North Macedonia

The name Macedonia belongs first to antiquity. In the classical age a kingdom of Macedon rose on the periphery of the Greek world and, under Philip II (reigned 359–336 BCE), came to dominate the Greek city-states. Philip reformed the army, defeated Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea and forged the Greeks into the League of Corinth; his son Alexander the Great then carried Macedonian arms across the Persian empire to the borders of India, spreading Hellenistic culture from Egypt to Central Asia. The territory of the modern republic lies in the northern, inland part of the wider geographic region of Macedonia, the 'Vardar' portion drained by the Vardar (Axios) river; the relationship of today's Slavic-speaking state to the ancient kingdom is itself a matter of dispute, and the Prespa Agreement of 2018 would later draw an explicit line between the two.

After defeating the last Macedonian pretender near Pydna in 148 BCE, Rome absorbed Macedonia as its fifth province. For centuries the region prospered as part of the Roman and then the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) world, crossed by the Via Egnatia, the great road linking the Adriatic to Constantinople. Towns such as Ohrid (ancient Lychnidos) and Scupi, near modern Skopje, were Roman and early Christian centres; Scupi was levelled by a catastrophic earthquake in 518 CE.

Byzantine administration endured here in one form or another into the late medieval period, but from the sixth century the demographic character of the interior began to change profoundly as Slavic peoples moved south across the Danube and settled the Balkan interior. The classical and Roman city life of the region gave way, over the following centuries, to a new Slavic-speaking population whose arrival set the stage for the medieval history of the land.

Turning points

1. 359–336 BCEPolitics & Power

   Reign of Philip II of Macedon

   Philip II reformed the Macedonian army and won mastery over the Greek city-states at Chaeronea, laying the foundations for the empire his son Alexander the Great would build across Asia.

   [1] [3]

2. 336–323 BCEWar & Rupture

   Conquests of Alexander the Great

   Alexander III led Macedonian and Greek forces in the conquest of the Persian empire, carrying Hellenistic civilization from Egypt to the Indus before his death at Babylon in 323 BCE.

   ↗See the data

   [2]

3. 148 BCEWar & Rupture

   Macedonia becomes a Roman province

   After Rome defeated the last Macedonian claimant near Pydna, Macedonia was organised as a Roman province, beginning centuries of Roman and later Byzantine rule over the region.

   ↗See the data

   [3]

4. 518 CECatastrophe

   Destruction of Scupi

   A devastating earthquake destroyed the Roman city of Scupi near present-day Skopje, an event marking the late-antique decline of the region's classical urban life on the eve of Slavic settlement.

   ↗See the data

   [4]

Figures of the era

From the sixth and seventh centuries Slavic tribes settled across the Macedonian interior, gradually displacing the Romano-Byzantine order. In the ninth century most of the region was drawn into the First Bulgarian Empire, and it was here that one of the formative achievements of Slavic civilization took root. Around 886 Saint Clement of Ohrid, a disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius, established a literary school at Ohrid; with Saint Naum he taught a Slavonic liturgy and script, training clergy and copyists and helping to spread the Old Church Slavonic letters and Christian learning among the Slavs. Ohrid became one of the oldest and most important spiritual centres of the Slavic world.

When the First Bulgarian Empire fragmented under Byzantine pressure, its western lands rallied around a new ruler. Samuel (reigned to 1014) built a powerful state in the western Balkans and made Ohrid his capital, where he also established a patriarchate. For a generation his realm resisted the relentless campaigns of the Byzantine emperor Basil II. The struggle ended in catastrophe: after the battle of Kleidion in 1014 Basil, remembered as the 'Bulgar-slayer', broke Samuel's army, and the tsar died soon afterwards. By 1018 the whole region had been reincorporated into the Byzantine Empire.

Byzantine reconquest did not extinguish Ohrid's ecclesiastical importance. The autocephalous Archbishopric of Ohrid, established after 1018, remained a major centre of Orthodox church life and Slavonic culture for centuries, its churches and monasteries adorned with Byzantine frescoes and icons. The medieval town of Ohrid and the lake beside it — one of the oldest human settlements in Europe and home to the monastery of Saint Naum — would later be inscribed by UNESCO as a site of outstanding natural and cultural heritage.

Turning points

1. 6th–7th c.Peoples & Migration

   Slavic settlement of the region

   Slavic tribes migrated into the Macedonian interior from the sixth century, transforming the population of the region and laying the basis for its later Slavic-speaking identity.

   ↗See the data

   [3] [4]

2. c. 886Culture & Ideas

   The Ohrid literary school of Clement and Naum

   Saint Clement of Ohrid, with Saint Naum, founded a Slavonic literary school at Ohrid, spreading the Slavic script and Christian learning and making the city a cradle of medieval Slavic culture.

   [6] [4]

3. reigned to 1014Formation

   Tsar Samuel's state centred on Ohrid

   Samuel built a powerful western Bulgarian state with its capital and a patriarchate at Ohrid, resisting Byzantine expansion for decades until his defeat by the emperor Basil II.

   [5] [4]

4. 1014War & Rupture

   Battle of Kleidion and the fall of Samuel

   The Byzantine emperor Basil II destroyed Samuel's army at Kleidion; the tsar died shortly afterwards, and by 1018 the region was fully reabsorbed into the Byzantine Empire.

   ↗See the data

   [5]

5. 1018Religion

   The Archbishopric of Ohrid

   After the Byzantine reconquest an autocephalous archbishopric was established at Ohrid, sustaining the city's role as a centre of Orthodox church life and Slavonic learning.

   [6] [4]

Figures of the era

Ottoman armies conquered the region in the late fourteenth century, and for some five hundred years Macedonia formed part of the Ottoman Empire, its name even disappearing for a time as an administrative designation. The population was a patchwork of Orthodox Slavs, Greeks, Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Jews and others. As Ottoman power waned in the nineteenth century and new Balkan nation-states emerged around it, the still-Ottoman region of Macedonia became the object of rival claims by Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, each promoting its own church, schools and national programme. This contest over the land and the loyalties of its people became known as the 'Macedonian Question'.

Out of this ferment came the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a secret society founded in 1893 at Salonika. Its early leaders, among them Gotse Delchev, were men who combined a Macedonian regional identity with, for many, a Bulgarian national one, and the movement was torn between two goals: an autonomous Macedonia and union with Bulgaria. On 2 August 1903, St Elijah's Day, IMRO launched the Ilinden Uprising against Ottoman rule. In the town of Kruševo the insurgents proclaimed a short-lived republic, which survived only about ten days before Ottoman forces overran it.

The uprising was crushed within weeks amid harsh reprisals that drove tens of thousands into flight, but it left an enduring mark. Ilinden became a founding myth of Macedonian national feeling, commemorated to this day, even as Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians continued to dispute the identity of the region's Slavs. The 'Macedonian Question' would be settled not by local revolution but, as events proved, by the armies and diplomacy of the surrounding states.

Turning points

1. late 14th c.War & Rupture

   Ottoman conquest of the region

   Ottoman forces conquered Macedonia in the late fourteenth century, beginning roughly five centuries of Ottoman rule during which the region's name lapsed as an administrative term.

   ↗See the data

   [3] [4]

2. 1893Politics & Power

   Founding of IMRO

   The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization was founded at Salonika to work for an autonomous Macedonia, its early leaders combining a Macedonian regional with a Bulgarian national identity.

   [7]

3. 2 Aug 1903War & Rupture

   The Ilinden Uprising

   On St Elijah's Day IMRO launched the Ilinden Uprising against Ottoman rule; though quickly crushed amid severe reprisals, it became a founding event of Macedonian national identity.

   ↗See the data

   [8] [7]

4. Aug 1903Formation

   The Kruševo Republic

   During the uprising the insurgents proclaimed a short-lived republic in the town of Kruševo, which the Ottoman army overran after about ten days.

   [8]

Figures of the era

The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 ended Ottoman rule and partitioned historic Macedonia among the victorious states. The greater share of the Aegean south went to Greece, a smaller eastern portion (Pirin Macedonia) to Bulgaria, and the northern Vardar valley — the territory of the present republic — to Serbia. 'Vardar Macedonia', as it became known, was incorporated into Serbia and, after the First World War, into the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later renamed Yugoslavia, where it was administered as 'South Serbia' and its distinct Slavic identity officially discouraged.

The Second World War brought occupation and partition once more, chiefly by Bulgaria, and a Communist-led Partisan resistance. The decisive turn for Macedonian nationhood came as the war ended. Within Josip Broz Tito's federal vision, the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia met in 1944 and proclaimed a Macedonian state, and in 1945 the People's (later Socialist) Republic of Macedonia was constituted as one of the six republics of socialist Yugoslavia.

Within Yugoslavia the Macedonian nation was given institutional form for the first time. A standard Macedonian literary language was codified in 1945, an autocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church was later proclaimed, and Skopje grew into a republican capital, rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1963. For four and a half decades Macedonia developed as a constituent republic of the Yugoslav federation, its national institutions maturing in a way that would make peaceful independence possible when Yugoslavia broke apart.

Turning points

1. 1912–1913War & Rupture

   The Balkan Wars and the partition of Macedonia

   The Balkan Wars ended Ottoman rule and divided historic Macedonia among Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria; the northern Vardar region passed to Serbia, becoming the core of the future republic.

   ↗See the data

   [3] [4]

2. 1918Politics & Power

   Vardar Macedonia within Yugoslavia

   After the First World War the Vardar region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia), where it was administered as part of Serbia and its Slavic identity discouraged.

   [4]

3. 2 Aug 1944Formation

   Proclamation of a Macedonian state (ASNOM)

   The Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia met on St Elijah's Day 1944 and proclaimed a Macedonian state within a future Yugoslav federation.

   [4]

4. 1945Culture & Ideas

   Socialist Republic of Macedonia and the codified language

   A People's (later Socialist) Republic of Macedonia was constituted as one of Yugoslavia's six republics, and a standard Macedonian literary language was codified for the first time.

   [4]

5. 1963Catastrophe

   The Skopje earthquake

   A powerful earthquake devastated Skopje, killing more than a thousand people; the city was rebuilt with international aid as the modern capital of the republic.

   ↗See the data

   [4]

Figures of the era

As Yugoslavia disintegrated, Macedonia chose a different path from its neighbours. In a referendum held on 8 September 1991 the citizens voted overwhelmingly for sovereignty and independence, and under President Kiro Gligorov the republic seceded without the wars that engulfed Croatia, Bosnia and later Kosovo. But the new state immediately ran into a dispute with Greece, which objected that the name 'Macedonia' implied a territorial claim on its own northern province and an appropriation of the heritage of ancient Macedon. Greece blocked recognition, and in 1993 the country was admitted to the United Nations only under the provisional name 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'.

To stabilise relations the two states signed an Interim Accord on 13 September 1995, under which Greece undertook not to object to the country's membership of international organisations referred to by the provisional name. When Greece nonetheless blocked an invitation to join NATO at the Bucharest summit of 2008, the matter went to the International Court of Justice, which ruled on 5 December 2011 that Greece had breached its obligation under Article 11 of the Interim Accord by objecting to the applicant's admission to NATO. Even so, the underlying dispute remained, freezing the country's progress toward both NATO and the European Union for years.

Resolution finally came through direct negotiation. On 17 June 2018, beside Lake Prespa, the two governments signed the Prespa Agreement, formally the 'Final Agreement for the Settlement of the Differences', under which the country's constitutional name became the 'Republic of North Macedonia', to be used erga omnes. The accord terminated the 1995 Interim Accord and explicitly distinguished the modern South Slavic Macedonian language and nationality from the ancient Hellenic civilization of Macedonia claimed by Greece. After ratification and constitutional amendment, the new name entered into force in February 2019, ending one of the longest-running disputes in modern European diplomacy.

Turning points

1. 8 Sep 1991Independence

   Independence referendum

   Citizens voted by some 96 percent for independence, and the republic seceded peacefully from Yugoslavia under President Kiro Gligorov, alone among the Yugoslav republics in avoiding war.

   ↗See the data

   [9] [10]

2. 1993Politics & Power

   UN admission as 'FYROM'

   Owing to Greece's objection over the name, the country was admitted to the United Nations under the provisional designation 'the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'.

   [9] [10]

3. 13 Sep 1995Politics & Power

   The Interim Accord with Greece

   Greece and the country signed an Interim Accord under which Greece agreed not to object to its membership of international bodies referred to by the provisional name.

   [11] [10]

4. 5 Dec 2011Politics & Power

   ICJ rules against Greece

   The International Court of Justice held that Greece had breached the Interim Accord by objecting to the country's admission to NATO at the 2008 Bucharest summit.

   [11]

5. 17 Jun 2018Politics & Power

   The Prespa Agreement

   Greece and the country signed the Prespa Agreement, renaming it the Republic of North Macedonia (used erga omnes), terminating the 1995 accord and distinguishing the modern Slavic state from ancient Macedon.

   [12] [11]

Figures of the era

Independence did not free the young state from internal strain. Its large ethnic Albanian minority pressed for greater rights, and in early 2001 an insurgency by the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army, drawing on veterans of the neighbouring Kosovo conflict, brought the country to the edge of civil war. With European Union and United States mediation the fighting was ended by the Ohrid Framework Agreement, signed on 13 August 2001. It rejected any territorial solution and reshaped the state as a civic, multi-ethnic one: it provided for decentralisation, equitable representation of communities in public administration, official use of a minority language such as Albanian where speakers exceed a fifth of the population, and 'double-majority' (Badinter) voting to protect minority interests on sensitive legislation.

With the name dispute resolved by the Prespa Agreement, the country's long-blocked Euro-Atlantic ambitions could advance. Greece lifted its objection, and after the allies signed an accession protocol in 2019 and all member parliaments ratified it, the Republic of North Macedonia deposited its instrument of accession in Washington and joined NATO as its thirtieth member on 27 March 2020. The country, a candidate for European Union membership since 2005, had long sought to anchor itself in Western institutions, and NATO entry marked the first great reward of the Prespa compromise.

The path into the European Union, however, ran into a fresh obstacle. From 2020 Bulgaria blocked the opening of EU accession talks, raising disputes over history, language and identity — including the contention that the Macedonian language and nation derive from Bulgarian — that touched the country's sense of itself. A French-brokered compromise allowed the formal opening of accession negotiations on 19 July 2022, but Bulgaria's conditions, including constitutional recognition of a Bulgarian minority, continued to complicate the process. North Macedonia thus entered the 2020s a member of NATO and an EU candidate, its statehood secure but its full integration into Europe still entangled in the unresolved legacies of the Macedonian Question.

Turning points

1. 13 Aug 2001Politics & Power

   The Ohrid Framework Agreement

   The agreement ended the 2001 ethnic Albanian insurgency, rejecting territorial partition and granting the Albanian minority greater rights through decentralisation, equitable representation, language rights and double-majority voting.

   [13]

2. Dec 2005Politics & Power

   EU candidate status

   Having applied for membership in 2004, the country was granted European Union candidate status in December 2005, opening a long road toward accession.

   [15]

3. 27 Mar 2020Politics & Power

   North Macedonia joins NATO

   After the Prespa Agreement lifted Greece's objection, North Macedonia deposited its instrument of accession and became NATO's thirtieth member on 27 March 2020.

   [14] [10]

4. 2020Politics & Power

   Bulgaria blocks EU accession talks

   Bulgaria vetoed the opening of EU accession negotiations over disputes about history, language and identity, including claims that Macedonian derives from Bulgarian.

   [16] [17]

5. 19 Jul 2022Politics & Power

   EU accession negotiations open

   Following a French-brokered compromise, North Macedonia formally opened European Union accession negotiations, though Bulgaria's conditions continued to complicate the process.

   [15] [16]

Figures of the era