Partition of Macedonia Table of Contents • The Partition of Macedonia in 1913 and its Consequences • Violation of the Human Rights of the Macedonians in Greece THE PARTITION OF MACEDONIA IN 1913 AND ITS CONSEQUENCES On October 8, 1912, the First Balkan War begun. Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece attacked the European positions of the Ottoman Empire. Macedonians also took active part and contributed in driving the Turks out of Macedonia. Turkey capitulated soon, but Macedonia did not free itself. The victorious Balkan kingdoms convened in Bucharest in August 1913 to divide the spoils. The partition of Macedonia is best illustrated with the following maps: Greece was awarded Aegean Macedonia and renamed it to "Northern Greece"; Bulgaria annexed Pirin Macedonia and abolished the Macedonian name, and Serbia took over Vardar Macedonia and renamed it to "Southern Serbia". The same year, N. Pasich of Serbia and E. Venizelos of Greece agreed on the newly formed Greek-Serbian (later Yugoslavian) border, so that there would be "only Serbs to the North and only Greeks to the South", and no "Macedonians" on either side. Since 1913, official Greece has been trying to banish native Macedonian names of villages, towns, cities, rivers, and lakes in Aegean Macedonia. For example, the little stream which issues from Mount Olympus and flows into the Aegean Sea is labeled Mavroneri ("black water") on the maps made by Greek cartographers after 1913. However, the same river appears as Crna Reka, a native Macedonian name meaning "black river" on the maps made before 1913. Kukush has been dropped for Kilkis, Serres for Serai, Vodena for Edessa, together with at least 300 other places all over Macedonia. VIOLATION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE MACEDONIANS IN GREECE The 80-page human rights violation report on Greece entitled "Denying Ethnic Identity -Macedonians of Greece" was published in May 1994. After visiting Aegean Macedonia, The Human Rights Watch /Helsinki concluded: "Although ethnic Macedonians in northern Greece make up large minority with their own language and culture, their internationally recognized human rights and even their existence are vigorously denied by the Greek government. Free expression is restricted; several Macedonians have been persecuted and convicted for their peaceful expression of their views. Moreover, ethnic Macedonians are discriminated against by the government's failure to permit the teaching of the Macedonian language. And ethnic Macedonians, particularly rights activists, are harassed by the government -followed and threatened by the security forces -and subjected to economic and social pressure resulting from this harassment. All of these actions have led to a marked climate of fear in which a large number of ethnic Macedonians are reluctant to assert their Macedonian identity or to express their views openly. Ultimately, the government is pursuing every avenue to deny the Macedonians of Greece their ethnic identity." The CIA Ethnic Map of Balkans and Macedonia is yet another proof that the ethnic Macedonians today represent a big national minority in northern Greece or Aegean Macedonia. According to this CIA source, the Macedonians live in all parts of Macedonia: Vardar (todays Republic of Macedonia), Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria, and Aegean Macedonia in Greece. Macedonian Cultural and Historical Resource Center Last Modified: September 23, 1996 Created and Maintained by: Macedonia FAQ Development Team Copyright © 1996, All Rights Reserved