Because this trip was so impactful, this post will be a little different than many of my others. Rather than just a simple recount of what we did, I wanted to focus more on the history of this ancient and fascinating country, something most people are not familiar with.
On a recent spring trip to Greece, my dad and I made plans to take a trip up to North Macedonia to visit Lake Ohrid, an underrated gem that had been on my must-visit list for a while. Looking at a map, it seemed easy enough to get from Thessaloniki (Greece’s second largest city located in the north) to Ohrid, just several hours away by car. Yet I had no idea how difficult it was going to be getting from Greece into North Macedonia. Things didn’t quite work out as we planned, and as this was a trip that few seem to have taken, even the internet seemed to be at a loss of how to make this happen.
The primary reason for this is the strained relationship between Greece and North Macedonia. I didn’t think this would have an impact on our trip, but I was certainly proved wrong. One event after the next led to this adventure being one of the most eye opening experiences I have ever had. It was fascinating to be exposed to the tension between these two countries on a small yet ever present scale. I knew absolutely nothing about North Macedonia before I went, yet left having learned more than I ever had on any previous trip. Realizing that hardly anyone knows anything about this country (let alone the fact that it exists) is really interesting. How can a country with such a long and complicated history seemingly be so unknown to most of the world? I guess on a global scale it is understandable, as North Macedonia is small and has not had a huge impact on much that would mean anything to the average American or most other nationalities. That being said, for those out there who are in fact interested in knowing a little more about this unknown country in eastern Europe, I am excited to share with you all that I learned on this crazy adventure about Macedonian history and why there is still so much tension between it and Greece today. There is still a lot for me to learn here, but after some deeper research I have a much clearer understanding of this country, and hopefully you will too after reading this.
As many people likely can’t point to North Macedonia on a map (I definitely couldn’t!), let’s start with that. The country sits above Greece, and below Kosovo and Serbia. To the east is Bulgaria and to the west is Albania. North Macedonia is not a member of the European Union, yet it is a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).
If you are a tourist in North Macedonia, you are likely going to be visiting either Skopje, the capital, or Ohrid, a popular destination in the Balkans for its beautiful lake of the same name. On our brief trip we spent a couple nights in Ohrid. Lake Ohrid lies in two countries, North Macedonia and Albania. If we were coming from anywhere other than Greece, it would have probably been easier getting here and into the country of North Macedonia in general. There was no sort of direct public transportation from where we were in Greece to any part of North Macedonia. When we asked local Greeks how we could get from Thessaloniki to Ohrid, the best answer we got was how to get to Pogradec, a city on Lake Ohrid that is in Albania! It was really confusing at the time as to why we kept getting directed to go to Pogradec instead of Ohrid. Furthermore, there were no Greek taxi drivers that would drive us across the border from Greece into North Macedonia. Why was this the case? We eventually reached out to the host of our Airbnb in Ohrid, who was very helpful in arranging transportation from Greece to North Macedonia. We took a rickety train from Thessaloniki to Florina, a Greek town close to the border. A taxi driver from North Macedonia drove down into Greece and picked us up in Florina, and then drove us over the border. From here it took about 2 hours to get to Ohrid. This was way more complicated than simply going from say France to Germany, but why?
The modern-day tension between these two countries goes back centuries. In recent history, Greece has claimed that North Macedonia is, and has always been, a part of Greece. However, it turns out that Macedonia was always its own region, made up of its own people who spoke Macedonian. In fact, after the victory of Macedonian King Philip II in 338 BC, Greece was dominated by Macedonia. Alexander the Great continued his father’s conquest, and while he was proudly Macedonian, he very much respected his Greek tutor Aristotle and liked Greek figures such as Homer. Yet like his father, Alexander did not very much like the Greek people in general. As is common in Greek history, Macedonians were one of the many groups deemed as barbarians by the Greeks, for the reason that they did not speak Greek. One can start to see the early signs of dislike in ancient Macedonian and Greek history here. The important thing to note here is that Macedonia was its own people with its own vast empire. It was never subordinate to Greece.
Thousands of years later, the northern part of Macedonia became part of the Ottoman Empire. As a result, in 1767, the Turkish sultan abolished the Macedonian Orthodox Church, allowing for the Greek Orthodoxy to gain a stronger foothold in Macedonia. Neighboring countries of Bulgaria and Serbia also established schools in Macedonia and a century later began promoting teachings of how Greeks, Bulgarians, and Serbs were the only ones to populate this region; not Macedonians. Yet, as this outside influence grew, so did the Macedonian resistance.
After Turkey surrendered in the First Balkan War (with the help of thousands of fighting Macedonians against Turkey), Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Albania convened in Bucharest in 1913 to partition Macedonia as a result of their victory. Northern Macedonia became part of Serbia, an eastern part became part of Bulgaria, and the largest southern part became part of Greece (known as Aegean Macedonia). Aegean Macedonia is the modern day region called Macedonia in Greece. Starting in 1913, Greece started its trek to rid Greece of all native Macedonian people and their language. This was a necessary step for Greece because in order for the country to be Greek and nothing but Greek, it could not have a large presence of Macedonians in the Aegean part. Agreements between Greece with Bulgaria and Turkey allowed for an exchange of population to take place, in which Macedonians would leave for Bulgaria while Greeks in Bulgaria and Turkey would come settle in the Aegean part of Greece.
Although there were now less Macedonians in Greece, they still made up a strong minority in the Aegean part of Greece. Those residing here spoke their native language and remained true to their own customs. Yet starting in 1936, the Macedonian language was not only forbidden, but punishable if any sign of it was being used in Greece. It is somewhat unbelievable to think that there were still things like this taking place less than a century ago. Especially from an American perspective, it is hard to imagine not having the freedom to take pride in your own culture, let alone speak whatever language you want.
After World War II, Macedonia was renamed the Republic of Macedonia, and its people were recognized in Yugoslavia. As a whole, Yugoslavia urged Greece to recognize the Macedonians that were still in Aegean Macedonia. During the 1980s, the Greek Prime Minister had finally agreed to recognize the Macedonian minority and even their language. However, internal problems arose in Greece and those documents were never signed.
The Republic of Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia and became a sovereign state in 1991. Yet Greece immediately demanded that it not be recognized by the international community under the name Macedonia, because the northern region in Greece was already called Macedonia. To put it simply, the disputes over Macedonian and Greek lands and language that were present centuries ago, persist today in the mind of the Greek government and many of its peoples. Yet many recognize Greece’s claims to be inaccurate, not to mention the oppression of the native Macedonians in the Aegean part of Greece that is still present today to some degree. The naming dispute was finally resolved in 2018. With the new name of the Republic of North Macedonia (rather than just Macedonia), Greece finally recognized its neighbor to the north.
It is not my intention to paint Greece in a negative light as it has many great things going for it. It is certainly a country worth visiting if you get a chance. It was just interesting to witness firsthand the other, lesser-known side of this dispute. The entire naming problem may be familiar to some, but I can say that I had no clue how strenuous the relationship is between the two countries today because of it. The people we encountered in North Macedonia call their country Macedonia, and are proud of the country they get to call home. They shrug their shoulders when Greece is brought up, and simply say that there is not anything more they can do about it. While Macedonia has had a rough and complex history, the people are just as hard-working and resilient as ever. In the midst of all the turbulence they still manage to laugh about how nobody knows their country exists. While I laughed too when this was said, it made me both happy and sad. Happy to see how spirited these people are today, yet sad that not more of the world gets to experience their culture and nor is curious enough to learn about their country.
When we crossed the border back into Greece from Macedonia, I was so excited to process everything I had just learned. Our incredibly kind host drove us to the city of Bitola, where he arranged for another driver to take us back to Greece. That drive was more valuable than any lesson I have ever been taught in school. Our host told us all about why these relations between Greece and Macedonia are the way they are today, something I would have never given a second thought to if my dad and I had not experienced the hassle of trying to figure out how to get to and from Ohrid. While it was stressful not knowing how we were going to get to where we needed to be, it was one of the most unexpectedly fulfilling moments of my life.
Thank you for indulging me during this history lesson. If nothing else, I at least hope to have brought to your attention that North Macedonia is in fact a place in the world. It has a lot of work to do if it wants to become a member of the EU, and there aren’t a lot of tourist destinations for your typical family vacation. However, the people are welcoming and will do all they can to help travelers. They will gladly tell you about the history of their tiny nation, and while admitting to the troubles their country is facing, they are proud to be Macedonians. I am grateful to have gotten this opportunity to visit a country that is very much untouched by tourism. I am nothing but genuine when I say I would love to go back one day!
