DID GREEKS ETHNIC-CLEΑNSE MACEDONIA FROM SERBS?
Contents:
I. Introduction
II. Fake Censuses
III. Gopčević’s ethnographic work in Macedonia
IV. Similar theories/attempts
V. Aegean Macedonia: Greek censuses
VI. The Greek Civil War and the so-called "Serbian refugees"
VII. Pictures out of context
VIII. Conclusion
IX. SOURCES/REFERENCES
_____________________
I. INTRODUCTION
Recently, many Serbian "history" websites, but also instagram pages have posted articles in which they claim that until some time Serbs formed the majority in Aegean Macedonia and that Greeks expelled/massacred them. Some examples:
Is this true? All of the "arguments" which support these claims will be debunked in this post.
II. FAKE CENSUSES
CLAIM: «According to the Turkish censuses, in 1904 there were 896,494 Serbs in Macedonia (85%)» (no source)
III. GOPČEVIĆ’S ETHNOGRAPHIC WORK IN MACEDONIA
CLAIM:«Spiridon Gopčević estimated around 2,000,000 Serbs in Macedonia!». Let's see how reliable is Gopčević’s work. Gopčević, in 1889, published an ethnographic study titled "Old Serbia and Macedonia" (Stara Srbija i Makedonija) that was a Serbian nationalist book on Kosovo and Macedonia and contained a pro-Serbian ethnographic map of Macedonia [9]. Gopčević's biographer argues that he did not actually go to Kosovo and the study is not based on authentic experiences [10]. C. Promitzer confirms: «Gopčević’s biographer nevertheless argues that the monograph is not the result of authentic experiences and that he was never in Kosovo. While his manipulations with respect the allegedly Serbian character of Macedonia have already been the topic of exhaustive research, his views on the mutual relations between the Serbian and Albanian populations of Kosovo, in particular with respect to the contested notion of so- called Arnautaš” (Albanians of alleged Serbian (descent), have been only addressed superficially by various authors. Whatever the final judgment might be, Gopčević’s monograph represents a singular attempt to combine sympathies for the cultural development of the Serbian nation with the aspirations of Austria-Hungary as a Great Power in the Balkans.» [10]. Noted for being an ardent Serbian nationalist, his book Old Serbia and Macedonia is seen as a work that opened the path for unprecedented Serbian territorial claims in the region [11]. Gopčević’s book contains several conversations with illiterate Slavs [in Macedonia], such as the following exchange between Gopčević and some peasants in Pajzanovo, a village in Aegean Macedonia:
« -And all [the inhabitants of Pajzanovo] 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.”[12]. Gopčević is desperately trying to find any Serbian element in the area, but as I mentioned before his work is just biased and disapproved.
IV. SIMILAR THEORIES/ATTEMPTS
As I said before, Gopčević’s "ethnographic" work opened the path for Serbian territorial claims in Aegean Macedonia. But Spiridon Gopčević was not the only one who aimed at this.
— In 1848 Garašanin sent the Bosnian
Serb, Stefan Verković (1821–1893) to tour Macedonia and covertly collect
ethnographic data to be ultimately used as support for long-term Serbian
national policy. Unfortunately for Garašanin, after his tour Verković published his research in Belgrade, in 1860 under the title Narodne Pesme Makedonski Bugara. Kniga I: Ženske Pesme (Folk Songs of the Macedonian Bulgarians. Vol. 1: Women's Songs). Furthermore, in the preface of the
book, Verković wrote: '« call these songs Bulgarian and not Slavic, because if someone today should ask the Macedonian Slav "what are you?" he
would be immediately told: “I am Bulgarian" and would call his language "Bulgarian"» [13].
— The Serbian politician and historian Miloš S. Milojević (1840-1897) created the basis of the theory that Serbs were the majority in Macedonia. He also claimed that 'pure Serbs' lived across Bulgaria to the Black Sea coast and drew a very... unbiased ethnic map as it is shown in the picture above [14]. His approaches were eventually proved “erroneous” and "falsified" through “critical methods” [15]. We can clearly see that all this "evidence" of the Serbian "majority" in Macedonia was just fabricated for political reasons and should not be considered as serious historical records.
V. AEGEAN MACEDONIA: GREEK CENSUSES
CLAIM:«The Greek censuses recorded 326.426 orthodox Serbian/Macedonians in 1912, 370.371 in 1913 and 500.000 in 1920» (no source).
This claim of course is again falsified. Indicatively, in a table published by the Naval Intelligence Division in 1944, estimates the ethnic groups of Macedonia in 1912 as: 513,000 Greeks, 119,000 Bulgarians, 475,000 Muslims and 98,000 people of other ethnicity [4]:
Aegean Macedonia's national makeup in 1913 was 44.2% Greek, 38.9% Muslim, 8.7% Bulgarian and 8.2% other [16][17]. It is obvious that the information promoted is imaginary, not to mention that there aren't sources cited.
VI. THE GREEK CIVIL WAR AND THE SO-CALLED "SERBIAN" REFUGEES
CLAIM: «Greeks committed crimes against the indigenous Serbians of Aegean Macedonia during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949)» (again unsourced):
From the book of Milan Ristovic titled "Long journey home, the Greek refugees" [18]: «Noting the report submitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the League of the Red Cross Societies on the question of the repatriation of 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻,and expressing warm appreciation of the efforts made by the two International Red Cross organizations to facilitate the implementation of General Assembly resolution 193 (III) C,Noting that the 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 have not as yet been returned to their homes….2.Urges all the Members of the United Nations and other States harbouring the 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 to make all necessary arrangements, in consultation and co-operation with the international Red Cross organizations,for the early return to their homes of the children with the aforementioned resolution;».
From the article “Innocent’s Day” by Time Magazine on January 9, 1950 [19]: «Peace had come to battered, impoverished Greece; the Communist guerrillas had been driven out, perhaps for good. But last week, on Innocents’ Day (the Church calendar’s anniversary of Herod’s Slaughter of the Innocents in Judea), Greece had a day of mourning—for 28,000 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻, 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗶𝗹. A two-gun salute from Mount Lycabettus woke Athenians at dawn. Church bells tolled and flags drooped at half-mast. Newspapers appeared with black-framed front pages. Places of amusement were closed all day, and for half an hour all traffic stopped, streets emptied, doors were closed and blinds drawn. Queens Do Not Beg. Earnest young Queen Frederika, mother of three, broadcast a poignant message from the royal palace. She begged for the return of the 28,000 children living in exile “as a mother—because queens are not supposed to beg.” Added Frederika: “The civilized world has remained silent too long.”
The civilized world had made some well-meaning but ineffective protests. UNSCOB (the U.N.’s Special Committee on the Balkans) had verified the 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻. The U.N. General Assembly had called on Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Rumania for the return of the children. These governments had finally agreed to return any children called for by petition of their parents. Up to last week the Greek Red Cross had forwarded 8,000 petitions, but not one child had been sent back»
Testimonies (from the same source): «Kaliroe Gouloumi, from Gorgopotamos, in Epirus, remembered how the Communists took her children: “They were in our village for a year. First they took our animals, then our food, then our children. I had three.” Kaliroe wiped her eyes with her black shawl. “They did not even let me say goodbye. They said they were no longer my children but their children.”[...] Said Kleoniki Kiprou from Monopilo Kastoria: “First they hanged the priest, then they cut off his mother’s hands, and then they ordered us to follow them. What could we do?” [...] The guerrillas, frustrated, took Sofia Makri and 20 other mothers to the mountains and tortured them. Said Sofia last week: “They hung us from pine trees. They burned our feet with coals. They beat us. When we fainted they revived us with cold water from the spring. Fourteen of us died up there but we did not tell. When the Greek army entered our village they found the dead living, for out of the earth came our children.” 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗥𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗺. 𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗮 𝗨.𝗡. 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿: “𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗡𝗢 𝗮𝗯𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻; 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗱.”»
In an article of "The Times" (21st of Oct. 1957) we read about 5,000-8,000 former Communist rebels who were Slavic-Speaking Greeks and were divested of their Greek nationality [20].
It should be noted that the UN officially recognizes these children as of Greek origin in the resolutions titled as "repatriation of Greek children" [21].
VII. PICTURES OUT OF CONTEXT
Now that all of the main arguments have been fully debunked, the last thing a history-falsifier would do is to show some pictures which could "expose the crimes of the Greek side". The pictures presented by the "history" websites I mentioned at the beginning are taken completely out of context. You can see them all analytically with sources here
VIII. CONCLUSION
How could Greeks genocide Serbs in Macedonia if they weren't any? How could Serbia ally with Greece in the Balkan Wars if Serbs suffered by the Greeks? Is there any record of mass expulsion of Serbs from Macedonia? It is very obvious that this propaganda is promoted only to justify territorial claims and eventually earn access to the Aegean Sea. However, the only thing that is achieved is to dissolve the friendly relations of two brotherly countries, but also to distort and falsify at the same time their rich histories.
XI. SOURCES/REFERENCES
[1]Kemal Karpat (1985), Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, The University of Wisconsin Press, p. 158-159
[2]Kemal Karpat (1985), Ottoman Population, 1830-1914, Demographic and Social Characteristics, The University of Wisconsin Press, p. 168-169
[3]IUKTY 947, "Memalik-i Osmandiyyede Dehil-i Tahrir Olan Nüfusun Icmali
[4]Great Britain, NDI, 1944, Greece
[5]Vladislav B. Sotirovic, Macedonia between Greek, Bulgarian, Albanian, and Serbian national aspirations, 1870-1912, 2009, Serbian Studies(Vol. 23, Issue 1), Slavica Publishers, Inc. Link: https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA317203098&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=07423330&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E88e629a8
[6] Pall Mall Gazette, 8th of May 1888, "Facts about the Macedonians"
[7]Public Opinion, 1903, the races of Macedonia
[8]“Voyage dans la Macedoine” by Cousinery Consul-General of Thessalonike, 1831 p. 11
[9]Yosmaolğu, Ipek K. (2010). "Constructing national identity in Ottoman Macedonia". In Zartman, I. William (ed.). Understanding life in the borderlands: Boundaries in depth and in motion. University of Georgia Press. p. 168
[10]Promitzer, Christian (2015). "Austria and the Balkans: Exploring the role of travelogues in the construction of an area". In Kaser, Karl (ed.). Southeast European Studies in a Globalizing World. Münster: Lit Verlag, pp. 204–205
[11]Elsie, Robert (2012). A biographical Dictionary of Albanian history. IB Tauris. p. 117
[12]Makedonien und Alt-Serbien, by Spiridon Gopčević, 1889, page 58. (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.)
[13] Stefan Verković, Narodne Pesme
Makedonski Bugara. Kniga I: Ženske Pesme (Folk Songs of the Macedonian
Bulgarians. Vol. 1: Women's Songs) Belgrade 1860, Skopje 2001], III
[14] Tzarnushanov, Serbian and Croatian Evidence p. 5-9
[15] Вемић, Мирчета (September 2005). Етничка карта дела Старе Србије: Према путопису Милоша С. Милојевића 1871–1877. год
[16] Boeckh K., Von Den Balkankriegen Zum Ersten Weltkrieg, Dissertation accepted, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 1994/95, S.227.
[17] Angelopoulos A., Population distribution of Greece Today according to Language, National Consciousness and Religion, Balkan Studies, 20, p.123-132, 1979
[18] Milan Ristovic, Long Journey Home ,The Greek Refugees, IMXA 2000, p.1
[19] Times Magazine, "Innocent’s Day, 9/1/1950. Archived here: http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,811653,00.html
[20] The Times, Oct. 21 1951, p. 7, issue 5397; col D
[21] A/RES/517(VI): https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/210768, A/RES/618(VII): https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/211417?ln=zh_CN
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