There are volumes of texts regarding early 20th century Balkan military uniforms, weapons, and insignia. Lets examine those of the early 20th century Serbian army.The Serbian army, circa 1900 to WWI, was well known for the head gear worn by all levels of personel rank in addition to the weapons the general infantry carried.The head gear worn by the general infantry was known as the Sajkaca. The Sajkaca became a powerful symbol in contemporary Serbian culture and was worn by military personel and civilians. Up to this day the Sajkaca is a traditional Serbian hat worn by both young and old:

 

This is what a typical member of the Serbian infantry looked like during the early 20th century. Notice the distinctive Sajkaca and notice the foot wear.:

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Another distinctive trait of the contemporary Serbian Army was their widespread use of Mauser type rifles produced in Germany. The Serbs even modified and designed their own custom Mausers. Their use of the Mauser is described by James M.B Lyon in his journal article "A Peasant Mob: The Serbian Army on the Eve of the Great War" (The Journal of Military History, Vol 61, No 3 (July 1997) pp. 481-502)Here is an example of a Mauser type rifle:

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Contemporary Officer uniforms used by the Serbian Army also had distinctive traits. One of the traits was their head gear which included a mid sized cylindrical cap with a visor. Here is an example of a Serbian officer in a picture taken during the early 20th century in Belgrade. Notice the distinctive cap with visor:

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At the turn of last century the tensions in the Balkans resulted in scuffles and squirmishes that involved both civilian and Military personel to form armed bands. This is an example of a Serbian led band circa early 20th century. Notice the Mauser rifles. Notice the Sajkaca. Notice how the officer is wearing a serbian Cap with Visor just as the officer is wearing above.

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Go back and compare the distinctive traits of the last image with the images above. Look at the mauser rifle. Look at the Sajkaca. Look at the example of the Serbian infantryman. The sophisticated reader at this point would have recognized that the last image was posted by none other than Mr. Maknews who advised it was an ‘ethnic Macedonian’ band that included his great grand father. A closer comparison:The Serbian Infantryman compared with the individual from Mr. Maknews’ picture:

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  The Serbian Officer compared with the individual from Mr. Maknews’ picture: The Mauser rifles that the Serbian army carried:

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These were not "ethnic Macedonians"!

And, finally, to the literary man, the Balkan Peninsula, with its extraordinary medley of races and languages, affords a field of observation which is all but virgin soil. Here the Bulgarian and the Greek, the Albanian and the Serb, the Osmanli, the Spanish Jew and the Roumanian, live side by side.

The Macedonian question is perhaps the most dangerous problem which the statesmen of Europe will have to face
in the near future. One of the ablest and most experienced of British diplomatists in the Balkan Peninsula said to me a year and a half ago, ” Old Servia, Macedonia, and Albania will before long become a regular cockpit between Bulgarians, Servians, Montenegrins, and Greeks.” That he was right, no one at all acquainted with the facts will for a moment doubt. 

But in Macedonia all these races are hopelesssly intermixed.

a little later the famous Bulgarian Tsar, Samuel, whose reign extended from 976 to 1014, made Macedonia the centre of his empire, and fixed his residence first on a rocky island in the upper lake of Prespa, and then at Ochrida. To this day the name of Grad, or ” the fort,” which the island still bears, testifies to his occupation of the spot. It was to Prespa, too, that Samuel, returning from the sack of Larissa, transferred the remains of the holy Achilles, and the remains of a monastery dedicated to this saint are still to be found on an island of the lower lake. Now, for the first time, we read of a Bulgarian Patriarch of Ochrida, a see which played a considerable part at one time or another in Macedonian history.
Even when the Byzantine Emperor Basil, ” the Bulgar- slayer,” conquered and overthrew the first Bulgarian Empire in 1018, he allowed this Bulgarian church at Ochrida to exist, though he substituted an archbishop for a Patriarch. And we learn from the golden bulls, in which this Emperor confirmed the privileges of the Bulgarian church, that under Samuel, that is to say, in the first two decades of the eleventh century, the Bulgarian realm had included practically all Macedonia. Pristina, Uskub, Veles, Prilep, Kastoria, and even Joannina, the capital of Albania, had all owned the sway of the mighty Bulgarian Tsar.

 With the formation of the second Bulgarian Empire in 1186, the rule of the Tsars once more made itself felt in Macedonia. As early as 1197 a Bulgarian noble declared himself independent in the passes of the Vardar, and governed Upper Macedonia in his own name. We find the Tsar Kalojan lord of Uskub in 1210.

Slaveikoff, by his journal, published at Constantinople in the sixties, had endeavoured to prepare the way for the national movement in Macedonia ; but so little was the Bulgarian alphabet then known, even among the Bulgarian Macedonians, that the editor was forced to print his patriotic articles in Greek characters.

Bcrats were granted in 1890 for two Bulgarian Bishops at Ochrida and Uskub respectively

 And he sums up their prospects by saying that ” in the end they will win nearly all the Bulgarian-speaking people of Macedonia;

 Accordingly, the Servian Government, which in former days favoured the Bulgarian movement in Macedonia, and actually allowed the first books of that propaganda to be printed at Belgrade, has now become its rival.

 American missionaries, working among the Bulgarians of Macedonia, have noticed with surprise that all of a sudden their familiar disciples have changed their nationality, and blossomed out into full-blown Serbs.

 In the district of Uskub, where there are some Servian-speaking refugees and people speaking a Bulgarian dialect containing many Servian words, this propaganda may make some conquests.

But elsewhere in Macedonia, where the language of the people is Bulgarian and not Servian, the difference of tongue, though not insurmountable, is sufficient to make the task difficult. In the vilayet of Monastir, more especially, the Serbs have little chance against their Bulgarian rivals.

Of course, now that Greece has been weakened, the Sultan, true to his traditional policy of playing one Christian race off against the other, has begun to favour the Greeks in Macedonia at the expense of the Bulgarians, just as in 1890 and 1894 he favoured the Bulgarians at the expense of the Greeks.

But the Armenians inspire in the Turks a hatred such as no other Christian race causes them, and the worst of it is that the Armenians have hot, like the Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and Wallachs living in the Turkish dominions.

Travels and politics in the Near East (1898) by William Miller 1864-1945

The Bulgarian Macedonians, together with some remaining in Macedonia who considered themselves Bulgarians, however, became the source of agitation for incorporating Macedonia into Bulgaria.

Studies on Ottoman Social and Political History by  Kemal H. Karpat, page 768

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Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts By Isaac Asimov, page 225

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“Pictures From The Balkans” by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), chapter 20.

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“Pictures From The Balkans” by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 5

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“Pictures From The Balkans” by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 8

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“Pictures From The Balkans” by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 17

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“Pictures From The Balkans” by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 179 

Alexander the Great was born in Pella, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia in northern Greece, in 356 BC. The exact date is not known, but it was probably 20 or 26 July.

“ Alexander the Great” by Nigel Cawthorne, page 1

With the conquests of Alexander the Great more than the dream of Isocrates became actual fact. A Hellene was now lord over a vast tract of Asia. What attitude would the Hellene in these new circumstances take up to the barbarian?

page 57

It does not, of course, follow from Alexander’s desire to merge the Greeks in a racial amalgam that he wished their culture to be similarly merged in a nodescrpt syncretism. It is conevable that while he wanted the races mixed, he wished Hellenism as a culture to be predominant.  The indications rather point to this being in his mind. The cities of Greek type which he founded all over the empire were to be nurseries of Hellenic life. In a tract attributed after Alexander, he is lauded as the belligerent missionary of a higer culture in the backward East.

Thanks to this, the Indians worship Hellenic gods, the Scythians bury their dead and do not eat them. Whilst Alexander was civilizing Asia, Homer was his reading; the sons of Persis and Susiana and Gedrosia chanted the tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles.

page 58

The native peoples had in their midst cities largely Greek in Speech, Greek in their customs and mode of building. Large numbers of people of Asiatic race learnt to speak in Greek and write in Greek and think in Greek.

page 59

Western Races and the World by Francis S. Marvin

South Australia Premier Mike Rann stressed that “Macedonia is as Greek as the Acropolis“, during a meeting in Thessaloniki on the weekend with Macedonia-Thrace minister George Kalantzis, noting the “efforts we have been making for many years now, since the 1990s, so that the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’ (for FYROM) is not recognized, because no nation should steal the history and symbols of another nation”.

“For all of us who love History, and know History, Macedonia is as Greek as the Acropolis,” said Rann, who was on Sunday presented with the Municipality of Thessaloniki’s highest distinction, the Gold Medal of the City, by mayor Vassilis Papageorgopoulos at an official ceremony. The medal was bestowed on Rann, by unanimous decision of the City Council, in recognition of his contribution to Greece and the promotion of Greece’s national issues.
Rann arrived in Athens on Friday on a three-day visit to Greece. He arrived in Thessaloniki on Saturday afternoon, following talks with government officials in Athens and visits to the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum. He returned Sunday evening to Athens where, during the working leg of his visit on Monday, Rann will hold meetings with Greek officials, culminating in a meeting with Greece’s President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias, who will bestow on him a medal of honor.
Rann, for many years a patron of Australia’s “Justice for Cyprus” Committee, will leave later on Monday for a working visit to Cyprus.
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Kalantzis on Saturday, Rann expressed pleasure at “visiting Macedonia once again, and indeed just a few short weeks ahead of Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis’ visit to Australia”.
“For many years, since the decade of the ’90s, we have been making efforts so that the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’ (for FYROM) is not recognized, because no nation should steal the history and symbols of another nation”.
Rann also noted his efforts on the Cyprus issue as well over the past 30 years.
Kalantzis, in turn, thanked the South Australia premier for his fervent support of the Greek positions.
“When the responsible politicians know the truth, the state it, And the premier spoke the truth. We welcome him, and in his person we meet all those great men who recognize a reality, that no one can forget Hellenism’s contribution to the world. The Greeks gave light to Humanity,” Kalantzis said.
During the 45-minute meeting, Rann also stressed the strong bonds of friendship between Greece and Australia, and praised the large Greek community that lives and works in his country.
Rann was presented with the Gold Medal of the City of Thessaloniki on Sunday by Mayor Papageorgopoulos. During the ceremony, City Council president Sotiris Kapetanopoulos read out the Council’s unanimous decision, while the Mayor stressed that the honor was being bestowed “on a great political man who has contributed much to his homeland, but also to a very great philhellene who has contributed much to Greece and to the promotion of its national issues”.
Papageorgopoulos noted that Rann has “boldly and outspokenly” defended Macedonia and the just cause of Cyprus vis-à-vis the Turkish invasion and occupation, and also assistance financially the Cypriot Australians, who lost their properties and possessions during the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island republic, to seek their rights. In recent years, Rann has spoken at more than 40 events of Greek Australians, and taken party in many Greek community events, the Mayor said, also noting Rann’s substantial contribution to the founding of the Greek Orthodox College and Greek Primary School in Adelaide.
“We present to you the Gold Medal of the City, with the certainty that this honor is two-way.
We unanimously, and as one spirit, honor you with the Gold Medal, and you honor us with your continuous support,” Papageorgopoulos said.
Rann, who was born in Britain and moved with his family to New Zealand at the age of 9, and afterwards to Australia, said that upon arriving in Australia it was the Greek Australians who welcomed him into their homes, opened up their arms to him and helped him better understand the Greek issues. And, of course, “it is Greece that has given an immense gift to Australia and the world, immigration”.
“Greece’s greatest contribution to the world, however, is the meaning of Democracy, and for this reason it is very important for all of us who believe in freedom and in human rights to defend them wherever we are in the world,” Rann said, and cited the Cyprus problem and the FYROM issue.
On the Cyprus issue and Turkey, Rann said: “It is very important not only to proclaim it to the world, but also to defend Cyprus and its rights, against the 1974 Turkish invasion”.
Today, he continued, Cyprus was one of the few states in the world that remains divided, following the illegal invasion. “Apartheid has eclipsed, the Berlin Wall has fallen, but the horrendous scar that divides Cyprus remains. Turkey wishes to become a full member of the European Union, but it does not abide by the basic and fundamental rules of the EU, nor with the rulings of the Court of Human Rights. Turkey wants everything for itself, but it cannot continue like this. It must accept the European rules,” Rann said.
On the FYROM name issue, Rann said: “Greece has given immense support to FYROM and helped it regarding its future accession of the EU. I consider it wrong for any state to usurp and steal the symbol of the civilization and culture of other peoples”.
Rann further recalled his first visit to the Vergina archaeological site, noting that “there I saw first-hand and realized the true history and origin of Macedonia”. “In Vergina, one can ‘live’ the Greekness of this region, recognizing its Greek history, which is not recent but begins in the years of antiquity, and is as certain as are the Old and New Testaments”.
On Greek-Australian relations, he said they were “optimum”, adding that he looked forward to welcoming Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in his country, during Karamanlis’ upcoming visit.
In closing, Rann said “I promise you that I will continue to fight for the just demands of Greece and Greek Macedonia”.
Rann was visited the Royal Tombs at Vergina and given a tour of the Byzantine Museum before returning to Athens.

Macedonia, while under the rule of the Ottoman empire, was mainly inhabited by Greeks, Turks and Bulgars. There was also a significant Jewish population in the city of Thessaloniki most of whom arrived there from Spain in the late 15th century. Macedonians [the ethnic Greek population of Macedonia] expected to be liberated and join the newly founded Greek state as a compensation for their sacrifices and contributions to the (Greek) War of Independence. They were led in this effort by the enthusiastic but inexperienced leadership of Emmanuel Pappas, a member of Phillike Etaereia. The Macedonians of Chalcidice revolted in May 1821 and for a brief moment threatened to throw the Turks out of the city of Thessaloniki. Due to their inexperience they were easily suppressed by the Turks by November 1821. The countryside was ravaged and the Greek population of Thessaloniki was massacred and forced to move out of the city.
The second round of the revolt began in February 1822 when the kleftae and armatoloi of mountains Olympos and Vermion along with the inhabitants of the city of Naoussa declared that city free (of the Ottoman rule). The Turks deployed troops brought to Greece from Asia Minor, and by April the revolt was subdued. Naoussa was destroyed, the men were killed, and the women and children were taken as slaves. After this, many Macedonian fighters fled to Southern Greece to continue fighting the Turks alongside the Peloponnesians and the other Greeks.
The failure of the Macedonian revolt is mainly attributable to the inexperience of the rebels and the proximity of the area to Constantinople. Although the revolt failed, it provided great help to the rebels of Southern Greece because it tied a number of Turkish forces in Macedonia. The price paid by the Macedonians was heavy. The previously flourishing greek community of Thessaloniki was destroyed and the Greek population of the city was reduced by around 70%. The Jews took over the leading role among the communities residing in the city. Once more in their long history, Macedonians sacrificed themselves for the common good of all Greeks.

The revolt in Chalcidike

Emmanuel Papas

The organized operations of the Greek revolutionaries in Halkidiki did not last more than one month. Emmanouil Pappas had the support of the monks of Athos and the inhabitants of Kassandra, Polygyros and the Mademohoria. The element of surprise, however, had definitely been lost, since the operations started in May, nearly two months after the outbreak of the revolution in the Peloponnese (25 March 1821).

The advance quickly turned into a series of retreats and was effectively squashed with the Kassandra disaster (October 1821) and Emmanouil Pappas’ flight to Hydra (November 1821). A large number of refugees escaped to the Northern Sporades islands at that time.

Tasos Karatasos

With the exception of the area around Mount Olympos, where the armed chieftains had a long experience in staging uprisings, western Macedonia did not possess the manpower and essential supplies that would have guaranteed a successful revolution.

The efforts of Nikolaos Kasomoulis, the local leader and a member of the ‘Philiki Etaireia’, to find help in southern Greece were of little consequence. The armatoles of Olympos, with no organization whatsoever, along with a token force which had finally arrived from southern Greece, fought for a mere few weeks (from late March to early April 1822). Shortly afterwards, they joined up with the Greek revolutionaries who had already mounted an uprising in Naousa, having taken up battle positions on 19 February.

Despite the town’s reserves of arms and ammunition and despite the efforts of the Naousan notable Zafyrakis Theodosiou and the kapetans Tasos Karatasos and Angelis Gatsos, Naousa was captured on 13 April by Mehmed Emin Pasha. Two thousand Christians were slaughtered, while most of the surviving rebel leaders left to continue the fight in southern Greece.

source for the last two therads:
www.macedonia-heritage.gr

According to George Finlay, “History of the Greek Revolution”, London, 1971

The Greek War of Independence in Macedonia

“In no part of Greece were the facilities for commencing the Revolution, or for defending the national independence, greater than in the peninsula to east of the Gulf of Thessalonica, called anciently Chalcidice. The population was almost entirely of the Greek race, and its villages enjoyed the title of Free Townships (Eleutherokhoria), on account of their many privileges.”

“The submission of Mount Athos enabled Aboulabad to turn his attention to the Greek population in the mountains between the mouths of the Haliacmon and the Axius. Zaphiraki, the primate of Niaousta, was the most infuential Greek in this district. He was a man of considerable wealth; he had opposed Ali Pasha in intrigue, and held his ground…He now invited Gatsos and Karatassos, the captains of Armatoli at Vodhena and Verria, to meet him. These three chiefs proclaimed the Revolution….

One of the main events that helped increase the Bulgarian influence in the part of the Ottoman empire to be called ‘San-Stefano “Macedonia” eight years later was the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1870 which took over responsibility for the orthodox Bulgars living in the Ottoman empire.
The Greek War of Independence in the first half of the nineteenth century had its repercussions among the natives of Macedonia. Many Macedonians of joined their compatriots in Southern Greece in that War. Simultaneously a national awakening was observed among the Bulgars living at that time in Macedonia. It should be noted that the term “Bulgar” at that time was used to denote the labouring and illiterate masses living in Macedonia irrespective of ethnic origin. That awakening was mainly due to the Russian Panslavists. Russia supported the subsequent uprising of the Slavs against the Turks in Bosnia-Hercegovina. Around 1830, a scholar, Venelin explored Bulgaria and collected material but also invented other. He claimed that the Bulgars had taught the Russians the (Cyrillic) alphabet and were responsible for the conversion of Russians to christianity. One of his followers, Rakowski claimed in 1859 that Zeus (the ancient Olympian God), Demosthenes (yes, the Athenian orator), Alexander the Great, and the Souliot hero of the Greek War of Independence Markos Botsaris were all Bulgars. He also claimed that St Paul preached Christianity to Bulgars first and not to Greeks. Such claims quickly spread among the Bulgars living in Macedonia and beyond.
Verkovic who wrote an ethnography on Macedonia and became the top Russian expert on Macedonia claimed that he had `discovered’ Bulgarian (ancient) songs about Alexander the Great. Krstovic claimed that Aristotle spoke Bulgarian but wrote in Greek in order to educate the southern barbarians [Note:Krstovic seemed to believe that Aristotle, a Bulgar to him, was civilized, while the southern barbarians, i.e. the Southern Greeks such as the Athenians were not during the classic period. Such claims were made despite the obvious fact that Bulgars first appeared in the Balkans sometime in the 7th century AD]. Krstovic also considered Bulgars Constantine the Great, Cyril and Methodios, the hero of the Greek War of Independence, Karaiskakes and many other Greek and Serbian national heros. Such ideas were believed not only in Russia (among the Bulgars were a fact of life) but also in Western Europe, especially after the creation of the Bulgarian Exarchate in 1878 as it can be seen in the opinions expressed by various European politicians, scholars journalists and some scholars of that time also reflected in their belief that Macedonia was Bulgarian.

The Exarchate had the blessings of Count Ignatiev of Russia, who in 1878 would lead the Russians in their negotiations with the Turks leading to the San Stefano Treaty. The Bulgarian exarchate also became responsible for the education of the Bulgarian population and at the same time tried to strengthen the Bulgarian consciousness of those Bulgars living under the Ottoman rule. At the same time, through underground activities and the use of force, the Bulgars tried to force the Bulgar-speaking Greek population to declare themselves Bulgars and not Greeks.
In [9] the following excerpts appear from a report prepared in 1885 by the Secretary-General of the Bulgarian Exarchate describing the situation in Macedonia: [the writer of the report interprets Macedonia as the “Macedonia” of the San Stefano Treaty]

” It is a sad fact but we must admit that the largest part of the Bulgarian population of Macedonia does not have a Bulgarian national conscience… If Europe were to demand today that the Macedonian people decide on their fate and say to which nationality they belong, we are certain that the largest part of the Macedonian people and of Macedonia would slip away from our hands. If we exclude two or three regions of Northern Macedonia, the inhabitants of the other regions are ready to declare that they are Greeks. If the Great Powers were to intervene and demand a plebiscite to solve the Macedonian problem the Greeks would come out as winners.”
[D. Missev-Obreikov “Report on the Present Situation of Bulgarism
in Macedonia”]

The Bulgarians had thus realised that if they were to increase their influence in Macedonia they had to deal not with the Turkish or Serbian influence but with the Greeks. Many foreign travelers who journeyed Macedonia during the 19th century have attested the existence, not only of a Greek-speaking population but also a Slav-speaking (Slavophone) one which considered themselves Greek even though they did not speak Greek, except possibly a few words.