History
The modern Macedonian state was officially proclaimed under the name Democratic Macedonia (Macedonian: Демократска Македонија, Demokratska Makedonija) at the First Plenary Session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia during the National Liberation War of Macedonia in World War II. It was set up on August 2, 1944 in the Bulgarian occupation zone in Yugoslavia. This date is now celebrated by ethnic Macedonians as the day they were first allowed to freely state their nationality. It was chosen intentionally, as it was the date of the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman rule in 1903.
The most important assembly decisions are the proclaiming Macedonia nation-state of ethnic Macedonians and proclamation of Macedonian as the official language. The citizens of Macedonia, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, were guaranteed all civil rights, including right to their mother tongue and confession of faith. However, Vardar Macedonia was de facto liberated from the Germans in November 1944.
In 1945, the state changed its official name to the People's Republic of Macedonia. It was formally incorporated as a constituent republic in the Yugoslav Federation in 1946. However, some people were against the federation and demanded greater independence from the federal authorities, leading to their prosecution. One of the notable victims of these purges was the first president, Metodija Andonov - Čento. More purges followed after the Tito-Stalin split.
The state was formed on the territory of Vardar Macedonia, a part of the wider region of Macedonia, which was divided between several countries in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. Some ethnic Macedonian politicians from the republic advocated the idea of United Macedonia, which would include Aegean Macedonia and Pirin Macedonia. The idea was somewhat supported by the federal Yugoslav authorities on some occasions, or repressed, depending on the regional and international political constelation.
In 1963, the name of the state was changed to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.
Read more about this topic: Socialist Republic Of Macedonia
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“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality.”
—Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)