Upper Macedonia, Southern Vardarska, Gorna Makedonija, or Down Under Kosovo?

Much has been written lately about the future name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Makedonija, to be settled with Greece. The former Yugoslav province left the collapsing Yugoslav union, in 1991 and declared independence, taking on the misnomer of Република Македонија, transliterated as Republika Makedonija.

The Greeks, whose northernmost province is the historic Μακεδονία/Macedonia, home of Aristotle and Alexander the Great among other greats of world history and culture, demanded that their new neighbors must choose a different name, not Macedonia. The former Yugoslav province, the Greeks argued, has no more than a small part (Pelagonia and part of Amphaxitis) of historic Macedonia proper in its land, mainly along its southern provinces.

Even accepting for a moment the Skopjan unhistorical definition of where Macedonia starts and ends, and wrongly for a moment assuming that all of FYROM’s land was part of Macedonia proper, FYROM still could not be called Macedonia. Even under that definition, it only constitutes a small part of the whole area of Macedonia proper, about 30%.

The small part (FYROM, and essentially only its extreme south) of the total (geographic Macedonia) should never have been encouraged to usurp a name that characterizes the geographic whole: the historically defined Macedonia. Yet this is precisely what G.W.Bush did the first day after his second

Don’t rewrite Balkan history

National Post · Dec. 23, 2011

Last month, the National Post published an article entitled «A country called Macedonia» that contained scathing commentary about Greece – commencing with a reference to Greece’s economic strife and segueing into a critique of Greece’s opposition to the use of the name «Macedonia» by its northern neighbour. These accusations require a response.

Macedonia and the Macedonian identity have been integral parts of Greek history and culture since some of the first Hellenic tribes (known as Macedonians) settled northern Greek lands almost 4,000 years ago. Many renowned historians dispute the claims contained in the above-referenced article.

Apart from the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon – which existed almost entirely in what is now modern Greece – there had never been another «state» of Macedonia until communist Yugoslavia

A rare collection of sources verifying the Greekness of Ancient Macedonians

1) Bury & Meiggs (1985) “A History of Greece”, page 415

 The Macedonian people and their kings were of Greek stock, as  their traditions and the scanty remains of their   language combine to testify.

 2)  H. Bengston  (1988) “A History of Greece: from the beginnings  to the Byzantine era”,  page 186.

Bengston makes the following statement pertaining to the origins of the Macedonians:

They should be included in the group of North-West Greek  tribes.

On the same page he also states that :

The majority of modern historians have correctly argued for the Hellenic origin of  the Macedonians.

 

Don’t rewrite Balkan history

Last month, the National Post published an article entitled «A country called Macedonia» that contained scathing commentary about Greece – commencing with a reference to Greece’s economic strife and segueing into a critique of Greece’s opposition to the use of the name «Macedonia» by its northern neighbour. These accusations require a response.

Macedonia and the Macedonian identity have been integral parts of Greek history and culture since some of the first Hellenic tribes (known as Macedonians) settled northern Greek lands almost 4,000 years ago. Many renowned historians dispute the claims contained in the above-referenced article.

The Importance of Historical Truth and the Macedonian Issue

February 4, 2011

 By Professor John Melville-Jones

Following the publication of the edited version of the after-dinner talk that I gave in October, a formal complaint was made to my employer (to which a polite reply was made, stressing the importance of academic freedom), and I received an e-mailed message from the United Macedonian Diaspora (which I thought, because of its name, must be a Greek organisation until I read what it had to say), together with a number of other e-mails. Many of these were merely abusive, but this didn´t surprise me, because I know from experience that when people hold strong beliefs that are based on faith not fact, and they are

Macedonia is, was and always will be Greek – anything else you hear is called usurpation

The story is simple. History has been written and rewritten but even laymen cannot lie enough to disprove the evidence that presents itself.

For all those who do not realize what has been going on these past few decades between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), you should make the time before contemporary history gets rewritten.