By Kostas68

The following collection of Macedonian Newspapers is what Skopjans hate most since it completely shatters their illusions that “Macedonia was a term forbidden in Greece” prior to 1988. Contrarily Macedonian Newspapers were in use  from 19th cent. even prior to the invention of the Skopjan fictitious “nationality”.

Newspapers like:

- Echo tis Makedonias

- Dytiki Makedonia

- Makedonikos Epinohr

- H Pammakedoniki

- Makedoniki Enosis

- Makedoniki echo

- H Makedoniki

- Makedonikos Astir

- Makedoniki foni

- Elliniki Makedonia

- Makedonika Xronika

- Makedonia

- Makedonikos

- MAkedonika Salpismata

- Makedonia

- Makedonomachos

- Makedonikos Typos

- Makedoniki Echo

- Makedoniki

- Chronika Dytikis Makedonias

- Makedonikon Vima

- Makedonis Gh

- Makedoniki Floga

- Makedonika Themata

- Makedonika Spor

- Makedonika Nea tis Thessalonikis

- Makedoniki Neolaia

- Makedonikes selides

- Makedonopoulo

- Makedonika grammata

- Makedonika

- Makedonikon hmerologion

- La Macedoine

are the best evidence against FYROM’s misinformation and Lies.

Congrats to Samios Makedonas for his collection!!

Neither in this book we find any “Makedonski”.

By ChicagoGeorge

By ChicagoGeorge

Another source from 1903 describing the races of Macedonia. Greek, Bulgarians, Turks, Albanians……. It describes the Greeks as the most ancient race of Macedonia number 350,000, 500,000 Bulgarians, and 3/4’s of all Muslims are Turkish…. As usual for the frustration of Skopjan Propagandists, no independent Makedonskian group listed.

By ChicagoGeorge

BY CHICAGOGEORGE

BY CHICAGOGEORGE

Control of the Bulgarophile population (who self-identified Bulgarian) in the Southern-most area of the Kingdom of Serbia known as Vardarska Banovina, was of the utmost importance for Serbs who used political and educational propaganda in a systematic way in order to keep Vardarska Banovina from uniting with the Kingdom of Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.
 
Essentially, where Serbs mixed with Bulgarians, a different idea of Macedonism evolved. This Macedonism differed from the Macedonism of Bulgarian intellectuals like Krste Misirkov, the Verhovist Committee supporters, and the VMRO revolutionnaries known as Komitadjis. The Macedonism of these people was pro-Bulgarian and involved either the immediate union of ALL the region of Macedonia (in European Turkey) with the Kingdom of Bulgaria (as the Verhovists wanted), or the preliminary autonomy of this region with eventual annexation by the Kingdom of Bulgaria (as the VMRO wanted). This was all a continuation of the old and failed dream of a ‘Greater Bulgaria’ envisioned by Russia through the overturned, and therefore preliminary, Treaty of San Stefano. The idea of first autonomy and then annexation with a motherland can be seen in modern times with Kosovo and Albania. Many Albanians want to see the union of these two Balkan states. Consequently, there is no Kosovar ethnicity…it either is Albanian or Serbian depending on where one lives in Kosovo. Similarly, there was never a ‘Macedonian ethnicity’…it was either Greek or Bulgarian depending on where one lived in Macedonia, which church they followed, or what motherland one pledged allegiance to.
 
Serbian-inspired Macedonism had as its roots a creation of a non-Bulgarian way of thinking for the Slavs in the region of Macedonia - a creation of a ‘Macedonian ethnicity’ that would be pro-Serb. This is evident in the way the Serbians referred to the people in Vardarska Banovina as either South Serbs or eventually simply ‘Macedonians’. This propaganda started in the late 19th Century and flourished under Communist Yugoslavia with the renaming of Vardarska Banovina into ‘The People’s Republic of Macedonia’ in 1944. It is also evident in Yugoslavian leader Tito’s choice of the local Western Bulgarian dialect spoken in the area of Bitolia to become the ‘Macedonian language’ in 1944. This dialect had differences from proper Bulgarian and could be easily manipulated and codified into a new language. Many Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, and Albanian elements were removed and were replaced with Serb elements. Many Bulgarian letters were changed to Serb letters. As such the differences between this dialect and Bulgarian were emphasized and the similarities (although many) were purposely ignored. Communism (then) fueled, and state-sponsored nationalism (now) continues to fuel Macedonist irredentism from Yugoslavia (then) and FYROM (now) towards all its neighbours but especially towards Greece with its large warm sea port of Thessaloniki.
 
Below are 2 examples of Serb-inspired Macedonism. One is officially state-sponsored (letter to the Serb Education Minister in 1888) and the other is local (through Belgrade supporters in towns and villages in Vardarska Banovina):

Стојан Новаковић, Stojan Novaković

(1842-1915)

Serbian Minister to Turkey 1886 – 1895

Prime Minister of Serbia 1895 – 1900

Serbian Minister to Russia 1900 – 1909

Prime Minister of Serbia 1909 – 1915

Leader of the Progressive Party of Serbia 1906 – 1915

Novakovic’s dispatch to the Serbian Education Minister 21/05/1888

“Since the Bulgarian idea, as it is well known to all, is deeply rooted in Macedonia, I think it is impossible to shake it completely by opposing it merely with the Serbian idea…this idea would be incapable of suppressing the Bulgarian idea…that is why the Serbian idea will need an ally that could stand in direct opposition to the Bulgarianism…this ally I see in the Macedonism or to a certain extent in our nursing the Macedonian dialect and Macedonian separatism…”

Serbian Propaganda

Spirodon Gopčević’s 1889 Macedonia and Old Serbia, a polemical travel book, contains several conversations with illiterate Slavs [in Macedonia, European Turkey], such as the following exchange between Gopčević

 and some peasants in [the village of] Pajzanovo:

•               

“ -And all [Pajzanovers] are Serbs like you?

-Serbs like us???

-Well, aren’t you speaking Serbian with me?

-By God, I don’t know, we are speaking ‘Bulgarski’. [Bogami, ne znam; mi govorimo Bulgarski]

-‘Bulgarski’, that may be, but not Bulgarian, which is a totally different language.

[Bulgarski - to može biti, ali ne Bolgarski, što je jedan sasvim drugi jezik.]

Everyone looked at me with amazement.”

·       Makedonien und Alt-Serbien, by Spiridon

·        

·        

·       Gopčević

, 1889, page 58.

Ø     In: Krsté Misirkov’s 1903 Call for Macedonian Autocephaly: Religious Nationalism as Instrumental Political Tactic, by Alexander Maxwell, Studia Theologica V, 3/2007, pages 147 – 176.

 By Christos

SS MAKEDONIA, painted 1912, by Ar. Glykas (compare with No. 14).
This “closed-base” passenger liner was one of the first Greek Transatlantic emigrant ships, and one of the first steamers built for a Greek shipping line, in 1912, by Sir James Laing and Sons, Ltd., at Sunderland, England.
She was of 6.333 tons grt, 422 ft (129 m) long, 51 ft (15,5 m) wide, with 2 masts, 2 funnels, and twin screws, driven at 17 knots by her quadruple-expansion reciprocating steam engines.
She was requisitioned in late 1912 as an armed transport, shelled by the Turkish battleship Hamidie, and sunk off Syros. Refloated and repaired, she was sold to the Netherlands in 1915 and scrapped in 1932. 
Besides passenger accommodation, SS Makedonia had 4 hatches and holds for freight; her cargo booms are shown in raised position for loading or dicharging cargo. She has a wireless antenna and modern stockless anchor.
In foreground, the early 20th century Greek Navy destroyer is a pictorial allusion to SS Makedonia’s wartime role in the Ist Balkan War, as are the guns on the forecastle and after deck of this passenger ship.

Α/Π ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ, 1912. Έργο Αριστείδη Γλύκα (πρβλ. με αρ. 14).
Αυτό το επιβατηγό γραμμής τύπου «closed-base» ήταν ένα από τα πρώτα ελληνικά υπερωκεάνια μεταναστών και ένα από τα πρώτα ατμόπλοια που ναυπηγήθηκαν για ελληνική ναυτιλιακή γραμμή το 1912 από την εταιρεία Sir James Laing and Sons, στο Sunderland της Αγγλίας.
Είχε χωρητικότητα 6.333 τόνους γκρος, μήκος 422 πόδια (129 μ.) και πλάτος 51 πόδια (15,5 μ.). Διέθετε δύο ιστούς, δύο τσιμινιέρες, διπλές προπέλες και έπλεε με ταχύτητα 17 κόμβων με τη βοήθεια παλινδρομικών μηχανών ατμού τετραπλής διαστολής.
 Στα τέλη του 1912 επιτάχθηκε ως οπλισμένο οπλιταγωγό πλοίο, βομβαρδίστηκε από το τουρκικό θωρηκτό Hamidie και βυθίστηκε κοντά στη Σύρο. Αφού ανασύρθηκε και επισκευάστηκε, πωλήθηκε το 1915 στην Ολλανδία και το 1932 διαλύθηκε. 
Εκτός από τα καταλύματα των επιβατών, το Α/Π Μακεδονία έχει τέσσερα αμπάρια για το φορτίο ενώ οι μπίγες του εμφανίζονται σε υψωμένη θέση φορτοεκφόρτωσης. Στο πλοίο υπάρχει κεραία ασυρμάτου και σύγχρονη άγκυρα χωρίς στύπο. 
Το αντιτορπιλικό του Ελληνικού Πολεμικού Ναυτικού των αρχών του 20ού αι. καθώς και τα κανόνια στο κατάστρωμα του επιβατικού πλοίου αποτελούν εικονογραφική αναφορά του ρόλου που διαδραμάτισε το Α/Π Μακεδονία κατά τη διάρκεια του Α΄ Βαλκανικού Πολέμου.

Source: NauticalMuseum.com

Newspaper “EMPROS” 3rd, January 1913

According to the illusions of Skopjan propagandists, the name “Makedonia” in Greece was…forbidden.

“I’d rather be first in a little village, than second in Rome.”

Julius Caesar.

One wonders then what Danforth would make of the New United Villages of Florina, an organisation that purports to unite associations representing the villages of Florina but in effect does so much more. Yiannis Papadimitriou, the president of the association, explains that the New United Villages exist as a form of self-protection against the extremes of the proponents of ideologies over the possession of national identities, histories and cultures, who regard these as the mutually exclusive property one nation or the other.

Basically,” Yiannis Papadimitriou explains, “we wanted to create an environment where “Slavophone” Greeks could feel comfortable speaking the idiom they grew up speaking back home, without anyone feeling threatened by this or using it as a means of compromising our members sense of their ethnic identity.”

One gains a hint as to what that ethnic identity is as soon as soon as one walks through the door of the reception during the New United Villages of Florina’s recent multicultural festival. The first thing that can be discerned is the labarum of the Association, bearing the icon of Panayia Theotokos. She is, as we find out when everyone stands up to chant her hymn, the Υπέρμαχος Στρατηγός, the protector of all. Slowly, solemnly, a column of young children, dressed in traditional regional costumes march into the hall, bearing before them, another icon of the Panayia and holding aloft, Greek and Australian flags. The attendees, all half a thousand of them, are of surprisingly (in an age when mass attendance at dances and other such events, is not only passé for the first generation, let alone the second, but becoming nothing more than just a dim memory) diverse ages, underlying the ‘family’ or ‘village’ feel of cohesion and harmony.

The children march proudly past the distinguished guests: the Honourable Harry Jenkins, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honourable Maria Vamvakinou, Federal Member for Calwell, Jenny Mikakos, State Member for Northern Metropolitan and Lily D’ Ambrosio, State Member for Mill Park, Former Mayor of Whittlesea, Cnr Chris Pavlidis and Whittlesea Councillor Maria Malios. They reach the dance floor and stand to attention as the Australian national anthem is played. As soon as its final strains die down, a murmur of anticipation permeates the room. Then, an immense crescendo and suddenly, 500 voices are united in song as they intone the immortal words of Greek national poet Dionysios Solomos: « Σε γνωρίζω…» The tremulous emotion that tugs at the heartstrings of all those present is palpable.

For these Florinians, singing the Greek national anthem truly is an act of gnosis. It is a firm declaration of who they perceive themselves to be. At the end of the dance floor, a video projector beams images exhibiting the Greek presence in Macedonia. It is a diachronic display, commencing with the ancient past, following through to Byzantium, the Ottoman occupation and contemporary times. Its viewers nod their heads appreciatively, as if discerning in the images of Alexander the Great, Basil the Bulgar Slayer, Saints Cyril and Methodius and of course, the Slavonic-speaking Captain Kottas, not just a historical figure dredged up from the depths of the past, but instead, their immediate kinfolk.

Around me, I can hear snatches of the same Slavonic idiom as that uttered by Captain Kottas when he was led away by the Bulgarians for execution, proclaiming: “Long live Greece!” Suddenly, the conversation is broken by a loud cheer and whoops of delight. The young children are dancing traditional Florinian dances and their elated grandparents and parents are unable to conceal their rapture at witnessing their progeny take exactly the same steps that they have taken, and their ancestors too, in a long  chain of dance, as twisted and tortuous as the path taken by the archetypal musician himself, Orpheus, to the underworld to rescue his Euridice, but still unbroken.

One of the beaming grandparents, not being able to contain himself any longer, rushes on to the dance-floor, holding a vast Greek flag upon a lofty flag-pole twice his size. Immediately, the floor is covered in dancers, weaving their way through the age-old steps, all vying for the position of leader of the dance so that they in turn, may also bear the Greek flag. The revellers are so excited that hey find it hard to settle down to listen to the speeches.

When Father Stavros, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, explains that the apostle Paul was compelled to visit Macedonia and wrote an epistle to the Christians of Philippi, the applause is deafening. When I in turn. as secretary of the Panepirotic Federation of Australia, outline the ties of kinship binding Epirus with Macedonia ( we are in effect συμπέθεροι, since Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias was an Epirote princess and Cheimarriote captain Spiros Spiromilios fought in Florina for the liberation of that region and its incorporation into the Greek state, there are cheers and the sounds of many hands clapping. Yiannis Papadimitriou, as president of an organisation that has over the years, repeatedly emphasised its Hellenic identity, arrived at, not only through cultural exchange but through a deep knowledge of history as well, succinctly and perceptively encapsulates the zeitgeist in his address:

“We are here today to celebrate the achievements and continuous presence of Macedonians here in Australia. We, the Macedonians of the New United Villages of Florina are immensely proud of our Greek heritage. We are also immensely proud  of the fact that we have been able to transplant them here, in Victoria, home to so many nations. Truly, the Greek and Australian people share many values. Some of these values, love of freedom, democracy, tolerance, a love of the arts and sport are direct gifts from ancient Greek civilization. Let us not forget that it was our great King, Alexander the Great who spread Greek civilization throughout the East. We, his descendants, having left our native Macedonia, are continuing in his footsteps, maintaining the Greek culture of Macedonia here today. Wherever you see us and the Greek flag flying, you know that there lies a small pocket of Macedonia, the northernmost Greek province, home to many nations but historically and culturally, an inextricable part of the Greek world. We welcome you with open arms and hope you celebrate the core values of tolerance, cultural diversity and mutliculturalism with us.” As the song «Μακεδονία Ξακουστή» penetrates our eardrums and the ecstatic revellers rush to the dance-floor once more, and Father Stavros, an Epirote, and I, muse over the relative merits of Macedonian as compared to Epirotic pita, the Greek flag once again passes from hand to hand, circling the room. Complexity in the process of identity formation may characterise many people who are members of ethnic and diaspora communities in today’s transnational world. For the members of the New United Villages of Florina however, it is resolved simply, in the form of a blue flag with a large white cross emblazoned upon it, upon a tall and proud flagpole.

DEAN KALIMNIOU.

COMMENT FROM “PAUL” FROM MELBOURNE:

“What the Greek community needs to emphasize is that this is a language that is completely different from what they speak in FYROM. In migrant countries such as Australia, in order to distinguish their language from the FYROM communities, they refer to it as Greek-Macedonian [sic], thereby clearly identifying themselves with the Hellenic community and nation.  My wife and her family (from the village of Melas - about halfway between Kastoria and Florina) speak this dialect fluently.  They and other people from their region that view themselves as Hellenes would be highly offended to be referred to as ‘Slavophone Greeks’ or to possibly have their language or culture confused or identified with that of the slavic population of FYROM.” (see Babiniotis’s article in history-of-macedonia.com)