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SHORT HISTORY OF MACEDONIA

1389.  The Ottoman Turks conquered Serbia by winning the Battle of Kosovo. 
(Kosovo is now the southern district of Serbia) 
This lead to the Turkish empire's rule in the Balkans for five centuries, 
and the conquest of Macedonia.

1854.  Crimean war -- Turks vs Russians.     
Russia was defeated and signed the Treaty of Paris in 1856 
giving the Turks even more land in the Balkans.

1877.  Russo-Turkish War.     
Russia declared war on Turkey to liberate Bulgaria from Turkish occupation.

1878.  The Bulgarians fought with Russia against the Turks.  
This consisted of citizens of Bulgaria and the Macedonian Bulgars. 
(The Macedonian Bulgars are also often just called Bulgarians.) 
The Turks were beatten.

This resulted in the Treaty of San Stefano which created a Great Bulgarian State.

However, enter the politics of the day -- Britain did not like a strong Russia 
and a strong ally Bulgaria.

Only five months later in 1878, Britain sided with Turkey and Germany 
in setting up the Congress of Berlin -- this divided Bulgaria into five parts. 
Macedonia was given back to the Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey.

"The BerlinTreaty, by its artificial division of the Bulgarian race, 
created the difficult and perplexing 'Macedonian Question'.  
The population handed back to Turkish rule never acquiesced in its fate." 

1885.  The Macedonians also fought alongside the Bulgarian army against the Serbs.
The Turks discovered that they could benefit by helping the Serbs 
against the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

1886.  Peter Anastasoff born approximately around this time.

To see what Peter's village may have looked like, pick up the video called 
"Before the Rain" in the international section.  This movie was made in 1994 
in the village of Stavica near Prilep.

1893.  The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) came 
into being.  The League of Nations did not protect the Macedonians as had 
been agreed, so drastic action was thought needed by some Macedonian Bulgars.

The aim of IMRO was the liberation of Macedonia.  
The Macedonian Bulgars were forced to resort to revolutionary methods.  
Initicially IMRO resorted to bank robberies and kidnappings for ransom 
to raise money.

1897.  The Greco-Turkish War proved to be a disaster for Greece.
Bulgaria managed to win over a portion of Macedonia.  
This emboldened the Macedonian Bulgars to stage an uprising for freedom.

1903.  The Great Insurrection by IMRO happened August 2 to November 2.  
The Macedonian Bulgars were totally defeated by the Turks.

1903.  Due to public outcry in the international community to Turkish oppression, 
the Murzsteg Program split Macedonia into five "administrative sectors":

• Russia
• Austria Hungary
• Italy
• France
• England

The Turks were still very much in control of Macedonia. 
These nations were supposed to oversee the freedom of the Macedonian minorities, 
but did nothing to stop the Turk oppression.

 1908.  The "Young Turks" toppled the Ottoman Sultanate in Turkey.

The young Turkish regime harshly persecuted the Christian nationalities. 
This Turkish oppression was so terrible, that it made possible the temporary 
alliance of the various Balkan States in 1912.

1908 - 1912.  Sometimes during this harsh period of the Young Turks, 
Peter Anastasoff came to the United States from Constantinople.  Being a 
Macedonian Bulger, he was in great danger of his life in Turkey at that time.

1912.  Balkan War.  
There was heavy oppression of the Macedonian Bulgars by the Turks 
until the Turks were overthrown in 1912 by the temporary alliance of  
the Balkan States.  The Haidouti movement of the Macedonian Bulgars 
retaliated against the Turks.

1913.  The glee of the Macedonian Bulgars of beating the Turks was short-lived. 
Unfortunately, the Balkan Alliance did not last long.
Immediately, the Serbs made the Macedonians renounce their nationality 
and proclaim themselves Serbs, and the Greeks did the same.  
Bulgaria did not like the Serbs and Greeks trying to wipe out the Bulgarian 
influence in Macedonia. 

Bulgaria subsequently attacked the Serbian forces, initiating the Second Balkan War. 
Greece sided with Serbia to beat Bulgaria. 

The resulting Treaty of Bucharest divided Macedonia mainly between the victors 
Serbia and Greece, and only an insignificant part was left to the loser Bulgaria. 

Consequently, the Greeks were even worse oppressors to the Macedonian Bulgars
than had been the Turks.

1914.  Bulgaria entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers  
(Germany and Austria Hungary) in order to regain Macedonian territory from Serbia, 
which had alligned itself with the Triple Entente (Russia, Great Britain, and France). 
The Triple Entente won World War I.    The Armistace was declared in 1918.

1919.  The resulting Treaty of Neuilly officially ending World I sanctioned the division
of Macedonia that had been initiated in 1913.   It was reconfirmed that the Serbian 
section of Macedonia was now part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

1929.  The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was renamed Yugoslavia.

1944.  With the end of the German and Bulgarian occupation of World War II, 
the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was formed.   That republic remained part 
of Yugoslavia.

1990.  Breakdown of Communism in Eastern Europe.

1991.  The Yugoslav Federation broke up.  
Macedonia, which had been a Republic of Yugoslavia, convinced the Yogoslav troops 
to leave Macedonia, and then declared its independence.

Greece became furious at the new nation's name, Macedonia, because it feared 
that Macedonia would also claim the northern district of Greece which is also 
called Macedonia.

1994.  Greece created a trade embargo of Macedonia, thus cutting off this new 
landlocked nation.

1995.  Greece lifted the trade embargo after assurances from Macedonia that it 
would not try to acquire the Greek northern district also called Macedonia, and 
that the new nation of Macedonia now be called by the international community 
by the very awkward name of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
(FYROM).