Just as I and my neighbor bicker about where exactly his land ends and mine begins, just as any of you would bicker with your neighbors about your own land borders if these borders were not painstakingly surveyed, marked and firmly decided by deed, so do all these nationals bicker among themselves and argue endlessly about the right of first ownership, quoting endless passages from history in order to prove their point.
It's silly, really. We live on ONE earth, a very tiny planet - the only hospitable planet in our corner of the universe - "a mote in God's eye" - as vulnerable in our existence as the tiny ant that can be stepped upon indifferently by the smallest, weakest child - and yet we fight over who has the right to squat in what corner, and whether the particulat ant about to be squashed is called a red ant or a black ant.
Hmmmm? You say that it's important to the ant? *Sigh* Perhaps the ant's soul would rest easier if his gravestone said "Here Lies a Brave Red And" instead of "Here Lies a Brave Black Ant".
But enough of the ant metaphore. We are all humans and as such we have our little weaknesses that we need to humor and cater to. It's almost an adage that individuals need an identity. An identity declares many things. It identifies us to everyone else as not simply a vagrant who is wondering the face of the earth with no past, no family, no roots - and therefore, possibly dangerous. It tells others that we are so and so who belongs to these people, who have accomplished such and such, that we have a permanent home which it there and we can return to it at any time and therefore we are an individual of means and worth, not to be taken lightly. We are bred to honor and serve the concentric circled groups that surround us - our imediate family, our area, our country and so on, in continuously growing circles that diminish in importance as we move away from the center.
Why am I getting into this socio-psychologico-historical discussion at this point? Because, unless we understand the very basic forces that govern the need for an identity in people, we will never understand what moves the native of FYROM to stay adamant in his claim "I am Macedonian" and what moves the native of Greece respond "Over my dead body"!
So, who were/are/will be the "Macedonians" anyway and why all this fuss? By historical accounts, Macedonians (the name means "the long - see tall - people") were one of the ancient peoples who lived in the environs of northern Ancient Greece - which happened to be a lot larger then in all ways than it is today - spoke Greek, worshipped the ancient Greek gods, and considered themselves Greek in all ways. Ancestors of these Macedonians still survive today. They are spread throughout the ancient Macedonian territory, although many of them have elected to move to the modern Greek area of Macedonia.
Throughout the centuries, many other nationalities moved into this area, including Bulgars, Turks, Slavs, gypsies, etc. After World War II, the ancient territory of Macedonia was split into 3 parts. The northern part was given to Yugoslavia, the southern to Greece and the western to Bulgaria. Tito, wanting part of the sparkle and glory of ancient Macedonia to rub off on his people, called the southern province of Yugoslavia, "Macedonia".
See the excerpt below:
The wide variety of people living in the Balkans lead to friction. Throughout history there has been some sort of cause or other that people have been willing to fight for, and this is especially true in this area. Emotions run high and tempers are hot. It's not coincidence that TWO World Wars began in this area!
HOW THE LIE WAS CREATED Otecestven Vestnik (Sofia daily), 19 June 1991
STALIN TO BULGARIAN DELEGATION (G. Dimitrov, V. Kolarov, T. Kostov) The
Kremlin, 7 June 1946
Cultural autonomy must be granted to Pirin Macedonia within the framework
of Bulgaria. Tito has shown himself more flexible than you - possibly because he
lives in a multiethnic state and has had to give equal rights to the various
peoples. Autonomy will be the first step towards the unification of Macedonia,
but in view of the present situation there should be no hurry on this matter.
Otherwise, in the eyes of the Macedonian people the whole mission of achieving
Macedonian autonomy will remain with Tito and you will get the criticism. You
seem to be afraid of Kimon Georgiev, you have involved yourselves too much with
him and do not want to give autonomy to Pirin Macedonia. That a Macedonian
consciousness has not yet developed among the population is of no account. No
such consciousness existed in Belarus either when we proclaimed it a Soviet
Republic. However, later it was shown that Belarusian people did in fact exist.
Alexander’s Macedonia was Greek - Historian Robin Lane Fox
FYROM, being a chance amalgamation of people living in the area, lacks the framework of common traditions, history, religion and identity that would qualify them as a single people. Their own history being less that a century old, they borrow freely from the single entity in the region that can boast roots that run back to deep antiquity: Greece and in particular in this case: Ancient Macedonia.
Greece on the other hand, has had its history and tradition tresspassed violently way too often throughout the years. The people and the government of Greece are not happy at all to see the claims of FYROM to the name, the history and even the land of an important part of Greece. Greece is angry at wild claims from FYROM that they have been persecuted by Greece or that there are "Macedonians" right now inside Greece being persecuted!! Greece views these false claims as expansionist propaganda, possibly fed by foreign interests who would benefit from unrest in this region.
And there are plenty of reasons why foreign powers would meddle in the politics of this area, the most obvious one being the vast and coveted oil fields around the Caspian Sea. A shortcut route from the Caspian to the Aegean via Thessaloniki would shave off thousands of kilometers from the alternate route via the Adriatic for the pipelines they are already planning to build.
It's a simple, clear and ruthlessly practical reason that justifies in the mind of these oil monger powers any type of upheaval, war and sacrifice necessary to achieve it.
Skopjians - if you are reading this, take heed. Those who claim they want to help you, are in fact playing you for fools. They don't care about your inependence or your identity. They care only about themselves. You can be sure that Greece will not allow you to usurp things that rightfully belong to it. Your hardheaded hunger for a nonexistant identity will only lead you to disastrous consequencies.
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