Macedonian History in October

 The Macedonian people and Macedonia have a rich centuries-old tradition and a large number of important events that are permanently engraved in the collective national memory of the Macedonian people, confirming and reflecting the uniqueness of the Macedonian people and their centuries-old identity.

To refresh the memories of some of them, the oldest Macedonian daily newspaper Nova Makedonija regularly publishes the column "Dates to Remember", where every month they highlight events related to Macedonian history and prominent Macedonian actors.

Today we are devoting to the events in Macedonian history in the month of October. As you will see, the month October is almost entirely focused on the Second World War...

October 1, 331 BC - Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela.  It was the second and final battle between the two kings, and is considered to be the final blow to the Achaemenid Empire, resulting in its complete conquest by Alexander.

October 1, 1943 - Around 4,000 Albanian Ballists, together with German officers and soldiers, attacked the free area in western Macedonia on Mount Bukovic in the Kičevo region. In Macedonia, Albanians from the nationalist Balli Kombëtar are called ballistas, or "Balisti". The Balli Kombëtar also cooperated with the fascists Axis powers.

October 3, 1943 - The headquarters of the People's Liberation Army (NOV) and Partisan Detachments (PO) of Macedonia sent a manifesto to the Macedonian people, in which the basic questions regarding the liberation struggle of the Macedonian people, the characteristics of the liberation movement and the need for the unity of the Macedonian people with all nationalities in the liberation movement were presented.

October 4, 1941 - The first National Liberation Council in Macedonia was established in the village of Čučer in Skopje. Petar Krstev Urdarevski was elected as its first president.

October 6, 1943 - Albanian Ballists set fire to several houses in the village of Klenoec and the village of Popoec, Kičevo region. In the following days, several houses in the villages of Dušegubica, Ivančište, Malkoec and others were looted and people were killed.

October 7, 1943 - Near the Kumanovo village of Dragomance, the Kumanovo partisan detachment fought against the Serbian Chetniks. Nine Chetniks were killed. Five of them defected and became partisans.

October 8, 1944 - In Skopska Crnagora, after three days of fighting, the sixteenth Macedonian People's Liberation Brigade repelled the attacks of Albanian Ballists forces from the direction of the village of Orman - the village of Brazda, who were trying to capture the communication routes of the Skopje - Kačanik line and enable the movement of the German forces.

October 9, 1967 - In the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, under the presidency of Dr. Milan Bartoš, a meeting of the Internal Commission for the establishment of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) was held, during which the Constitution of the MANU was adopted.

October 10, 1944 - In the village of Žegljane, Kumanovo, the Kumanovo Division was formed, which included the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth Macedonian People's Liberation Brigades. About 5,500 fighters in total.

October 10, 1946 - In Skopje, in the church of Sveti Spas, with full state honors and in front of thousands of citizens from all over Macedonia, the remains of the prominent Macedonian revolutionary and ideologist Goce Delčev, which the Macedonian delegation brought from Sofia two days earlier, were buried.

October 10, 1967 - In Skopje, at the solemn session of the Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) was officially opened.

October 11, 1941 - In Prilep, fighters of the First Prilep Partisan Detachment attacked the Bulgarian fascist occupier's police station in the city, the Prilep prison and the telephone and telegraph network. This attack is considered the beginning of the uprising of the Macedonian people against the Bulgarian occupier and the final liberation of the country. October 11th is a national holiday in Macedonia.

October 12, 1941 - In Prilep, the Bulgarian police arrested 900 citizens as a reprisal measure for the attack by the Prilep partisan detachment on the police station, prison and telegraph telephone network the day before. After the harassment, members of the KPJ and SKOJ were singled out, transferred to Bitola and then put on trial.

October 13, 1952 - The "Grammar of the Macedonian Literary Language" by Blaže Koneski was published by the State Publishing House.

October 13, 1993 - The Macedonian national football team made its debut. They were guests in Slovenia, the first state to secede from Yugoslavia. Macedonia won in Kranj 4:1.

October 14, 1944 – The German occupiers committed mass murders in nine villages in the region of Štip and Kočani. The villages of Krupište in Štip, where 49 people were killed, and Gorni Balvan, where 26 people were killed, as well as the village of Ularci near Kočani, where 25 people were killed, suffered the most.

October 17, 1878 – The Kresna Uprising of the Macedonian people against Ottoman rule began for the liberation of Macedonia and the creation of an independent state. About 400 insurgents led by Dimitar Pop Georgiev-Berovski and Vojvode Stojan Karastoilov attacked the village of Kresna, where there was an Ottoman barracks. At the same time, they occupied the barracks and liberated several localities where a people's government was established. The uprising was not crushed until June of the following year.

October 17, 1912 – The First Balkan War began. The war ended with an armistice on December 3 of the same year. At the London Conference on May 30, 1913, Turkey was forced to give up the territories of the European continent, except for Edirne, which the Allies could not capture. The Macedonian people actively participated in the war, hoping to fight for freedom and independence. But instead, the Allies divided Macedonia between Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece, which in turn was the reason for the start of the Second Balkan War.

October 23, 1893 – The Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) was founded in Thessaloniki to liberate the Macedonian people from imperialism and the domination of the surrounding powers and to realize their basic rights to independence and identity. Less than 10 years later, the organization was able to organize a national uprising known as the Ilinden Uprising.

October 25, 1689 - Austrian general Enea Silvio Piccolomini burned down Skopje as part of the counteroffensive against the Ottoman Empire after the Turkish campaign of 1683. At that time, the city was hit by a cholera epidemic. Piccolomini ordered the city to be burned down in order to stop the epidemic (according to his version). The city burned for two days. Numerous houses and shops burned down, but the epidemic did not stop. Even General Piccolomini himself fell ill with cholera and died soon after.