Introduction

Cheta (650), the Krushovo Region Cheta (400), the Kichevo Region Cheta (350), the Bitola Region Cheta (250), the Ohrid Region Cheta (880), the Resna Region Cheta (450), the Demir-Hisar Region Cheta (420), the Prespa Region Cheta (300), the Kostur Region Cheta (700) and the Lerin Region Cheta (450). The Cheti, under the command of capable leaders such as Damjan Gruev, Vasil Chakalarov, Petar Pop Arsov, Pitu Guli and others, faired well and enjoyed considerable success in the few weeks before the Ottoman militia began to amass. The local villagers also joined the movement giving moral support to the fighters. Even men from others regions that had not yet risen left their homes and came to fight. All in all the Macedonian people possessed the will to fight but lacked the rifles and ammunition with which to do it. As battles raged on throughout western Macedonia, the Cheti put down most of the local Ottoman garrisons. They destroyed bridges, railway lines and communications centers, captured most chifliks and briefly liberated some regions such as Kichevo, Demir-Hisar, Kostur, Lerin, Klisoura and Neveska. The cities of Kostur and Lerin themselves were not liberated. The most successful and highly celebrated of all battles was the storming of the town of Krushevo. Nikola Karev led the Cheti in the attack and defeated the local Ottoman garrison with ease. The Macedonians quickly took over the most strategic points like the Post Office, Town Hall and local Police Station and declared Krushevo liberated. True to their democratic commitments, the leaders of the liberating force constituted the Krushevo assembly which appointed a committee of sixty members, twenty from each of the community's Macedonian, Vlach and Albanian populations. The Krushevo Manifesto was drafted which basically recognized each ethnicity as an equal partner in the struggle and declared Krushevo a multiethnic community. The committee in turn elected an executive body of six delegates, two from each community, which operated as a provisional government. The government in turn established a financial, judiciary and police force. "At Krushevo, under the rays of temporary liberty, fraternity and equality, national hatreds were dispelled and peace and concord reigned. For eleven whole days Krushevo lived as a little independent state, and although in miniature, clothed with flesh and blood that idea which spurred Macedonians to fight, against tyranny up to the Ilinden rising." (Page 193, Vasil Bogov, Macedonian Revelation, Historical Documents Rock and Shatter Modern Political Ideology)

The "Krushevo Republic" unfortunately, only lasted two weeks but it was a glorious Republic that will forever remind the Macedonian people of their eternal struggle for independence and thirst for freedom. The liberation of Krushevo imprinted on the new Macedonian generations the legacy of a timeless and irreversible march towards self-determination. The initial success of the rebellion was a surprise to the Ottomans especially since Ottoman forces were numerically superior to those of the rebels. The Cheti, however, demonstrated their abilities in battle and more than matched the numbers with will. The Ottomans, unfortunately, were determined to put down the rebellion and amassed additional forces, deploying a total of 167,000 infantry, 3,700 cavalry and 440 pieces of artillery (all cannons). Krushevo alone was surrounded by 20,000 Ottoman troops with 18 cannons against an encircled force of no more than 1,200 rebel fighters. The battle to retake Krushevo began on August 12th with the Macedonians crying out "Sloboda eli Smrt" (liberty or death) against the onslaught of Ottoman cannon fire. Pitu Guli and his men fought gallantly. They provided stiff opposition to the Ottoman advance but were no match for the Ottoman General Baktiar Pasha. Baktiar was a skilled war veteran who overwhelmed the Cheti by attacking the entire region simultaneously. The region was surrounded by soldiers, encircled by cannon fire and every Macedonian stronghold within was attacked simultaneously, cutting off all reinforcements and outside support. Once Krushevo fell, one by one other IMRO strongholds began to yield, winding down the ten-week-old rebellion. In Krushevo, Baktiar Pasha allowed his troops to kill, pillage and rape for three days. The town was permanently devastated with 117 civilians murdered, 150 women raped and 159 houses burned. In the Ilinden aftermath, according to Radin, in total 4,694 civilians were murdered, 3,122 women raped, 12,440 houses burned, 201 villages razed, 75,835 people left homeless and about 30,000 people left the country for good, becoming permanent refugees. (Page 105, IMRO and the Macedonian Question) Besides the atrocities committed against the civilian population in Macedonia, the most significant impact of the uprising was the loss of so many great IMRO leaders. During 1903 Krste Misirkov from Pella (Postol), one of the most outstanding names in the history of Macedonian culture and the founder of the modern Macedonian literary language and orthography, published his "On Macedonian Matters" in which he projected the principles for standardization of the Macedonian literary language.

In 1908 Macedonia’s hopes for a better future were again raised with the start of the Young Turk revolution. The Young Turk movement, led by the Young Turk Committee, aimed to reform the last remnants of the Ottoman Empire by making social and political reforms in Macedonia. Many Macedonians including Yane Sandanski supported the Young Turk ideals. The Macedonian revolutionary organization, through Yane Sandanski and the newly formed national federal party, actively took part in the Young Turk movement with aims at achieving autonomy for Macedonia. Unfortunately that movement too ended in disaster which paved the way for Macedonia’s partition by its neighbours.

Partitioned Macedonia

In 1912 Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria joined forces, invaded Macedonia under the pretext of liberating it and with the help of the Macedonian people ejected the Ottoman army in what came to be known as the first Balkan War. But when the war ended, instead of leaving and rewarding the Macedonian people for their participation in ejecting the Ottomans the invading armies remained in Macedonia and continued to occupy it. The first Balkan War was concluded with the signing of the May 1913 Treaty of London but left the three states dissatisfied with their Macedonian territorial gains. This prompted the second Balkan War in which Macedonians were drafted and forced to fight each other in support of their occupiers. Bulgaria’s attempts to enforce a new partition failed and the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest confirmed a pattern of boundaries that, with minor changes, have remained in force to this day. Having failed to achieve independence in 1903, the Macedonians, now divided, were left to the fate of their new masters. Greece took 51% of Macedonia (Aegean Macedonia) and renamed it "Northern Greece"; Bulgaria annexed 10% (the Pirin region) and abolished the Macedonian name and Serbia took over 39% (the Vardar region) and renamed it "South Serbia". N. Pasich of Serbia and E. Venizelos of Greece agreed on the newly formed Greek-Serbian border so that there would be "only Serbs to the North and only Greeks to the South" and no "Macedonians" on either side. By this agreement began the destruction of Macedonia’s geographic, natural and ethnic unity. An intensive denationalization campaign was carried out in all three parts of Macedonia in order to impose foreign identities upon the Macedonian population, the kind that suited the interests of the controlling states. In Vardar Macedonia the Serbs labeled the Macedonians "South Serbs", in Aegean Macedonia the Greeks labeled them "Slavophone Greeks", while in Pirin Macedonians were simply called Bulgarians.

World War I

When World War I erupted in 1914, Bulgaria sided with the Central powers and by 1915 it occupied the Serbian held part of Macedonia. But the defeat of the Central powers and the end of World War I in 1918 saw the 1913 partition reconfirmed and Macedonia was again left divided. At the Paris Peace Conference Macedonians demanded an independent and united Macedonia but their demands were ignored. Vardar Macedonia was re-incorporated with the rest of Serbia and into the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which was later renamed Yugoslavia. Macedonians were again drafted by the occupiers and once again forced to fight and lose lives in other people’s wars.

Between the Great Wars

Since 1913 consecutive Greek governments introduced denationalization policies in Greek held Macedonia to eradicate everything Macedonian including the names of native Macedonian villages, towns, cities, rivers and lakes. For example, a little stream that appeared on maps before 1913 as Crna Reka (Black River) at Mount Olympus flowing into the Aegean Sea was renamed Mavroneri (black water) on Greek maps by Greek cartographers after 1913. Kutlesh was renamed Vergina and Kukush became Kilkis. Over the years this was done for every toponym and hydronym in existence. Macedonian families were also forced to renounce their native family names and use only new "Greek-sounding" names. During Metaxa’s dictatorship Macedonians were exposed to brutal oppression. People were not allowed to speak the only language they knew, were given hefty fines and forced to drink castor oil as punishment for speaking it. The Macedonian language was made illegal and forbidden, despite the fact that in 1924 under the supervision of the League of Nations Greece had recognized its existence as a distinct language when it published the "Abecedar", the Macedonian language primer, for the needs of the Macedonian children. The period between the two world wars was also filled with constant endeavors to change the situation in Macedonia and find a way to annul its division. In 1925 IMRO (United) was formed in Vienna under the leadership of Dimitar Vlahov, Pavel Satev, Georgi Zankov, Rizo Rizov, Vladimir Pop Timov and Hristo Jankov. Their aim was to free Macedonia within its geographical and economic borders and create an independent political unit that would become an equal member in a future Balkan Federation. In 1935 a Macedonian National Movement was founded in Serbian held Vardar Macedonia and in 1938 the first collection of poems by Venko Markovski entitled "Fire" ("Ogin") was published in Macedonian. In 1939 a collection of poems by the first modern Macedonian poet, Kocho Ratsin entitled "White Dawns" ("Beli Mugri"), were published in the Macedonian language. In 1940 a democratic group of Macedonians proposed a political program for the national and social liberation of Macedonia.

World War II and the Macedonians in Yugoslavia

In April 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia and opened the door for fascist ally Bulgaria to occupy almost all of geographical Macedonia. On October 11, 1941 the Macedonian people launched a war of liberation against the Bulgarian occupation and by 1943 anti-fascist sentiments gave support to a growing communist movement which later established the Communist Party of Macedonia. During the same year a number of governing and liberation movements as well as the first Macedonian military units were established over the entire geographical region of Macedonia. The Headquarters of the National Liberation Army published a manifesto of its goals for the liberation of Macedonia. The first session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) was held on August 2nd, 1944 at the St. Prohor Pchinski Monastery. Forty-one years after the 1903 Ilinden uprising representatives from all parts of Macedonia gathered together for this occasion and decided on a constitution for the modern Macedonian State which they named “Peoples Republic of Macedonia”. The ASNOM presidium was formed with Metodija Andonov Cento as its first President and a decision was made to constitute a modern Macedonian State that would become part of the new Federal Yugoslavia. In April 1945 the first Macedonian government was established with Lazar Kolisevski as its first President. In 1958 the Ohrid Archbishopric was restored and in 1967 its autocephaly was declared. The Macedonian people, at least in one part of Macedonia, were finally free to govern themselves.

The Greek Civil War and the Macedonians in Greece

After the December 1945 Varkisa agreement in Greece, use of the name “Macedonia” and the Macedonian language were once again prohibited. Greek authorities again began to apply terror tactics against the Macedonian population. According to statistics, in 1945-46 alone: 400 murders were registered; 440 women and girls were raped; 13,529 interned on the Greek islands; 8,145 imprisoned in the Greek prisons; 4,209 indicted; 3,215 sentenced to prison; 13 driven mad by torture in the prisons; 45 villages abandoned; 80 villages pillaged; 1,605 families plundered; and 1,943 families evicted. During the Greek Civil War from 1946 to 1949 many Macedonians fought on the side of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) simply because it promised them human and national rights. Of the 35,000 soldiers enlisted in the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG, it was estimated that about half were Macedonians. During the conflict 87 Macedonian schools were opened, catering to about 100,000 students. There were also Macedonian newspapers such as "Nepokoren", "Zora", "Edinstvo" and "Borets" published and cultural and artistic associations formed. Unfortunately after DAG’s defeat all that was gained was lost and there were terrible consequences for the Macedonian people. The 28,000 Macedonian refugee children (Detsa Begaltsi) who were evacuated to Eastern European countries, to be saved from the conflict, were permanently separated from their families. Greece did not want them back so they became permanent refugees exiled in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Fighters that fought on the side of the Partisans who managed to escape the Greek Royalist onslaught were expelled to the Soviet Union and other East European countries. Later most returned to the Republic of Macedonia or joined their families who immigrated to the USA, Canada and Australia. Thousands of Macedonians lost their lives while fighting for the liberty of their people and a great number of Macedonian villages were burned to the ground by the Greek Royalists. During the late 1950’s inhabitants of several villages in the Florina (Lerin), Kastoria (Kostur) and Edessa (Voden) districts were forced to take oaths swearing loyalty to Greece and denouncing their Macedonian ethnicity and mother language.

This policy of denationalization continued to meet with resistance however, as the Macedonian people continued to feel Macedonian and speak their Macedonian language in secret. With the imminent breakup of Yugoslavia, the oppressed Macedonians in Greece also began to feel the fervour and started to form their own movements which gave birth to such organizations as the Macedonian Movement for Balkan Prosperity and Vinozhito. In regard to developments with the Macedonians in Greece, on September 8th, 1995 members of the ethnic Macedonian political party in Greece, the RAINBOW PARTY, also known as the “VINOZHITO PARTY” in Macedonian, opened an office in Lerin. On January 19th, 1997 a Second Conference of the "RAINBOW" party was held in Lerin and was attended by 76 delegates of all local units. A Political Manifesto and Organizational Principles were adopted and a Central Council comprised of 19 members was elected. The Central Council held its first session in Voden on January 26th, 1997 and elected a five-member Political Secretariat, an Economic Commission, an Editors' Council, etc. In its Political Manifesto "RAINBOW" has aired its wish to cooperate with all democratic and anti-nationalist forces in the country in its struggle for peace and European integration. The RAINBOW PARTY is a member of the European Free Alliance which has been standing up for the rights of stateless nations, peoples and regions for decades. Other development with regard to the Macedonians in Greece includes the opening of the Greek branch of the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages (EBLUL), an organization dedicated to the preservation of lesser used languages in Europe. Across the European Union no fewer than forty million people speak languages in their everyday lives, which are different from the official language of the state in which they are living. At present this figure represents 10% of the total European population, but shortly, with the expansion of the Union, the number of people speaking a different language from the official language of their state will be much, much greater. Greece too is no exception however vigorously the state may deny it; the facts tell their own story. Much more than a negligible section of the Greek population is bilingual. It is not possible to provide precise figures since none of the censuses carried out to date has included a question on

language. The one exception was the census of 1920, yet the figures it yielded for the northern regions of the country were never published. Moreover, the long-standing policy of marginalization and suppression has succeeded, naturally enough, in reducing the actual number of those speaking the non-official languages. This hostile treatment of multilinguals in Greece had its beginnings in the early days of the modern Greek state, 170 years ago. In those areas of the country where Arvanitika was prevalent, every effort was made to discourage its use. There was perhaps some justification for this in the desperate efforts being made to unite the regional populations into a single Greek state, using as a means to this end a policy of homogenization of the various populations. Macedonians, such as Nase Parisis who is currently President of the Greek branch of EBLUL, are striving to introduce the Macedonian languages into the Greek educational system. In 1995 Human Rights Watch - Helsinki condemned Greece for the oppression of its ethnic Macedonian minority, which Greece denies exists. Both Amnesty International and the European Parliament urged Greece to recognize the Macedonian language and to stop oppressing ethnic Macedonians living within its borders.

The Macedonians in Bulgaria

Political changes after the capitulation of fascist Bulgaria and the September 9th, 1944 coup d'etat positively influenced the Macedonians in Pirin. On August 9, 1946 the Communist Party of Bulgaria, under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov, officially recognized the Macedonian nation and the right of the Bulgarian controlled part of Macedonia to attach itself to the People’s Republic of Macedonia. After World War II the Macedonians in Bulgaria were recognized as a separate and distinct ethnicity. Demographic data from a free census in 1946 revealed that the majority of the population in Pirin Macedonia declared itself to be ethnic Macedonian. There was a period of cultural autonomy and affirmation of Macedonian national and cultural values. The Macedonian literary language and national history were introduced in the educational system and almost 32,000 students were taught Macedonian. In 1947 in Gorna Djumaja (Blagoevgrad) the first Macedonian bookstore, reading room and Regional Macedonian National Theater were opened. Macedonian newspapers such as "Pirinsko delo", "Nova Makedonija", "Mlad borec" etc. were also published. Literary, cultural and artistic associations were founded contributing to the spread of Macedonian culture. In the 1956 census conducted by the Bulgarian government, 63.7% of the population living in Pirin Macedonia declared itself Macedonian. Since that census and after Tito broke relations with Russia and Bulgaria, Bulgaria changed its attitude and negated the existence of Macedonians thus forbidding the expression of the Macedonian ethnicity and language. Another census conducted in 1965 shows only 8,750 or less than 1% of the total population living in the district of Blagoevgrad to be Macedonians. This was a region with the highest percentage of Macedonians shown to live there by a previous census. In 1989 a group of Macedonians formed the United Macedonian Organization - Ilinden (OMO Ilinden) with aims at gaining cultural and national autonomy for the Macedonians in Pirin. OMO Ilinden PIRIN was a political party of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. It was registered as a political party in 1999 and participated in municipal elections in October 1999, where it elected five local officials. However on February 29, 2000 the Constitutional Court in Bulgaria declared OMO "Ilinden" -PIRIN unconstitutional. This was in direct violation of the right to freedom of association and the right to freedom from discrimination.

The Bulgarian government refuses to acknowledge the existence of the large Macedonian minority in Pirin Macedonia and continues to violate its basic human rights. Members and supporters of OMO Ilinden PIRIN (political party and human rights organization) and OMO Ilinden (human and minority rights organization) have been videotaped, harassed, beaten, fined, and even imprisoned simply for asserting their ethnic Macedonian identity.

The Macedonians in Albania – Recent Developments

At the local elections in Albania, held on February 18, 2007, a Macedonian from the party Macedonian Alliance for European Integration (MAEI) was, for the first time, elected as mayor. Edmond Temelko, a 36-year-old veterinarian turned politician, won the mayoral position in Prespa municipality making him the first Macedonian elected in Albania. Macedonians in Albania are still unable to fully exercise their basic human rights such as obtain schooling in their mother tongue, using Macedonian national symbols and participation in state institutions. Macedonians fought hard to register their political party, the Macedonian Alliance for European Integration with success which is a major accomplishment for Macedonians because they demonstrated maturity and voted for themselves. By doing so they showed the Albanian society that they are part of it and will take an active role in dealing with issues in the country. The Prespa municipality has nine towns, inhabited mostly by ethnic Macedonians who speak their own language and foster their own cultural heritage. The Macedonian language will become the second official language and all Macedonian landmarks will be given their original names which were changed during Enver Hodza’s regime. Albania gained the Mala Prespa region from Greece in 1919 in exchange for some Albanian lands in Epirus.

The Republic of Macedonia

As federal Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in the late 1980’s the Macedonians in the Peoples’ Republic of Macedonia sought their chance to finally create their own state. On September 8, 1991, in a referendum, 95% of eligible voters approved a sovereign and independent Republic of Macedonia with Kiro Gligorov as its President. The will of the people was confirmed on September 18, 1991 at the Macedonian Parliament with the declaration for acceptance of the results from the referendum. The next important steps in strengthening the state were the adoption of the Constitution on November 17, 1991, which was supplemented after the 2001 conflict, and the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement. The internationally legal subjectivity of the state was recognized on April 8, 1993 with an acclamation of the UN General Assembly. Macedonia was admitted as the 181st full-fledged member. Fearing that it might lose its Macedonian occupied territories, Greece was first to object to the Republic of Macedonia’s independence. Although the European Community acknowledged that Macedonia had fulfilled the requirements for official recognition, due to the opposition of Greece which was already a member of the community, the EC decided to postpone the recognition. Greece, afraid that Macedonia might put forward a historical, cultural and linguistic claim over Aegean Macedonia, insisted that the new nation had no right to use of the name "Macedonia" and use the emblem of ancient Macedonia on its flag. In July of 1992 there were massive demonstrations by Macedonians in the capital Skopje over the failure to receive recognition. But despite Greek objections, Macedonia in 1993 was admitted to the United Nations under the temporary reference (not an official name) "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Full diplomatic relations with a number of EC nations followed, while Russia, China, Turkey, Bulgaria and most nations ignored Greece's objections and recognized Macedonia under its constitutional name "Republic of Macedonia". Greece, dissatisfied with the results, in February 1994 imposed a trade embargo on Macedonia in an attempt to force President Gligorov to make changes to his country’s name, nation and language and amend the Constitution to remove Article 47 which stipulated that "the Republic of Macedonia cares for the statute and rights of those persons belonging to the Macedonian people in neighboring countries, as well as Macedonian

ex-parties, assists their cultural development and promotes links with them." Ironically Greece also has a similar article in its own Constitution, as is normal for any country in the world to care for its minorities in other countries. Faced with an economic collapse and left without any support from the international community, Macedonia had no choice but to change its flag and constitution, after which Greece lifted the embargo. Still reeling from the Greek embargo, from the internationally imposed embargo on Serbia, its traditional trading partner, and from unresolved issues with Greece, the Republic of Macedonia was faced with a new set of problems, a war at home. Due to the conflict north of Macedonia and as a result of the NATO bombing of Serbia, an influx of war refugees numbering in the three hundred thousands entered Macedonia. This created economic as well as political strain on impoverished Macedonia which on one hand, had to cope with an overnight 15% population increase and on the other criticisms from various human rights groups for the ways it handled the refugees. No sooner had that crisis ended when armed bands of Albanian fighters spilled over from the Serbian conflict began to infiltrate and stir up trouble in Macedonia. In 2001 these illegal bands, first branded as terrorists and later as “freedom fighters” began to occupy camps and later villages in western Macedonia. Initially these bands were seen as benign but as they started to assert themselves by restricting travel, kidnappings, torturing civilians and cutting off electricity and water supplies to various communities, the Macedonian police and military began to pursue them. There was an immediate backlash from the western media which, in spite of their violent acts, viewed the Albanian bands as human rights fighters and the Macedonian government and people as aggressors. This war placed great strains on Macedonia’s economy and created a long lasting divide between the Macedonian and Albanian communities inside Macedonia, communities that coexisted peacefully for centuries. The war lasted approximately six months and officially ended with the signing of the Ohrid agreement on August 13, 2001. “According to the Ohrid Peace Agreement, the international community was invited to support the challenging road of Macedonia from the brink of civil war in August 2001 to peace, stability and integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. In response to a request for NATO assistance made by the Macedonian

President Boris Trajkovski on June 20, 2001, this military organization drew up the operational plan that was dedicated to the peace and stability of the Republic of Macedonia. However, NATO had imposed three conditions for its help in resolving the crisis: conclusion of political agreement between the various parties in the Republic of Macedonia, armistice linked with amnesty for the members of the so-called NLA and finally pledge of full demilitarization from the so-called NLA. Once the Macedonian political parties signed the Ohrid Peace Agreement, the way was opened for NATO’s first mission in the Republic of Macedonia. The NATO military support to the Republic of Macedonia effectively commenced on August 27, 2001, with Operation Essential Harvest / Task Force Harvest (TFH). This UK-lead mission involved the rapid deployment of 4,600 Allied troops that were initiated to fulfill NATO’s promise to assist the Macedonian people by collecting and destroying arms and ammunition on a voluntary basis from ethnic-Albanian extremists. As a result of the greatly improved security in the country, authorities of the Republic of Macedonia and NATO finally decided to bring the mission to an end on December 15, 2002.” (http://www.airserbia.com/magazin/bozinovski/eu-nato/eu-nato_in_macedonia.htm) In spite of Greece’s objection to the name, to date over 120 countries including the USA, Russia and China have recognized the Republic of Macedonia by its rightful name.

The Macedonians in the Diaspora

The Macedonians today living in Canada, the USA, Australia and the world over did not end up where they are just by accident. Almost every Macedonian found outside of Macedonia today is either a political or economic refugee who was driven out of his or her homeland by oppression, violence and economic strife. The turn of the 20th Century was a milestone in the history of the Macedonian people. Hopelessly outnumbered, many fought for their freedom and independence in the great and stubborn National Ilinden Uprising in 1903 but lost to the Ottomans. Canada, Australia and the United States were rarely visited and were virtually unknown to the Macedonians prior to 1903. Those who had ventured to these distant lands were mostly migrant workers looking to make some money and return home to invest it. No one at that time entertained the slightest notion of settling permanently in these lands. Unfortunately the failed 1903 rebellion brought catastrophic consequences to the Macedonian people and drove them to flee abroad to save themselves. Unfortunately the Macedonian situation did not improve over the years and more and more Macedonians were driven out of Macedonia mostly during the Balkans Wars when Macedonia was invaded, occupied and partitioned by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria and later during the 1st and 2nd World Wars and during the Greek Civil War. Having left their homeland as war refugees the vast majority of Macedonians immigrated to Canada, the USA and Australia where they made their new homes. Even though they now live abroad most Macedonians keep an interest in their former home, always hoping for the situation in Macedonia, particularly in the Greek and Bulgarian part, to improve so that they can one day return and reclaim what once was theirs. This is particularly true with the Macedonian refugees from the Greek Civil War, especially the 28,000 Child Refugees who were driven out of Greece at the height of the Greek Civil War in 1948 and are still waiting to this day be taken back. Even though these people now live outside of Macedonia they feel that they have a right to be attached to their birthplace and to have a say in what happens to their homes and properties. Macedonia is home to all indigenous Macedonians no matter where they live and as such they have the right to determine their own destiny.