The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World

Not so much to be written about this boook to review it.Simply , if you are into "Macedonian-greek" issue , try to read this , and you 'll have great prospective what is going on. Greeks are acting "silly" , and "childish" nowadays , and very tyranic in the past , as the writer mentioned it many times in his work.Very sad , but true. Titanic 5 stars!

Although much has happened in the past 10 years since this book was written, Mr. Danforth provides great insight on the nationalistic ideologies of the 3 sides within the conflict (Greeks, Macedonians & neutral). His approach is 100% UN-BIASED which in many cases is rare for this debate. He quotes Greek, Macedonian & independant sources on the Macedonian question, & provides insight on the less-beleivable claims from ALL sides. I also enjoyed how Mr. Danforth remained true to his trade & tried to keep away from the ancient history aspect of Macedonia & analyzed the real issue behind this conflict - the last 150 - 200 years. For all, whether Macedonian, Greek or simply curious (but especially Macedonians & Greeks), please go into reading this book with an open mind. Although the book will leave you with an opinion favouring the Macedonian position, it can't be denied as a fair & unbiased analysis.

Macedonians since the beginning of time have not been greek. They actually had a different spoken language, and yes some of them spoke greek since greek was the political and world language used, something of what english is today. The reason why Greece is being so scared and defensive is because we macedonians do have land claims in northern greece and because they don't want to lose that land since it is basically the bread basket for Greece and that they don't want to grant any of the macedonian minority living there any rights. It's funny how the greeks claim on a greek cultural website sponsored by the greek government on how the Romans were greek as well. That by far is the funniest thing I've ever heard.

In respect to the previous critics on the book, disregarding it simply as Danforth's "bias", a few facts must be pointed which they have ignored: 1) There is no Skopjan nation. This is an uncivilized racial slur that the Greeks use to label the Macedonians, one of gross distortion of reality. 2) The ethnic term Macedonian has been used by the ethnic Macedonians for the past 2,500 years, and belongs solely to them. Ancient Greek, Roman, Jewish historians, Byzantine, Slav, Arab, Vatican, Ottoman, Western European, Russian sources mention the existence of Macedonia and the Macedonians as distinct nation in every of the past 25 centuries - including before the partitioning of the country in 1913 by Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia. Greeks and Bulgarians who came to live in Macedonia since, can not be Macedonians in ethnic respect, but only in geographical sense, as their nationality is Greek and Bulgarian.3) The fact that some Macedonians called themselves "Bulgarians" in the 19th century is not at all a proof that they were ethnic Bulgarians. The Balkans had been under brutal Turkish occupation for the past 500 years, and in such environment, NONE of the Balkan nations had a clear national consciousness. Thus the 19th century Greeks called themselves ROMANOI (not Greeks), and many prominent Bulgarian scholars, identified themselves as SERBS, and even as GREEKS. As Greece and Bulgaria freed themselves they begun actively building up a Greek and Bulgarian consciousness, and so did the majority of the Macedonian intellegencia which clearly called itself as Macedonian in the 19th and early 20th century. This is a fact that must be remembered. Those who have interest in suppressing the Macedonians do not mention this fact and rather rely on isolated cases. 4) The so-called "Macedonian Question" is not at all complex. Three countries (Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia) fighting over who would grab most of Macedonia and in the process destroy the Macedonian nation. In 1913, the three partitioned Macedonia, but in 1991, the Serbian occupied part (later Yugoslav), won independence, and both Greeks and Bulgarians are afraid of losing their parts to a united Macedonia, one that belongs to the Macedonian nation, the same nation they stole it from. Those who deny Danforth, deny the reality, and that is the existence of the Macedonian nation. THEY are the ones who are biased. Not surprisingly these deniers are the Greeks and the Bulgarians, which still today, since 1913, occupy parts of Macedonia, and which have tried everything to destroy their large Macedonian minorities. Greece's oppression is well documented by Danforth and this is what bothers most the Greek deniers of the Macedonian nation. The Bulgarian deniers hate the fact that there are records of Macedonians consciousness, and stubbornly stick to few isolated cases, ignoring that Delcev, the leader of the Macedonians at the end of 19th century wrote: "Those who fight for inclusion of Macedonia in

Well, as I'm not a scholar, I can't argue about the "scientificness" of the book. It touched me deeply - Macedonian history in my country was written by communists which give it a special touch, and Greeks, definetely, destroyed every sign of Macedonian culture, to rebuild according to their wishes. Of course, this book doesn't mention the UK and US help to the King during the Greek Civil War (US army even used napalm bombs over Macedonian villages), but it mentions the exile - 28,000 kids in 1948 only, and a lot more after that... I just can't wait for the next book which will be devoted to the Macedonian - Greek struggle in Australia...