Hellenism and its intended objectives in Macedonia!
Gandeto
December 08, 2008
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Hellenism as a national policy of the Greek state, aimed at strengthening the socio- cultural ethno genesis among the Greeks, is an acceptable form of a unifying theme. As a rallying point for Greek culture, its basic premise rests on the assumption that Greeks share the same language, same religion and same traditions. Greek religion, Greek language and Greek nationality are the three fundamental fluid components whose constructs are inextricably interwoven into a single entity - the Greek ethnos. This "unifying" thought is highly promoted by the Greek government, widely practiced by the clergy, and supposedly, readily accepted by the masses.
Based on Greek government's assertions that in Greece there are no ethnic minorities, one ought to ask the following question:
Assuming that Greece is a homogeneous country, one populated by Greeks only, may we inquire as to how was this apparent "purity" achieved? Was this "purity" accomplished through the national policy of Hellenization? And lastly, was this process of Hellenization a voluntary one, or was it a painfully forceful one?
Did Greeks ever ask the Macedonian population if they wanted to forgo their own traditions? To stop using their mother's tongue? Or to change their Macedonian church services with an alien Greek one? Did they ever consider if these Macedonians wanted to remain at their own cities and villages? Did they ask the poor Albanian mothers if they wanted their children to remain Albanian? Did they ask the Vlachs if they ever wanted to preserve their thousands of year old traditions and customs? Did they? Did they ask the Pontic Turks if they wanted to abandon their language and culture?
Did they ask the mothers if they were happy with the Greek name the Greek priest assigned for their first born baby? Did he ever consider his practice of assigning Greek names to non-Greek citizens of Greece to be inhumane and that his national directives to make everyone in Greece fall within the prescribed norms of Greek-ness to be insulting to them? Do you think he ever cared for their feelings? Do you think it is proper for a school teacher of first graders to tell them that their language is not a good language and that it does not exist?
The truth is that the process of Hellenization practiced in Aegean Macedonia, was a national Greek policy aimed at forcefully changing the Macedonian population into Greeks. It was a policy aimed at eradicating anything Macedonian. It was a policy based on racism then, and it is a policy based on racism today. Hellenism is racism, pure and simple.
To what extent has Hellenism being carried out in Macedonia and what implications did it have on Macedonian political/religious awakening? Please read the following passage lifted from Ferdinand Scevill's book "History of the Balkans", pp. 303- 304.
"....Another charge commonly flung at the clergy concerns the
policy of Hellenization. The patriarch and the members of his
immediate circles were Greeks, passionately Greek, and did not
scruple to use their immense power to further the Greek national
cause at the expense of their Slavic and Romanian fellow-rajahs.
Not only were the prelacies reserved exclusively for Greeks, but
systematic warfare was made upon all languages other than Greek
in the hope of suppressing their use within the organization. Not
content with gradually eliminating the Slav languages from the
religious service, the Greek rulers persecuted Slav seminaries
and libraries by closing the former and scattering and even ruthlessly
applying the torch to the later."
Until next time…
Hellenism as a national policy of the Greek state, aimed at strengthening the socio- cultural ethno genesis among the Greeks, is an acceptable form of a unifying theme. As a rallying point for Greek culture, its basic premise rests on the assumption that Greeks share the same language, same religion and same traditions. Greek religion, Greek language and Greek nationality are the three fundamental fluid components whose constructs are inextricably interwoven into a single entity - the Greek ethnos. This "unifying" thought is highly promoted by the Greek government, widely practiced by the clergy, and supposedly, readily accepted by the masses.
Based on Greek government's assertions that in Greece there are no ethnic minorities, one ought to ask the following question:
Assuming that Greece is a homogeneous country, one populated by Greeks only, may we inquire as to how was this apparent "purity" achieved? Was this "purity" accomplished through the national policy of Hellenization? And lastly, was this process of Hellenization a voluntary one, or was it a painfully forceful one?
Did Greeks ever ask the Macedonian population if they wanted to forgo their own traditions? To stop using their mother's tongue? Or to change their Macedonian church services with an alien Greek one? Did they ever consider if these Macedonians wanted to remain at their own cities and villages? Did they ask the poor Albanian mothers if they wanted their children to remain Albanian? Did they ask the Vlachs if they ever wanted to preserve their thousands of year old traditions and customs? Did they? Did they ask the Pontic Turks if they wanted to abandon their language and culture?
Did they ask the mothers if they were happy with the Greek name the Greek priest assigned for their first born baby? Did he ever consider his practice of assigning Greek names to non-Greek citizens of Greece to be inhumane and that his national directives to make everyone in Greece fall within the prescribed norms of Greek-ness to be insulting to them? Do you think he ever cared for their feelings? Do you think it is proper for a school teacher of first graders to tell them that their language is not a good language and that it does not exist?
The truth is that the process of Hellenization practiced in Aegean Macedonia, was a national Greek policy aimed at forcefully changing the Macedonian population into Greeks. It was a policy aimed at eradicating anything Macedonian. It was a policy based on racism then, and it is a policy based on racism today. Hellenism is racism, pure and simple.
To what extent has Hellenism being carried out in Macedonia and what implications did it have on Macedonian political/religious awakening? Please read the following passage lifted from Ferdinand Scevill's book "History of the Balkans", pp. 303- 304.
"....Another charge commonly flung at the clergy concerns the
policy of Hellenization. The patriarch and the members of his
immediate circles were Greeks, passionately Greek, and did not
scruple to use their immense power to further the Greek national
cause at the expense of their Slavic and Romanian fellow-rajahs.
Not only were the prelacies reserved exclusively for Greeks, but
systematic warfare was made upon all languages other than Greek
in the hope of suppressing their use within the organization. Not
content with gradually eliminating the Slav languages from the
religious service, the Greek rulers persecuted Slav seminaries
and libraries by closing the former and scattering and even ruthlessly
applying the torch to the later."
Until next time…
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