Day of the Macedonian Uprising

Public holiday in North Macedonia

Day of the Macedonian Uprising
Ден на македoнското востание

Proclamation of 11 October as a national holiday in Democratic Federal Macedonia

Also called| 11 October
Observed by| North Macedonia
Type| National
Significance| Considered the beginning of the communist resistance against fascism during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia.
Celebrations| Gatherings, concerts, sports events, awards
Date| October 11
Next time| October 11, 2025 (2025-10-11)
Frequency| annual
The building of the former Bulgarian police department in Prilep, today the Memorial Museum "October 11, 1941." Bust-monument of Duško Naumovski in Prilep. He killed the Bulgarian guard during the night attack on October 11. The victim was his neighbor and friend of his father named Petar Kolev.[1] Burial Mound of the Unbeaten is a World War II memorial in the Park of the Revolution in Prilep built in 1961 in honor to the martyrs and fallen Yugoslav partisans. Celebration of the fest in Prilep.

Day of the Macedonian Uprising is a public holiday in North Macedonia, commemorating what is considered there as the beginning of the communist resistance against fascism during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia, on October 11.

According to the Yugoslav Marxist historiography and the Macedonian historiography, the Macedonian uprising against fascism began on this day in 1941, lasting until late 1944. It has been celebrated as a national holiday since 1945 in then-SR Macedonia as part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). The celebration of the holiday has been criticized by the Macedonian Patriotic Organization and in Bulgaria, while whether these events were the beginning of an effective uprising, was disputed even in SFR Yugoslavia.

## Historical background

[edit]

See also: World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia

In April 1941, during the Second World War, the Axis powers invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, of which today North Macedonia was part. It encompassed most of the so-called Vardar Banovina,[2] because the very name Macedonia was prohibited in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[3][4] When Bulgarian Army entered Vardar Banovina in April 1941, the Bulgarian soldiers were greeted by the locals as liberators, while pro-Bulgarian and anti-Serbian feelings among them prevailed.[5] Despite this welcome, the Macedonians did not wish to become "fully fledged Bulgarians and annexed by Bulgaria, as Sofia assumed at the time".[6] Initially, there was no organized resistance in the area,[7] however resentment towards the Bulgarian officials began within months of the occupation.[8] After the Bulgarian takeover the local communists fell in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party. They refused to define the Bulgarian forces as occupiers.[9] The Macedonian Slavs were regarded by the authorities then as Bulgarians, and it is questionable whether then they considered themselves to be a separate nationality.[10][11] In addition, up to one half of the Bulgarian army and police stationed in the area from 1941 to 1944 consisted of local conscripts.[12][13]

Six months later, on October 11, 1941, a group of Yugoslav Communists attacked several Bulgarian administration's objects in Prilep. These were 16 men,[14] who in the evening, divided into three groups, attacked as follows: the first group - the police station, the second - the prison, and the third group eavesdropped on the telephone conversations, through a device connected to the telephone line, near the police precinct.

Making a quick and surprise attack around 10 p.m, they opened fire on the post guard and the precinct. As a result of the attack, the watchman was killed,[15] and another policeman was wounded. The attackers then ran away. Immediately after the end of the attack, the town was blocked for a search for them.[16] The attack was ineffective,[17] its participants were quickly arrested,[18] while its leaders were imprisoned in Bulgaria until the end of the war.[19] The activity of the local Communists did not pose any significant challenge for the regime then.[18] Fascism in Bulgaria did not become a mass movement during WWII.[20][21] Resistance started to grow in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany.[22][23]

After the war, the area of present-day North Macedonia became part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, as Democratic Federal Macedonia (DFM). In 1945, the National Assembly of DFM passed a law declaring the day 11 October a public holiday of the state.[24] It was celebrated for the first time on October 11, 1945. After the breakup of Yugoslavia, it was adopted as a public holiday again, after then SR Macedonia proclaimed its independence in 1991.[24][18]

## Celebration and symbolism

[edit]

Every year on October 11 there are official ceremonies, public speeches, and celebrations. There is an official award called 11 October, given out to Macedonian people who have contributed significantly to the national progress. The company FAS Sanos used to bear the name FAS "11. Oktobar" AD Skopje. Some primary schools in North Macedonia are named "11 October".[25]

## Legacy

[edit]

### Cold War development

[edit]

After World War II, the Yugoslav Marxist historiography[26][27] adopted the day as the beginning of the Macedonian uprising against fascism.[28][29] During the Cold War, the celebration of this holiday was criticized by the United States-based Macedonian Patriotic Organization. In 1958, the MPO adopted a resolution proclaiming October 11 as a "Day of Mourning".[30] This was only the first resolution of October 11 as a mourning day during the following decades. Since 1960, this day has been marked officially by the organization as "Mourning Day of Macedonia". In the same year, it was also celebrated by the MPO society in Brussels, Belgium. According to the MPO, the leaders of the so-called "Macedonian state", which has been actually an enslaved Tito's banovina, renounced their native Bulgarian name on October 11.[31] Ivan Mihailov, the last leader of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, also took an attitude against the holiday. In an article published in the newspaper Macedonian Tribune in 1973, he compared it to the tragical Battle of Kleidion. Mihailov claimed that the Marxists, supported by their pro-Serbian anti-Bulgarian drive, have decided to blind spiritually one million Bulgarians in Macedonia by tampering with their past. The most massive celebration of the "Mourning Day of Macedonia" was in 1977, when the MPO sent a circular to all its divisions. It says: "We are obliged to make any sacrifices to eliminate the injustice done to our people after the Second World War".[32] Whether the events that occurred on this date were the beginning of an effective uprising, was disputed even by some circles in Communist Yugoslavia.[33]

### 21st century

[edit]

See also: Bulgaria–North Macedonia relations

After the fall of communism, the Macedonian historiography continued to regard the day as the beginning of the Macedonian anti-fascist resistance.[34][24] In Bulgaria, the celebration of this holiday became disputed.[35] Bulgarian journalists and politicians claimed that the holiday is a celebration of hatred against Bulgaria itself, inherited from the times of Yugoslav communism.[36][37][38] Bulgaria denies any occupation and insists that during WWII its forces liberated twice, their brethren in the west.[39] It also denies that a fascist regime existed there, while the Western authorities on the issue categorically deny this too.[40] It insists that the two countries must "harmonize" school textbooks, as well as historic literature and "overcoming the hate speech" against Bulgaria.[41] On October 11, 2020, Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev criticized Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev for celebrating 11 October, seeing it as an "anti-Bulgarian provocation".[42] One month later, on November 17, 2020, Bulgaria effectively blocked the official beginning of EU accession talks with North Macedonia.[43] Several days later, in an interview with Bulgarian media, the Macedonian PM Zaev stated that Bulgaria was not a fascist occupier during WWII and that it was later involved in the liberation of present-day North Macedonia, as part of the anti-fascist front.[44] The interview resulted in sharp criticism from the Macedonian public,[45] while the opposition's leader Hristijan Mickoski accused Zaev of threatening Macedonian national identity.[46][47] The Macedonian journalist Dejan Azeski has confirmed that Zaev's interview was a political mistake, although it revealed the historical truth. According to Azeski, for many locals the Bulgarian army was a liberating force in 1941, while the partisan movement really did not emerge in significance until after 1943. The Bulgarian military also took part in the liberation of present-day North Macedonia in the autumn of 1944, and these are the most difficult facts to be accepted by the Macedonian society today.[48][49]

## See also

[edit]

* Public holidays in North Macedonia
* List of World War II monuments and memorials in North Macedonia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Църнушанов, Коста. Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 1992. с. 206.
2. ^ F. Rothenbacher, The Central and East European Population since 1850, Societies of Europe; Springer, 2016, ISBN 1137273909, p. 626.
3. ^ Donald Bloxham, The Final Solution: A Genocide, OUP Oxford, 2009, ISBN 0199550336, p. 65.
4. ^ Chris Kostov, Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3034301960, p. 76.
5. ^ "Who are the Macedonians?" Hugh Poulton, Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, ISBN 978-1-85065-238-0, p. 101.
6. ^ Alexis Heraclides (2021). The Macedonian Question and the Macedonias: A History. Taylor & Francis. p. 86.
7. ^ "The Bulgarian occupation forces in the Serbian part of Macedonia were received as liberators and pro-Bulgarian feeling ran high in the early stages of the occupation. Neither the Communist position regarding a separate Macedonian nation nor the idea of a Yugoslav federation met with much response from the Slav population, which nurtured pro-Bulgarian sentiments. The local Communists, led by M. Satorov, splintered off from the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and joined the Bulgarian Labour Party (which was Communist), with the slogan "One state, one party". The subsequent dissatisfaction with the occupation authorities was due to social factors, rather than national ones. This was also why Tito's resistance movement in Yugoslav Macedonia failed to develop." For more see: Spyridon Sfetas, Autonomist Movements of the Slavophones in 1944: The Attitude of the Communist Party of Greece and the Protection of the Greek-Yugoslav Border. Balkan Studies 1995; 36 (2): pp. 297-317.
8. ^ Alexis Heraclides (2021). The Macedonian Question and the Macedonians: A History. Taylor & Francis. p. 87.
9. ^ Hugh Poulton, Who are the Macedonians. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, ISBN 1-85065-238-4, p.102.
10. ^ "In July 1942 a law of citizenship was passed, by which all (Slavic) inhabitants were held to have acquired Bulgarian nationality on the occupation, except, theoretically, those who chose to opt for their former nationality. If they chose the latter, they had to emigrate. Many Serbs in fact fled to Serbia." For more see: Macedonia. Its Place in Balkan Power Politics. Reprint. (Greenwood Press, 1980.) p. 72.
11. ^ "The question as to whether a Macedonian nation actually existed in the 1940s when the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided to recognize one is difficult to answer. Some observers argue that even at this time it was doubtful whether the Slavs of Macedonia considered themselves to be a nationality separate from the Bulgarians (Palmer and King 1971: 199-200)." For more see: Loring M. Danforth (1997) The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691043566.
12. ^ Димитров, Пламен, Установяване на българската държавна власт в Скопска и Битолска област през 1941 г., Военноисторически сборник, 1998, бр. 5, стр. 66–76.
13. ^ Димитров, Пламен, Рекрутиране и функциониране на българската администрация в Скопска и Битолска област 1941–1944 г. във Втората световна война и Балканите, София 2002, стр. 188–203.
14. ^ Љубен Георгиевски - Љупта, „Тарцан: монографија за Трајко Бошкоски-Тарцан–Илинденски“, Скопје, 1994, 200 стр.
15. ^ Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него, Кост. Църнушанов, Унив. изд. "Св. Климент Охридски", София, 1992 г. стр. 206.
16. ^ Поверителна информация на областния полицейски началник в Битоля до директора на полицията в София за организационни, политически, обществени и др. прояви, за противодействие срещу чуждестранни пропаганди и разузнавания за периода май – декември 1941 г. Българското управление във Вардарска Македония (1941 – 1944) – Документален сборник (63). 1941-03-08. с. 184.
17. ^ Michael Palairet, Macedonia: A Voyage through History (Vol. 2, From the Fifteenth Century to the Present), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, ISBN 1443888494, p. 203.
18. ^ a b c Dimitar Bechev (2019) Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe; Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 1538119625, p. 15.
19. ^ Marshall Lee Miller, Bulgaria during the Second World War, Stanford University Press, California 1975, p. 132.
20. ^ Svetla Baloutzova (2011). Demography and Nation: Social Legislation and Population Policy in Bulgaria, Central European University Press, p. 97, ISBN 6155211922.
21. ^ David D. Roberts (2016). Fascist Interactions: Proposals for a New Approach to Fascism and Its Era, 1919–1945. Berghahn Books, p. 252, ISBN 9781785331312.
22. ^ Bulgaria During the Second World War, Marshall Lee Miller, Stanford University Press, 1975, ISBN 0804708703, pp. 132–133.
23. ^ Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956 introduction Ixiii.
24. ^ a b c Macedonian Encyclopedia. Skopje, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2009. ISBN 978-608-203-023-4, p. 311; 454.
25. ^ "Регистар на основни училишта". data.gov.mk.
26. ^ Историјски архив Комунистичке партије Југославије. 1951, т. 1- т. 7, стр. 392. "...11 октобар дан оружаног устанка македонског народа против фашистичких окупатора и првих акција Прилепског и Кумановског партизанског одреда..." (English: "...11 October, the day of the armed uprising of the Macedonian people against the fascist occupiers and the first actions of the Prilep and Kumanovo partisan detachments..." In "Historical archive of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia"; 1951, vol. 1- 7, p. 392.
27. ^ "This paper analyzes the development of the historiography in the former socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1991). Starting with the revolutionary changes after the Second World War and the establishment of the «dictatorship of the proletariat», the paper considers the ideological surveillance imposed on historiography entailing its reconceptualization on the Marxist grounds." In Antolović, M. Writing History under the «Dictatorship of the Proletariat»: Yugoslav Historiography 1945–1991." In Revista de História das Ideias 39 (June 16, 2021): pp. 49–73.
28. ^ Владо Ивановски, Почетокот на востанието во Македонија во 1941 година. ГИНИ, Г.ХВ, бр. 3, стр. 17-32; Југословенски историски часопис, бр. 3-4, за 1971, стр. 77-94; Современост, Скопје, 1973, бр. 7-8, стр. 777-798; Збор. Ослободитeлната војна и Револуција во Македонија , 1941-1945. Скопје, 1973, стр. 117-133; Историја на Македонскиот народ (кратка верзија), Скопје, 1972, стр. 350-358.
29. ^ Кај нас тој ден е земен 11 Октомври, како ден на востанието на македонскиот народ. Одлуката за почнување на вооружените акции во Македонија за 11 Октомври, ја донесе ПК КПЈ за Македонија. English: In our country, 11 October is taken as the day of the uprising of the Macedonian people. The decision to start the armed actions in Macedonia on 11 October was made by the PC CPY (Provincial Committee of Communist Party of Yugoslavia) for Macedonia. Историја: списание на Сојузот на историските друштва на СР Македонија, Том 38, стр. 86.
30. ^ Macedonians Set Day of Mourning, The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), Oct 11, 1958, Page 3; Macedonians Here Mourn Tito’s Yoke, Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, Illinois), Oct 11, 1958, Page 1.
31. ^ Костадин Гърдев, Македонските патриотически организации в Канада, от основаването им до 1987 г. Унив. изд-во "Климент Охридски", 1991, стр. 84.
32. ^ Спас Ташев, Траурният ден на Македония. Труд, 25.07.2022.
33. ^ Историја, Сојуз на историчарите на Република Македонија, 2002, бр. 1-2, стр. 77-87; У релативном кратком периоду народноослободилачка борба, нарочито ce развила y Србији, Црној Гори, Босни и Херцеговини и почела ce успешно развијати y Хрватској и Словенији. Изузетак преставља Македонија, где нарочито због тешког стања y партиској организацији није ни дошло до устанка. English: In a relatively short period, the national liberation struggle developed especially in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and began to successfully develop in Croatia and Slovenia. An exception is Macedonia, where especially due to the difficult situation of the party organization, it did not even come to an uprising. Ослободилачки рат народа Југославије, 1941-1945. Кн. 1, Београд, 1957, стр. 107.
34. ^ Macedonian Encyclopedia. Skopje, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2009. ISBN 978-608-203-023-4, p. 1021.
35. ^ 11 Октомври: Дали е неевропски да се слави антифашизмот? 11.10.2022 Deutsche Welle
36. ^ Иван Николов, РС Македония – десетилетната сатанизация на българите – висша форма на патриотизъм. Факел, 11.11.2021.
37. ^ Каракачанов: София няма да допусне компромис с РС Македония. iNEWS, 05.11.2020.
38. ^ Д-р Андрей Ковачев: 11 октомври - ден на траур в Македония! Начало на гражданска война между македонските българи и комунистическите сили. BurgasNovinite.BG, 11 октомври 2022.
39. ^ Boris Georgievski Bulgaria asks EU to stop 'fake' Macedonian identity. 23.09.2020, Deutsche Welle.
40. ^ Roumen Daskalov (2011) Debating the Past: Modern Bulgarian History: from Stambolov to Zhivkov, Central European University Press, p. 170, ISBN 6155053006.
41. ^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic, Bulgaria Sets Tough Terms for North Macedonia's EU Progress Skopje. BIRN; 10 October 2019.
42. ^ Ковачев до Заев: Зошто на Заев му треба оваа антибугарска провокација сега? 11 Октомври, 2020. Канал 5
43. ^ Bulgaria blocks EU accession talks with North Macedonia. Nov 17, 2020, National post.
44. ^ Зоран Заев: Договорът с България ще бъде закон. Меdiapool публикува интервюто на Любчо Нешков, собственик на информационната агенция БГНЕС. 25 November, 2020; Mediapool.bg.
45. ^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic, North Macedonia PM's Remarks About History Hit a Nerve. BIRN, November 26, 2020.
46. ^ Мария Атанасова: Мицкоски: Заев да внимава с приятелството с България, Факти.бГ. 25 Ноември, 2020г.
47. ^ VMRO-DPMNE leader Mickoski demands PM Zaev's resignation, announces more protests. MIA, 26 November, 2020 Archived 2021-01-19 at the Wayback Machine.
48. ^ "Дејан Азески, Зошто Зоран Заев политички греши, а историски е во право? Fokus 02.12.2020". Archived from the original on 2021-10-26. Retrieved 2021-10-14.
49. ^ В Северна Македония: Българската армия бе едновременно окупационна и освободителна, Факти.бг. 4 Декември, 2020