League of Communists of Macedonia Macedonian:Сојуз на комунистите на Македонија | |
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| Leader | President of the League of Communists of Macedonia |
| Founded | 19 March 1943 |
| Dissolved | 20 April 1991 |
| Preceded by | Regional Committee of Communists in Macedonia |
| Succeeded by | Social Democratic Union of Macedonia |
| Headquarters | Skopje,SR Macedonia,SFR Yugoslavia |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism-Leninism Titoism |
| National affiliation | League of Communists of Yugoslavia |
| Colours | Red |
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Macedonian branch of theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia | |
TheLeague of Communists of Macedonia (Macedonian:Сојуз на комунистите на Македонија (СКМ);Sojuz na komunistite na Makedonija,SKM) was theMacedonian branch of the rulingLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia during the period 1943 – 1990. It was formed on the basis of theRegional Committee of Communists in Macedonia under the nameCommunist Party of Macedonia (Комунистичка партија на Македонија (КПМ);Komunistička partija na Makedonija,KPM) duringWorld War II in Yugoslav Macedonia (also known as the People's Liberation Struggle). It retained that name until April 1952. The League of Communists of Macedonia was the rulingpolitical party in theSocialist Republic of Macedonia.
After the introduction of political pluralism in 1990, the party renamed itself toLeague of Communists of Macedonia – Party for Democratic Change (Macedonian:Сојуз на комунистите на Македонија – Партија за демократска преобразба [СКМ-ПДП];Sojuz na Komunistite na Makedonija – Partija za Demokratska Preobrazba, [SKM-PDP]) and was led by Petar Gošev, taking part in the first democratic elections in the same year. On its 11th Congress on 20 April 1991, the party was reformed, changing its socialist ideology to social democracy (similar to other former communist bloc countries), and refounding itself as theSocial Democratic Union of Macedonia. There was a small minority of SKM members which retained the old name and constituted a distinct political entity, founded in 1992 under the nameCommunist Party of Macedonia – Freedom Movement; in 2015 this party became one of the principal creators of the far-left partyThe Left.
During World War II, in 1941 and throughout 1942, the resistance against the Axis powers inoccupied Yugoslav Macedonia lagged behind than in other parts of Yugoslavia.[1] After theBulgarian takeover of most of then Vardar Banovina in April 1941, the local communists fell into the sphere of influence of theBulgarian Communist Party (BCP).[2] The BCP supported the idea of aindependent andunified Macedonia, contrary to the stance of the Yugoslav communists.[3] At that time most Macedonian communists were not yet lured to Yugoslav communists' agenda as they feared a reestablishment of theprevious oppressive rule and the regional committee wasde facto under control of the BCP.[4][5] As a result, the factionalist struggle between the pro-Bulgarian and the pro-Yugoslav Macedonians exacerbated.[6]
The situation began to change by the end of 1942 and after February 1943, whenTito's envoySvetozar Vukmanović arrived in Macedonia as a representative of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia's central committee andAnti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ). The Supreme Headquarters of AVNOJ realized that securing mass participation would require to "Macedonianize" the struggle's form and content.[1] The Communist Party of Yugoslavia's plan was to have the party operate only inVardar Macedonia and include only activists loyal to theYugoslav agenda.[7] The Communist Party of Macedonia (CPM) was created on 19 March 1943 by theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia inTetovo in theItalian-occupation zone of Yugoslavia (in thenKingdom of Albania), on the basis of the previousRegional Committee of Communists in Macedonia. The first Central Committee consisted ofKuzman Josifovski Pitu,Bane Andreev, Cvetko Uzunovski, Strahil Gigov,Mara Naceva andLazar Koliševski. Naceva and Koliševski were absent, as they were imprisoned in Bulgaria at the time.[8] The CPM would lead the struggle, not for the restoration of old Yugoslavia but for above all liberation and unification of Macedonia within a new federal union of Yugoslav peopleswith an extension of its prewar territory.[9][10]
After 1944, the CPM became the main ruling party of thePeople's Republic of Macedonia. The party initiatedpro-Bulgarian purges in January 1945.[11] The party's first congress was held in 1948. The CPM was renamed to League of Communists of Macedonia (LCM) in April 1952. The party was under the control ofMacedonians, who dominated the membership. Under the direction of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY), it regulated the new republic's relations with ethnic minorities and inter-ethnic relations.[8] In 1965, LCLM proceeded to increase minority representation in the highest bodies of the party.[12] In mid-1989, during therevolutions, LCM committed itself to introducing a multi-party system in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.[13] The party held its Tenth Congress in Skopje from 26 to 28 November 1989, when Petar Gošev became its leader. The old dogmatic party leadership, which had been pro-Serbian, was replaced.[14] It renamed itself to League of Communists of Macedonia – Party for Democratic Transformation.[15] On 7 April 1990, the party decided to leave the League of Communists of Yugoslavia.[16] The party took part in thefirst multi-party elections in December, when it was defeated by the nationalistVMRO-DPMNE but it gained 31 seats.[17] In 1991, the party was succeeded by theSocial Democratic Union of Macedonia on 20 April 1991.[8]
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The official name of the office was changed in May 1982 fromSecretary of the Central Committee toPresident of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Macedonia.
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