Macedonian National Movement in the 19th Century

Development Stages and Conceptions

Апстракт

The subject of our article is to make a general retrospect of the
historical processes that determined the Macedonian national movement
in the period of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. On one
hand it includes presenting the conditions in the period up until 1878,
and on the other hand the events that took place after the Congress of
Berlin, when new borders were drawn and new states appeared in the
Balkans. Our goal is to present the specific characteristics of the
Macedonian national movement in the different stages of its
development.
The beginning of the 19th century was characterised by the social
changes in the Ottoman State, the geopolitical strategies of the European
forces, as well as the socio-economical internal movements. The
reforms, especially those from the period of the Tanzimat (1839 – 1876),
contributed to the reformation of the Empire from a feudal-theocratic
state to a civil-secular one. The democratic, liberal and nationalistic
ideas started to penetrate the Balkans from the West towards the end of
the 18th century; the members of the still small, though growing, middle
class and the new intelligentsia of the peoples of the Balkans felt
alienated from the Ottoman status quo.3
As a result of this, the process of
fragmentation of the Millet-system began.4

At the beginning of the said period, a migration of the Macedonian
population to the cities where previously the Ottoman, that is to say the
Muslim, population was the predominant one, also began. In the new
urban environment, this population started to deal in trading and
craftsmanship, building business relationships not only within the
Ottoman Empire, but also with the more prominent cities of Western
Europe. Thus, the process of the formation of Macedonian citizenry
started. As it strengthened, it demanded that education and religious
services be conducted in the Macedonian folk language.