Day of Macedonian Uprising in 1941

Burial Mound of the Unbeaten is a World War II memorial in the Park of the Revolution in Prilep built in 1961 in honor to the martyrs and fallen Yugoslav partisans.
Celebration of the fest in Prilep.

The day of the Macedonian Uprising in 1941 is October 11. It marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Macedonian uprising against fascism during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia. Since the times of SFRY this was the national holiday in SR Macedonia and later in then Republic of Macedonia it was proclaimed a public holiday. It is a non-working day.

History

During the Second World War, the Axis powers invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, of which today North Macedonia was part. It encompassed most of the so called Vardar Banovina, because the very name Macedonia was prohibited in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. On October 11, 1941, the Yugoslav Communists in Vardar Macedonia began to organize an armed insurrection against their Bulgarian fascist occupiers which started with an attack on the local police-station in Prilep. According to the Macedonian historical narrative on October 11 rebellion launched the war for national liberation from fascist occupation. That coincided with the subsequent rise of the Macedonian communist resistance movement into the following years. It lasted until late 1944.

Celebration

Every year on 11 October, there are official ceremonies and public speeches and celebrations on the occasion of Day of Macedonian Uprising. There are also official award called 11 October, given out to Macedonian people who have contributed significantly to the national progress.

Controversy

When Bulgarian Army entered the then-Yugoslav province of Vardar Banovina in April 1941, the Bulgarian soldiers were greeted by the locals as liberators, while pro-Bulgarian and anti-Serbian feelings among them prevailed. After the Bulgarian takeover the local communists fell in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party. They refused to define the Bulgarian forces as occupiers. Even the only victim of the attack on 11 October 1941, was a local man conscripted in the Bulgarian police. In fact fascism in Bulgaria didn't become a mass movement during WWII, and proved considerably less successful than in Romania, Hungary, Croatia or Serbia. After the WWII the Yugoslav communists ignored this circumstance, due to the complicated relations between the two countries, related to the Macedonian issue. Moreover, despite the Bulgarian army being the real force behind driving the Germans out of the area in 1944, the official Yugoslav and later Macedonian historiography, has played down its role by ethnopolitical reasons as well.

Today this holiday is part of the historical dispute with Bulgaria, which claims there is manipulation of the historical events in North Macedonia. Bulgaria denies any occupation and insists that during WWII its forces liberated twice the brethren in the west. Sofia also insists that the two countries must "harmonize" school textbooks, as well as historic literature and "overcoming the hate speech" against Bulgaria. On November 17, 2020, Bulgaria effectively blocked the official beginning of EU accession talks with North Macedonia. Several days later, in an interview with Bulgarian media, the Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev acknowledged that Bulgarians were not fascist occupiers, as well as many other historical facts that have been altered and concealed for decades in North Macedonia. The interview was shock for the general public and was followed by a wave of hysterical nationalism in the country. The Macedonian journalist Dejan Azeski has confirmed that Zaev's interview was a political mistake, although it revealed the historical truth. According to Azeski, the Bulgarian military also took part in the liberation of present-day North Macedonia in the autumn of 1944, and this is the most difficult fact to be accepted by the Macedonian society today.

See also


This page was last updated at 2022-09-12 11:07 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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