Day of Macedonian Uprising in 1941


The day of the Macedonian Uprising in 1941 is October 11. It marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Macedonian uprising against fascism during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia. Since the times of SFRY this was the national holiday in SR Macedonia and later in Republic of Macedonia it was proclaimed a public holiday. It is a non-working day.

History

During the Second World War, the Axis powers invaded the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, of which today Republic of Macedonia was part called Vardar Banovina. On October 11, 1941, the Yugoslav Communists in Vardar Macedonia began to organize an armed insurrection against their Bulgarian occupiers which started with an attack on the local police-station in Prilep. The October 11 rebellion launched the war for national liberation from fascist occupation, which coincided with the subsequent rise of the Macedonian communist resistance movement into the following years. It lasted until late 1944.

Celebration

Every year on 11 October, there are official ceremonies and public speeches and celebrations on the occasion of Day of Macedonian Uprising. There are also official award called 11 October, given out to Macedonian people who have contributed significantly to the national progress.

Controversy

The glorification of the Communist Partisan movement became one of the main agenda of the post-war Yugoslav political propaganda. Historically, Yugoslav communism and Macedonian nationalism are closely related. The very Macedonian nation, state and language are basically a result of Yugoslav communist policies. After the Republic of Macedonia gained its independence during 1990s, the picture has not changed significantly. Macedonian historiography has not revised the Yugoslav Communist past, because almost all of its historical myths were created during the communist era. In fact, when Bulgarian Army entered Vardar Macedonia on 19 April 1941, the soldiers were greeted by the locals as liberators, while pro-Bulgarian feelings among them prevailed. After the Bulgarian takeover the local communists fell in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party. They refused to define the Bulgarian forces as occupiers. However, after the German invasion of the USSR in June, with the help of the Comintern a decision was taken in August, and the Macedonian Communists were attached back to the Yugoslav Communist Party. People loyal to the CPY were next appointed as leaders of the Regional Committee in September. As result the Bulgarian police station in Prilep was attacked on 11 October. The only victim of this attack was a local policeman who was conscripted in the Bulgarian police. Soon after most of the leading pro-Yugoslav communists were annihilated or arrested and imprisoned until 1944 Bulgarian coup d'état. The resistance movement after these actions fell virtually again under Bulgarian communists' control. Throughout 1942 and most of 1943, the resistance was weak and sporadic. This policy changed during 1943 with the arrival of the Tito's personal envoy, the Serb Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo. Nevertheless, before the Autumn of 1944, the Macedonian Partisans were not significant military force.