Is a rose by any other
name still a rose? What if we started calling the "rose"
an "onion"? If you had both next to each other, could
you point to each and call each an onion? Would one be a real
onion and the other a fake onion? Would both smell the same, look
the same, have the same texture, color, and all other qualities?
If you asked someone for an onion what would he give you? Would
your sweetheart appreciate the dozen onions that you sent her
for Valentine's Day?
Now, what happens if one area of our world started
calling itself with the same name as a neighboring area? What
if this area also took the identity and history of its neighbors?
What if this first area becomes a country? Can it now decide to
call itself with the same name as its neighbor and the rest of
the world recognizes it so? The Massachusetts Bay Colony consisted
of the area of the northern New England states and also encompassed
part of what today is the Canadian province of Quebec. Throughout
the years, many Quebec inhabitants have migrated from Quebec to
the New England states. If Quebec broke away from Canada and became
an independent country, would it be suitable to change its name
to "New England"? Would it bother anyone if this "New
England" hoisted a new flag with New Hampshire's Old Man
of the Mountain in the middle of it, printed new currency picturing
Bunker Hill on it, redrew their maps such that their territory
is shown going all the way down to Boston and beyond, and revised
their history books to indicate the colonial New England history
as their own. Maybe we can call this new country "New New
England" and we can rename the Northeastern part of the United
States "Old New England". Will that make it clear to
everybody?
We read the above hypothetical situation and think
that it is so ridiculous that it could never happen. But, that
is exactly what is happening today right before our eyes between
The FYROM, former Yugoslavia's southern republic, and Macedonia,
one of Greece's northern provinces. Before 1944 the area that
later comprised of the former Yugoslavia's southern republic was
not called Macedonia but was called Vardarska Banovina (Province
-of the river- Vardar). It was in 1944 that (Joseph Broz) Marshal
Tito, the Communist dictator ruling Yugoslavia at that time, created
Yugoslavia's southern republic and called it "Socialist Republic
of Macedonia". However, "Macedonia" was already
the name of one of Greece's northern provinces. In ancient times,
the land that Macedonia covered included this northern province
of Greece, a small part of Bulgaria, a small part of Albania,
and a small part of the region that Tito named the Socialist Republic
of Macedonia. It is pertinent to note that Tito’s Socialist Republic
of Macedonia consisted of not only a small part of ancient Macedonia
but also a far larger part from Slavic Yugoslavia.
There is no doubt that creating this Republic in the southern
region in Yugoslavia and including "Macedonia" in its
name was deliberate with the main intention of laying claim to
the region of ancient Macedonia of the northern province of Greece.
Particularly, what Tito and his Communist allies wanted was the
city of Thessaloniki with its lucrative warm water port.
Then Secretary of State E. Stettinius on December
26th 1944 sent U.S. State Dep. Foreign Relations Vol. VII, Circular
Airgram [868.014] to all consular officials to inform them of
the act to create a separate "Macedonia," as a "cloak
for aggression against Greece." "The Department has
noted with considerable apprehension increasing propaganda rumors
and semi-official statements in favor of an autonomous Macedonia
emanating from Bulgaria, but also from Yugoslav partisan and other
sources with the implication that Greek territory would be included
in the projected State. This Government considers talk of "Macedonian
Nation", "Macedonian Fatherland", or "Macedonian
National Consciousness" to be unjustified demagoguery representing
no ethnic or political reality, and sees in its present revival
a possible cloak for aggressive intentions against Greece.”
After 1944 a deliberate and systematic campaign was
initiated for Yugoslavia's southern republic to take over the
history of ancient Macedonia. “Scholars” from the “People’s Republic
of Macedonia” were commissioned to re-write their history books
to include the ancient Macedonian History according to the wishes
of the League of Communists of communist Yugoslavia, accompanied
by perverted maps showing their "Macedonia" going all
the way down to the northern half of Mount Olympus. Also, “linguists”
led by Blagoj Konev, a.k.a. Blaze Koneski, were appointed to create
the alphabet for and refine the "newly discovered" Macedonian
language, which, of course, was made to sound as if it were the
“natural development” of the ancient Macedonian language. Through
their control of mass media and education, the government of “People’s
Republic of Macedonia” then introduced this language and claimed
that it is the language that was spoken by the ancient Macedonians.
However, this language is grammatically nearly identical to Bulgarian
and, due to continuous government interventions, its vocabulary
tends to include more Serbo-Croatian words that have replaced
the Bulgarian words. They clearly overlooked the unquestionable
fact that the inhabitants of ancient Macedonia were Greeks and
spoke the Greek language. Numerous excavations in all of the ancient
Macedonia area have consistently unearthed relics clearly with
Greek writings, and depictions of rulers clearly designated with
Greek names.
In September of 1991 this republic declared independence
from Yugoslavia and it named itself "Republic of Macedonia"
as a new independent country. They designed a new flag with the
Sun of Vergina at its center and printed new currency with the
White Tower of Thessaloniki, symbols clearly from the northern
province of Greece. Because of these actions and also because
of certain articles in their constitution which implied that the
their country had territorial rights to all of the ancient Macedonian
area, Greece imposed a trade embargo and prevented any trade commerce
through Greece's northern border. Greece reluctantly lifted the
trade embargo when The FYROM redesigned and accepted a new flag,
stopped the issuance of the new currency with the depiction of
the White Tower of Thessaloniki, and passed amended articles to
their constitution implying that they have no territorial rights
outside their present boundaries. Greece, however, continued to
object to their use of the name Macedonia. Because of this objection,
the United Nations accepted this nation as a new member with the
temporary name of "The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia
(The FYROM)" (UN Resolutions #817 of April 7 and #845 of
June 18 of 1993) until a permanent solution to the name is found.
To this date no solution has been found and the UN deadline of
September 13, 2002 has passed by with the two countries only agreeing
to extend discussions on this matter for one more year.
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The Vergina Sun
from the Tomb of Philip excavated in Greece in 1978
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Original
1991 FYROM Flag |
Current
FYROM Flag |

Currency
with the White Tower of Thessaloniki which was intended
for circulation but was withheld because of objections
from Greece. The word in small print under the depiction
of the city is "THESSALONIKI"
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The deliberate and systematic campaign of distortion,
stealing and absorption of the history and ethnicity of the ancient
Macedonians is ongoing today with full and untiring strength.
Although officially this country is known as The FYROM, through
a vigorous campaign they have managed to contrive the world to
call it Macedonia in common day usage. The Internet and mass-communication
has made it easy for them to do this and they have used these
tools to create a flood of misinformation. One such example that
clearly shows their devious actions is the Web site: http://faq.macedonia.org/.
Hitler is credited with saying "Tell a big enough lie, tell
it often enough, and it becomes the truth". In some way this
provides an explanation as to why the inhabitants of The FYROM
are so adamant about keeping the name Macedonia. Now, fifty-eight
years after the start of the campaign of distortion, stealing
and absorption of the GREEK history and ethnicity of the ancient
Macedonians, we find that the inhabitants of The FYROM are mostly
the children of 1944 and those that were born afterwards and who
grew up with these untruths. To them these have become facts.
But, must this go on any longer? Isn't it time to set the record
straight?
What's in a Name? - In a name you have identity, history,
ancestry, culture, ethnicity, belonging, cohesiveness, texture,
color, and many other qualities. And, it is in the Macedonian
names, which those in The FYROM now want to claim as their own,
where one of the greatest proofs of the GREEKNESS
of Macedonia lies. Here are some of countless examples:
Macedonian = GREEK for "the tall one"
Amyntas (father of Philip) = GREEK for "defender"
Philippos (Philip) = GREEK for "one who
loves the horse"
Alexandros (Alexander) = GREEK for "the
protector of man"
Bucephalus (Alexander's beloved horse with a large head)= GREEK
for "ox-like head "
Aristotle (Alexander's teacher) = GREEK for "the
best and perfect one"
Thessaloniki = GREEK for "victory over the
Thessalians"
Countless historians and other scholars have
written extensively about the Greekness of Macedonia. Henry Morgenthau
served in Constantinople as US Ambassador (1913-16), served as
Vice President of the Relief Committee for the Middle East (1919-21).
He was appointed by the League of Nations and served as President
of the Greek Refugee Settlement Committee (1923-28) and is known
as a most reliable source of historical facts. In 1929 (please
note that this was 15 years before the start of the campaign of
distortion, stealing and absorption of the Greek history and ethnicity
of the ancient Macedonians by Tito’s propagandists) Henry Morgenthau
published his book “I was sent to Athens”, in which he writes:
"Soon after Athens had reached the height of its glory
under Pericles in the Fifth Century, B. C., and had started on
its decline, the rise of Macedon under Philip carried Greek influence
into new regions. The glory of Athens had been based upon sea
power, but the conquests of Macedon were the work of land armies—
Philip invented the invincible phalanx. Upon Philip's death his
son, Alexander the Great, set forth to conquer the whole of the
then known world, and as that world in his day lay to the east,
his marches were in that direction. In a few years he had overrun
the fertile plains and opulent cities of Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia,
and Persia, and had carried his conquests to the gates of Delhi.
In all the cities in the intervening countries he left large garrisons
of Greek soldiers. In many of these countries he founded flourishing
new cities. In every place his soldiers were followed by large
colonies of Greek civilians. The result was that
the whole of western Asia, and of what we call the Near East,
including Asia Minor Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia,
Persia, and northwestern India, was saturated with the Greek
influence and with Greek colonies."
"The imagination of these conquered peoples was dazzled by
the introduction of Greek art, literature, philosophy, and public
works. Though the successors of Alexander were unable to maintain
the political control of the lands he conquered, and though successive
waves of Roman, Arabian, and Tartar conquests swept over these
lands in succeeding centuries, none of the later conquerors
has been able wholly to eradicate the influence of Greek culture,
nor to exterminate that element of population which was of Greek
blood."
"….The Greek War of Independence, which
came to a successful conclusion in 1832, affected less than one
half of the Greeks in the Turkish Empire. It did not bring freedom
to the Greeks of Macedonia and Thrace, of Crete and the Aegean
Islands, nor to the more than two million Greeks in Asia Minor
and Constantinople."
If the entire region of The FYROM were from ancient
Macedonia they would have some legitimate claim for The FYROM
to be called Macedonia. But it is not. Over 90%
of the ancient Macedonian area is outside of The FYROM's borders
and less than 1/5 of its own land within its
borders is from the ancient Macedonian area. The FYROM
is clearly mostly a Slavic region.
If a vast majority of the inhabitants in The FYROM were Greeks,
they would have some legitimate claim to have this country named
Macedonia. But they are not. The Greek inhabitants
in The FYROM are a small minority.
So where does their claim for The FYROM to be called Macedonia
in any form comes from? There is no valid
reason, which is based on truth for this country to have
any form of a name that contains "Macedonia" in it.
Presently, internal strife between the various minorities within
The FYROM, has placed the country on the verge of collapse. Albania
(since about 1/4 of The FYROM territory is ethnically
Albanian) and Bulgaria are anxiously waiting on the sidelines
for this to happen to quickly rush in and grab a piece of it.
On the other hand, Greece maintains a position of a staunch supporter
for the survival of this country. Isn't it ironic that The FYROM
continues to slap Greece, its one and only friend of the region,
in the face with the "Macedonian Name Issue"?
I would think, though, that changing their name back
to "VARDARSKA" such as "VARDARSKA
REPUBLIKA " or "REPUBLIKA VARDAR"
would serve as a unifying force for the various factions within
its borders, would eliminate the name controversy with its neighbors,
and would put them on the road to their proper identity, ethnicity,
heritage and most of all dignity.
Bill Gatzoulis
With historical assistance from Marcus Templar
Bill Gatzoulis (billgatz@attbi.com)
was born in Pentalofos of the Kozani prefecture in the Macedonia
Province of Greece and came to the United States in 1955. He graduated
in 1968 from the University of New Hampshire and is now a retired
Electrical Engineer from the US Department of the Navy. He has
served on the Parish Council of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Church in Dover NH, as President of Thesseum Chapter #248 of The
Order of AHEPA, and as President of the Pentalofos Society. He
is presently President of The Hellenic Society Paideia of New
Hampshire which aims to preserve and promote the Hellenic heritage,
history, language, art, culture, and religion in New Hampshire
(http://paideianh.home.attbi.com/).
Marcus Alexander Templar
was born in Thessaloniki, the Capital of the Greek Province of
Macedonia. He received his BA from Western Illinois University
with major in Social Sciences and Humanities and his MA from Northeastern
Illinois University in Human Resource Development. He is an established
expert on the Balkans and a Slavicist specializing in the History,
People and Language of the South Slavs (The FYROM) and the Bulgarians.
Besides Greek and English, he speaks Serbocroatian, Bulgarian,
and the Slavonic language of The FYROM. He has authored articles
and essays on historical and social issues regarding the Slavs
of the FYROM as well as the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. He
is former President of the Macedonian Society of Greater Chicago,
and an advisor to the Pan-Macedonian Association of the USA Committees
of National Issues and Strategic Planning.
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