Macedonian History

Present day Macedonia is a result of thousands of years of turbulent and difficult but rich history. Macedonia has seen plenty of turmoil through the millennia as the country and nation struggled to find their rightful place in ever changing landscape of the Balkans. From the mighty empires of the ancient leaders to the half a century Ottoman occupation, to being part of a socialist federation and present day democratic republic of Macedonia. Here you will find the historical events that have shaped the geographical, political and cultural characteristics of Macedonia. 

Check out the timeline and description of significant events in Macedonian history.


 

Year
Historical Events
359-336 B.C. Kingdom of  King Phillip II of Macedon
336-323 B.C. Kingdom of Alexander the Great
306-168 B.C. Part of the Antigonid Dynasty
214-148 B.C. Four wars with the Roman Empire
148 B.C.- 7th Century A.D. Part of Roman Empire (Macedonia Prima - present day northern Greece and Macedonia Salutaris - present day Republic of Macedonia)
7th Century A.D. - 997  Invasion of Slavs and fall under First Bulgarian Empire
855 Ss. Cyril and Methodius create the Slavic alphabet as a third choice to which to use in the Christian Churches (besides Greek and Latin)
886 St. Clement continues the teaching of his mentors Ss. Cyril and Methodius and founds Ohrid Literary School.
997 -1014 The Kingdom of Samuil based in Ohrid
1018-1185 Fall under Byzantine Rule
1185-1280 Fall under Second Bulgarian Empire
1346-1912 Fall under Ottoman Rule 
1689 Karposh Uprising
1902 Ilinden Uprising and the formation of the Krushevo Republic
1912 First Balkan War
1913 Second Balkan War
1913 Three-way partition of Macedonia between Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia
1913 Present day Macedonia falls under Serbian rule
1919 End of World War I
1945 End of World War II
1946 As Yugoslavia was born from the rubble of the WWII, Macedonia earned the right to become a separate republic in the federation, hence the formation of Socialist Republic of Macedonia with the Capital in Skopje. For the first time since 1014 Macedonia had some control over its territory. 
1946-1991

Macedonia was part of the Federation of Yugoslavia

1991 Macedonia peacefully becomes an independent country avoiding the Yugoslav Wars
2001 Crisis of 2001 which ended with the Ohrid Treaty