Introduction
Introduction

Summary/Abstract: Macedonia is located in the central part of the Balkan Peninsula. At the end of the 19th and in the 20th and 21st centuries this territory, characterised by ethnic and religious diversity, was the location of fierce fights involving nations, states and empires aspiring to rule this area. Due to its central location within the Balkans (at the meeting point of key transport and trade routes between Europe and the Middle East), whoever ruled Macedonia enjoyed a decisive political position in South‑Eastern Europe.However, the lands in middle and lower Vardar in Macedonia created favourable conditions for the development of Macedonian linguistic, cultural and political separatism. Despite propaganda coupled with cultural activities and settlements following the division of Macedonia in 1913, these actions failed to eradicate separatist ambitions, while the idea to unify and create a “greater Macedonia” gathering all Macedonian Slavs in one state remained alive.

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