Socialist Republic of Macedonia

History

The first Macedonian state was proclaimed under the name Democratic Federal Macedonia (Macedonian: Демократска Федерална Македонија, Demokratska Federalna Makedonija) at the First Plenary Session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia (ANSOM) during the National Liberation War of Macedonia in World War II. It was set up on August 2, 1944 in the Bulgarian occupation zone in Yugoslavia. This date is now celebrated by ethnic Macedonians as the day they were first allowed to freely state their nationality. It was chosen intentionally, as it was the date of the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman rule in 1903.

The most important assembly decisions are the proclaiming Macedonia nation state of ethnic Macedonians and proclamation of Macedonian as the official language. The citizens of Macedonia, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, were guaranteed all civil rights, including right to their mother tongue and confession of faith. However, after Bulgarian army retreat on September 8, right-wing IMRO nationalists declared pro-German Macedonian puppet-state, and Vardar Macedonia was de facto liberated from the Germans and their collaborationists in November 1944, so the ASNOM became operational in December, shortly after the German retreat.

In 1945, the state changed its official name to the People's Republic of Macedonia. It was formally incorporated as a constituent republic in the Yugoslav Federation in 1946. However, some people were against the federation and demanded greater independence from the federal authorities, leading to their prosecution. One of the notable victims of these purges was the first president, Metodija Andonov - Čento. More purges followed after the Tito-Stalin split.

The state was formed on the territory of Vardar Macedonia, a part of the wider geographical region of Macedonia, which was divided between several countries in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. Some ethnic Macedonian politicians from the republic advocated the idea of United Macedonia, which would include Aegean Macedonia and Pirin Macedonia. The idea was somewhat supported by the federal Yugoslav authorities on some occasions, or repressed, depending on the regional and international political constellation.

In 1963, the name of the state was changed to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

Constitution

Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, 1974 - Official Gazette (Macedonian)

The Socialist Republic of Macedonia, which was defined as a nation-state of the ethnic Macedonians and also, a state of its ethnic minorities, had some powers normally associated with an independent state. The Constitution also recognised the right of self-determination and secession. The borders of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia could only be changed by a decision of the republic's parliament. Its inhabitants held both Yugoslav citizenship and an internal Macedonian citizenship for state business.

The Socialist Republic of Macedonia had its own constitution, presidency, government, parliament, official language, state symbols, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Secretariat of Internal Affairs (Interior ministry), Bureau for Foreign Relations (a Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and other state prerogatives. Also, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia had its own Territorial Defence armed forces (Macedonian: Територијална одбрана, Teritorijalna odbrana).

System

The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a one-party communist state, the ruling political party was the League of Communists of Macedonia (in Macedonian: Сојуз на Комунистите на Македонија, Sojuz na Komunistite na Makedonija, abbreviation: СКМ, SKM). Being a constituent country of SFR Yugoslavia, a leading founder of the Non-Aligned Movement, SR Macedonia pursued a neutral foreign policy and maintained a more liberal communist system compared to the other communist states. The ruling ideology was based on Titoism and Workers' self-management (Macedonian: самоуправување, samoupravuvanje).

Minorities

While the ethnic Macedonians were the majority and were one of the constituent nations of SFR Yugoslavia (official term: narod) the rights of the ethnic minorities (official term: narodnosti) were guaranteed by the Constitution. The official language of SR Macedonia was Macedonian, however Macedonian Albanians and Macedonian Turks had the right to use their own languages within the school system and the media. The constitution of the SR Macedonia defined the state as the national state of the ethnic Macedonians, but also as the state of Albanians and Turks.

Religion

Although the ruling communists discouraged religion, religious freedom was allowed to a certain extent. The authorities allowed the existence of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, which proclaimed autocephaly in 1967. In 1972 the construction of the largest orthodox church St. Clement of Ohrid in the capital of Skopje began. Muslims, Catholics, Protestants and other religious communities also could maintain their own organisations and places of worship.

Geography

The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was the 4th largest constituent country of SFR Yugoslavia both by area and population. Within Yugoslavia, it had an internal border with the Socialist Republic of Serbia in the north and its subunit the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in the north-west and international borders with Greece in the south, the People's Republic of Bulgaria in the east and the People's Socialist Republic of Albania in the west.

Transition

In 1990, the form of government peacefully changed from socialist state to parliamentary democracy. The first pluralist elections were held on November 11, 1990. The once ruling communist party took a reformist direction and renamed itself League of Communists of Macedonia - Party for Democratic Change led by Petar Gošev. After the head of the last communist presidency Vladimir Mitkov resigned, Kiro Gligorov became the first democratically elected president of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia on January 31, 1991. On April 16, 1991, the parliament adopted a constitutional amendment removing "Socialist" from the official name of the entity, and on June 7, 1991, the same year, the new name, Republic of Macedonia, was officially established. After the process of dissolution of Yugoslavia began, Macedonia issued a Sovereignty Declaration on January 25, 1991 and later, proclaimed itself a fully independent country, following a referendum held on September 8, 1991.

The Republic of Macedonia is the legal successor to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

Presidents of ASNOM

Presidents of Presidency of Parliament

Presidents of Parliament

Presidents of Presidency

Prime Ministers

President

This post was established in 1991 after the dissolution of the collective presidency