What's with Greece stealing Macedonian history?

Question

I keep on reading of a dispute between Greece and Macedonia.

Answer 1

Greeks can't steal Macedonian History since Macedonia was and is part of Greece.

However there are some Slavs ashamed of their history and background and want to play it up as wanna-be Macedonians or Greeks

The country you refer is FYROM not “Macedonia”!

Let me give you some facts so that you can understand the problem!

Authentic Macedonia is in Greece.

The entire north Greece is the province of authentic Macedonia. From there Alexander the Great started his epic campaign and he managed to spread the Greek language and culture throughout the known word.

Since the ancient Greek kingdom (of Macedonia) the Greek word “Μακεδονία” (Macedonia) was used to describe a geographical region of Greece (later it applied in a larger are in the Balkans but always slightly different than the Greek original) and the term “Μακεδόνες” (Macedonians) was always used to describe a Greek tribe.

In 1991 a small Slavic/Albanian state emerged in the Balkans after the collapse of Yugoslavia. That small state decided to use as an international name the Greek name “Macedonia” and of course that caused and still is causing confusion with authentic Macedonia of Greece!

The new republic of (Slavic/Albanian)Macedonia is actually called “Makedonija”. This is their authentic Slavic name that they are using for themselves and only internationally they use the Greek name “Macedonia” {to be more precise they use the English translation of the Greek name “Μακεδονία” (Macedonia)}.

The problem wasn’t of course that a Slavic/Albanian nation was using a Greek name (that argument has nothing to do with the true!!) but instead the Slav-Macedonians (and not the Albanian-Macedonians) were presenting the history of authentic Macedonia of Greece as theirs and there were even few who actually claim rights against authentic Macedonia of Greece.

Greece reacted immediately and United Nations and European Union has forced the state of (Slavic/Albanian)Macedonia (Makedonija) to negotiate with Greece in order to reach to an acceptable name for INTERNATIONAL USE {For those who don’t know “Republika Makedonija”(the original name of the country) is officially translated by United Nations (and officially recognized by United Nations and European Union) as Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). NOBODY HAS ASKED THEM TO CHANGE THEIR NAME. Their name remains (Makedonija!). Some countries like USA in their “two parts” relations they use the name “Macedonia” (never internationally!!) but they will recognize any mutually agreed name by UN resolution}.

Also a lot of people don’t know that the international name of a state is decided by international law, international agreements and treaties under the authority of United Nations! You can not choose what ever name you like for international use! An example is what happened to Austria! After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and from 1918 it was known as the Republic of German-Austria (Republik Deutsch-Österreich), but the state was forced to change its name to "Republic of Austria" in 1919 peace Treaty of Saint-Germain! After the war every state that wishes to enter the United Nation had to make sure that its international name wasn’t violating the interest of any other country and was not against international law!

This is the case for Slavic/Albanian Macedonia (Makedonija). It can use its own name (Makedonija) but for international use it has to follow the UN resolutions!

Still there are talks between the two states under the United Nations authority and there are efforts to reach a commonly agreed resolution.

There were some official statements from

the Government of (Slavic/Albanian)Macedonia

“the first President of the republic of (Slavic/Albanian) Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov said: “We are Slavs who came to this area in the sixth century ... we are not descendants of the ancient Macedonians" (Foreign Information Service Daily Report, Eastern Europe, February 26, 1992, p. 35).

On 24 February 1999, in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen newspaper, Gyordan Veselinov, (Slavic/Albanian)- Macedonia's Ambassador to Canada, admitted, "We are not related to the northern Greeks who produced leaders like Philip and Alexander the Great. We are a Slav people and our language is closely related to Bulgarian." He also commented, “There is some confusion about the identity of the people of my country".

Also, Mr Gligorov declared: "We are Macedonians but we are Slav Macedonians. That's who we are! We have no connection to Alexander the Greek and his Macedonia… Our ancestors came here in the 5th and 6th century" (Toronto Star newspaper, March 15, 1992).

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/acce...

The above statements should be enough to show that Slavic/Albanian-Macedonia is willingly negotiating with Greece for an acceptable solution.

Again I repeat that nobody has requested them to change their constitutional name (Makedonija).

Greece has no intention to interfere with what the Slav-Macedonians or the Albanian-Macedonians think for themselves. Greece only protects its land and the history of authentic(Greek)-Macedonia.

And I close with a small quote from the words of the ancient (Greek) Macedonians:

(... Had I not greatly at heart the common welfare of Greece I should not have come to tell you; but I am myself Greek by descent, and I would not willingly see Greece exchange freedom for slavery.... If you prosper in this war, forget not to do something for my freedom; consider the risk I have run, out of zeal for the Greek cause, to acquaint you with what Mardonius intends, and to save you from being surprised by the barbarians. I am Alexander of Macedon."

(Herodotus, The Histories, 9.45)

"But Alexander (the great) said, `If I were not Alexandros, I should be Diogenes'; that is to say: `If it were not my purpose to combine barbarian things with things Greek, to traverse and civilize every continent, to search out the uttermost parts of land and sea, to push the bounds of Macedonia to the farthest Ocean, and to disseminate and shower the blessings of the Greek justice and peace over every nation, I should not be content to sit quietly in the luxury of idle power, but I should emulate the frugality of Diogenes. But as things are, forgive me Diogenes, that I imitate Herakles, and emulate Perseus, and follow in the footsteps of Dionysos, the divine author and PROGENITOR of my family, and desire that victorius Greeks should dance again in India and revive the memory of the Bacchic revels among the savage mountain tribes beyond the Kaukasos...' "

(Plutarchos, On the Fortune of Alexander, 332 a-b)

2 days ago

Source(s):

http://www.discoverychannel.co.uk/greece...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_fi...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/gre...

http://www.history.com/marquee.do?conten...

http://www.history-of-macedonia.com/inde...

http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com

http://www.ancientmacedon.com/

http://www.historicalmacedonia.com/

http://www.macedonia.com/english

http://www.macedonia.info/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/macedon

http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr

http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Hellen...

http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/Hellen...

http://www.web-greece.gr/macedonia.htm

http://www.greecetravel.com/macedonia/ov...

http://www.greecetravel.com/macedonia/an...

http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21117a/e2...

http://www.culture.gr/2/21/toc/arc_sites...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pella

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/470701...

http://alexander.macedonia.culture.gr/2/...

http://alexander.macedonia.culture.gr/2/...

http://alexander.macedonia.culture.gr/2/...

http://www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21118a/e2...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonians...

http://www.florina.gr/

http://www.thegreatalexander.com/

http://www.alexanderthegreat.gr/

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/87...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_t...

http://www.e-classics.com/ALEXANDER.htm

http://www.bartleby.com/65/al/AlexGreat....

http://www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alex...

http://www.kingofmacedon.net/Story.html

http://www.hellenism.net/cgi-bin/display...

Answer 2

You are very nervous my friend. Didn't you get bored writing all these? Ok, I can understand that you are desperate for having an historical identity but it's really bad trying to steal someone else's history. Every educated and civilised man on earth knows the truth. Everything else is just a trick of politicians (like Tito).Besides, everyone knows how many problems both countries have, it's funny arguing about those matters. So,you can say whatever you want but ask yourself what "Macedonia" means in your language. In my language has a meaning, in yours? It's so simple someone to understand what is going on. Many kisses from Greece!!! PS: By the way there are some books of history that you can read to open your eyes and I am sure that you can not find them to the country of Skopia.Search the net to study some real history and not all that ***** they are learning you!

Answer 3

Well here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is a Macedonia in Greece but the Yugoslavians ignored it so they thought they could just steal the name for their own!!!!!! They thought they could just get away with it!!!! Well no!!!!!! Greece will not stand to see a SLAVIC COUNTRY steal one of it's names!!!!!! If a FYROM folk calls himself a Macedonian then he is calling himself a Greek!!!! If he doesn't want to be a Greek then he is a Slav!!!! Not a Macedonian!!!!! I have ancestors that came from FYROM but my Papou (Grandfather in Greek) Refuses to call himself a fake Greek!!!! He said he was Greek nothing else!!!! I am proud to be a Pontian and a GREEK Macedonian!!!!! HAIL THE MOTHERLAND GREECE!!!!!

Answer 4

You got it backward, I'm afraid. The ease with which uninformed people CAN get it backward is exactly why Greece is making such a fuss over this issue. Greeks don't want Macedonian history to suddenly be taken over by another ethnic group, and they certainly don't want that other group to make territorial demands against Greece down the road.



Of the total land area of FYROM (the country that wants to call itself Macedonia), only a tiny bit in the extreme south overlaps with what has always been called Macedonia. The rest of the Macedonian region (by far) is in northern Greece, with some parts in Bulgaria. The land that FYROM is on was called Vardaska (or south Serbia) until 1944. In that year, the dictator Marshall Tito decided to change its name. This was the old "divide and conquer" idea: Tito had patched together a wide array of nationalities into his Yugoslavia, and in order to keep these groups from being at each other's throats, it was convenient to focus their energies on some fictitious external enemy. So he made the people of Vardaska believe that the Greeks were the enemy.



Who are the people of FYROM/Vardaska? They are Slavs, like the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and the Russians. They first arrived in the region in the 6th century AD, with their own slavic language. Perhaps they intermarried with Macedonians, but nevertheless they did not adopt the Macedonian language, which persisted. So they cannot possibly be the inheritors of Macedonian culture and history.



Who are the Macedonians? They are a group of ethnic Greeks who have existed continuously for 3000 years. The most famous one, Alexander the Great, lived fully 1000 years before the Slavs arrived in the Balkans. His mother tongue was Greek, his name is Greek (Alex + andras = protector of men), and one of his goals in life was to spread Greek culture. These people did not just vanish. They kept their language and they have always thought of themselves as Greeks. The current prime minister of Greece is a Macedonian.



Now all of a sudden some group wants to ignore its own history and steal the Macedonians'. Hard to imagine why the people of FYROM are not proud of their Slavic origin. They were instrumental in the Byzantine world (working side by side with Greeks to develop orthodox christianity, etc.)

Answer 5

I assume you mean the current republic of Macedonia. This is the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia The people are mostly Slavs, ethnically related to the Serbs, who migrated there in the 6th century AD. It only included a portion of the historic region of Macedonia, i.e. the kingdom of Alexander the Great. The rest is part of Greece and inhabited by Greek speakers. Both countries have small populations of the other's ethnic group.



There are two issues involved in this dispute. First, certain extreme Macedonian nationalists want to "liberate" ALL of Macedonia, including the "Greek occupied" part, as well as a substantial chunk of Bulgaria. The Macedonian government denies these claims, but the Greeks are distrustful. Beyond that as a member of NATO, Greece would have the full support of the member states, including the US, if it were to be invaded. Second, is a silly argument over who has claim to the heritage of Alexander the Great. Both the Greeks and the Slavs have elaborate claims that they are the TRUE Macedonians. I might add that, in ancient times Greeks saw Macedonians as foreigners. The Athenian orator Demosthenes dismissed them as barbarians. However, once Alexander conquered Persia he became a homeboy.

Answer 6

You are fabricating the Macedonian History, what do you know about Macedonia you Greeks. You are stealing Macedonian History.Macedonians are Bible peaple we are here for thousands of years, I don't need you to tell me Ho I'm ! you FABRICATERS. Macedonia for Macedonians. GOCE MACEDON. Makedonija na Makedoncite so Makedonski Jazik.

Answer 7

I am afraid you have things wrong my frind.. i life in Skopje in the new republic called " the former yugoslav republic of macedonia" The greeks are right... we have a lot of history togeather.. our Slavic population settled on Greek territory 600 years ago and adopted a lot of greek customs... We are appropriating Greek history because as a new nation we do not have any history to differentiate us, so we are doing this as a political aim to make sure our country does not fall apart. Obviouly i do not agree with my countries aims, and there are many in my country that are also educated and do not believe that we are decendants of Alexander the Great. i appologise on behalf of my fellow countrymen to the Greeks.. who are great neibours. Please do not let this issue stop you from assisting us in joining the European Cummunity.



You see it is actually my country trying to steal Greece's culture and history for its own political purposes.

Answer 8

Im from Macedonia and i come from Strumica i think its personally supid because we had a sea and greece just took it from us and some of our land

Answer 9

And the same question pops up again

Answer 10

Hello, Macedonia is in Greece.

Answer 11

http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/MacedonianTombAmphipolis.html