the intercession of Bulgarian Club in Thessaloniki, which had made representations to the German occupation authorities. They all declared Bulgarian ethnicity. In 1942, the Bulgarian club asked assistance from the High command in organizing armed units among the Slavic-speaking population in northern Greece. For this purpose, the Bulgarian army, under the approval of the German forces in the Balkans sent a handful of officers from the
Bulgarian army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...
, to the zones occupied by the Italian and German troops to be attached to the German occupying forces as "liaison officers". All the Bulgarian officers brought into service were locally born Macedonians who had immigrated to Bulgaria with their families during the 1920s and 1930s as part of the Greek-Bulgarian Treaty of Neuilly which saw 90,000 Bulgarians migrating to Bulgaria from Greece. These officers were given the objective to form armed Bulgarian militias. Bulgaria was interested in acquiring the zones under Italian and German occupation and hopped to sway the allegiance of the 80,000 Slavs who lived there at the time. The appearance of Greek partisans in those areas persuaded the Italians to allow the formation of these collaborationist detachments. Following the defeat of the Axis powers and the evacuation of the Nazi occupation forces many members of the Ohrana joined the SNOF where they could still pursue their goal of secession. The advance of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
into Bulgaria in September 1944, the withdrawal of the German armed forces from Greece in October, meant that the Bulgarian Army had to withdraw from Greek Macedonia and Thrace. There was a rapprochement between the
Greek Communist Party The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
and the Ohrana collaborationist units. Further collaboration between the Bulgarian-controlled Ohrana and the EAM controlled SNOF followed when it was agreed that Greek Macedonia would be allowed to secede. Finally it is estimated that entire Ohrana units had joined the SNOF which began to press the ELAS leadership to allow it autonomous action in Greek Macedonia. There had been also a larger flow of refugees into Bulgaria as the Bulgarian Army pulled out of the Drama-Serres region in late 1944. A large proportion of Bulgarians and Slavic speakers emigrated there. In 1944 the declarations of Bulgarian nationality were estimated by the Greek authorities, on the basis of monthly returns, to have reached 16,000 in the districts of German-occupied Greek Macedonia, but according to British sources, declarations of Bulgarian nationality throughout Western Macedonia reached 23,000. In the beginning of the Bulgarian occupation in 1941 there were 38,611 declarations of Bulgarian identity in Eastern Macedonia. Then the ethnic composition of the
Serres Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northe ...
region consisted of 67 963 Greeks, 11 000 Bulgarians and 1237 others; in
Sidirokastro Sidirokastro ( el, Σιδηρόκαστρο; Bulgarian and Macedonian: ''Valovišta''; tr, Demirhisar) is a town and a former municipality in the Serres regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipali ...
region- 22 295 Greeks, 10 820 Bulgarians and 685 others;
Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
region- 11 068 Bulgarians, 117 395 Greeks and others;
Nea Zichni Nea Zichni ( el, Νέα Ζίχνη) is a municipality in the Serres regional unit, of Central Macedonia region, Greece. Population 12,397 (2011). Nea Zichni is also the name of the administrative seat of the municipality, population 2,530 (2011). ...
region – 4710 Bulgarians, 28 724 Greeks and others;
Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...
region – 59 433 Greeks, 1000 Bulgarians and 3986 others;
Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate re ...
- 21 270 and 3 Bulgarians;
Eleftheroupoli Eleftheroupoli ( el, Ελευθερούπολη, katharevousa: Ελευθερούπολις - ''Eleftheroupolis'', until 1929 Πράβι - ''Pravi'', bg, Правище; tr, Pravişte) is a town and a former municipality in the Kavala regional u ...
region- 36 822 Greeks, 10 Bulgarians and 301 others. At another census in 1943 the Bulgarian population had increased by less than 50,000 and not larger was the decrease of the Greek population.


Greek Civil War

During the beginning of the Second World War, Greek Slavic-speaking citizens fought within the Greek army until the country was overrun in 1941. The Greek communists had already been influenced by the Comintern and it was the only political party in Greece to recognize Macedonian national identity. As result many Slavic speakers joined the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and participated in partisan activities. The KKE expressed its intent to "fight for the national self-determination of the repressed Macedonians". In 1943, the
Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist political and military organization created by ...
(SNOF) was set up by ethnic Macedonian members of the KKE. The main aim of the SNOF was to obtain the entire support of the local population and to mobilize it, through SNOF, for the aims of the National Liberation Front (EAM). Another major aim was to fight against the Bulgarian organisation
Ohrana Ohrana ( bg, Охрана, "Protection"; ) were armed collaborationist detachments organized by the former Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) structures, composed of Bulgarians in Nazi-occupied Greek Macedonia during World War I ...
and Bulgarian authorities. During this time, the ethnic Macedonians in Greece were permitted to publish newspapers in Macedonian and run schools. In late 1944 after the German and Bulgarian withdrawal from Greece, the
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 ...
's Partisans movement hardly concealed its intention of expanding. It was from this period that Slav-speakers in Greece who had previously referred to themselves as "Bulgarians" increasingly began to identify as "Macedonians". By 1945 World War II had ended and Greece was in open civil war. It has been estimated that after the end of the Second World War over 20,000 people fled from Greece to Bulgaria. To an extent the collaboration of the peasants with the Germans, Italians, Bulgarians or
ELAS The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
was determined by the geopolitical position of each village. Depending upon whether their village was vulnerable to attack by the Greek communist guerrillas or the occupation forces, the peasants would opt to support the side in relation to which they were most vulnerable. In both cases, the attempt was to promise "freedom" (autonomy or independence) to the formerly persecuted Slavic minority as a means of gaining its support.


National Liberation Front

The National Liberation Front (NOF) was organized by the political and military groups of the Slavic minority in Greece, active from 1945 to 1949. The
interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
was the time when part of them came to the conclusion that they are Macedonians. Greek hostility to the Slavic minority produced tensions that rose to separatism. After the recognition in 1934 from the
Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
of the Macedonian ethnicity, the Greek communists also recognized Macedonian national identity. That separatism was reinforced by Communist Yugoslavia's support, since Yugoslavia's new authorities after 1944 encouraged the growth of Macedonian national consciousness. Following World War II, the population of Yugoslav Macedonia did begin to feel themselves to be Macedonian, assisted and pushed by a government policy. Communist Bulgaria also began a policy of making Macedonia connecting link for the establishment of new
Balkan Federative Republic 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 ...
and stimulating in Bulgarian Macedonia a development of distinct Slav Macedonian consciousness. However, differences soon emerged between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria concerning the national character of the Macedonian Slavs – whereas Bulgarians considered them to be an offshoot of the
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 ...
, Yugoslavia regarded them as an independent nation which had nothing to do whatsoever with the Bulgarians. Thus the initial tolerance for the
Macedonization 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 ...
of
Pirin Macedonia Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya'') is the third-biggest part of the geographical region Macedonia located on t ...
gradually grew into outright alarm. At first, the NOF organized meetings, street and factory protests and published illegal underground newspapers. Soon after its founding, members began forming armed partisan detachments. In 1945, 12 such groups were formed in Kastoria, 7 in Florina, and 11 in
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
and the
Gianitsa Giannitsa ( el, Γιαννιτσά , in English also Yannitsa, Yenitsa) is the largest city in the regional unit of Pella and the capital of the Pella municipality, in the region of Central Macedonia in northern Greece. The municipal unit Gian ...
region. Many
Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
also joined the Macedonians in NOF, especially in the Kastoria region. The NOF merged with the
Democratic Army of Greece The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...
(DSE) which was the main armed unit supporting the Communist Party. Owing to the KKE's equal treatment of ethnic Macedonians and Greeks, many ethnic Macedonians enlisted as volunteers in the DSE (60% of the DSE was composed of Slavic Macedonians). It was during this time that books written in the Macedonian dialect (the official language was in process of codifying) were published and Macedonians cultural organizations theatres were opened. According to information announced by Paskal Mitrovski on the I plenum of NOF in August 1948, about 85% of the Slavic-speaking population in Greek Macedonia had an ethnic Macedonian self-identity. It has been estimated that out of DSE's 20,000 fighters, 14,000 were Slavic Macedonians from Greek Macedonia. Given their important role in the battle, the KKE changed its policy towards them. At the fifth Plenum of KKE on January 31, 1949, a resolution was passed declaring that after KKE's victory, the Slavic Macedonians would find their national restoration as they wish.


Refugee children

The DSE was slowly driven back and eventually defeated. Thousands of Slavic speakers were expelled and fled to the newly established
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 ...
, while thousands more children took refuge in other
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries. They are known as ''Децата бегалци/Decata begalci''. Many of them made their way to the US, Canada and Australia. Other estimates claim that 5,000 were sent to Romania, 3,000 to Czechoslovakia, 2,500 to Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary and a further 700 to East Germany. There are also estimations that 52,000 – 72,000 people in total (incl. Greeks) were evacuated from Greece. However a 1951 document from 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 ...
states the total number of ethnic Macedonian and Greeks arriving from Greece between the years 1941–1951 is 28,595. From 1941 until 1944 500 found refuge in the
People's 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 ...
, in 1944 4,000 people, in 1945 5,000, in 1946 8,000, in 1947 6,000, in 1948 3,000, in 1949 2,000, in 1950 80, and in 1951 15 people. About 4,000 left Yugoslavia and moved to other Socialist countries (and very few went also to western countries). So in 1951 in Yugoslavia were 24,595 refugees from Greek Macedonia. 19,000 lived in Yugoslav Macedonia, 4,000 in Serbia (mainly in Gakovo-Krusevlje) and 1595 in other Yugoslav republics. This data is confirmed by the
KKE The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece. Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
, which claims that the total number of political refugees from Greece (incl. Greeks) was 55,881.


Post-war period

Since the end of the Greek Civil War many ethnic Macedonians have attempted to return to their homes in Greece. A 1982 amnesty law which stated "all Greek by descent who during the civil war of 1946–1949 and because of it have fled abroad as political refugees had the right to return", thus excluding all those who did not identify as ethnic Greeks. This was brought to a forefront shortly after the independence of the
Republic of 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 ...
(now North Macedonia) in 1991. Many ethnic Macedonians have been refused entry to Greece because their documentation listed the Slavic names of the places of birth as opposed to the official Greek names, despite the child refugees, now elderly, only knowing their village by the local Macedonian name. These measures were even extended to Australian and Canadian citizens. Despite this, there have been sporadic periods of free entry, most of which have only ever lasted a few days. Despite the removal of official recognition to those identifying as ethnic Macedonians after the end 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 ...
, a 1954 letter from the Prefect of
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
, K. Tousildis, reported that people were still affirming that the language they spoke was Macedonian in forms relating to personal documents, birth and marriage registries, etc.


Recent history

Since the late 1980s there has been a Macedonian ethnic revival in much of Northern Greece, especially where Macedonian speakers have not been minoritised. In 1984 the "Movement for Human and National Rights for the Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia" was founded, and was followed by the creation of the "Central Committee for Macedonian Human Rights" in Salonika in 1989. In 1990 a manifesto by this group was presented to the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe on behalf of the ethnic Macedonians. Following this the "Macedonian Movement for Balkan Prosperity" (MAKIVE) was formed, and in 1993 this group held the first "All Macedonian Congress" in Greece. The bilingual Macedonian and Greek-language "''Ta Moglena''" newspaper was first put into print in 1989, and although restricted to the Moglena region had a readership of 3,000. In 1989 the first attempts at establishing a "House of Macedonian Culture" in Florina began. MAKIVE participated in the 1993 local elections and received 14 percent of the vote in the Florina Prefecture. According to a study by anthropologist Ricki van Boeschoten, 64% of the inhabitants of 43 villages in the Florina area were Macedonian-language speakers. According to a 1993 study, of the 90 villages in
Florina Prefecture Florina ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Φλώρινας, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, Greece. Its ...
, 50% were populated only by Slavic speakers, while another 23% with mixed population of Slavic speakers and other groups. One study of the archives in
Langadas Lagkadas ( el, Λαγκαδάς, ) is a town and municipality in the northeast part of Thessaloniki regional unit, Greece. There are 41103 residents in the municipality and 7764 of them live in the town of Lagkadas. Lagkadas is located northeast o ...
and the Lake Koroneia basin in
Thessaloniki Prefecture Thessaloniki ( el, Μητροπολιτική Περιοχή Θεσσαλονίκης ''Mitropolitiki Periohi Thessaloníkis'', ''Metropolitan Area of Thessaloniki'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the Region of Central Maced ...
found that most of the 22 villages in the area contained a population primarily made up of former Slavic speakers. In January 1994, Rainbow ( mk, Виножито, Vinožito, el, Ουράνιο Τόξο, Ouránio Tóxo) was founded as the political party to represent the ethnic Macedonian minority. At the 1994 European Parliament election the party received 7,263 votes and polled 5.7% in the Florina district. The party opened its offices in Florina on September 6, 1995. The opening of the office faced strong hostility and that night the offices were ransacked. In 1997 the "Zora" ( mk, Зора, lit. Dawn) newspaper first began to published and the following year, the Second All-Macedonian congress was held in Florina. Soon after the "Makedoniko" magazine also began to be published. In 2001 the first Macedonian Orthodox church in Greece was founded in the
Aridaia Aridaía (; mk, С'ботско, ''S'botsko''; bg, Съботско) is a town and a former municipality in the Pella regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Almopia, of which it is a mun ...
region, which was followed in 2002 by the election of a Rainbow Candidate, Petros Dimtsis, to office in the Florina Prefecture. The year also saw the "Loza" ( mk, Лоза, lit. Vine) magazine go into print. In the following years several Macedonian-language radio stations were established, however many including "Makedonski Glas" ( mk, Македонски Глас, lit. Macedonian Voice), were shut down by Greek authorities. During this period ethnic Macedonians such as Kostas Novakis began to record and distribute music in the native
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that ...
. Ethnic Macedonian activists reprinted the language primer Abecedar ( mk, Абецедар), in attempt to encourage further use of the Macedonian language. However, the lack of Macedonian-language literature has left many young ethnic Macedonian students dependent on textbooks from the Republic of Macedonia. In 2008 thirty ethnic Macedonians from the villages of
Lofoi Lofoi ( el, Λόφοι, before 1928: Ζαπύρδανη - ''Zapyrdani''; Bulgarian: Забърдени; Macedonian: Забрдени, ''Zabrdeni'') is a village in the Florina regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece, located 15 km east of ...
, Meliti, Kella and
Vevi Vevi ( el, Βεύη, before 1926: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa'', before 1928: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa''; Macedonian and bg, Баница, ''Banica'' or ''Banitsa'') is a village located in the municipal unit of Meliti in Florina regional ...
protested against the presence of the Greek military in the Florina region. Another ethnic Macedonian organisation, the Educational and Cultural Movement of Edessa ( mk, Образовното и културно движење на Воден, Obrazovnoto i kulturnoto dviženje na Voden), was formed in 2009. Based in
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
, the group focuses on promoting ethnic Macedonian culture, through the publication of books and CD's, whilst also running Macedonian-language courses and teaching the
Macedonian Cyrillic The orthography of the Macedonian language includes an alphabet consisting of 31 letters ( mk, Македонска азбука, Makedonska azbuka), which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelli ...
alphabet. Since then Macedonian-language courses have been extended to include
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
and
Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
. Later that year Rainbow officially opened its second office in the town of
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
. In early 2010 several Macedonian-language newspapers were put into print for the first time. In early 2010 the Zadruga ( mk, Задруга, el, Koinotita) newspaper was first published, This was shortly followed by the publication of the "Nova Zora" newspaper in May 2010. The estimated readership of Nova Zora is 20,000, whilst that of Zadrgua is considerably smaller. The "Krste Petkov Misirkov Foundation" was established in 2009, which aims to establish a museum dedicated to ethnic Macedonians of Greece, whilst also cooperating with other Macedonian minorities in neighbouring countries. The foundations aims at cataloguing ethnic Macedonian culture in Greece along with promoting the Macedonian language. In 2010 another group of ethnic Macedonians were elected to office, including the outspoken local chairman of Meliti, Pando Ašlakov. According to reports from North Macedonia, ethnic Macedonians have also been elected as chairmen in the villages of
Vevi Vevi ( el, Βεύη, before 1926: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa'', before 1928: Μπάνιτσα - ''Banitsa''; Macedonian and bg, Баница, ''Banica'' or ''Banitsa'') is a village located in the municipal unit of Meliti in Florina regional ...
, Pappagiannis, Neochoraki and Achlada. Later that year the first Macedonian-Greek dictionary was launched by ethnic Macedonian activists in both Brussels and Athens. The Church of Saint Zlata of Meglen in
Aridaia Aridaía (; mk, С'ботско, ''S'botsko''; bg, Съботско) is a town and a former municipality in the Pella regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Almopia, of which it is a mun ...
is the only Macedonian Orthodox Church in Greek Macedonia, operating under archimandrite
Nikodim Tsarknias Nikodim Tsarknias ( el, Νικόδημος Τσαρκνιάς, mk, Никодим Царкњас, born 1942 in Aridaia) is an ethnic Macedonian Orthodox Christian monk and Archimandrite who originates from the Greek region of Macedonia. In 197 ...
.


Ethnic and linguistic affiliations

Members of this group have had a number of conflicting ethnic identifications. Predominantly identified as
Macedonian Bulgarians Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians ( bg, македонци or македонски българи), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of eth ...
until the early 1940s, since the formation of a Macedonian nation state, many of the migrant population in the diaspora (Australia, United States and Canada) now feel a strong Macedonian identity and have followed the consolidation of the Macedonian ethnicity. However, those who remain in Greece now mainly identify themselves as ethnic Greeks. The Macedonian region of Greece has a Greek majority which includes descendants of the
Pontic Greeks The Pontic Greeks ( pnt, Ρωμαίοι, Ρωμίοι, tr, Pontus Rumları or , el, Πόντιοι, or , , ka, პონტოელი ბერძნები, ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group in ...
, but it is ethnically diverse (including
Arvanites Arvanites (; Arvanitika: , or , ; Greek: , ) are a bilingual population group in Greece of Albanian origin. They traditionally speak Arvanitika, an Albanian language variety, along with Greek. Their ancestors were first recorded as settlers ...
,
Aromanians The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
,
Megleno-Romanians The Megleno-Romanians, also known as Meglenites ( ruq, Miglinits), Moglenite Vlachs or simply Vlachs ( ruq, Vlaș), are a small Eastern Romance people, originally inhabiting seven villages in the Moglena region spanning the Pella and Kilkis reg ...
and
Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
). The second group in today's Greece is made up of those who seem to reject any
national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...
, but have distinct regional ethnic identity, which they may call "indigenous" ( el, ντόπια, ''dopia''), which might be understood as Slavomacedonian, or Macedonian, and the smallest group is made up of those who have a so-called
ethnic Macedonian 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 ...
national identity. They speak East South Slavic dialects that are usually linguistically classified as Macedonian, but which are locally often referred to simply as "Slavic" or "the local language". A crucial element of that controversy is the very name ''Macedonian'', as it is also used by a much more numerous group of people with a Greek national identity to indicate their regional identity. The term "Aegean Macedonians" ( mk, Егејски Македонци, ''Egejski Makedonci''), mainly used in North Macedonia and in the
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 ...
context 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 regio ...
, is associated with those parts of the population that have a so-called
ethnic Macedonian 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 ...
identity. Speakers who identify as Greeks or have distinct regional ethnic identity, often speak of themselves simply as "locals" ( el, ντόπιοι, ''dopii''), to distinguish themselves from native Greek speakers from the rest of Greece and/or Greek refugees from Asia Minor who entered the area in the 1920s and after. Some Slavic speakers in Greek Macedonia will also use the term "Macedonians" or "Slavomacedonians", though in a regional rather than an ethnic sense. People of Greek persuasion are sometimes called by the pejorative term "
Grecomans Grecoman or Graecoman (Greek: Γραικομάνοι, ''Grekománoi'', Bulgarian: Гъркомани, ''Garkomani'', Macedonian: Гркомани, ''Grkomani'', Romanian: ''Grecomani'', Albanian: ''Grekomanë'', Aromanian: ''Gricumanji'') is a ...
" by the other side. Greek sources, which usually avoid the identification of the group with the nation of North Macedonia, and also reject the use of the name "Macedonian" for the latter, will most often refer only to so-called "Slavophones" or "Slavophone Greeks". "Slavic speakers" or "Slavophones" is also used as a cover term for people across the different ethnic orientations. The exact number of this minority remaining in Greece today, together with its members' choice of ethnic identification, is difficult to ascertain; most maximum estimates range around 180,000–200,000 with those of an ethnic Macedonian national consciousness numbering possibly 10,000 to 30,000. However, as per leading experts on this issue, the number of this people has decreased in the last decades, because of intermarriage and urbanization; they now number between 50,000 and 70,000 people with around 10,000 of them identifying as ethnic Macedonians.


Past discrimination

After the conclusion of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
a widespread policy of Hellenisation was implemented in the Greek region of Macedonia with personal and topographic names forcibly changed to Greek versions and Cyrillic inscriptions across Northern Greece being removed from gravestones and churches. Under the regime of
Ioannis Metaxas Ioannis Metaxas (; el, Ιωάννης Μεταξάς; 12th April 187129th January 1941) was a Greek military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. He governed constitutionally for t ...
the situation for Slavic speakers became intolerable, causing many to emigrate. A law was passed banning the ''Bulgarian language'' (local Macedonian dialects). Many people who broke the rule were deported to the islands of
Thasos Thasos or Thassos ( el, Θάσος, ''Thásos'') is a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea. It is the northernmost major Greek island, and 12th largest by area. The island has an area of and a population of about 13,000. It forms a separate re ...
and
Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It i ...
. Others were arrested, fined, beaten and forced to drink castor oil, or even deported to the border regions in
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
following a staunch government policy of chastising minorities. During 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 ...
, areas under Communist control freely taught the newly codified
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 ...
. Throughout this period it is claimed that the ethnic Macedonian culture and language flourished. Over 10,000 children went to 87 schools, Macedonian-language newspapers were printed and theatres opened. As the National forces approached, these facilities were either shut down or destroyed. People feared oppression and the loss of their rights under the rule of the National government, which in turn caused many people to flee from Greece. However, the Greek Communists were defeated in the civil war, their Provisional Government was exiled, and tens of thousands of Slavic speakers were expelled from Greece. Many fled in order to avoid persecution from the ensuing National army. Those who fled during the Greek Civil War were stripped of their Greek Citizenship and property. Although these refugees have been classed as political refugees, there have been claims that they were also targeted due to their ethnic and cultural identities. During the Cold War cases of discrimination against people who identified themselves as ethnic Macedonians, and against the Macedonian language, had been reported by Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. In 1959 it was reported that the inhabitants of three villages adopted a 'language oath', renouncing their Slavic dialect. According to Riki Van Boeschoten, this "peculiar ritual" took place "probably on the initiative of local government officials." According to a 1994 report by the
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
, based on a fact-finding mission in 1993 in the
Florina Prefecture Florina ( el, Περιφερειακή Ενότητα Φλώρινας, ''Perifereiakí Enótita Flórinas'') is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia, Greece. Its ...
and
Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
, Greece oppressed the
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 implemented a program to forcefully Hellenize them. According to its findings, the ethnic Macedonian minority was denied acknowledgment of its existence by the Greek government, which refused the teaching of their language and other expressions of ethnic Macedonian culture; members of the minority "were discriminated against in employment in the public sector in the past, and may suffer from such discrimination at present"; minority activists "have been prosecuted and convicted for the peaceful expression of their views" and were generally "harassed by the government, followed and threatened by security forces, and subjected to economic and social pressures resulting from government harassment", leading to a climate of fear. The Greek government further discriminated against ethnic Macedonian refugees who fled into
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
during 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 ...
; while Greek political refugees were allowed to reclaim their citizenship, they were not. The Greek state requires radio stations to broadcast in Greek, therefore excluding the Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia (who are considered
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 ...
by the Rainbow political party) from operating radio stations in Slavic.


Culture

Regardless of political orientation, Macedonian speakers in Greece share a common culture with
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 ...
. The commonalities include religious festivals, dances, music, language, folklore and national dress. Despite these commonalities however, there are regional folk dances which are specific to persons living in Greece. However, waves of refugees and emigration have had the effect of spreading this culture far beyond the borders of Greece. Greece has blocked attempts by ethnic Macedonians to establish a Home of Macedonian Culture despite being convicted for a violation of freedom of association by the European Court of Human Rights.


Traditions

Koleda Koliada or koleda ( Cyrillic: коляда, коледа, колада, коледе) is the traditional Slavic name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany or, more generally, to Slavic Christmas-related rituals, some dating to pre-Christia ...
, an ancient Slavic winter ritual, is widely celebrated across northern Greece by Slavic speakers, in areas from
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
to
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, where it is called Koleda (Κόλεντε, Κόλιαντα) or Koleda Babo (Κόλιντα Μπάμπω) which means "Koleda Grandmother" in Slavic. It is celebrated around Christmas by gathering in the village square and lighting a bonfire, followed by local Macedonian music and dancing. Winter traditions that are characteristic to Slavic speakers in Greece, Bulgaria and North Macedonia include ''Babaria'' ( gr, Μπαμπάρια; mk, Бабари; bg, Бабугери) in the
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
area, ''Ezarki'' ( gr, Εζζκάρι; mk, Ежкари; bg, Ешкари) in the
Ptolemaida Ptolemaida ( el, Πτολεμαΐδα, Ptolemaïda, Katharevousa: Πτολεμαΐς, ''Ptolemaïs'') is a town and a former municipality in Kozani regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of th ...
area, ''Rogochari'' ( gr, Ρογκοτσσάρι; mk, Рогочари; bg, Рогочари) in the
Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
area, and ''Dzamalari'' ( gr, Τζζαμαλάρι; mk, Џамалари; bg, Джамалари/Джамали) in the
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
area.


Music

Many regional folk songs are performed in both the local
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that ...
and Standard Macedonian language, depending on the origin of the song. However, this was not always the case, and in 1993 the Greek Helsinki Monitor found that the Greek government refused in ''"the recent past to permit the performance of thnicMacedonian songs and dances"''. In recent years however these restrictions have been lifted and once again Macedonian songs are performed freely at festivals and gatherings across Greece. Many songs originating Greek Macedonia such as "Filka Moma" ( mk, Филка Мома, lit. Filka Girl) have become popular in North Macedonia. Whilst likewise many songs composed by artists from North Macedonia such as ''"Egejska Maka"'' by Suzana Spasovska, ''"Makedonsko devojče"'' by Jonče Hristovski, and ''"Kade ste Makedončinja?"'' are also widely sung in Greece. In recent years many ethnic Macedonian performers including Elena Velevska, Suzana Spasovska, Ferus Mustafov, Group
Synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors ** Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organ ...
and
Vaska Ilieva Vaska Ilieva (; February 21, 1923 – May 4, 2001) was a Macedonian leading folk singer from Yugoslavia and North Macedonia. Career She started her career as a dancer and singer in the State Ensemble Tanec in the early 1950s. Her style of s ...
, have all been invited to perform in amongst ethnic Macedonians in Greece. Likewise ethnic Macedonian performers from Greece such as Kostas Novakis also perform in North Macedonia. Many performers who live in the diaspora often return to Greece to perform Macedonian songs, including Marija Dimkova.


Dances

The ''Lerinsko oro''/lerin dance, with origins in the region of Florina, is also popular amongst Slavic speakers. Other dances popularized by the Boys from Buf include the ''Bufsko Pušteno'' and ''Armensko Oro''.


Media

The first Macedonian-language media in Greece emerged in the 1940s. The "Crvena Zvezda" newspaper, first published in 1942 in the local
Solun-Voden dialect The Solun-Voden dialect, Lower Vardar dialect, or Kukush-Voden dialect is a South Slavic dialect spoken in parts of the Greek periphery of Central Macedonia, and the vicinity of Gevgelija and Dojran in the Republic of North Macedonia. It has be ...
, is often credited with being the first Macedonian-language newspaper to be published in Greece.Boro Mokrov and Tome Gruevski, Overview of Macedonian Print (1885–1992), Skopje, 1993, 150–151 This was soon followed by the publication of many others including, "Edinstvo" (Unity), "Sloveno-Makedonski Glas", "Nova Makedonka", "Freedom", "Pobeda" (Victory), "Prespanski Glas" (Voice of Prespa), "Iskra" (Spark), "Stražar" (Guard) and others. Most of these newspapers were written in the codified
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 ...
or the local
Macedonian dialects The dialects of Macedonian comprise the Slavic dialects spoken in the Republic of North Macedonia as well as some varieties spoken in the wider geographic region of Macedonia. They are part of the dialect continuum of South Slavic languages that ...
. The Nepokoren ( mk, Непокорен) newspaper was issued from May 1, 1947, until August 1949, and served as a later example of Macedonian-language media in Greece. It was affiliated with the National Liberation Front, which was the military organisation of the
Ethnic Macedonian 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 ...
minority in Greece. The Bilten magazine ( mk, Билтен), is another example of Greek Civil War era Macedonian media. After the Greek Civil War a ban was placed on public use of Macedonian, and this was reflect in the decline of all Macedonian-language media. The 1990s saw a resurgence of Macedonian-language print including the publication of the "Ta Moglena", Loza, Zora ( mk, Зора) and Makedoniko newspapers. This was followed with the publication of the Zadruga magazine ( mk, Задруга) in early 2010. Soon afterwards in May 2010 the monthly newspaper Nova Zora ( mk, Нова Зора) went to print. Both Zadruga and Nova Zora are published in both Macedonian and Greek. Several Macedonian-language radio stations have recently been set up in Greek Macedonia to cater for the Macedonian speaking population. These stations however, like other Macedonian-language institutions in Greece have faced fierce opposition from the authorities, with one of these radio stations, "Macedonian Voice" ( mk, Македонски Глас), being shut down by authorities.


Education and language

The Slavic dialects spoken across Northern Greece belong to the eastern group of South Slavic, comprising
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 Macedonian, and share all the characteristics that set this group apart from other
Slavic languages The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic, spoken during the Ear ...
: existence of a
definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...
, lack of cases, lack of a verb infinitive, comparative forms of adjectives formed with the prefix ''по-'',
future tense In grammar, a future tense (abbreviated ) is a verb form that generally marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future. An example of a future tense form is the French ''aimera'', meaning ...
formed by the present form of the verb preceded by ''ще/ќе'', and existence of a
renarrative mood The inferential mood (abbreviated or ) is used to report a nonwitnessed event without confirming it, but the same forms also function as admiratives in the Balkan languages (namely Albanian, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Turkish) in which they occu ...
. These dialects include the Upper and
Lower Prespa dialect The Lower Prespa dialect ( mk, Долнoпреспански дијалект, ''Dolnoprespanski dijalekt''), is a member of the western subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is mainly spoken on the Eastern shore o ...
s, the Kostur, Nestram-Kostenar,
Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect The Ser-Drama-Lagadin-Nevrokop dialect is a dialect currently treated both in the contexts of the southeastern group of Bulgarian dialects and the southeastern subgroup of dialects of the Macedonian. Prior to the codification of standard Mace ...
, and Solun-Voden dialects. The
Prilep-Bitola dialect The Prilep-Bitola dialect ( mk, Прилепско-битолски дијалект, ''Prilepsko-bitolski dijalekt'') is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pel ...
is widely spoken in the
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
region, and forms the basis of the Standard Macedonian language. The majority of the speakers also speak Greek, this trend is more pronounced amongst younger persons. Speakers employ various terms to refer to the language which they speak. These terms include ''Makedonski'' ( mk, Македонски), ''Slavomakedonika'' ( el, Σλαβομακεδονικά, "Slavomacedonian"), ''Entopia'' ( el, Εντόπια, "local" language), ''Naše'' ( mk, Наше, "our own" language), ''Starski'' ( mk, Старски, "the old" language) or ''Slavika'' ( el, Σλαβικά, "Slavic"). Historically, the terms ''Balgàrtzki'', ''Bolgàrtski'' or ''Bulgàrtski'' had been used in the region of Kostur (
Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
), and ''Bògartski'' ("Bulgarian") in the region of Lower Prespa (
Prespes Prespes ( el, Πρέσπες) is a municipality in the Florina regional unit, Western Macedonia, Greece. Its population in 2011 was 7,380. The seat of the municipality is in Laimos. It was named after Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located o ...
). According to
Peter Trudgill Peter Trudgill, FBA (; born 7 November 1943) is an English sociolinguist, academic and author. Trudgill was born in Norwich, England and grew up in the area of Thorpe St Andrew. He attended the City of Norwich School from 1955. Trudgill studie ...
,
There is, of course, the very interesting
Ausbau In sociolinguistics, an abstand language is a language variety or cluster of varieties with significant linguistic distance from all others, while an ausbau language is a standard variety, possibly with related dependent varieties. Heinz Kloss ...
sociolinguistic question as to whether the language they speak is
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 ...
or Macedonian, given that both these languages have developed out of the South Slavonic
dialect continuum A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of Variety (linguistics), language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are Mutual intelligibility, mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulat ...
...In former Yugoslav Macedonia and Bulgaria there is no problem, of course. Bulgarians are considered to speak Bulgarian and Macedonians Macedonian. The Slavonic dialects of Greece, however, are "roofless" dialects whose speakers have no access to education in the standard languages. Greek non-linguists, when they acknowledge the existence of these dialects at all, frequently refer to them by the label ''Slavika'', which has the implication of denying that they have any connection with the languages of the neighboring countries. It seems most sensible, in fact, to refer to the language of the Pomaks as Bulgarian and to that of the Christian Slavonic-speakers in Greek Macedonia as Macedonian.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century the language of instruction in virtually all schools in the region was
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 ...
. One of the first Bulgarian schools began operation in 1857 in
Kukush Kilkis ( el, Κιλκίς) is a city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2011 there were 22,914 people living in the city proper, 28,745 people living in the municipal unit, and 51,926 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city o ...
. The number of Bulgarian schools increased as the Bulgarian struggle for ecclesiastical independence intensified and after the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870. According to the statistics of the Bulgarian Exarchate, by 1912, when the First Balkan War broke out, there were 296 Bulgarian schools with 589 teachers and approximately 19 000 pupils in Greek Macedonia. For comparison, the total number of Bulgarian-exarchist schools in all of Macedonia in 1912 was 1196 with 2096 teachers and 70 000 pupils. All Bulgarian schools in Greek and Serbian Macedonia were closed after the Second Balkan War. The ''Abecedar'' language primer, originally printed in 1925, was designed for speakers in using the
Prilep-Bitola dialect The Prilep-Bitola dialect ( mk, Прилепско-битолски дијалект, ''Prilepsko-bitolski dijalekt'') is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pel ...
in the Florina area. Although the book used a Latin script, it was printed in the locally
Prilep-Bitola dialect The Prilep-Bitola dialect ( mk, Прилепско-битолски дијалект, ''Prilepsko-bitolski dijalekt'') is a member of the central subgroup of the western group of dialects of Macedonian. This dialect is spoken in much of the Pel ...
. In the 1930s the Metaxas regime banned the use of the Slavomacedonian language in public and private use. Laws were enacted banning the language, and speakers faced harsh penalties including being arrested, fined, beaten and forced to drink castor oil. During the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II however these penalties were lifted. Macedonian was employed in widespread use, with Macedonian-language newspapers appearing from 1942. During the period 1941–1944 within The Bulgarian occupation zone Bulgarian was taught. During 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 ...
, the codified Macedonian language was taught in 87 schools with 10,000 students in areas of northern Greece under the control of Communist-led forces, until their defeat by the National Army in 1949. After the war, all of these Macedonian-language schools were closed down. More recently there have been attempts to once again begin education in Macedonian. In 2009 the Educational and Cultural Movement of Edessa began to run Macedonian-language courses, teaching the
Macedonian Cyrillic The orthography of the Macedonian language includes an alphabet consisting of 31 letters ( mk, Македонска азбука, Makedonska azbuka), which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelli ...
alphabet. Macedonian-language courses have also begun in Salonika, as a way of further encouraging use of Macedonian. These courses have since been extended to include Macedonian speakers in
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
and
Edessa Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
. In 2006 the Macedonian-language primer ''Abecedar'' was reprinted in an informal attempt to reintroduce Macedonian-language education The ''Abecedar'' primer was reprinted in 2006 by the Rainbow Political Party, it was printed in Macedonian, Greek and English. In the absence of more Macedonian-language books printed in Greece, young ethnic Macedonians living in Greece use books originating from North Macedonia. Today Macedonian dialects are freely spoken in Greece however there are serious fears for the loss the language among the younger generations due to the lack of exposure to their native language. It appears however that reports of the demise of the use of Macedonian in Greece have been premature, with linguists such as Christian Voss asserting that the language has a "stable future" in Greece, and that the language is undergoing a "revival" amongst younger speakers. The Rainbow Party has called for the introduction of the language in schools and for official purposes. They have been joined by others such as Pande Ašlakov, mayor of Meliti, in calling for the language to be officially introduced into the education system. Certain characteristics of these dialects, along with most varieties of
Spoken Macedonian Spoken MacedonianКонески, Б. „За македонскиот литературен јазик“, стр. 132. ( mk, разговорен македонски јазик) is the Spoken language, spoken Variety (linguistics), variety of th ...
, include the changing of the suffix ''ovi'' to ''oj'' creating the words ''lebovi → leboj'' ( → , "bread"). Often the intervocalic consonants of , and are lost, changing words from ''polovina → polojna'' ("a half") and ''sega → sea'' ("now"), which also features strongly in dialects spoken in North Macedonia. In other phonological and morphological characteristics, they remain similar to the other South-Eastern dialects spoken in North Macedonia and
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. On 28 July 2022, in a landmark ruling, the Greek Court registered the Centre for Macedonian Language in Greece as a non-governmental organization. This is the first time that a cultural organization promoting the Macedonian language has been legally approved in Greece and the first official recognition of the Macedonian language by Greece since at least 1928.Mavrogordatos, George. ''Stillborn Republic: Social Coalitions and Party Strategies in Greece, 1922–1936''. University of California Press, 1983. , p. 227, 247


Diaspora

Outside of Greece there is a large diaspora to be found in the North Macedonia, former Eastern Bloc countries such as Bulgaria, as well as in other European and overseas countries.


Bulgaria

The most numerous Slavic diaspora from Greece lives in Bulgaria. There were a number of refugee waves, most notably after the Treaty of Berlin and the Kresna-Razlog Uprising (1878), the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising (1903), during 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 ...
(1912–1913), and after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
(1918). According to some estimates, by the beginning of the Balkan Wars, the total number of refugees from Macedonia and Thrace was about 120,000. Others estimate that by the middle of the 1890s between 100,000 and 200,000 Slavs from Macedonia had already immigrated to Bulgaria. Around 100 000 Bulgarians fled to Bulgaria from the districts around Koukush before the advancing Greek army during the
Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
. 66 000 more left Greece for Bulgaria after the end of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, following a population exchange agreement between Bulgaria and Greece. The refugees and their various organizations played an active role in Bulgarian public and political life: at the end of the 19th century they comprised about a third of the officers in the army (430 out of 1289), 43% of government officials (15 000 out of 38 000), 37% of the priests of the Bulgarian Exarchate (1,262 out of 3,412), and a third of the capital's population. The Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and the
Macedonian Scientific Institute The Macedonian Scientific Institute (MSI; bg, Македонски научен институт) is a Bulgarian scientific organization, which studies the region of Macedonia and mostly the Macedonian Bulgarians. Establishment and activity It w ...
are among the most notable organizations founded by Macedonian Bulgarian immigrants to Bulgaria.


North Macedonia

The state of North Macedonia is home to thousands of people who self-identify as "Aegean Macedonians". Sources put the number of Aegean Macedonians living in North Macedonia at somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000. The majority of these people are descended from World War II and Greek Civil War refugees who fled to the then Bulgarian-occupied Yugoslav Macedonia and
People's 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 ...
. The years following the conflict saw the repatriation of many refugees mainly from
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
countries. The refugees were primarily settled in deserted villages and areas across Yugoslav Macedonia. A large proportion went to the
Tetovo Tetovo ( mk, Тетово, , sq, Tetovë/Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, w ...
and
Gostivar Gostivar ( mk, Гостивар , Albanian and Turkish: ''Gostivar''), is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is one of the largest municipalities in the country with a population of 81,042, and the town also ...
areas. Another large group was to settle in
Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
and the surrounding areas, while refugee camps were established in
Kumanovo Kumanovo ( mk, Куманово ; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in North Macedonia and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality, the List of municipalities in the Republic of Macedonia by population, largest municipali ...
and
Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...
. Large enclaves of Greek refugees and their descendants can be found in the suburbs of Topansko Pole and Avtokamanda in
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 ...
. Many Aegean Macedonians have held prominent positions in North Macedonia, including former 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 ...
and Dimitar Dimitrov, the former Minister of Education.


Australia

A large self-identifying Aegean Macedonian population also lives in Australia, many of which arrived during the early 1900s. Charles Price estimates that by 1940 there were 670 Ethnic Macedonians from
Florina Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'. The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
and 370 from
Kastoria Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
resident in Australia. The group was a key supporter of the
Macedonian-Australian People's League The Macedonian-Australian People's League ( mk, Македонско-австралиски народен сојуз, translit=Makedonsko-avstraliski naroden sojuz) or MAPL was a procommunist Macedonian Australian political organisation which ope ...
, and since then has formed numerous emigrant organisations. There are Aegean Macedonian communities in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
,
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Manjimup,
Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...
,
Wanneroo Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Education ...
and
Queanbeyan Queanbeyan ( ) is a city in the south-eastern region of New South Wales, Australia, located adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory in the Southern Tablelands region. Located on the Queanbeyan River, the city is the council seat of the ...
. These immigrants have established numerous cultural and social groups including The Church of St George and the Lerin Community Centre in Shepparton and the Aegean Macedonian hall – Kotori built in Richmond along with other churches and halls being built in Queanbeyan in Manjimup. The "Macedonian Aegean Association of Australia" is the uniting body for this community in Australia. It has been estimated by scholar Peter Hill that over 50,000 Aegean Macedonians and their descendants can be found in Australia.


Canada

Large populations of Macedonians emigrated to Canada in the wake of the failed
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
and as ''Pečalbari'' (lit. Seasonal Workers) in the early 1900s. An internal census revealed that by 1910 the majority of these people were from the Florina (Lerin) and Kastoria (Kostur) regions. By 1940 this number had grown to over 1,200 families, primarily concentrated in the
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
region. A further 6,000 ethnic Macedonians are estimated to have arrived as refugees, following the aftermath of the Greek Civil War. One of the many cultural and benevolent societies established included "The Association of Refugee Children from Aegean Macedonia" (ARCAM) founded in 1979. The association aimed to unite former child refugees from all over the world, with branches soon established in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Melbourne,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
,
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
,
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and Macedonia.


Romania

In the aftermath of the Greek Civil War thousands of ethnic Bulgarian and
ethnic Macedonian 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 ...
refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.
were displaced to Romania. Between 1948 and 1949 an estimated 5,200 child refugees, all ethnic Bulgarian, Macedonian and Greek were sent to Romania. The largest of the evacuation camps was set up in the town of Tulgheş, and here all the refugees were schooled in Greek and the ethnic Macedonian also in Macedonian; other languages were Romanian and Russian.


United States

Most of the Slavic-speaking immigrants from Macedonia arrived in the United States during the first decade of the twentieth century. Between 1903 and 1906 an estimated 50,000 Slavic-speaking migrants from Macedonia came to the United States. These identified themselves as either Bulgarians or Macedonian Bulgarians. Their most prominent organisation, the Macedonian Political Organisation was established in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1922 (it was renamed to Macedonian Patriotic Organisation in 1952).


Notable persons

*
Vasil Chekalarov Vasil Hristov Chekalarov ( Bulgarian/ mk, Васил Христов Чекаларов) or Vasil Tcakalarov (22 February 1874 – 9 July 1913) was a Bulgarian revolutionary and one of the leaders of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation ...
, revolutionary,
IMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
leader *
Atanas Dalchev Atanas Hristov Dalchev (also written ''Dalčev''; bg, Атанас Далчев) (June 12, 1904 - January 17, 1978) was a Bulgarian poet, critic and translator. He was among the leading Bulgarian poets of the 1920s and 1930s. Dalchev was also a ...
, poet, critic, and translator *
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 ...
, revolutionary, IMRO leader * Dimitar Dimitrov, politician * Kostadin Hristov * Angelis Gatsos, Greek revolutionary *
Andon Kalchev Andon Kalchev ( bg, Андон Калчев) (1910 – 27 August 1948) was a Bulgarian army officer, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian-backed Ohrana, a paramilitary formation of Bulgarians in Greek Macedonia during World War II Axis occupation ...
, officer in the Bulgarian Army, Ohrana member * Risto Kirjazovski * Stojan Kočov * Jagnula Kunovska * Paskal Mitrevski * Kroum Pindoff *
Lazar Poptraykov Lazar Poptraykov ( Bulgarian: Лазар Поптрайков; Macedonian: Лазар Поп-Трајков) (10 April 1878–October 1903) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji). He was also a Bulgarian Exarchate teacher and poe ...
, revolutionary, IMRO leader *
Lyubka Rondova Lyubka Vasileva Rondova ( bg, Любка Василева Рондова), Ljubka Rondova or Lubka Rondova was a Bulgarian folk singer best known for performing and recording many of the traditional songs from Macedonia as a folklore region. Ro ...
, Bulgarian folk singer *
Andrew Rossos Andrew Rossos ( Macedonian: Андреј Росос, Greek: Ανδρέας Ρόσος; born 1941) is a Canadian-Macedonian Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Toronto. Early life and education Rossos was born in 1941 in the vil ...
*
Blagoy Shklifov Blagoy Stefanov Shklifov ( bg, Благой Стефанов Шклифов; January 30, 1935 – September 25, 2003) was a Bulgarian dialectologist and phonologist. Shklifov was born in Polykeraso (Chereshnitsa), Vitsi municipality, Kastoria ...
, dialectologist * Steve Stavro *
Georgi Traykov Georgi Traykov Girovski, also known as Georgi Traykov ( bg, Георги Трайков Гировски, 14 April 1898, Varbeni, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (today Itea, Greece) – 14 January 1975, Sofia, Bulgaria), was a Bulgarian poli ...
, politician, Head of State of Bulgaria (1964–1971) *
Nikodim Tsarknias Nikodim Tsarknias ( el, Νικόδημος Τσαρκνιάς, mk, Никодим Царкњас, born 1942 in Aridaia) is an ethnic Macedonian Orthodox Christian monk and Archimandrite who originates from the Greek region of Macedonia. In 197 ...
, monk *
Andreas Tsipas Andreas Tsipas ( el, Ανδρέας Τσίπας; mk, Андреjа Чипов, translit=Andreja Čipov; bg, Андрей Чипов, translit=Andrey Chipov; born 1904, Patele, Ottoman Empire (today Agios Panteleimonas, near Florina, Greece) – ...
* Pavlos Voskopoulos *
Anton Yugov Anton Tanev (Dontcho) Yugov ( bg, Антон Танев Югов) (28 August 1904 – 6 July 1991) was a Bulgarian politician who was a leading member of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), and served as Prime Minister of the country from 19 ...
, member of the
Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...
,
Prime Minister of Bulgaria The prime minister of Bulgaria ( bg, Министър-председател, Ministar-predsedatel) is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament – known as the National Assemb ...
(1956–1962) * Hristo Smirnenski, writer and poet


See also

* Slavic dialects of Greece *
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 ...
* Bulgarian language * Demographic history of Macedonia * Rainbow (political party) * Refugees of the Greek Civil War * Macedonian Struggle * Macedonians (ethnic group) * Macedonians (Bulgarians) *
Grecomans Grecoman or Graecoman (Greek: Γραικομάνοι, ''Grekománoi'', Bulgarian: Гъркомани, ''Garkomani'', Macedonian: Гркомани, ''Grkomani'', Romanian: ''Grecomani'', Albanian: ''Grekomanë'', Aromanian: ''Gricumanji'') is a ...


References


Sources

* * *


Further reading

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slavic-Speakers Of Greek Macedonia Slavic speakers of Greek Macedonia, Ethnic groups in Greece Ethnic groups in Macedonia (region) People from Macedonia (Greece) Bulgaria–Greece relations Greece–North Macedonia relations