CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST WAS DRAFTED - Part 12

our enemy. When you are inside it what do you see? The minds of the very people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are part of that system and that makes them our enemies. You have to understand that most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many are so hopelessly dependent on the system, they will fight to defend it". It is all but impossible to unplug Greeks from their Matrix, because they cannot or will not see that it exists, even when one presents compelling evidence that it does.. This coupled with the fact that they have been indoctrinated from kindergarten into believing that they are above all, “Greek greatness” (cried hysterically for outside help even in their civil war), so much for the 'greatness' part. If anyone points out to their flaws, their lies, which the Macedonian Government has done on dozens of occasions, it causes a reflex `knee jerk` reaction which in it's uniformity of response is startling. In effect, the whole Greek nation (spoke Albanian, Turkish and Macedonian until 1800’s) is locked into a state of mass denial and self delusion, or a condition known as `cognitive dissonance`. Simply put, this means to be in a state of inner conflict, when one's belief system and experience do not corroborate each other. The effects of this inner disharmony have to be addressed either by accepting that one's belief system is false, or by finding a way to justify the original belief. Most Greeks opt for the second recourse. It doesn’t matter what kind of evidence Macedonia presents against Greece and thousands of arguments it has against it. Greece wouldn’t budge. It can’t budge, because if it does, it will destroy the ‘Greek myth’ like a deck of cards. A myth that Greece had spent 60+ years building it. If you tell “Greeks” they are Vlachs, Pomaks, Roma, Albanian, Turkish, Macedonians and show them undisputable evidence large portion moved to the area in the last century, spoke Turkish, Roma, Albanian and not Koine (it was introduced when Greece was created as a country), they’d violently shake their head and tell you they were “Greeks”. The individual Greek believer must have social support. It is unlikely that one isolated believer could withstand the kind of disconfirming evidence I and others have specified over the years. If, however, the believer is a member of a group of convinced persons who can support one another, I would expect the belief to be maintained and the believers to attempt to proselyte or to persuade non-members that the belief is correct. In other words, when one's erroneous and discredited belief system, whether it be social, political or in our case historical is shown to be

evidently so, there is a clambering for safety in numbers. For the more there are to prevaricate and justify, `move the goal posts` if you will, then the greater the probability that the belief system, however discredited will remain the `received wisdom` of the masses. This describes Greece exactly. Unlike other nations whose citizens in my experience, are able to perceive and recognise not only the positives in their societies, but the negatives also, Greeks have been so inculcated with a sense of self righteous superiority (ironically the people of the Balkans shouldn't, but do look down on 'Greeks'), that they in `parrot fashion` continue to herald unquestioningly whatever their Government serves them. And their Government serves them a lot. Each Greek knows and understands his/her place in the Matrix. This belief system, this Matrix is responsible for what we see today in Greece. This is precisely why Macedonia should put an immediate halt to the negotiations. You shouldn’t negotiate with someone plugged and or managing the Matrix. You shouldn't speak to individuals, groups, countries who name their leaders "Supreme President". Macedonians should ask for a certificate before any talks with Greece's representatives. Something along the line "Not Insane". Homer Simpson had one!!! Is Macedonia negotiating change of name for NATO? I certainly hope not, NATO was instrumental in starting the 2001 conflict. NATO played a major role in destabilizing Macedonia, this has been widely established by Governments, local and foreign journalists, citizens, Macedonian soldiers, the Secret Service. Is Macedonia negotiating change of name for EU? I certainly hope not, EU is a dictatorship, the worst thing that has happen to Europe, since 'Europe', and will soon fall apart. Think twice of Putin’s offer. “Recognize Abkhazia and S. Ossetia and you will be known as Macedonia at the UN.” If Putin says it, I believe him, he just shot a tiger. In all fairness, he seems to be the only one who respects international law. Macedonia can go to the UN and do a roll call, a vote off. Macedonia would win. Macedonia can take and I am convinced will take Greece to Court, and will win. The only way Macedonia will not win is by ‘negotiating’. Time for Macedonia to utilize dozens of American Macedonian legal experts residing in the US who have offered help, but were ignored.

Essay 52 - According to the Greeks Tito was either a god or a magician

By Tale Buling Edited by Risto Stefov April 10, 2009

If you are a Macedonian from the Republic of Macedonia you can’t pass by a Greek without being told, “Tito created your nation!” Or “There were no Macedonians until Tito created them in the 1940’s.” If on the other hand you tell a Greek you are a Macedonian from Greece they immediately become confused, disregard your comments as if they didn’t hear you and continue to refer to you as if you were from the Republic of Macedonia, calling you “Fyromian”, “Skopian” or some other derogatory name. Greeks, is this the best you can do? Do you really think people will believe you when you say “Tito created the Macedonians”? Or is this another smoke screen to hide something you don’t want people to know? Greece with all its might has been trying to make “Greeks” out of the Macedonians for the last 200 years and it has not succeeded. Do you mean to tell me that Tito succeeded in doing something similar just overnight? If Tito was that capable then he must have been some sort of god or perhaps an outstanding magician? But then when you scratch a bit deeper into your claims, you can’t help but feel that Tito must also have been a time traveler, a warp speed demon (traveling at the speed of light) and a super human as well, for being able to cross time and distance in such a short time to make so many Macedonians not just in the Republic of Macedonia but everywhere in this world. If you believe Tito “created” the Macedonians then Tito must have been some kind of god to have such capabilities. But if you mean Tito “converted” existing people into Macedonians then your allegations open up a whole slew of new questions. For example what were these people before Tito turned them into Macedonians? Where did they come from? Were they forced into becoming Macedonians or did they all volunteer? How did he make them forget their past and make them think they were Macedonians? How did he teach them a new language so quickly? How did he make their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents, etc., believe they were Macedonian? How did he make Macedonians in the USA, Canada and Australia even before he was born? So many questions!

There is, however, a parallel between Tito’s alleged doings and those of the 19th century Philhellenes. Perhaps when you Greeks speak of Tito making Macedonians you draw on your own personal experience. You think Tito must have created the Macedonians in the same manner the Philhellenes created you, the Modern Greeks. We will tell you how the 19th century Western European Philhellenes created Modern Greeks if you promise to give us Tito’s formula on how he “created” the Macedonians! Deal? Here is how the Greeks were created; “You take three parts Albanian, add two parts Slav, mix it well with one part Vlach, add a little Roma and other spices then simmer for 100 years. Then add 4 parts Macedonian, two parts Christian Turk from Asia Minor, mix well and let simmer for a decade while stirring. Then presto you have instant Hellenes amounting to 98% pure Greeks, descendants of the ancient Greeks and 2% Muslim Greeks. The “Muslim” part is a bi-product from not having the pot properly “cleansed” but we will keep that information between us. Ah heck that’s not true. The reason we have 2% Muslims in Greece is because Greece and Turkey made a deal. In exchange for allowing Muslims in Thrace, Greece asked Turkey to allow some mixed Christians to exist in Istanbul in order to keep the Patriarchate alive. Greeks are not as generous as you may think! And no, the Philhellenes did not have access to a time machine to connect the Modern Greeks to the ancients; they just falsified history to do it. If you don’t believe us then show us a map made before the 19th century showing “Greece” or “Hellas”! Now it’s your turn! We know there were no Greeks before the 1800’s and we know 200 years later we have 10 million Greeks. How did this happen? Was it magic? Philhellene Magic perhaps? Okay we give up it was really Tito who created us, we admit it, but we simply can’t remember how he did it. Tito must have erased our real memories and replaced them with fake ones making us believe that we are Macedonians. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, how then can we erase Tito’s “cruel doings” and get back to who we really were before Tito made us into Macedonians? Since you claim to already know the truth, please let us know who we were and help us return to our original selves. Can you do that? Before Greece invaded Macedonia in 1912 we were approximately, I would hazard to guess, 2 to 4 million living inside geographic Macedonia. I would also hazard to guess that we had probably another

200 to 400 thousand of us living outside of Macedonia. That’s a lot of people for Tito to have converted in such a short time! Given that we have a lot of ancestors we are desperate to find out who and what they were before Tito turned them into Macedonians. More importantly we need to know how Tito was able to do what he did before he was even born. Did he hypnotize our ancestors or did he use some sort of brainwashing spell? Did he use a Time Machine to go back in time to get to our ancestors? Please, we need answers! As far as our collective memory can recollect, Tito created the Yugoslav Federation. He convinced the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians to abolish their kingdoms and become federal republics. And because the Macedonians fought against Nazism and Fascism to free Yugoslavia, they too earned their place in the Yugoslav federation with the formation of their own country which they named the Republic of Macedonia. Unfortunately our collective memory does not remember anything different. That is why we truly need your (Greek) help to let us know how Tito did all these other things which you claim he did but which we can’t remember. Also, only recently we have uncovered all sorts of foreign documents, newspaper articles and even gravestones (in the United States of all places) from the 1800’s that refer to us as Macedonians. For example “Macedonians fight against the Turks”, “Macedonians dying in battle”, “Macedonians fighting for Macedonia”, etc., etc., some dating back to before Tito’s birth. It would be interesting to let us know how Tito managed to get all these people all over the world to write about the Macedonians before the Macedonians existed or even before Tito was born. Was it not the charismatic humanitarian William Gladstone, a three time British Prime Minister, who uttered the words "Macedonia to the Macedonians"? How old was Tito when Gladstone made those comments? First, how did Tito get to him and second, how did he convince him to say “Macedonia to the Macedonians” if the Macedonians did not exist at that time? Who was he referring to when he said “Macedonians”? I am sure you Greeks are clever and will have all kinds of answers! As we all know Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria invaded Macedonia in 1912 in what was termed the First Balkan War and, with the help of the Macedonian people, drove the Ottomans out. But instead of liberating Macedonia for the Macedonians, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria occupied it intending to partition it and annex it for themselves. All three dissatisfied with how much of Macedonia they received fought each other in 1913 for a bigger piece in what was termed the Second Balkan

War, prompting the Great Powers (which all happened to be Europeans) to intervene, etc., etc. To make a long story short, Macedonia was partitioned by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest and the Great Powers gave Greece 51%, Serbia 39% and Bulgaria 10%. What our collective memory is telling us about the period immediately after Macedonia’s partition and annexation by Greece is that the Greek army came to Macedonia and forced our people to become Greeks. They used slogans like “This is Greece now! There is no place for the likes of you here! Accept that you are Greeks or get out. You have 24 hours to leave. Take what you can carry and get out!” This is what we collectively remember happening to us in 1913 when Greece annexed our lands and when Tito was only a child. After that and after many of our people were exiled, jailed and murdered and many of our villages were burned to the ground by the Greeks, you changed our names by force. Not just our personal names but also the ancestral names of every family, village, road, river, lake, mountain, town and city and then you changed the names on the gravestones of our departed and the names of our saints on the icons inside our churches! This is what our collective memory holds for us! And if that was not enough, in the 1930’s you banned our language by law forbidding us to speak it. You then imposed on us your Greek language which to us was foreign and disgusting because for one, it was not our language and for two, it was the language of our subjugators. Then to keep us in line and to “Hellenize” us much faster, you brought Christian Turk refugees to our country, themselves victims of your Hellenization policies, and gave them our best lands and our best homes in not one but several of your so-called “land reform” programs. That’s what our collective memory holds for us. I suppose Tito placed that memory in our minds too! So getting back to our questions; who and what were we before Greece annexed 51% of our Macedonia; before you Greeks occupied our lands, changed our names and forbid our language to be spoken? And what right did you have to do all those things to us? As much as we would appreciate your answers, let’s face it, we all know the truth here and the only reason you deny our existence and pretend that Tito created us is to cover up the fact that you invaded, occupied and took our country away from us by force. You now resort to making up ridiculous stories and lies to protect yourselves from being discovered. You don’t want anyone to know that you have stolen our lands and heritage and that you have committed atrocities against

us while doing it. You loathe us because our existence is a constant reminder of your own guilt! Our existence seems to bother you a lot doesn’t it? It is a constant reminder that someday someone is going to find you out and reveal your wrong-doings and then you have to answer for them. But instead of owning up to it, you continue to seek cowardly ways to do us even more harm. Do you really believe that getting rid of us will give you peace? You can falsify history and distort the truth all you want. You can provide logical and rational explanations for everything we throw at you but you can never escape from your own guilt. As long as you are guilty, sooner or later you will be found out. In the meantime go ahead and tangle yourselves in your own web of lies which you have spun for the last couple of centuries! We are tempted to ask “How can Europe put up with such behaviour from Greece? But then we know better! Greece is Europe’s creation; the child-turned-to-monster creation to be exact! Greece was created by Europe; a Frankenstein’s monster child. Europe sacrificed the Slavs, Albanians and Vlachs and later the Macedonians and Asia Minor Christian Turks to create it. It’s unlikely that Europe will abandon it for the sake of “nobodies” like us. When the European Union talks about democracy and human rights it talks about “other peoples” practices but not its own. While the European Union demands rights for the various minorities living in the Republic of Macedonia, which by the way is not a EU member, it completely ignores the rights of the Macedonians living in EU member countries like Greece and Bulgaria, tolerating these countries while they openly practice racism and intolerance. When will this hypocrisy end? The more we learn about Europe, unfortunately, the more cynical we become and wonder “will there ever be justice for the Macedonians?”

Essay 53 - The West we Trust?

Not so long ago I ran into a Macedonian who I have known for a while and in our discussions he mentioned something that stayed with me. He said he does not trust the Greeks, Serbians, or Bulgarians in being objective when writing about Macedonia. This was fine by me but when he said that he also didn’t trust the Macedonians to do the same, I found that disturbing. This is not the first or only time I have heard this. In fact I myself am guilty of having such thoughts because some of the material I have read coming from Macedonians has left me disappointed. No one knows or cares about Macedonia’s narrative better than the Macedonians themselves. I too, not too long ago, thought that Westerners were better at “knowing our story” that is until I contacted a reputable Western historian and asked him why he hadn’t written anything about the Macedonians? To my surprise in a very terse message he said, “Why haven’t you written about yourselves? When you write something about yourselves then I will write something about you! Where am I expected to find the information to write about you?” I received a simple, honest, direct and eye opening answer, which not only surprised me but made me realize that no one was going to do my job for me and more importantly, how presumptuous of me to have such expectations of a stranger, who knows nothing about me or my history? Anyway that was then, but unfortunately there are Macedonians out there who still to this day believe that Westerners, foreigners who know nothing about us are more knowledgeable about our history than we are! This is indeed disturbing! How did Macedonians come to believe this? That “Westerners” are more knowledgeable than Macedonians and therefore more objective when writing Macedonian history? Macedonians in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and all over the world, outside of the Republic of Macedonia, were taught in foreign schools and learned things about Macedonia and its history from a variety of non-Macedonian sources. Macedonians have also learned about Macedonia from their own relatives who had experienced turmoil and war in their lives. Unfortunately the things that Macedonians learned in school did not correspond with what they learned from their relatives. Macedonians in the Greek occupied part of Macedonia were taught that Macedonians did not exist and that the people living in Macedonia were Greeks. Events like the 1903 Ilinden Uprising and Macedonia’s invasion, occupation and partition not only were not taught in Greece,

but people were not even allowed to mention them in private. Naturally what Macedonian children learned in Greek schools did not at correspond with what their relatives taught them. Macedonians in the Bulgarian occupied part of Macedonia were taught that they were Bulgarians. They were also taught that Macedonians living in Greek and Serbian occupied Macedonia were also Bulgarians. Major events like the 1903 Ilinden Uprising were labeled “Bulgarian” and all those who participated in them, including the staunchest of Macedonians, were also labeled Bulgarians. Macedonians in the Serbian occupied part of Macedonia, up until the mid 1940’s, were taught that they were Serbians or Old Serbians. But afterwards, when Macedonia became a Yugoslav Republic, Macedonians were allowed to write their own history provided that it fit the Yugoslav model which claimed that everyone in Yugoslavia was a “Slav”. Thus the young Macedonians in the Peoples’ Republic of Macedonia were taught to believe that they were “Slavs” and that Macedonian history began in the 6th century A.D.! This however did not sit well with Macedonians from Greece, particularly those living in the Diaspora, who were familiar with a much different and much longer history. Those Macedonians who could write well and wanted to write the proper Macedonian narrative had a hard time publishing their work. Only those who were in agreement with the “pre-prescribed” version of history were encouraged to write and had their work published. But even they were alienated and their poor work reflected their disappointments. So we have Macedonians in three parts of Macedonia with a common historic heritage who were taught three different stories about themselves; none of which corresponded with their personal Macedonian experiences. It may be worth while at this point to explain that the vast majority of Macedonians living in the Diaspora originated from Greek occupied Macedonia. They were never taught to read or write in the Macedonian language and neither were the Macedonians living inside Greece. This is because the Macedonian language was outlawed in Greece. However even those in Greece who could read Macedonian would not bring Macedonian literature to Greece because such an offense would land them in very hot water. At a minimum they would be facing criminal charges and even jail time. So it was not worth it! The only sources of so-called “Macedonian history” that the Macedonians from Greece could read and understand were Greek or Western. Since Macedonians definitely did not trust the Greeks, they became reliant on Western sources.

Now based on what the Western historian I mentioned earlier told me, that Macedonians need to write their own Macedonian history before they can expect outsiders to write about them, then where do you suppose the “material” to write these “existing” Western books came from and how accurate and representative of Macedonian history would it be? Well here is where it becomes a bit “tricky”! Writing history about the Macedonians in the past had been delegated mostly to the Greeks, our enemies; the same Greeks who persistently have insisted that Macedonians do not exist. They have insisted that we, who call ourselves Macedonians, are not Macedonians at all but “Slavs” who came to Macedonia in the 6th century AD. The Greeks have written thousands of books full of such lies and misinformation and these are the very books that Westerners used as “sources” to write about the Macedonians! The way I see it, a Western historian is an outside observer who we cannot expect to know the most intricate details about us or “our story” first hand. A Western historian can be compared to a witness of an argument. Two men are arguing over “something” and both present valid arguments as to who this “something” belongs. This “something” however cannot exclusively belong to both at the same time, so obviously at least one of them is not telling the real story! But without knowing the details of the “real story” how can the outside observer tell which one of the men is lying and which one is telling the truth? If one knows more about the subject then it becomes simple to tell who is lying and who is telling the truth. But when we have one party, Greece, representing both Greek and Macedonian interests and controlling the flow of information then we have a serious problem which has been the case for a couple of centuries. Thus mainstream historians have accepted the Greek side of the story as the “defacto standard” and now that a Macedonian state has come into existence the Macedonian side is being questioned. This is because most mainstream historians have accepted Greek claims that (1) “Macedonians do not exist”, (2) “the Modern Greeks are the descendents of the so-called ancient Greeks”, and (3) “the ancient Macedonians were Greek” and have built reputations and careers on the foundation of these claims. In addition to the above, mainstream historians have also accepted “unproven claims” that the Modern Macedonians are “Slavs” who came to Macedonia during the 6th century A.D.

Unfortunately all of the above claims are based on “false information”, a foundation of falsehood concocted during the 19th century for political purposes! Today we can easily prove that (1) the Modern Greeks are not the descendents of the so-called ancient Greeks, and (2) the “Slav migration” is only an unproven theory and as such has no basis in reality, especially for the Macedonians. In fact there is more evidence today to support the idea that a mass Slav migration “never took place” than there is to support the idea that it did. So we are faced with a serious problem, one which not only affects the Macedonians but a lot of other people including our neighbours the Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians. By exposing the rotten foundation on which this modern historic model is built, we are bound to bring the entire structure down. This will definitely ruin reputations and careers. The fact that the 1903 Ilinden Macedonian National Uprising took place only a century ago in full view of the world and as one Western historian put it, “it was the greatest revolution that Europe witnessed in the 20th century” and nothing is written about it in mainstream history proves that there is something wrong here! Even though many other historic events have taken place in Macedonia involving the Macedonian people en masse, I have not seen much written about them in mainstream history. Most mainstream historians have either steered as far away as possible from this or have taken the Greek or Bulgarian side of either completely ignoring the Macedonians or labeling them Bulgarian. The greatest revolution that Europe witnessed in the 20th century was the 1903 Ilinden Macedonian National Uprising and no Western mainstream historian, to this day, has taken the time to mention it in their Western school books. I wonder why? How many books written by mainstream so-called “reputable” historians have you read that “truthfully” speak about the questionable Greek identity? I would say not many. Yet the truth is available from literally thousands of sources out there! Thanks to TrueMacedonian’s diligent and tireless effort he has now identified more than 200 books that testify to the fact that the Modern Greeks are not the descendents of the ancient Greeks. But where is all this information in mainstream history? Why have “reputable” historians forsaken the truth in favour of writing Greek mythology? How does this artificial creation called Greece compare to the existence of Macedonia and the indigenous Macedonians who have lived in Macedonia for thousands of years? How many books written by mainstream “reputable” historians have you read that truthfully describe how this artificially created nation called Greece invaded,

occupied, partitioned Macedonia with their partners Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912, 1913 and literally stole it from the hands of the Macedonian people? Did these events not happen? But let us not blame Western historians for not doing a job that Macedonians should be doing. As for the “erroneous” information being put out there, we have to blame the Greeks for that because they are the ones who have misled the world, not only about us but about themselves as well. Therefore it is imperative that we write our own narrative and tell our own story the way we know it before we expect others, outsiders, strangers to write about us in an objective manner. I guess not all Macedonians have discovered that Westerners are easily “turned off” by poor writing styles and by poor English, which sometimes not even God can understand! Westerners, particularly English speakers, are obsessed with “correct” grammar, spelling and punctuation marks and tend to be “turned off” by such errors. Spelling unfortunately is something that Macedonians are not familiar with and take for granted because the Macedonian alphabet is phonetic and words are written the way they are pronounced. For Macedonians there is no invested (wasted) effort in learning how to read and write, something Westerners could learn. So in addition to writing our own narrative in Macedonian, we need to also write it in English and take special care to make sure it’s not only accurate but comprehensible. If we want our story to be read by the world we must also make it readable and easily accessible!

Essay 54 - What’s Europe’s Problem with Macedonia?

What’s Europe’s problem with Macedonia? Some people would say that most Europeans know so little, or next to nothing, about Macedonia how could they possibly have a problem with it? By now anyone who has read my essays knows what I think so I will spare you the repetition. More recently I received a letter from Australia from Vasil Bogov, the author of the book “Macedonian Revelation, Historical Documents Rock and Shatter Modern Political Ideology”, who reminded me that there may indeed be “other reasons” why Europe has a problem with the Macedonians. And finally in response to that very question another friend e-mailed me a link with an article entitled “The Macedonian Question” by the Foreign Relations Council for Research Into South-Eastern Europe; Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, which I have included in its entirety further down the text. And now I will begin with Vasil Bogov’s compilations. Here Vasil draws on the words of others who shed a different light on European affairs regarding Macedonia and the Macedonians. The themes in the various sentences may seem to be out of context with each other which, by the way, is done on purpose, drawing the reader to form his or her own opinions. Do the Macedonian people deserve the “wrath” of Western Europe because of the historic influence of their Macedonian Church? Read and decide for yourselves! Here is what Vasil had to say; “Panslavism was always primarily an instrument of Russian nationalism and politics, it never stood for Christian union. It is true there are a few Turkish settlements in Macedonia, which live by agriculture. They are genuine Osmanly Turks, who are exiled from Asia, in order that they might be isolated. (1) Many in Western Europe doubted whether Hellenism existed at all in Macedonia, and regarded it solely as the invention of the Greek press. (2) Since nationality in terms of practical politics, was chiefly a question of ecclesiastical registration, more than ever the Macedonian struggle developed into a conflict over Macedonian churches. (3) Hellenismos was chiefly a propagandist organisation. (4) The modern Western influence that thus spread into the main body of Christendom, the Ecumenical Patriarch had transmuted their old dream of raising from the dead, the East Roman ghost of the Roman Empire, in to a new dream of solving the Western question, on a political plan, in making the Ecumenical Patriarch the official head of

all the Eastern Christians, the Sultan had given this Constantinopolitan prelate, political authority over Christian peoples, that had never been under the rule of any Constantinopolitan Emperor. (5) However, as soon as there were Turks in Europe, The Eastern Question was born, and one might add that: As soon as there was an "Eastern Question" war followed. (6) Turkey was the ally, throughout the years, of the great European powers, in turn exploiting their rivalries in her own interest; whilst the European powers made the best of this field, in the great Christendom of Macedonia, of constant intrigues and perilous successes. (7) Their Catholic priest brought pressures to bear in their proselytising of the Greeks. (8) Their power in Macedonia was reinforced by the Orthodox clergy. The new western "system of liberty", which at that time was being imported into the Christian world, not only contradicts the scriptures, but is really no more than a bastard freedom, allowing each individual to pursue his own most selfish interests and appetites. (9) The spirit of western liberalism, was as alien to the Christian church in Macedonia, as the Sultan himself. (10) Throughout the period of Turkish occupation the Holy Mountain was the great academy of Pravoslavni Christian Monasticism. (11) It was here those monks above all others, who by their ardent and unswerving preaching, encouraged the customary to stand by their faith, and not abandon it in favour of Islam. (12) But something had changed, by the middle of the 19th century, a Greek Bishop, as we call today, had been installed in Constantinople, to represent Roum Millet in the Balkans. (13) His name was Melety, such Bishops are not only a burden to the Christian people, but also a sore wound of Christ's flock. (14) The modern clerical members exploited the church, and between them, they set themselves to crush the Pravoslavni Christian faith in Macedonia, with the authority of the Turks behind them. (15) It is from that egoistic standpoint that the "Greeks" hold themselves justified in combining with the Turks, to resist the old Christian religion in Macedonia. (16) Greeks had never been a nation; it was doubtful whether they were even a race. Greeks were not Hellenes, Romans, "Byzantines," nor Ancient Macedonians, as they are written in today's modern European history. (17) Greek race is a mere invention of pseudo-science, and Greek language is another artificial invention. (18) Greeks were loyal subjects to Abdul Hamid. (19)

What a land, then, is that comprised within the limits of the Turkish Empire that was Holy Mountain, with 64 monastic estates and monasteries in Macedonia. (20) Out of its past speaks Christian faith, and material wealth, literature and art, philosophy and religion. (21) And that land which today lies desolate, and its people, who were the glory of the past, repressed by injustice, cruelty, and tyranny – that land possesses today the same elements for material and spiritual greatness, that made it the first to develop a modern civilization. (22) From whatever angle one views Macedonia, it beholds a land of extraordinary fascination. To the historian, the archeologist, or to the geographer, it is a storehouse of wealth, worth a lifetime of exploration and study. (23) Poetry and proverb are in the daily speech, while monasteries proclaim from every mountaintop, and market-place, that religion is a part of the very life of the Macedonians. (24) The land of Macedonia looks out on the present from a historic past that is the study of all ages. On the banks of the Dardanelles Constantine founded his world capital, and from that day Macedonian Christianity and the Macedonian city has figured in all great world movements. (25) It has been the centre of intrigues and treaties, of councils and machination, around which have circled the policies of Europe for the last eighteen hundred years. (26) If one could only turn aside from the horrors of misrule and injustice done to Macedonia, and out of a wonderful past could construct a vision of a more glorious future! For, in spite of five centuries of retrogression under the rule of the Turks, there is promise of a golden age for the generation about to come. The same broad plain that once fed and clothed a population of 40,000,000 beings, are waiting today for the plow to seed, and the reaper. The mountains still hold riches of coal and iron and copper. The rivers are potent with power to turn the wheels of industry. The natural harbours invite the fleet of merchantmen, and the river valleys and mountain passes offer natural lines of communication and transportation, as in days when great caravans passed along these natural highways, bringing the merchandise of the East to the markets of the West. (27) For centuries – a land, that modern exploration reveals as one of the richest in natural resources, and as unsurpassed by its geographic location, for being the trade centre of the world. (28)

However, in short the people of Macedonia become the victims of ruthless, unrelenting exploitation by a modern big idea of nationality. If we take books, it was virtually nothing in Modern Greek, and naturally all Athenian periodicals and newspapers – save an innocent sheet published under the censor's eye in Smyrna (Asia Minor) are articles of contraband. (29) It is that egoistic standpoint that the Greeks hold themselves justified in combining with the Turks to crush the Macedonian Christian church. (30) The Patriarchate Greek priests were the tool of the Sultan. (31) If one must balance criminality, the weight of horrors now rests with the Greeks. And I am within the mark in saying that the Turkish authorities wink at the doing of the Greek "Bands" in Macedonia. The Turk promotes and helps Greek propaganda in Macedonia – and this is the blunt truth – against the old and long established Christian religion. (32) The Greek fails to notice that the whole proceeding is part of a scheme, by modern political powers in Europe, to keep the Christians at enmity in Macedonia. (33) And now I offer you some of Henry Brailsford’s wisdom on the subject of “the Greeks”, quoted in square brackets, from his book “Macedonia Its Races and their Future”. Here is what Brailsford has to say about the Greeks with regards to the Macedonians; [It is a sorry transition to turn from this dream of a revived Hellenism which is to civilise the Near East once more, to the actualities of Greek politics. One may say of the Greeks with equal truth that they are capable of superb devotion to an idea, or that they are the ready victims of any catch-word or abstraction. "The Slav is the enemy" is a phrase which their journalists have been repeating to them for the last thirty years, and at length it has obsessed them so powerfully that they have almost forgotten their own past and their heroic struggles against Turkish tyranny. They have been taught to believe that all Turkey south of the Balkans is theirs by right, and they can think of the Macedonian movement only as a sort of invasion of their inheritance planned by the enemy in Bulgaria, if not by Russia herself. That it can be a spontaneous Macedonian movement, that it is a real revolt against Turkish tyranny, they will not for a moment believe. It is for them only a plot by the foes of Greece against the sacred cause of Hellenism. It is from that egoistic standpoint that they hold themselves justified in combining with the Turks to resist "the Slav." For them these miserable peasants, taking arms under any leader who will promise them deliverance from the tax-collector and the bey, have

no concrete existence. They are Slav, and "the Slav is the enemy." It is part of the Greek temperament that it does nothing by halves. They flung themselves into the new alliance with enthusiasm. In 1903 deputations of Greek officers actually visited the Turkish Minister in Athens to offer him their swords, and the Greek press wrote of Abdul Hamid as though he were a philosopher-king and a pillar of Hellenism. Bulgarian refugees captured in Thessaly were handed over to the Turkish police to be tortured in Turkish dungeons. The Patriarch issued an encyclical ordering his Bishops and priests to denounce the insurgents and their sympathisers to the Turkish officials. Every Greek consulate in Macedonia became a department of the Turkish secret police, and the work of espionage went on unchecked, even while the Turks were slaughtering the Hellenised Vlachs of Kruchevo. For to the Turk all Giaours are one. "There are white dogs and red dogs, but all of them are dogs." In fairness to the Greeks we must admit that this policy has been followed by their rivals in times past. M. Stambulov worked steadily for a Turco-Bulgarian entente, and undoubtedly he meant to use it against the Greeks. I have never heard that he carried it to such an extreme as this — the circumstances hardly arose — but there is a nasty story which accuses him of encouraging M. Tricoupis to develop his plan for a Balkan coalition against Turkey, only to carry the scheme to Constantinople on the eve of its execution. (34) No sense of chivalry prevented the Bulgarians from profiting by the reverses of Greece in 1897. But apart from the morality of this Greek policy or the amount of provocation which might be held to justify it, it is an extremely foolish venture. It had no doubt a certain brief and superficial success. It was easy to force a Bulgarian notable to call himself a "Greek" by threatening to denounce him to the Turks, and the Archbishop of Castoria won many villages for the Patriarch in this way. When that failed, a Bishop had only to go on tour among the villages with an immense "escort" of Turkish troops, as the Bishops of Serres and Florina did, "converting" them by force. As a last resort, in one case at least, the Bishop of Serres even arrested a Bulgarian priest and kept him a prisoner in his own palace, only releasing him when he renounced the Exarch. But these are ephemeral triumphs. The "converted" villages still maintain their sly commerce with the Committee, still harbour "bands," still talk Bulgarian. And assuredly they do not love "Hellenism" the more. Worst of all, the loyal Greek and Vlach villages are puzzled and impatient. They saw their Slav neighbours marching out to fight the traditional enemy, and they wished to join them. "You know we too have rifles, and we want to use them," said a young man of Klissoura to me one day. "Against whom?" I asked. "Why, against the Turks, of course. We are only waiting for