Macedonian in Bulgaria

Introduction / History

The Macedonians are a southern Slavic people and speak the Macedonian language which is a part of the South Slavic group of languages. The modern Macedonians developed as a result of the mixing of the Slavs that came on the Balkans in 6th AD century, with local peoples that were living in North Macedonia prior to their coming. By absorbing the peoples living in North Macedonia, the Slavs also absorbed their culture, and in that amalgamation, a people was gradually formed with predominantly Slavic ethnic elements, speaking a Slavic language and with a Slavic-Byzantine culture.

In 581 AD, on the territory of Macedonia, the Slavs created their own country-like formation called the Macedonian Sclavinia, which waged several wars against the Byzantium Empire. In 686 AD, the last Macedonian Sclavinia was occupied by the Byzantium and the Bulgarians. In the mid 8th century, the Macedonian Slavs under Byzantine rule were baptized and accepted Christianity, and the Macedonians under Bulgarian rule became Christians in the 9th century. The Macedonians have a great role in the creation of Slavic writing. The local dialect of the Macedonian Slavs spoken north of Thessaloniki became the basis for Old Church Slavonic, the first literary Slavic language. During the whole medieval period, Macedonia was constantly an object of conquest and was being slipped from Byzantine, to Bulgaria to Serbia. This ended in the 14th century when Macedonia, together with the whole Balkan region, was conquered by the Ottoman Turks.

Because Macedonians did not have their own statehood during the medieval period, they did not have any developed national identity. They only referred to themselves as Macedonian Christians, and this was how they identified themselves. But after the creation of the Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian states who gained independence from Turkey, the three young countries started opening Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian churches and propagandist schools in order through education to assimilate the Macedonian population. From 1878 till 1912, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, through their educational and church institutions, struggled for the hearts and minds of the Macedonians. The rival propagandas succeeded in dividing the Macedonians into three distinct parties, the pro-Bulgarian (which was the largest), pro-Greek and pro-Serbian one, at the expense of development of a unique Macedonian identity.

In the period between 1903 and 1908, the three Balkan countries started arming the three different parties and stimulating them to fight one another. This period of the history of Macedonia is called the Macedonian Struggle and is manifested with brother killing his own brother for being a partisan of the different nationalist propaganda. This period lasted till 1912, when Macedonia was divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia.

In those dark days the National Awakening of the Macedonians took place. In late 19th and early 20th century several Macedonian intellectuals living abroad propagated the idea of the unique character of the Macedonians, that is, that the Slavic-speakers of Macedonia compose a separate ethnicity which is different from Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek.

After the Balkan Wars, following division of the region of Macedonia amongst the Kingdom of Greece, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia, and after WWI, the idea of belonging to a separate Macedonian nation was further spread among the Macedonians. The suffering during the wars and the endless struggle of the Balkan monarchies on dominance over the population made the Macedonians more and more aware that the creation of an independent Macedonian state and the development of a Macedonian nation would put an end to their suffering.

After being nearly 50 years a federal republic in Yugoslavia, on 8 September 1991, Macedonia proclaimed its independence. The majority of the Macedonians live in North Macedonia, but there are substantial Macedonian minorities in the neighboring countries including Bulgaria. Officials in Bulgaria don t recognize the existence of Macedonians even in North Macedonia considering all Macedonians as Bulgarians.

What Are Their Lives Like?

Macedonians in Bulgaria struggle to keep their language and culture alive in this nearby country. They have established their own newspapers and other forms of media. Many have been involved with Bulgarian life as political activists, scholars, entertainers and athletes.

What Are Their Beliefs?

The vast majority of the Macedonians are East-Orthodox Christians, but there are also some Muslim Macedonians and some Macedonians that practice Catholicism and Protestantism.

What Are Their Needs?

The strategic goals of the Macedonian people are a stable political system, a strong economy and respect for the rights of the Macedonian minorities in neighboring countries such as Bulgaria.

Prayer Points

Pray for the Holy Spirit to bring a refreshing revival to traditional Orthodox Churches in Bulgaria.
Pray for the Lord to thrust out Macedonian evangelists and disciplers to Macedonians in Bulgaria and Greece.

Text Source:   Joshua Project