An Instance of 19th Century Balkan Nationalism: Historical Macedonia Dream of Bulgaria

Symbols, myths, legends and traditions which came from the past have a special importance. These images are elements that states don’t want to share among themselves. Having these elements, attributing them to your own history or having a special image which enables one to make a reference to the past pave the way for the states to legitimize their upcoming plans. No doubt, the territorial integrity is really significant for every state. The territorial existence is as significant as the existence of both ethnic and other identities for the states to express themselves. When the historical process is considered, it is seen that Balkan people who fell under the Ottoman Empire for a period is successfully administered with the ‘Millet System’ the state put into practice. The millet system categorizes the peoples not in regard to ethnicity but in regard to the religion which they belong to. However, the millet system began to weaken due to the influence of both the movement of modern nationalism and some other elements. In Balkan nationalism, which emerges for this reason is both seen that the Balkan peoples acted on the basis of the ideal of redomination the places that they claim they have and embraced an irredentist policy. Therefore, for Bulgaria, Macedonia firstly means to integrate with their own ethnic identity and their own natural boundary. For Bulgaria, Macedonia is in the position of an ideal which always exist in their historical past and is a natural spite of their territory. To achieve this ideal, Bulgaria wanted to make use of the current position of the 19th century Balkans and tried to direct their policy on the basis of the ideal of repossessing Macedonia.

Keywords

Nation, Nationalism, Nationalism of Balkan, Bulgaria, Macedonia.