Makedonischer Namensstreit und griechischer Bürgerkrieg. Ein kulturhistorischer Erklärungsversuch der griechischen Makedonien-Haltung 1991
The Macedonian Name Issue and the Greek Civil War. A Cultural-Historical Approach to the Greek View on Macedonia 1991

Summary/Abstract: The article provides insights regarding the negative reaction of Greece towards the 1991 Macedonian declaration of independence. The central question is how the Greek civil war (1946-1949) with its strong Macedonian dimension affected Greece’s post-World War remembrance culture and history politics, and subsequently influenced perceptions and opinions regarding “the Macedonian Question”. One of the main claims of the article is that in ”national-minded”, anti-communist Greece of 1950- 1974, the “traumatic” experience of civil war triggered the establishment of an official remembrance culture aiming to “produce” frenetic anti-communism, and a both proud and anti-Slavic Greek- Macedonian identity in Northern Greece. The latter was mainly accomplished by deeply rooting and emphasizing the memory of two “chosen glories” of Macedonian Hellenism: On the one hand, ancient Macedonia with its glorious king Alexander the Great, and on the other hand, the Greek anti-Slavic so-called “Macedonian Struggle” of 1904-1908. At the same time, anti-communism was brought forward by consistently reiterating the “treacherous” collaboration of the Greek communists with secessionist movements of Bulgarian and Macedonian affiliation during the occupation and civil war years.

• Details
• Contents