From the History of the Serbian Question in Macedonia: A Culturological Aspect

Abstract

Contemporary Serbian Question in Macedonia is most closely related to major political events in the Balkans in 19th and 20th centuries. Starting from the social and historical processes in this region of the Balkans, the author examines this question through several fundamental periods, wishing to look into the status of Serbian population in Macedonia of the time against this background. The first period began with the First Serbian Uprising (1804), heralding the creation of the first free Serbian state in the Balkans, and ended with the conclusion of Liberation Wars (1878) leaving considerable Serbian territories liberated. The second period started at the time of conclusion of liberation wars and lasted till the beginning of the Balkan Wars in 1912. The third period was the one from the conclusion of Balkan Wars till the end of World War II (1945). The fourth period commenced at the end of World War II and lasted till the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. The last, fifth period refers to the contemporary state of affairs in the Republic of Macedonia since the disintegration of the SFRY, i.e. the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991. The analysis of the status of Serbian Question here is predominantly related to the culturological aspect through examining the circumstances in education, literature, and in culture in general. It shows that the status of Serbian ethnic minority in Macedonia was closely related to social, historical and political setting in these areas of the Balkans. In the new social and political environment, the status of the remaining Serbian ethnic minority in Macedonia is uncertain. In the recent decades, unstable political circumstances in this area have had adverse effects on the presence of Serbian ethnic element in Macedonian territories, even more so since it fails to receive sufficient national support from both sides.