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MACEDONIA , the name generally given to that portion of See also:European See also:Turkey which is bounded on the N. by the Kara-Dagh See also:mountain range and the frontier of See also:Bulgaria, on the E. by the See also:river Mesta, on the S. by the See also:Aegean See also:Sea and the frontier of See also:Greece, and on the W. by an See also:ill-defined See also:line coinciding with the mountain chains of Shar (See also:ancient Scardus) Grammus and See also:Pindus. The Macedonia of antiquity was originally confined to the inland region See also:west of the Axius, between that river and the Scardus range, and did not include the See also:northern portion, known as See also:Paeonia, or the See also:coast-See also:land, which, with the eastern districts,was inhabited by Thracian tribes; the See also:people of the See also:country were not Hellenic. In See also:modern Macedonia are included the vilayet of See also:Salonica (Turk. Selanik), the eastern and greater portion of the vilayet of See also:Monastir (sanjaks of Monastir, See also:Servia [Turk. Selfije], and See also:part of that of See also:Kortcha), and the See also:south-eastern portion of the vilayet of See also:Kossovo (sanjak of Uskiib). The greater part of Macedonia is inhabited by a See also:Slavonic See also:population, mainly Bulgarian in its characteristics; the coast-line and the See also:southern districts west of the Gulf of Salonica by Greeks, while See also:Turkish, Vlach and Albanian settlements exist sporadically, or in See also:groups, in many parts of the country. See also:Geographical Features.—The coast-line is broken by the remarkable See also:peninsula of Chalcidice, with its three promontories of See also:Athos (ancient Acte), See also:Longus (Sithonia) and See also:Cassandra (Pallene). The country is divided into two almost equal portions by the river Vardar (Axius), the valley of which has always constituted the See also:principal route from Central See also:Europe to the Aegean. Rising in the Shar mountains near Gostivar (Bulgarian Kostovo), the Vardar. ' flowing to the N.E., drains the See also:rich elevated See also:plain of Tetovo (Turk. Kalkandelen) and, turning to the S.E. at the See also:foot of Mt Liubotrn, traverses the See also:town and plain of See also:Uskub, leaving to the See also:left the high See also:plateau of Ovchepolye (" the See also:sheep-plain ") ; then flowing through the town of Veles, it receives on its right, near the ruins of the ancient Stobi, the See also:waters of its principal tributary, the Tcherna (Erigon), which drains the See also:basin of Monastir and the mountainous region of Morichovo, and after passing through the picturesque See also:gorge of Demir-Kapu (the See also:Iron See also:Gate) finds its way to the Gulf of Salonica through the alluvial See also:tract known as the See also:Campania, extending to the west of that town. The other important See also:rivers are the Struma (Strymon) and Mesta (Nestus) to the See also:east, See also:running almost parallel to the Vardar, and the Bistritza in the south, all falling into the Aegean. (The See also:Black Drin, issuing from See also:Lake See also:Ochrida and flowing N.W. to the Adriatic, is for the greater part of its course an Albanian river.) The Struma, which rises in Mt Vitosha in Bulgaria, runs through a narrow See also:defile till, within a See also:short distance of the sea, it expands into Lake Tachino, and falls into the Aegean near the site of the ancient See also:Amphipolis. The Mesta, rising in the Rhodope range, drains the valley of Razlog and forms a See also:delta at its entrance into the Aegean opposite the See also:island of See also:Thasos. The Bistritza, which has its source in the eastern slope of Mt Grammus, receives See also:early in its course the outflow from Lake Castoria on the left; it flows to the S.E. towards the frontier of Greece, where its course is arrested by the Cambunian mountains; then turning sharply to the N.E., and passing through the districts of Serfije and Verria, it reaches the Campania and enters the Gulf of Salonica at a point a few See also:miles to the S.W. of the mouth of the Vardar. The valleys of most of the rivers and their tributaries broaden here and there into fertile upland basins, which were formerly lakes. Of these the extensive plateau of Monastir, the ancient plain of Pelagonia, about 1500 ft. above the sea, is the most remarkable; the basins of Tetovo, Uskub, Kotchane, Strumnitza, Nevrokop, Melnik, See also:Serres and See also:Drama furnish' other examples. The principal lakes are Ochrida (Lychnitis) on the confines of See also:Albania; Prespa, separated from Ochrida by the Galinitza mountains, and supposed to be connected with it by a subterranean, channel; Castoria, to the S.E. of Prespa; Ostrovo, midway between Prespa and the Vardar; Tachino (Cercinitis) on the See also:lower course of the Struma; Beshik (Bolbe), separating the Chalcidian peninsula from the mainland, and Doiran (probably Prasias), beneath the southern declivity of the Belasitza mountains; the smaller lakes of Amatovo and Yenije are in the alluvial plain on either See also:side of the lower Vardar. Lake Ochrida (q.v.) finds See also:egress into the Black Drin (Drilon) at Struga, where there are productive See also:fisheries. The lacustrine habitations of the Paeonians on Lake Prasias described by See also:Herodotus (v. i6) find a modern counterpart in the huts of the fishing population on Lake Doiran. The See also:surface of the country is generally mountainous; the various mountain-groups See also:present little uniformity in their geographical See also:contour. The See also:great See also:chain of Rhodope, continued to the N.W. by the Rilska and Osogovska Planina, forms a natural boundary on the See also:north; the principal See also:summit, Musalla (9031 ft.), is just over the Bulgarian frontier. The adjoining Dospat range culminates in Belmeken (8562 ft.), also just over the Bulgarian frontier. Between the upper courses of the Mesta and Struma is the See also:Perim Dagh or Pirin Planina (Orbelos) with Elfin (8794 ft.), continued to the south by the Bozo Dagh (6o8i ft.); still further south, overlooking the See also:bay of See also:Kavala, are the Bunar Dagh and Mt Pangaeus, famous in antiquity for its See also:gold and See also:silver mines. Between the Struma and the Vardar are the Belasitza, Krusha and other ranges. West of the Vardar is the lofty Shar chain (Scardus) overlooking the plain of Tetovo and terminating at its eastern extremity in the pyramidal Liubotrn (according to some authorities, 10,007 ft., and consequently the highest mountain in the Peninsula; according to others 8989, 8856, or 8200 ft.). The Shar range, with the Kara Dagh to the east, forms the natural boundary of Macedonia on the N.W.; this is prolonged on the west by the Yaina-Bistra and Yablanitza mountains with several summits exceeding 7000 ft. in height, the Odonishta Planina overlooking Lake Ochrida on the west, the Morova Planina, the Grammus range, and Pindus with Smolika (8546 ft.). The See also:series of heights is broken by the valleys of the Black Drin and Devol, which flow to the Adriatic. Between the Vardar and the plain of Monastir the Nija range culminates in Kaimakchalan (8255 ft.); south-west of Monastir is Mt Peristeri (7720 ft.) overlooking Lake Prespa on the east; on the west is the Galtnitza range separating it from Lake Ochrida. Between Lake Ostrovo and the lower Bistritza are the Bermius and Kitarion ranges with Doxa (5240 ft.) and Turla (about 3280 ft.). South of the Bistritza are the Cambunian mountains forming the bogndary of See also:Thessaly and terminating to the east in the imposing See also:mass of Elymbos, or See also:Olympus (9794 ft.). Lastly, Mt Athos, at the extremity of the peninsula of that name, reaches the height of 6350 ft. The See also:general aspect of the country is See also:bare and desolate, especially in the neighbourhood of the principal routes; the trees have been destroyed, and large tracts of land remain uncultivated. Magnificent forests, however, still clothe the slopes of Rhodope, Pirin and Pindus. The well-wooded and cultivated districts of Grevena and Castoria, which are mainly inhabited by a Vlach population, are remarkably beautiful, and the scenery around Lakes Ochrida and Prespa is exceedingly picturesque. For the principal See also:geological formations see See also:BALKAN PENINSULA. The See also:climate is severe; the See also:spring is often See also:rainy, and the melted snows from the encircling mountains produce inundations in the plains. The natural products are in general similar to those of southern Bulgaria and Servia—the fig, See also:olive and See also:orange, however, appear on the shores of the Aegean and in the sheltered valleys of the southern region. The best See also:tobacco in Europe is grown in the Drama and Kavala districts; See also:rice and See also:cotton are cultivated in the southern plains. Population.—The population of Macedonia may perhaps be estimated at 2,200,000. About 1,300,000 are Christians of various churches and nationalities; more than 800,000 are Mahommedans, and about 75,000 are See also:Jews. Of the Christians, the great See also:majority profess the Eastern Orthodox faith, owning See also:allegiance either to the See also:Greek patriarchate or the Bulgarian exarchate. Among the Orthodox Christians are reckoned some 4000 See also:Turks. The small See also:Catholic minority is composed chiefly of Uniate Bulgarians (about 3600), occupying the districts of Kukush and Doiran; there are also some 2000 Bulgarian Protestants, principally inhabiting the valley of Razlog. The See also:Mahommedan population is mainly composed of Turks (about 500,000). In addition to these there are some 130,000 Bulgars, 120,000 Albanians, 35,000 See also:gipsies and 14,000 Greeks, together with a smaller number of See also:Vlachs, Jews and Circassians, who profess the creed of See also:Islam. The untrustworthy Turkish See also:statistics take See also:religion, not See also:nationality, as the basis of See also:classification. All Moslems are included in the See also:millet, or nation, of Islam. The See also:Rum, or See also:Roman (i.e. Greek) millet comprises all those who acknowledge the authority of the See also:Oecumenical See also:patriarch, and consequently includes, in addition to the Greeks, the Servians, the Vlachs, and a certain number of Bulgarians; the Bulgar millet comprises the Bulgarians who accept the See also:rule of the exarchate; the other millets are the Katolik (Catholics), Ermeni (Gregorian Armenians), Musevi (Jews) and Prodesdan (Protestants). The population of Macedonia, at all times scanty, has undoubtedly diminished in See also:recent years. There has been a continual outflow of the See also:Christian population in the direction of Bulgaria, Servia and Greece, and a corresponding See also:emigration of the Turkish peasantry to See also:Asia See also:Minor. Many of the smaller villages are being abandoned by their inhabitants, who migrate for safety to the more considerable towns—usually situated at some point where a mountain pass descends to the outskirts of the plains. In the agricultural districts the Christian peasants, or rayas, are either small proprietors or cultivate holdings on the estates of Turkish landowners. The upland districts are thinly inhabited by a See also:nomad See also:pastoral population. Towns.—The principal towns are Salonica (pop. in 1910, about 130,000), Monastir (60,000), each the See also:capital of a vilayet, and Uskiib (32,000), capital of the vilayet of Kossovo. In the Salonica vilayet are Serres (28.000), pleasantly situated in a fertile valley near Lake Tachino; Nevrokop (6200), Mehomia (5000), and Bansko (6500), in the valley of the Upper Mesta; Drama (9000), at the foot of the Bozo Dagh, with its See also:port Kavala (9500); Djumaia (6440), Melnik (4300) and Demir See also:Hissar (584o) in the valley of the Struma, with Strumnitza (10,160) and Petrich (7100) in the valley of its tributary, the Strumnitza ; Veles (Turk. See also:Koprulu) on the Vardar (19,700) ; Doiran (678o) and Kukush (7750); and, to the west of the Vardar, Verria (Slay. Ber, anc. Beroea, Turk. Karaferia, 10,500), Yenije-Vardar (9599) and See also:Vodena (anc. See also:Edessa, q.v., 11,000). In the portion of the Kossovo vilayet included in Macedonia are Kalkandelen (Slay. Telovo, 19,200), Kumanovo (14,500) and Shtip (Turk. Istib, 21,000). In the Monastir vilayet are Prilep (24,000) at the northern end of the Pelagonian plain, Krushevo (9350), mainly inhabited by Vlachs, Resen (4450) north of Lake Prespa, Florina (Slay. Lerin, 9824); Ochrida (14,860), with a picturesque fortress of See also:Tsar See also:Samuel, and Struga (4570), both on the north See also:shore of Lake Ochrida; See also:Dibra (Slay. Debr) on the confines of Albania (15,500), Castoria (Slay. Kostur), on the lake of that name (6190), and Kozhane (61oo). (Dibra, Kavala, Monastir, Ochrida, Salonica, Serres, Uskiib and Vodena are described in See also:separate articles.)217 Races.—Macedonia is the principal See also:theatre of the struggle of nationalities in Eastern Europe. All the races which dispute the reversion of the Turkish possessions in Europe The Turks. are represented within its See also:borders. The Macedonian probably may therefore he described as the See also:quintessence of the Near Eastern Question. The Turks, the ruling See also:race, See also:form less than a See also:quarter of the entire population, and their See also:numbers are steadily declining. The first Turkish See also:immigration from Asia Minor took See also:place under the See also:Byzantine emperors before the See also:con-quest of the country. The first purely Turkish town, Yenije-Vardar, was founded on the ruins of Vardar in 1362. After- the See also:capture of Salonica (1430), a strong Turkish population was settled in the See also:city, and similar colonies were founded in Monastir, Ochrida, Serres, Drama and other important places. In many of these towns See also:half or more of the population is still Turkish. A series of military colonies were subsequently established at various points of strategic importance along the principal lines of communication. Before 1360 large numbers of nomad shepherds, or Yuruks, from the See also:district of See also:Konia, in Asia Minor, had settled in the country; their descendants are still known as Konariotes. Further immigration from this region took place from See also:time to time up to the See also:middle of the 18th See also:century. After the See also:establishment of the feudal See also:system in 1397 many of the Seljuk See also:noble families came over from Asia Minor; their descendants may be recognized among the beys or Moslem landowners in southern Macedonia. At the beginning of the 18th century the Turkish population was very considerable, but since that time it has continuously decreased. A See also:low See also:birth-See also:rate, the exhaustion of the male population by military service, and great mortality from epidemics, against which Moslem See also:fatalism takes no pre-cautions, have brought about a decline which has latterly been hastened by emigration. On the other See also:hand, there has been a considerable Moslem immigration from Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria and Greece, but the newcomers, mohajirs, do not form a permanent colonizing See also:element. The Turkish raral population is found in three principal groups: the most easterly extends from the Mesta to Drama, Pravishta and Orfano, reaching the sea-coast on either side of Kavala, which is partly Turkish, partly Greek. The second, or central, See also:group begins on the sea-coast, a little west of the mouth of the Strymon, where a Greek population intervenes, and extends to the north-west along the Kara-Dagh and Belasitza ranges in the direction of Strumnitza, Veles, Shtip and Radovisht. The third, or southern, group is centred around KaIlar, an entirely Turkish town, and extends from Lake Ostrovo to Selfije (Servia).. The second and third groups are mainly composed of Konariot shepherds. Besides these fairly compact settlements there are numerous isolated Turkish colonies in various parts of the country. The Turkish rural population is quiet, sober and orderly, presenting some of the best characteristics of the race. The See also:urban population, on the other hand, has become much demoralized, while the See also:official classes, under the rule of Abdul Hamid II. and his predecessors, were corrupt and avaricious, and seemed to have parted with all See also:scruple in their dealings with the Christian peasantry. The Turks, though still numerically and politically strong, fall behind the other nationalities in point of intellectual culture, and the contrast is daily becoming more marked owing to the educational activity of the Christians. The Greek and Vlach populations are not always easily distinguished, as a considerable proportion of the Vlachs have been hellenized. Both show a remarkable aptitude The creeks for See also:commerce; the Greeks have maintained their "d Vlachs. See also:language and religion, and the Vlachs their religion, with greater tenacity than any of the other races. From the date of the See also:Ottoman See also:conquest until comparatively recent times, the Greeks occupied an exceptional position in Macedonia, as else-where in the Turkish See also:Empire, owing to the privileges conferred on the patriarchate of See also:Constantinople, and the See also:influence subsequently acquired by the great Phanariot families. All the Christian population belonged to the Greek millet and called itself Greek; the bishops and higher See also:clergy were exclusively Greek; Greek was the language- of the upper classes, of commerce, literature and MACEDONIA 'the Greeks 'Ap/3avrrat., and by themselves Shkyipetar, have always been the See also:scourge of western Macedonia. After the first Turkish invasion of Albania many of the chiefs The or beys adopted Mahommedanism, but the conver- Albanians, See also:sion of the great bulk of the people took place in the circas-16th and 17th centuries. Professing the creed of slams, ac' the dominant See also:power and entitled to See also:bear arms, the Albanians were,enabled to push forward their limits at the expense of the defenceless population around them, and their encroachments have continued to the present See also:day. They have not only advanced themselves, but have driven to the eastward numbers of their Christian compatriots and a great portion of the once-prosperous Vlach population of Albania. Albanian revolts and disturbances have been frequent along the western confines of Macedonia, especially in the neighbourhood of Dibra: the Slavonic peasants have been the principal sufferers from these troubles, while the See also:Porte, in pursuance of the " Islamic policy " adopted by the See also:sultan Abdul Hamid II., dealt tenderly with the recalcitrant believers. In southern Macedonia the Albanians of the Tosk race extend over the upper Bistritza valley as far west as Castoria, and reach the southern and western shores of Lakes Prespa and Ochrida: they are also numerous in the neighbourhood of Monastir. In northern Macedonia the Albanians are of the Gheg stock: they have advanced in large numbers over the districts of Dibra, Kalkandelen and Uskiib, See also:driving the Slavonic population before them. The See also:total number of Albanians in Macedonia may be estimated at about 120,000, of whom some ro,000 are Christians (chiefly orthodox Tosks). The Circassians, who occupy some villages in the neighbourhood of Serres, now scarcely number 3000: their predatory instincts may be compared with those of the Albanians. The Jews had colonies in Macedonia in the time of St See also:Paul, but no trace remains of these early settlements. The Jews now found in the country descend from refugees who fled from See also:Spain during the persecutions at the end of the 15th century: they speak a See also:dialect of See also:Spanish, which they write with See also:Hebrew characters. They form a flourishing community at Salonica, which numbers more than half the population: their colonies at Monastir, Serres and other towns are poor. A small proportion of the Jews, known as Deunme by the Turks, have embraced Mahommedanism. With the exception of the southern and western districts already specified, the principal towns, and certain isolated tracts, the whole of Macedonia is inhabited by a race or The races speaking a Slavonic dialect. If language is slavontc adopted as a test, the great bulk of the rural popula- Population. tion must be described as Slavonic. The Slays first crossed the See also:Danube at the beginning of the 3rd century, but their great immigration took place in the 6th and 7th centuries. They overran the entire peninsula, driving the Greeks to the shores of the Aegean, the Albanians into the Mirdite country, and the latinized population of Macedonia into the highland districts, such as Pindus, See also:Agrapha and Olympus. The Slays, a See also:primitive agricultural and pastoral people, were often unsuccessful in their attacks on the fortified towns, which remained centres of See also:Hellenism. In the outlying parts of the peninsula they were absorbed, or eventually driven back, by the See also:original populations, but in the central region they probably assimilated a considerable proportion of the latinized races. The western portions of the peninsula were occupied by Serb and Slovene tribes: the Slays of the eastern and central portions were conquered at the end of the 7th century by the Bulgarians, a Ugro-Finnish See also:horde, who established a despotic See also:political organization, but being less numerous than the subjected race were eventually absorbed by it. The Mongolian See also:physical type, which prevails in the districts between the Balkans and the Danube, is also found in central Macedonia, and may be recognized as far west as Ochrida and Dibra. In general, however, the Macedonian Slays differ some-what both in See also:appearance and See also:character from their neighbours beyond the Bulgarian and Servian frontiers: the See also:peculiar type which they present is probably due to a considerable admixture of Vlach, Hellenic, Albanian and Turkish See also:blood, and to the influence of the surrounding races. Almost all See also:independent authorities, religion, and Greek alone was taught in the See also:schools. The supremacy of the patriarchate was consummated by the suppression of the See also:autocephalous Slavonic churches of See also:Ipek in 1766 and Ochrida in 1767. In the latter half of the 18th century Greek ascendancy in Macedonia was at its See also:zenith; its decline began with the See also:War of See also:Independence, the establishment of the Hellenic See also:kingdom, and the extinction of the Phanariot power in Constantinople. The patriarchate, nevertheless, maintained its exclusive See also:jurisdiction over all the Orthodox population till 1870, when the Bulgarian exarchate was established, and the Greek clergy continued to labour with undiminished zeal for the spread of Hellenism. Notwithstanding their venality and intolerance, their merits as the only diffusers of culture and enlightenment in the past should not. be overlooked. The See also:process of hellenization made greater progress in the towns than in the rural districts of the interior, where the non-Hellenic populations preserved their See also:languages, which alone saved the several nationalities from extinction. The typical Greek, with his See also:superior See also:education, his love of politics and commerce, and his distaste for laborious occupations, has always been a dweller in cities. In Salonica, Serres, Kavala, Castoria, and other towns in southern Macedonia the Hellenic element is strong; in the northern towns it is insignificant, except at Melnik, which is almost exclusively Greek. The Greek rural population extends from the Thessalian frontier to Castoria and Verria (Beroea); it occupies the whole Chalcidian peninsula and both See also:banks of the lower Strymon from Serres to the sea, and from Nigrita on the west to Pravishta on the east; there are also numerous Greek villages in the Kavala district. The Mahommedan Greeks, known as Valachides, occupy a considerable tract in the upper Bistritza valley near Grevena and Liapsista. The purely Greek population of Macedonia may possibly be estimated at a quarter of a million. Thb Vlachs, or Rumans, who See also:call themselves Aromuni or Aromdni (i.e. See also:Romans), are also known as Kutzovlachs and Tzintzars: the last two appellations are, in fact, nicknames," Kutzovlach " meaning " lame Vlach," while " Tzintzar, " denotes their in-ability to pronounce the Rumanian cincl (five). The Vlachs are styled by some writers " See also:Macedo-Rumans," in contradistinction to the " Daco-Rumans," who inhabit the country north of the Danube. They are, in all See also:probability, the descendants of the Thracian See also:branch of the aboriginal Thraco-Illyrian population of the Balkan Peninsula, the Illyrians being represented by the Albanians. This early native population, which was apparently hellenized to some extent under the Macedonian empire, seems to have been latinized in the See also:period succeeding the Roman conquest, and probably received a considerable infusion of See also:Italian blood. The Vlachs are for the most part either highland shepherds or wandering owners of horses and mules. Their settlements are scattered all over the mountains of Macedonia: some of these consist of permanent dwellings, others of huts occupied only in the summer. The compactest groups are found in the Pindus and Agrapha mountains (extending into Albania and Thessaly), in the neighbourhood of Monastir, Grevena and Castoria, and in the district of Meglen. The Vlachs who See also:settle in the See also:lowland districts are excellent husbandmen. The urban population is considerable; the Vlachs of Salonica, Monastir, Serres and other large towns are, for the most part, descended from refugees from Moschopolis, once the principal centre of Macedonian commerce. The towns of Metzovo, on the confines of Albania, and Klisura, in the Bistritza valley, are almost exclusively Vlach. The urban and most of the rural Vlachs are bilingual, speaking Greek as well as Rumanian; a great number of the former have been completely hellenized, partly in consequence of mixed marriages, and many of the wealthiest commercial families of Vlach origin are now devoted to the Greek cause. The Vlachs of Macedonia possibly number 90,000, of whom only some 3000 are Mahommedans. The Macedonian dialect of the Rumanian language differs mainly from that spoken north of the Danube in its vocabulary and certain phonetic peculiarities; it contains a number of Greek See also:works which are often replaced in the northern speech by Slavonic or Latin synonyms. The Albanians, called by the Turks and Slays Arnauts, by however, agree that the bulk of the Slavonic population of Macedonia is Bulgarian. The principal indication is furnished by the language, which, though resembling Servian in some respects (e.g. the See also:case-endings, which are occasionally retained), presents most of the characteristic features of Bulgarian (see BULGARIA: Language). Among these may be mentioned the suffix-See also:article, the nasal vowels (retained in the neighbourhood of Salonica and Castoria, but modified elsewhere as in Bulgarian), the retention of 1 (e.g. vulk " See also:wolf," See also:bel " See also: In the course of the struggle some of the Bulgarian leaders entered into negotiations with See also:Rome; a Bulgarian Uniate See also: The Vlachs had shown greater susceptibility to Greek influence than any of the other non-Hellenic populations of Macedonia, and, though efforts to create a Rumanian propaganda were made as early as 1855, it was not till after the See also:union of the principalities of Wallachia and See also:Moldavia in 1861 that any indications of a national sentiment appeared amongst them. In 1886 the principal apostle of the Rumanian cause, a See also:priest named Apostol Margaritis, founded a gymnasium at Monastir, and the movement, countenanced by the Porte, supported by the See also:French Catholic See also:missions, and to some extent encouraged by See also:Austria, has made no inconsiderable progress since that time. There are now about See also:forty Rumanian schools in Macedonia, including two gymnasia, and large sums are devoted to their See also:maintenance by the See also:ministry of education at See also:Bucharest, which also provides qualified teachers. The Rumanian and Servian movements are at a disadvantage compared with the Bulgarian, owing to their want of a separate ecclesiastical organization, the orthodox Vlachs and Serbs in Turkey owning allegiance to the Greek patriarchate. The governments of Bucharest and See also:Belgrade therefore endeavoured to obtain the recognition of Vlach and Servian millets, demanding respectively the establishment of a Rumanian bishopric at Monastir and the restoration of the patriarchate of Ipek with the See also:appointment of a Servian See also:metropolitan at Uskiib. The Vlach millet was recognized by the Porte by irade on the 23rd of May 1905, but the aims of the Servians, whose active interference in Macedonia is of comparatively recent date, have not been realized. Previously to 1878 the hopes of the Servians were centred on Bosnia, Herzegovina and the vilayet of Kossovo; but when the See also:Berlin Treaty assigned Bosnia and Herzegovina to Austria, the national aspirations were directed to Macedonia, the Slavonic population of which was declared to be Servian. The strained relations existing between Russia and Bulgaria from 1886 to 1895 were to the See also:advantage of the Servian propaganda, which after 1890 made remarkable progress. Great See also:expenditure has been incurred by, the Servian government in the opening and maintenance of schools. At the beginning of 1899 there were stated to be 178 Servian schools in the vilayets of Uskiib, Salonica and Monastir (including fifteen gymnasia), with 321 teachers and 7200 pupils. The Albanian movement is still in an inceptive See also:stage; owing to the persistent See also:prohibition of Albanian schools by the Turks, a literary propaganda, the usual precursor of a national revival, was rendered impossible till the outbreak of the See also:Young Turk revolution in See also:July 1908. After that date numerous schools were founded and an Albanian committee, See also:meeting in See also:November 1908, fixed the national See also:alphabet and decided on the See also:adoption of the Latin character. The educational movement is most conspicuous among the Tosks, or southern Albanians. Notwithstanding the encroachments of their rivals, the impoverishment of the patriarchate, and the injury inflicted on their cause by the See also:Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the Greeks still maintain a large number of schools; according to statistics prepared at See also:Athens there were in 1901, 927 Greek schools in the vilayets of Salonica and Monastir (including five gymnasia), with 1397 teachers and 57,607 pupils. The great educational activity displayed by the proselytizing movements in Macedonia, while tending to the artificial creation of parties, daily widens the contrast between the progressive Christian and the backward Moslem populations.
Antiquities.—Macedonia, like the neighbouring Balkan countries, still awaited exploration at the beginning of the loth century, and
little had been learned of the earlier development of See also:civilization in these regions. The ancient indigenous population has left many traces of its presence in the tumuli which occur on the plains, and more especially along the valley of the Vardar. The unquiet See also:state of the country went far to prevent any systematic investigation of these remains; excavations, however, were made by Korte and Franke at Niausta and near Salonica (see Kretschner; Einleitung in See also:die Geschichte der griechischen Sprache, pp. 176, 421), and fragments of primitive pottery, with peculiar characteristics, were found by Perdrizet at Tchepelje, on the left See also:bank of Lake Tachino. The See also:oldest archaeological monuments of Macedonia are its coins, for which the mines of Crenides (the later See also:Philippi), at the foot of Mt Pangaeus, of Chalcidice, of the island of Thasos, and of the mountains between Lake Prasias and the ancient Macedonian kingdom (See also:Herod. v. 17), furnished abundance of See also:metal. From the reign of See also: These large pieces present many characteristics of the Ionian style; it is evident that the Thracians derived the arts of minting and See also:engraving from the neighbouring Thasos, itself a See also:colony from the Ionian See also:Paros. The monarchs of See also:Pella were enthusiastic admirers of Hellenic culture, and their See also:court was doubtless frequented by Greek sculptors as well as men of letters, such as Herodotus and See also:Euripides. At Pella has been found a funerary See also:stele of the See also:late 5th or early 4th century representing a Macedonian hetaerus—a beautiful specimen of the best Greek See also:art, now preserved in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. To the Hellenic period belong the vaulted tombs under tumuli discovered at Pella, Pydna, Palatitza, and other places; the dead were laid in See also:marble couches ornamented with sculptures, like those of the so-called See also:sarcophagus of Alexander at Constantinople. These tombs doubtless received the remains of the Macedonian nobles and hetaeri: in one of them a See also:fresco representing a conflict between a horseman and a See also:warrior on foot has been brought to See also:light by Kinch. Similarly constructed places of sepulture have been found at See also:Eretria and else-where in Greece. At Palatitza the ruins of a remarkable structure, perhaps a See also:palace, have been laid bare by Heuzey and Daumet. Unlike Greece, where each independent city had its See also:acropolis, Macedonia offers few remnants of ancient fortification ; most of the country towns appear to have been nothing more than open See also:market-centres. The most interesting ruins in the country are those of the Roman and Byzantine epochs, especially those at Salonica (q.v.). The Byzantine fortifications and See also:aqueduct of Kavala are also remarkable. At Verria (Beroea) may be seen some Christian remains, at Melnik a palace of the See also:age of the Comneni, at Serres a fortress built by the Servian tsar See also:Stephen Dushan (1336-1356). The remains at Filibejik (Philippi) are principally of the Roman and Byzantine periods; the numerous ex voto See also:rock-tablets of the acropolis are especially interesting. The Roman See also:inscriptions found in Macedonia are mainly funerary, but include several ephebic lists. The funerary tablets afford convincing See also:proof of the persistence of the Thracian element, notwithstanding hellenization and latinization; many of them, for instance, represent the well-known Thracian horseman See also:hunting the See also:wild See also:boar. The monastic communities on the promontory of Athos (q.v.), with their treasures of Byzantine art and their rich collections of See also:manuscripts, are of the highest antiquarian See also:interest. See also:History.—For the history of ancient Macedonia see MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.' After its subjugation by the Romans the country was divided into four districts separated by rigid political and social limitations. Before See also:long it was constituted a See also:province, which in the time of See also:Augustus was assigned to the See also:senate. Thenceforward it followed the fortunes of the Roman empire, and, after the See also:partition of that dominion, of its eastern branch. Its Thraco-Illyrian inhabitants had already been largely latinized when See also:Constantine the Great made See also:Byzantium the imperial See also:residence in A.D. 330; they called themselves Romans and spoke Latin. Towards the See also:close of the 4th century the country was devastated by the Goths and See also:Avars, whose incursions possessed no lasting significance. It was otherwise with the great Slavonic immigration, which took place at intervals from the 3rd to the 7th century. An important ethnographic See also:change was brought about, and the greater part of Macedonia was colonized by the invaders (see BALKAN PENINSULA). The Slays were in their turn conquered by the Bulgarians (see BULGARIA: History) whose See also:chief Krum (802–3i 5) included central Macedonia in his dominions. The Byzantines retained the southern regions and Salonica, which temporarily See also:fell into the hands of the See also:Saracens in 904. With the exception of the
' Also Alexander, See also:Perdiccas, See also: A period of decadence followed the extinction of the Asen dynasty in 1257; the Bulgarian power was overthrown by the Servians at Velbuzhd (1330), and Macedonia was included in the See also:realm of the great Servian tsar Dushan (1331–1355) who fixed his capital at Uskub. Dushan's empire fell to pieces after his death, and the anarchy which followed prepared the way for the advance of the Turks, to whom not only contending factions at Constantinople but Servian and Bulgarian princes alike made overtures. Macedonia and See also:Thrace were soon desolated by Turkish raids; when it was too late the Slavonic states combined against the invaders, but their forces, under the Servian tsar Turkish See also:Lazar, were routed at Kossovo in 1389 by the sultan Rule. See also:Murad I. Salonica and See also:Larissa were captured in 1395 by Murad's son Bayezid, whose victory over See also:Sigismund of See also:Hungary at See also:Nicopolis in 1396 sealed the See also:fate of the peninsula. The towns in the Struma valley were yielded to the Turks by John VII. See also:Palaeologus in 1424; Salonica was taken for the last time in 1428 by Murad II. and its inhabitants were massacred. Large tracts of land were distributed among the Ottoman chiefs; a system of feudal See also:tenure was See also:developed by Mahommed II. (1451–1481), each See also:fief furnishing a certain number of armed warriors. The Christian See also:peasant owners remained on the lands assigned to the Moslem feudal lords, to whom they paid a tithe. The See also:condition of the subject population was deplorable from the first, and became worse during the period of anarchy which coincided with the decadence of the central power in the 17th and 18th centuries; in the latter half of the 17th century efforts to improve it were made by the See also:grand viziers Mehemet and Mustafa of the eminent house of Kopriflii. The country was policed by the See also:janissaries (q.v.). Numbers of the peasant proprietors were ultimately reduced to See also:serfdom, working as labourers on the farms or tchifliks of the Moslem beys. Towards the end of the 18th century many of the See also:local See also:governors became practically independent; western Macedonia fell under the sway of See also:Ali See also:Pasha of See also:Iannina; at Serres See also:Ismail See also:Bey maintained an army of ro,000 men and exercised a beneficent despotism. For more than two centuries Albanian
incursions, often resulting in permanent settlements, added to the troubles of the Christian population. The reforms embodied in the Hatt-i-Sherif of Gulhane (1839) and in the Hatt-i-See also:humayun (1856), in both of which the perfect equality of races and religions was proclaimed, remained a dead See also:letter; the first " See also:Law of the Vilayets " (1864), reforming the local See also:administration, brought no See also:relief, while depriving the Christian communities of certain rights which they had hitherto possessed.
In 1876 a See also:conference of the powers at Constantinople proposed
the reorganization of the Bulgarian provinces of Turkey in two
vilayets under Christian governors-general aided by
European
popular assemblies. The " western " vilayet, of non. which Sofia was to be the capital, included northern, See also:Treaties of central and western Macedonia, extending south as sanstefano far as Castoria. The projet de reglement elaborated
and Berlin.
by the conference was rejected by the Turkish See also:parliament convoked under the constitution proclaimed on the 23rd of See also:December 1876; the constitution, which was little more than a See also:device for eluding European intervention, was shortly afterwards suspended. Under the treaty of See also:San Stefano (See also: 'The law never received the sultan's See also:sanction, and European See also:diplomacy proved unequal to the task of securing its adoption. The Berlin Treaty, by its artificial See also:division of the Bulgarian race, created the difficult and perplexing "Macedonian Question." The The population handed back to Turkish rule never Macedonianacquiesced in its fate; its discontent was aggravated Question. by the deplorable misgovernment which characterized the reign of Abdul Hamid II., and its efforts to assert itself, stimulated by the sympathy of the enfranchised portion of the race, provoked rival movements on the part of the other Christian nationalities, each receiving encouragement and material aid from the adjacent and kindred states. Some insignificant risings took place in Macedonia after the See also:signature of the Berlin Treaty, but in the See also:interval between 1878 and 1893 the population remained comparatively tranquil, awaiting the fulfilment of the promised reforms. In 1893, however, a number of See also:secret revolutionary See also:societies (druzhestva) were set on foot in Macedonia, and in 1894 similar Bulgarian bodies were organized as legal corporations in Bul-Conspira- garia. The fall of Stamboloff in that year and the See also:dies. reconciliation of Bulgaria with Russia encouraged the revolutionaries in the mistaken belief that Russia would take steps to revive the provisions of the San Stefano treaty. In 1895 the " Supreme Macedo-Adrianopolitan Committee " (Vrkhoven Makedoni-Odrinski Komitet) was formed at Sofia and forthwith despatched armed bands into northern Macedonia; the town of Melnik was occupied for a short time by the revolutionaries under Boris Sarafoff, but the enterprise ended in failure. Dispirited by this result, the " Vrkhovists," as the revolutionaries in Bulgaria were generally styled, refrained from any serious effort for the next five years; the movement was paralysed by dissensions among the chiefs, and rival parties were formed under Sarafoff and General Tzoncheff. Meanwhile the " Centralist " or local Macedonian societies were welded by two remarkable men, Damian Grueff and Gotze Delcheff, into a formidable power known as the " See also:Internal Organization," founded in 1893, which maintained its own See also:police, held its own tribunals, assessed and collected contributions, and otherwise exercised an imperium in imperio throughout the country, which was divided into rayons or districts, and subdivided into departments and communes,each with its special See also:staff of functionaries. The Internal Organization, as a rule, avoided co-operation with the revolutionaries in Bulgaria; it aimed at the attainment of Macedonian See also:autonomy, and at first endeavoured, but unsuccessfully, to enlist the sympathies of the Greeks and Servians for the See also:programme of " Macedonia for the Macedonians." The principle of autonomy was suspected at Athens and Belgrade as calculated to ensure Bulgarian predominance and to delay or preclude the ultimate partition of the See also:Creek country. At Athens, especially, the progress of the See also:Action. Bulgarian movement was viewed with much alarm; it was feared that Macedonia would be lost to Hellenism, and in 1896 the Ethnike Hetaerea (see GREECE and See also:CRETE) sent numerous bands into the southern districts of the country. The Hetaerea aimed at bringing about a war between Greece and Turkey, and the outbreak of trouble in Crete enabled it to accomplish its purpose. During the Greco-Turkish War (q.v.) Macedonia remained quiet, Bulgaria and Servia refraining from interference under pressure from Austria, Russia and the other great powers. The reverses of the Greeks were to the advantage of the Bulgarian movement, which continued to gain strength, but after the See also:discovery of a hidden See also:depot of arms at Vinitza in 1897 the Turkish authorities changed their attitude towards the Bulgarian element; extreme and often barbarous methods of repression were adopted, and arms were distributed among the Moslem population. The capture of an See also:American missionary, See also:Miss See also: The Internal Organization, however, was be- lnsurrec yond reach, and preparations for an insurrection went tion is rapidly forward. In March a serious Albanian revolt 19°3. complicated the situation. At the end of April a number of See also:dynamite outrages took place at Salonica; public opinion in Europe turned against the revolutionaries and the Turks seized the opportunity to wreak a terrible vengeance on the Bulgarian population. On the 2nd of See also:August, the feast of St See also:Elias, a general insurrection See also:broke out in the Monastir vilayet, followed by sporadic revolts in other districts. The insurgents achieved some temporary successes and occupied the towns of Krushevo, Klisura and Neveska, but by the end of September their resistance was overcome; more than too villages were burned by the troops and bashi-bazouks, 8400 houses were destroyed and 6o,000 peasants remained homeless in the mountains at the approach of See also:winter. The Austrian and Russian governments then drew up a further series of reforms known as the " M:firzsteg programme " The (Oct. 9, 1903) to which the Porte assented in prin-"Miirssteg ciple, though many difficulties were raised over See also:Pro- details. Two officials, an Austrian and a Russian, gramme." styled " See also:civil agents " and charged with the super-See also:vision of the local authorities in the application of reforms, were placed by the side of the inspector-general while the reorganization of the gendarmerie was entrusted to a foreign general in the Turkish service aided by a certain number of See also:officers from the armies of the great powers. The latter task was entrusted to the Italian General de Giorgis (April 1904), the country being divided into sections under the supervision of the officers of each power. The reforms proved a failure, mainly owing to the tacit opposition of the Turkish authorities, the insufficient powers attributed to the European officials, the racial feuds and the deplorable See also:financial situation. In 1905 the powers agreed on the establishment of a financial commission on which the representatives of Great Britain, See also:France, See also:Germany and See also:Italy would sit as colleagues of the civil agents. The Porte offered an obstinate resistance to the project and only yielded (Dec. 5) when the fleets of the powers appeared near the See also:Dardanelles. Some improvement was now effected in the financial administration, but the general state of the country continued to grow worse; large funds were collected abroad by the committees at Athens, which despatched numerous bands largely composed of Cretans into the southern districts, the Servians displayed renewed activity in the north, while the Bulgarians offered a dogged resistance to all their foes.
The Austro-Russian entente came to an end in the beginning of 1908 owing to the Austrian project of connecting the Bosnian The "Revel and Macedonian railway systems, and Great Britain Pro- and Russia now took the foremost place in the gramme." demand for reforms. After a meeting between See also: Cvijic, Grundlinien der Geographic and Geologic von Mazedorvien and Altserbien (Gotha, 1908). For the antiquities, see Texier and Pullen, Byzantine See also:Architecture (London, 1864) ; Heuzey and Daumet, See also:Mission archeologique en Macedoine (Paris, 1865) ; See also:Duchesne and Bayet, Memoire sztr une mission en Macedoine et au Mont Athos (Paris, 1876) ; See also:Barclay V. See also:Head, See also:Catalogue of Greek Coins; Macedonia (London, 1879) ; Kinch, L' Arc de triomphe de Salonique (Paris, 189o) ; Beretnung om en archaeologisk Reise i Makedonien (See also:Copenhagen, 1893); See also:Mommsen, Suppl. to vol. iii. Corpus inscript. latinarum (Berlin, 1893); Perdrizet, Articles on Macedonian See also:archaeology and See also:epigraphy in Bulletin de correspondance hellenique, since 1894. (J. D. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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