Modern Greece and the Macedonian Heritage – Part 2 – Who are the Modern Greeks?

By Risto Stefov

rstefov@hotmail.com

January 11, 2009



According to official Greece, Macedonia, particularly the Republic of Macedonia, is occupied by Slavs who came to Macedonia during the 6th century AD. Neither justified nor proven, this claim is used by Greece to negate the Macedonian identity and deny the Macedonian people their human rights. By this Greece is in
violation of international norms and standards particularly in regards to the freedom of Macedonians to self identify.



If the Macedonians are “Slavs” as Greeks claim then what are the Greeks, particularly in view that they both existed side by side as neighbours without borders for over 2,000 years?



How will the Modern Greek identity stack up to the Modern Macedonian identity if placed side by side?



Before answering the above questions however let’s examine “Who are the Modern Greeks?”



Edward Blaquiere Esq. author of the book “The Greek Revolution; Its Origin and Progress” on page 21 says: “Among the numerous islands of the Aegean, arise several barren rocks, some of which are however gifted by nature with small and commodious heavens. Of this number are Hydra Spezzia and Ipsara, the two first close to the Eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, and the later not far from Scio, on the Asiatic coast. Tyranny and Want had driven some families, whose origin like that of nearly all the peasants, who inhabited proper Greece, was Albanian, to take refuge on the desolate crags, where they built villages, and sought a precarious existence by fishing.”



What is Edward Blaquiere trying to tell us in regards to the origins of the Modern Greeks, “whose origin like that of nearly all the peasants, who inhabited proper Greece, was Albanian”. By the words of Edward Blaquiere nearly all the peasants inhabiting “proper” Greece were Albanian!



William St. Clair author of the book “That Greece Might Still Be Free” on page 9 says: “The Roman Catholic Greeks, who lived in the islands which had been under Venetian or Genoese rule, regarded themselves as a separate community. The Albanians of Hydra and Spetsae, many of whom could not even speak Greek, regarded themselves as Greek because their allegiance was to the Orthodox Church.”



William St. Clair says “The Albanians of Hydra and Spetsae regarded themselves as Greek” which implies that the Modern Greeks living in Hydra and Spetsae have Albanian origins.



Constantinos Papparigopolous in “History of the Hellenic Nation” on page 73 says: “The concept of the ‘Hellenic’ state as elaborated in Western Europe presupposed that this was to be the heir of the Ancient Greek (Hellenic) world. Since it occupied the same territory and this territory has been liberated after the uprising of the Christian populations claiming to be their descendants, it should -it was assumed- share the same culture and the same language as its ancient ancestors. Indeed, the newly born ‘Hellenic’ state originally based its legitimacy on this heritage. However, it had to undertake a difficult struggle to convince European public opinion of the validity of its claims. Moreover, the German historian Jacob Philip Fallmerayer argued that the ancient Greeks had been annihilated during the Slavic invasions of the Greek lands and the creation of new settlements in the seventh century AD. By this account the so called Neo-Hellenes were nothing more than a mixture of Slavic and Albanian populations.”



Here again we have references that the Modern Greek or Neo-Hellenic population living in the region where the Peloponnesus is today was once a mixture of Slavs and Albanians.



Ironically and despite the 20th century adjustments of borders, Modern Greeks today do not hesitate to call their northern neighbours “Slavs” but adamantly reject Jacob Philip Fallmerayer’s arguments which imply that they too are the descendants of Slavs.



In the book “The Vlachs: The History of a Balkan People”, on pages 124 and 125, T. J. Winifrith says: “There are two other difficulties involved in the Turkish period. In tracing the movements of merchandise and men in the Balkan peninsula it is extremely difficult to differentiate the various races involved. Western travelers knew little, Turkish authorities cared less. Even the polyglot Vlachs themselves neither knew nor cared a great deal and until the rise of national consciousness at the end of the eighteenth century were probably happy with the label of Greek which was good enough for outside observers.”



In the book “The Vlachs: The History of a Balkan People”, on page 139, T. J. Winifrith says: “One of Greece’s first and best Prime Ministers was John Kolettis, a Vlach who dressed like a Turk and had been court physician to Ali Pasha.”



Speaking about 19th century migrations in the Balkans, in the book “The Vlachs: The History of a Balkan People”, on pages 119 and 120, T. J. Winifrith says: “Elsewhere there is a further source of confusion with massive immigration of Albanians into Greece.”



In telling the story of the Vlachs, T. J. Winifrith gives us important clues as to the true identity of Modern Greeks. In the days when Modern Greece was molded into a nation Vlachs, a Latin speaking people, and Albanians were the primary sources of raw materials for the “making” of the Modern Greeks.



In the “Popular Science Monthly” edited by J. McKeen Cattell, published in 1915 on pages 41 and 42 we read: “Most of the old Greek race has been swept away, and the country is now inhabited by persons of Slavonic descent. Indeed there is a strong ground for the statement that there was more of the heroic blood of Hellas in the Turkish army of Edhem Pasha than in the soldiers of King George.”



In the “Popular Science Monthly” edited by J. McKeen Cattell, published in 1915 on page 42 we also read: “The Modern Greek has been called a ‘Byzantine Slav.’ King George himself and Constantine his son are only aliens placed on the Grecian throne to suit the convenience of outer powers, being in fact descendants of tribes which to the ancient Greeks were merely Barbarians.”



Here we are told by Popular Science Monthly that not only have the ancient so-called Greeks disappeared and been replaced by persons of Slavonic descent but that even the rulers of Modern Greece are aliens.



In the “Encyclopedia Britannica” published in 1910 on page 465 in the History of Greece section we read: “In 1715 the Ottomans with a large disciplined army set themselves to recover the Morea [later renamed the Peloponnesus], the Venetians were left without support from the Greeks. The peninsula was rapidly recaptured and by the Peace of Passarowitz (1718) again became a Turkish dependency. The gaps left about this time in the Greek population were largely made up by an immigration from Albania.”



I have been told by several Greeks to “read the encyclopedia” and educate myself on the true history of Greece. So following their advice I looked up the 1910 version of Encyclopedia Britannica and lo and behold it corroborates the story that the early 19th century Modern Greek population is Albanian. It also tells us that old Greece, more commonly known as Morea, a Slav word for “ocean”, was occupied by the Venetians.



In “Greece of the Hellenes” by Lucy M. J. Garnett on page 32 we read: “The Athenian women are neither beautiful nor well made; they have neither the physiognomy of French women, nor the full beauty of the Roman dames, nor the pale white delicacy of the Turkish women –one sees nothing in the town but ugly creatures with broad noses, flat feet and ill-formed waists. It is because Athens, twenty five years ago, was only an Albanian village. The Albanians formed and still form, almost the whole of the population of Attica; and within three leagues of the capital, villages are to be found where Greek is hardly understood. Athens has been rapidly peopled with men of all kinds and nations; that explains the ugliness of the Athenian type.”



Here Lucy M. J. Garnett comes out with it and spares us no details. Athens, at Modern Greece’s humble beginning, the seat of Modern and Ancient Greek-Dom, the pinnacle of Greek pride and glory in the 19th century was nothing more than an “Albanian village”.



Albanians, Vlachs, Slavs? Where are the so-called Greeks, descendants of the ancient Greeks, inheritors of the ancient Greek and Macedonian heritage?



We don’t need to look too far or scratch too deep from the surface to find irregularities with the Greek identity. Even with the scant evidence presented from only half a dozen sources we can see that the Modern Greek identity is not what it seems. So, how dare they [Modern Greeks] challenge our Macedonian identity when their [Modern Greek] identity is artificial at best?



Dear Macedonians, pay no attention to Modern Greek allegations because Modern Greeks are NOT really who they say they are. Modern Greeks are NOT the descendents of the so-called Ancient Greeks as they portray themselves to be. The so-called Ancient Greeks may have been who the world was told they were, which is yet to be proven, but they disappeared a long time ago. I can tell you with much certainty that the Modern Greeks are NOT their descendants. The Modern Greeks are nothing more than imposters and usurpers of the Ancient City State heritage. The only thing they have in common with the ancients is that they happened to live on the same lands.



Dear Macedonians do not “negotiate” our sacred biblical name, our symbols and our Macedonian historical heritage with these usurpers and charlatans.



We would not have to resort to this had Greece done the right thing and recognized the Macedonian people as Macedonians and provided them their human rights as prescribed by International Law. But No, we have to do this the hard way by dredging up the ugly Greek past! It’s never too late however for Greece to do the right thing!



For those who are still not convinced that the Modern Greek identity is an artificial creation, please continue to read this series of articles.



Author’s note:



Dear Macedonians, one way to defend ourselves from the Greek onslaught and gain back our identity and dignity is to fight back to the level to which the Greeks have reduced us; that is to attack their identity as they have attacked ours. We need prove nothing to them except to expose them as the artificial identity they truly are and to uncover their design to wipe us out in order to usurp our Macedonian heritage.



To be Continued.



Many thanks to TrueMacedonian from www.maknews.com for his contribution to this article.