Risto Stefov - Articles, Translations & Collaborations

[Serdarot]

another nice text from Risto

[Mikail]

How Macedonia became Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian

How Macedonia became Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian

By Risto Stefov
[email protected]
April 4, 2010

War and the suffering in Macedonia did not end after the failed 1903 Ilinden Macedonian National Uprising. Shortly after the Uprising was suppressed Macedonia became the apple of discord between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria and to some extent Romania.

Unable to free itself from the Ottoman yoke, Macedonia became ripe for the plucking and whoever was able to muster enough strength and resources to drive out the Ottomans would have it in their possession. At that time Macedonia’s neighbours knew they could not possess Macedonia without the cooperation of the Macedonian people, so first they tried their luck at “convincing” the Macedonians that they were not “really” Macedonians but “Greeks”, on account of them being Orthodox Christians. Or they were “Serbians” on account of them supposedly speaking an “Old Serbian” language. Or “Bulgarians” because they supposedly spoke a dialect of the “Bulgarian” language and of course “Romanians” because many were Vlachs and spoke a dialect of “Romanian”.

Failing to convince the Macedonian people “that they were not Macedonians” by propaganda alone, the four then resorted to using violence through the application of illegal armed bands. However, in addition to serving their masters by doing their bidding and murdering those who refused their will, these bands, consisting mostly of thugs, also served themselves by robbing, raping, beating and murdering innocent civilians.

Now in addition to the dastardly deeds performed by the Ottoman army and the Bashibazuks (armed Muslim civilians), there were Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian armed bands roaming the Macedonian countryside preying on the Macedonian people.

The Ottoman authorities knew about them and so did the international peace keeping forces stationed in Macedonia but they did nothing to help the Macedonian population.

Unable to turn the general Macedonian population into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians to their satisfaction, by severe methods the four began to open more Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian churches and schools in Macedonia, offering Macedonian children “free education” but not in the Macedonian language. Education was offered in the Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian language respectively. Unfortunately, along with the so-called “free education” came a heavy dose of foreign propaganda. Along with their “free education” children and young adults were also offered a glamorous lifestyle, something their families in the village could not give them. Being “educated” and convinced that they would be more cultured and better off as Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians these children were then sent back home to “convince” others and also turn them into Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians or Romanians.

Many of these “educated children”, as young adults, became the new teachers and priests in the Macedonian village churches and schools. In addition to preaching and teaching they also unwittingly helped Macedonia’s enemies get a foothold in Macedonia. Those young adults who found their way back to who they really were or switched loyalties usually ended up dead because their benefactors could not tolerate traitors; a tradition Greeks practice to this day.

Almost the entire Macedonian population during these times, particularly in the villages, was uneducated and could not read or write. So, many people relied on the village teacher or village priest to help them with administrative matters and filling out travel forms etc. And while they were doing a public service for their illiterate, fellow villagers these teachers and priests were doing their benefactors a favour by registering the Macedonians as Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, or Romanians with a Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian sounding name depending on who was their benefactor. That is why Macedonians who traveled abroad during the late 19th century and early 20th century, before Macedonia was partitioned, had Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, or Romanian sounding names. These names which exist to this day can be found in the United States, Canada and other places outside of Macedonia where Macedonians immigrated during Ottoman times.

Macedonians were never Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, Romanians, or Albanians. They were simply made to look like that for “political” reasons which became obvious after Macedonia was illegally invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912 and 1913.

Looking at this another way, there are many Greeks, Serbians, Bulgarians, Romanians and Albanians today who not too long ago had Macedonian ancestors!

In all this there was one organization which cared for the Macedonian population and fought to correct the injustices perpetrated and that was the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO). Unfortunately because the MRO was a great threat to Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Romanian ambitions in Macedonia its members were hunted down and killed. In addition to killing off its members, the various factions, particularly the Bulgarians, made attempts to infiltrate the MRO and pose as patriotic Macedonians. This caused much internal strife and mistrust, which is felt to this day in modern Macedonian organizations. I must also add that even though the 19th and 20th centuries are now in the past, Macedonia’s enemies have not ceased their attempts to infiltrate Macedonian organizations. So who can blame the Macedonians for being overly suspicious?

Greek political aims in Macedonia

Greek propaganda in Macedonia began in June 1903 when Greek military officers, Pavlos Melas and Georgios Tzontas, began to hire illegal armed bands and dispatch them in Macedonia to create havoc and spread “Greater” Greek propaganda. Immediately after the August 1903 Ilinden Uprising, the secretary of the Greek consulate in Bitola, Ion Dragoumis, established a secret Greek committee to work towards the assimilation of the Macedonian people and the annexation of Macedonia to Greece. Around about the same time the Greek bishop of Kostur, Germanos Karavangelis, created an illegal armed band. In the beginning of March 1904 two Greek armed bands were created in Thessaly. Six new illegal armed Greek bands in total were created and dispatched to operate in Macedonia.

Then in the fall of 1904 the Hellenic - Macedonian committee was formed in Athens whose job was to finance the Macedonian campaign and spread Greek propaganda in Macedonia. Most of the manpower for these illegal armed bands was hired from newly annexed Crete and manned by Greek officers.

Of all the illegal armed bands that operated in Macedonia, the Greek bands most closely cooperated with the Ottoman army and in many instances carried out missions for the Ottomans.

The goals and objectives of the Greek armed bands operating in Macedonia were regulated by a Rulebook entitled “General Instructions for the Macedonian Bands”, especially created for this purpose by the Hellenic-Macedonian Committee. The Rulebook contained three main points: 1. destroy the MRO insurgency and replace it with a Greek one; 2. eliminate all those who worked against the Greek cause; 3. convince the entire Macedonian population to join the Greek Patriarchate.

Macedonian intellectuals and leaders responded to the “Greater” Greek propaganda with appeals to the Greek population not to support the illegal armed bands in Macedonia and to oppose Hellenism, their mutual usurper.

Supported by the Sultan himself, the illegal armed Greek bands escalated their persecution of the Macedonian insurgency and of prominent intellectuals. In the eyes of the Macedonian population the entire MRO was labeled “Bulgarophile”, a false claim which is spread to this day.

According to Richard Oppenheimer, an Austrian civilian agent sent to Macedonia on April 18, 1908 who dispatched information to Aloys Aehrenthal of the Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Greek bands in Macedonia killed 531 and wounded 175 people in the period from March 14, 1906 to March 14, 1908. According to the same information, MRO insurgents fought 12 battles with the Greek bands in the period from October 26, 1904 to June 27, 1905 in Voden Region alone. From January to October 1905, MRO insurgents fought 22 battles with the illegal Greek armed bands that had infiltrated Macedonia and 3 battles with locally hired Greek bands. Most battles took place in the Kostur, Kajlari, Drama, Lerin, Bitola and other Regions of southern Macedonia.

Greek-Ottoman cooperation contributed immensely to the Greek campaign in Macedonia and as the Greek armed bands kept growing the number of Macedonian insurgents kept dwindling.

Serbian political aims in Macedonia

Serbian propaganda activities in Macedonia began before the 1903 Ilinden Uprising. In fact the foundations for Serbia’s Macedonian campaigns were laid in 1902 when a dedicated Committee for carrying out propaganda activities in Macedonia was established in Belgrade. Illegal Serbian armed bands began to infiltrate Macedonia while the Ilinden Uprising was still going on. In 1904 the number of Serbian armed bands operating in Macedonia increased significantly, especially in Ovche Pole, Azot and Poreche.

The Serbian sponsored armed bands in Macedonia also operated according to a Rulebook which listed the Serbian goals and objectives in Macedonia. According to the Rulebook Serbia’s main goal in its campaigns in Macedonia was to minimize MRO influence on the Macedonian population by eliminating its leaders and insurgents. While doing this the Serbian armed bands were to avoid contact and conflict with the Ottoman authorities, including the army and police. These goals and objectives were regulated by Articles 17, 18 and 32 of the Rulebook.

In order to achieve their goals the Serbian armed bands, like the Greek and Bulgarian ones, used terror tactics including robbing and torturing the Macedonian population. Almost every village had agents and collaborators who supported the illegal armed bands by offering them intelligence information, food and sanctuary.

Many Macedonian intellectuals tried to persuade the Macedonians, who were recruited by these bands in various functions, not to offer the foreigners assistance and to stop fighting amongst themselves, but without much success. There were many letters written to that effect which clearly demonstrated that Macedonia’s neighbours deliberately intensified fratricidal fighting and self-extermination in Macedonia. Their goal was to create conflict among the Macedonian people, invade and partition their country and destroy the essence of the Macedonian nation, as events proved true over time.

Bulgarian political aims in Macedonia

Immediately after the 1903 Ilinden Uprising was suppressed, Bulgaria officially refused to bear responsibility for the dire events created in Macedonia. But the Macedonian Question remained a part of Bulgarian foreign policy. Besides being supported by pro-Bulgarian factions within the Macedonian Liberation Movement, at the beginning of 1905, the Bulgarian government created a second political department within its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a single objective; to deal with the Macedonian Question. The long term goal of this department was to overcome all factors that hindered Bulgarian influence in Macedonia and work towards giving Macedonia autonomy as a Bulgarian protectorate. Other goals included waging war against all who got in the way including those promoting foreign propaganda in Macedonia. Bulgaria’s first priority was to infiltrate the MRO, kill off its leaders, insurgents and supporters and replace them with Bulgarian agents. This was to be accomplished through the assistance of the Bulgarian Exarchate churches and schools in Macedonia, which were financed and politically supported by the Bulgarian state and its various governments of that time.

[Big Bad Sven]

The author of this article forgot about all of the stupid albanian claims on macedonia.

Remember? Pitu Guli and all of the vlach who thought in the Krusevo uprisisng where actually all shiptars. In fact the Illenden uprisisng was all thanks to the efforts of all of these un named shiptars.
Sv Kaneo is also a shiptar church, stolen by the slavs.

Northwest macedonia is actually Illyrian land, and alexander and the ancient macedonians where actually shiptars.

The shiptars are just as bad as the "greeks" if you ask me.

[Daskalot]

This is a very good article, thanks for sharing it Mikail and thank you Risto Stefov for writing it.

[Dimko-piperkata]

Risto Stefov - Does Modern Greece deserve to exist?

June 08, 2010

Now before jumping up and down about the "ridiculousness" of my question, please consider the bizarre and unsubstantiated Greek claim that "Macedonians do not exist" even though they do exist all over the world! If we accept the Greek allegation that "Macedonians do not exist" isn´t it only fair then to question the existence of the Greeks?

Who decides if Macedonians do or do not exist? Is it the Greeks and Bulgarians? If that is the case then it is only fair that the Macedonians decide if Greeks and Bulgarians truly exist and if they deserve to have their own countries?

There was once a Yugoslavia but it is no more. Yugoslavia, like Greece and Bulgaria, was a modern country created for "political reasons" and its identity based on the false premise that only "Yugoslavs" or "South Slavs" lived in Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav motto was "one nation, one people, one country"! This would have been true of course if "language" was the strongest qualifier for such an "identity". But as it turns out it was not.

Ethnically speaking, the so-called "Yugoslavs" were as ethnically diverse a people as any modern nation, and as Yugoslavia fell it broke-down to its most common real ethnic elements.

Now given that the entire southern Balkans were borderless since the Ancient Macedonians ruled them and given that the same southern Balkans were conquered, invaded and settled dozens of times by invaders and colonists, wouldn´t it be fair and accurate to say that the people of the southern Balkans are a very-mixed-lot? This is a lot more accurate then believing some 19th century myth that says the Greeks are direct descendents from the so called ancient Greeks and that the Macedonians are "newcomer Slavs"! All the people in the Balkans are just as mixed as any other people in the world!

If 19th century so-called "historians" can claim that the Modern Macedonians are "newcomers" to the Balkan Region, then ask yourselves this question; "What stopped those ´newcomers´ from also invading and settling Greece?" Was there an invisible wall that we don´t know about that kept invaders out of Greece?

So here is the situation! If you believe that "newcomers" came and settled Macedonia then you must also realize that these "newcomers" did not stop at today´s artificially erected border between Macedonia and Greece and that in fact these "newcomers" also invaded and settled Greece!

If, on the other hand, you believe that there were no invasions in the Balkans and that the Modern Greeks are pure Greeks, descendents of the ancient Greeks, as most Greeks claim today, then you must also admit that the Modern Macedonians too must be pure Macedonians, descendents of the ancient Macedonians!

Given the above, if you believe "Macedonians do not exist" then you must also believe that "Greeks do not exist" either! Conversely, if you believe "Greeks" exist then you will have to accept that Macedonians also exist. You can´t have one without the other!

In the past I have presented my readers with many articles on the "artificiality" of the Modern Greek nation but for the sake of simplicity and expediency I will again summarize;

There never was a so-called "Greece" in ancient times by that name; there were however a dozen or so City States which existed independent of each other for a few centuries between 600 and 400 BC which afterwards were conquered and enslaved first by the ancient Macedonians and then by the Romans and the Ottomans.

Whatever was left of these people after the Macedonian and Roman conquests was destroyed through persecution by the Christians because of their stubborn beliefs in pagan gods. The region in question, the southern part of Modern Greece, in time became devoid of people and Roman, Eastern Roman and Ottoman rulers, over the years, continued to repopulate it with settlers who invaded their territories as refugees.

The first wave of settlers, well known to history, were the Slav speakers who as refugees drifted into Eastern Roman territories and were resettled by the then Emperors at the sparsely populated lands on the southern tip of the Balkan Peninsula. It is well known from history that these Slav speakers settled the present day Peloponnesus which they then called Morea. Morea existed by that name for more than a millennium up to the 19th century when the Modern Greeks renamed it to Peloponnesus.

The Slav speakers of Morea left their mark on the entire Morean "topography" by the Slav names they gave to the rivers, lakes, mountains, gorges, villages, towns, etc., Slav names which, after careful examination, became very clear to "some 19th century historians" that Modern Greece was not at all populated by "Greeks" but by "Slav speakers"!

Then as the numbers of Slav speakers began to decline, due to many of their men losing their lives being inducted in other people´s wars, Albanians and Vlachs from the north were encouraged to migrate there and settle the region, sometimes in massive numbers.


Later, that same region was conquered by the Crusaders and a part of it was settled with Latins and other Westerners. The same region was then overrun by the Ottomans and settled by Muslim Turks.

By the 19th century the region had become a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural melting pot of nations and people; much more so than the rest of the Balkans because of its earlier depopulation.

After the Western Europeans discovered (from the Arabs) that an ancient civilization existed in that region, (the same region that was settled by Slav speakers, Vlachs and Albanians), the idea of re-creating it became popular. The idea of "ancient Greece" was popularized mainly by writers and novelists who thought they saw a reflection of themselves in these ancient people. Looking for roots for themselves and for a culture to imitate, many Europeans were infatuated to a point of obsession.

This whole "hoopla" of wanting to re-create "ancient Greece" gave birth to a movement known as the "Philhellenes" or friends of the Hellenes.

After the Philhellenes decided to "resurrect this two millennium old civilization", they began to coax the "living and vibrant" local cultures to give up what they had and accept the idea that they were now the "descendents of these ancient people" who, a long time ago, created this civilization.

Some bought into the idea and some did not but by the carrot and by the stick, in time, Modern Greece became a pure Greek nation populated by pure Greeks, "direct descendents of the ancient Greeks", even though the term "Greek" was never before applied to a people en masse in an ethnic or national sense.

In the beginning of this "hoopla" the vast majority of these "future Greeks" spoke their own languages, some spoke Slav, some Latin, some Vlach but the majority spoke Albanian. They also had their own cultures, customs and traditions and initially the majority wanted nothing to do with being "artificial Greeks". But in time with the introduction of the so-called "Greek" language and much Greek educational indoctrination, they were all convinced to forget their real identities and accept their new artificial one and become "instant Greeks".

Then as Greece was allowed to expand its territory, it annexed new people and used the same old tricks to also convert these new people into artificial Greeks. This process continued well into the 20th century as Macedonia and Thrace became Greece´s latest victims and as a massive number of settlers was imported from Turkey.

After conquering Macedonia and annexing Macedonian lands populated with Macedonians, Greece did not waste much time to also forcibly assimilate them and turn them into artificial Greeks. I am saying "forcibly assimilate" because a decade before the Macedonian people themselves fought in a national uprising in order to create their own state. But instead of allowing the Macedonians to create their own state, the Philhellene Europeans decided they did not want a Macedonia state in the Balkans and allowed its brutal partition and denationalization to take place.

So now that we know a little more about how Greece and the Greek identity were created, we need to ask ourselves, "Does artificial Modern Greece deserve to exist?" any more than Macedonia deserves to exist?

Should Greece too be "dismantled" down to its common ethnic elements just as Yugoslavia was not so long ago? Something for the reader to think about!

It´s time for Greece, Bulgaria and their western European patrons to face reality. You can´t have it both ways. You can´t call yourselves "fair", "reasonable" and "democratic" when deny the Macedonians their human rights and at the same time give your support to artificial Greece. How can you allow the artificial Greeks to have a country (Greece) to call their own and at the same time deny the Macedonians, the indigenous people of Macedonia, even the most basic human rights?

The problem is that Greece, Bulgaria and some West European countries (you know who you are) will continue to oppress the Macedonian people as long as the Macedonian people quietly take the abuse.

The truth is, Greece and Bulgaria with help from their patrons illegally annexed Macedonian lands, forcibly taken away from the Macedonian people. And that is the entire crux of the problem.

It is time for the truth to be revealed!

Other articles by Risto Stefov:

http://www.maknews.com/html/articles.html#stefov

http://www.americanchronicle.com/authors/view/3446

You can contact the author at [email protected]

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/160991

[makedonche]

Dimko-Piperkata
Good post, I enjoy a lot of Risto Stefov's writings!
My response to the question would be NO THEY DON'T DESERVE TO EXIST AS GREECE - turn them back into city states like they were originally if they continue to claim ancestry from the original Greeks!
Which raises another good point, why would you be city states for so long and then want to be a nation?

[Coolski]

Macedonian History at a glance?

I'm looking for information on Macedonian history for the following type of person:

A patriotic Macedonian that has become busy with family life, of the generation that was active in the 90s (so around 40 years old now).

In the 90s, such a person didn't have access to the mass information now available on the internet, but is interested to learn more about it. They still don't have the time to spend ages sorting through the astronomical amount of information on the internet, and if they did get time, wouldn't know where to start. They would need a nice quick summary (an abstract if you will) about Macedonia's history in order to get them interested and informed beyond their previous knowledge of Macedonia's history and the real history behind modern Greece.

Does anyone know of a nice article that serves this purpose?

It is for a cousin of mine, but I imagine that she is one of many Macedonians in a similar situation.

[Stojacanec]

Coolski, I thought you were writing my memoirs.

[Pelister]

It would be hard to find a good short general history that also avoids the colonial discourse we are burdened with, i.e., 'Slavizisation'...etc, of our history. Its worth looking into. I recall reading something by Nick Anastasovski some time ago, a general history that was interesting.

[Risto the Great]

I would have to say Risto Stefov did some really digestible and groundbreaking stuff when he first came onto the scene. Probably a good place to start. I think I have a really nice article on an email from way back. Shoot me an email and I will forward you the one I had in mind.

It should be noted that all Ristos are gifted.

[indigen]

I would have to say Risto Stefov did some really digestible and ground breaking stuff when he first came onto the scene. Probably a good place to start.

Excepting that you may/will find in Stefou's articles the Macedonians in Grk-ruled part of our ethno-historic homeland being, more often than not, designated as "Slav-Speakers". This can be a problem for some of us and even to those organisation actively involved in the cause, e.g. AMHRC and Vinozhito, who recently were out countering such designations from the US committee monitoring human rights compliance in other countries.

[Coolski]

Thanks for your help guys. Stefov's articles did come to mind earlier, now you guys have convinced me it's a good start. Thanks!!

[Dimko-piperkata]

Why am I doing this – again?

Risto Stefov

July 24, 2010

Despite my explanations a few times before, there are readers out there, mostly Greeks, who still want to know "why I am doing this" and by "this" I mean why do I write "negative things" about Greece and the Greeks.

To them I say, show me something "good" that Greece and the Greeks have done for the Macedonians and then I will write something "positive"! Ah but wait a minute aren´t we forgetting something? Aren´t the Greeks the ones who claim that "the whole world knows that Macedonians do not exist"! So, what Macedonians am I talking about?

read more

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/171490

[Svetlana]

Risto the Great

Is Risto the GReat THE Risto Stefov?
He is my hero.

[Risto the Great]

Hello Svetlana.
I am sorry to disappoint you, I am not Risto Stefov.
I am the other great Risto who prefers to rely on an extreme sense of panache rather than writing a lot.
I like (the other) Risto a lot, but thank the Lord that we are in separate hemispheres for fear of worlds colliding.