Serbs of the Republic of Macedonia
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Serbs are one of the constitutional peoples of the Republic of Macedonia. The territory of today's Republic of Macedonia was part of the medieval Serbian Empire. Today, about 36,000 Serbs live in the country (according to the 2002 census), largely in the north. A fine example of medieval Serbian ecclesiastical architecture is found in the church of Staro Nagoričane.
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[edit] History
[edit] History of the Serbian presence in the Republic of Macedonia
The presence of Serbs on the territory of Vardar Macedonia/today's Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia last for c.14 centuries, when they were mentioned in the historical records as an ethnos living around river Vardar, later to be resettled in Asia Minor.While remains of these Serbs probably left sociocultural and anthropologic traces in the lands of geographic Macedonia which alternated between Byzantine and Bulgar domination, it may be assumed they slowly disappeared in the mass of local Slavs, which intermingled with a minority of Bulgars.Permanent ethnic establishment of Serbs south of the Shara mountain chain, in the plains of Polog, and in Byzantine dominated places like Skoplje and leter Serres (slavic: Ser) begins with the expansion of Serbian King Milutin in 1282.With the victory over Bulgarian army near Velbužd (today's Ćustendil, Republic of Bulgaria) in 1331, the Morava and upper Vardar basins were secured for the Serbian state.
The advantage with regards to the formation of ethnic consciousness of the Slavs in upper Vardar region, which included the elimination of vestiges of Bulgarian consciousness and their replacement with Serbian one were undoubtedly supported due to the more compact character of the newly altered Serbian political space. General similarity of ethnographic character and vigorous settlement of Serbs from more norther areas into the main centers of late medieval Serbia as well as rural areas characterized by arable land were also contributing factor. Artistic activity and ecclesiastical unity was made concrete into hundreds of both reconstructed and also newly built Christian temples and monasteries in newly-conquered Vardar Macedonia
Serbian sources from the period of 1282 to 1392, including the elaborate Dušan's Codex do not make a mention of Macedonian ethnos, just like Bulgarian, Byzantine and other documents.It would appear that in the eyes of the Serbian colonists from the North, Slavic population of the Vardar region was accepted as Serbian, although undoubtedly many of them, especially in Eastern Geographic Macedonia had all the characteristics of the Bulgarian Slavs.
[edit] Deserbisation of Geographic Macedonia during Turkocracy
The Ottoman invasion of Serbia was challenged at the river Marica in 1371 by Serbian Macedonia-stationed noblemen Vukašin and Uglješa, both of whom led armies from their statelets, at the river Marica (today's Černomen,southeastern part of the Republic of Bulgaria) which ended in Serbian defeat (the place was named Sirf-Sindughi-"Serbian Defeat" by the invading Turks). This defeat, that culminated with the fall of Skoplje (Skopje) in 1392, in sznergz with the consequences of Serbian defeat at Kosovo Polje in 1389 led to the migration of the part of upper strata of the population, accompanied bz ordinary people who sought refuge at the north.
[edit] Serbs in Geographic Macedonia under Turkocracy
Serbian life in Macedonia had an authentic fullness of all characteristics which are criteria for separate ethnic existence and they, often under repression by the Ottoman regime, managed to preserve their ethnic name, customs (eg. Krsna Slava) and most of their language which was in some aspects transitory in relationship to the language of Bulgarians situated in Central, Southern and Eastern parts of Macedonia.There are numerous evidences testifying about continuity of Serbs in Western and Northern parts of Macedonia, including the regions of Skoplje and the plains of Polog
The great movement of Serbs in 17th century after the collapse of Austrian-led campaign also depopulated parts of Northern Vardar Macedonia (today's FYROM).The refuges took part and adapted themselves as an integral part of Serbians in Vojvodina, Hungary and Austria
The educational patronage and propagandistic activity of the newly-founded Serbian state, in whose formation many prominent individuals from Macedonia gave their contribution, reversed some acculturisation processes in mostly Bulgarian and to a lesser effect Greek direction, but as the Macedonia became a macciavelian ground for propaganda, various absurd forms of ethic conversion, helped by the propaganda of all south Balkan states soon made a chaotic situation to a large extent, prom ting Serbian anthropogeographer Jovan Cvijić to exclame that "nationality for the Macedonian Slavs is understood like a political party affiliation.".
This prompted the appearance of the feeble and overestimated in the later historiography of Communist Yugoslavia Macedonian nationalism.The most characteristic hallmark of the period after the Balkan Congress in 1878 until the 1941 was the development of strong and elaborate national-liberation struggle of Macedonian Bulgars, bitterly opposed to any Serb and Greek influence in the wider Macedonian region, which was to be based as ethnically Bulgarian area in the borders of Bulgarian Exarchate (established 1870) Serbian answer was start of a guerilla campaign, led by local men and Serbs from other areas-the so-called "Chetnik" movement.Men like Jovan Stojković Babunski, Micko Krstić, Jovan Dolgač, Gligor Sokolović, Vasilije Trbić confronted Turkish, Albanian and Bulgarian (VMRO-led) military formations together with their squads called "Četa"-mobile volunteer units strongly armed with personal weapons.
The Young Turks Revolution of 1908 created slightly better conditions for the expression of Serbian cultural life in Geographic Macedonia.Serbian publishing of books, religious calendars, newspapers briefly flourished.THe "Assembly of Ottoman Serbs" was held in Skoplje and Serbs had their deputies in the Ottoman parliament.
[edit] Liberation of Old Serbia and Vardar Macedonia
During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913) Serbia liberated all of the southern Serbs by occupying Vardar Macedonia, much at the grievances of well-structured exponents of the Greater Bulgarian idea present among native inhabitants of Macedonia.The period from 1913-1914 is a period of turmoil and the central goverment in Belgrade implemented plenty of unpopular measures, most of which were found to be opressive to the Bulgarian majority in Vardar Macedonia.
[edit] Since World War II to the present
Tito's Yugoslavia, having emergent victorious after WW II, establish a rigid, well-supported and covered by extensive propaganda network policy of "Macedonization"-a process based on the proclamation of the entire Bulgarian (but not Serbian, which faded into disuse) vernacular of history, including post-mortem and retroactive ethnical Macedonization of well-known Bulgarian leaders, warriors, poets, writers, as obligatory.The populations of Serbs in Macedonia which did not lend itself to the Macedonisation, representing compact population in the region of Skopska Crna Gora and having significant presence in Kumanovo, Skoplje, Tetovo and surroundings was artificially separated from Yugoslav Serbia.The postwar year were characterized by the lost of national institutions-like the proclamation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1958-1967 period and loss of several educational institutions in Serbian language.
Today's number of Serbs, according to the 2002 census in the Republic of Macedonia is 35.939
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Centuries of Serbian presence in Vardar Macedonia-History
- Међу Србима у Македонији
- Срби више не живе у гету
- Church in Staro Nagoričane
- [http://www.4shared.com/file/11292904/d94a7d38/VDjeric.html В.Ђерић,"Неколико главних питања из етнографије Старе Србије и Маћедоније"1922 (*pdf)
