Map of Vardar Macedonia during World War II. The area was divided between Albania and Bulgaria and the frontier between them run approximately along the line:Struga –Tetovo –Gjilan –Vranje. (3 years, 7 months, 1 week and 5 days)
World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia started with theAxis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Under the pressure of theYugoslav Partisan movement, part of theMacedonian communists began in October 1941 a political andmilitary campaign to resist the occupation ofVardar Macedonia. Officially, the area was called thenVardar Banovina, because the use of very nameMacedonia was avoided in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Most of its territory was occupied by Bulgaria, while its westernmost part was ceded to Albania, both aided by German and Italian troops. Initially, there was no organised resistance in the region because the majority of the Macedonian Slavs nurtured strongpro-Bulgarian sentiments, although this was an effect from the previousrepressive Kingdom of Yugoslavia rule which had negative impact on the majority of the population. Even the localCommunists, separated from the Yugoslav and joined theBulgarian Communist Party. However, even those Macedonians who felt that they were Bulgarians soon discovered that the Bulgarians from Bulgaria were suspicious of them and considered them "backward Bulgarians" or second-class Bulgarians. In fact, Bulgarian authorities began a process of oppressiveBulgarianization as they realised that only part of the Macedonian population felt Bulgarian or was pro-Bulgarian. The occupation troops acted just as viciously and arrogantly toward the local population as did the officials. Thus, they soon became an object of disgust from the population, especially the great majority that felt themselves Macedonians developed strong resentment towards the Bulgarian regime as it acted the same way as theSerbian one before.
The wartime national chauvinism and suffering backlash generated sizable support for theCommunist Partisans, whose power started to grow only in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany, which turned the tide in the war and the partisans actions became more successful. The role of the Bulgarian communists, who avoided organizing mass armed resistance, was also a key factor, their influence over theMacedonian Committee remained dominant until 1943. Another key factor was the main goal of the Yugoslav Partisans which could not inspire and attract Macedonians who saw it as a reestablishment of Yugoslavia and the Serbian rule. This changed, when in the beginning of 1943,Tito's special emissarySvetozar Vukmanović arrived in Macedonia. Vukmanović had to activate the struggle and give aMacedonian "facade" to the form and content, as well as to the aims and aspirations of it in order to secure mass participation of Macedonians. He was supposed to set up aMacedonian Communist Party within the framework of the Yugoslav one, which would include only activists loyal to theYugoslav agenda. They formed in 1943 thePeople's Liberation Army of Macedonia and theMacedonian Communist Party in the western part of the area, where theAlbanian Partisans also participated in the resistance movement. The Macedonian Communist Party would lead the effort, not for the restoration of the old Yugoslavia, but above all for the liberation andunification of Macedonia and a new federal union of Yugoslav peopleswith an extension of its prewar territory. This appeal attracted more and more young people to the armed resistance. All of the previous led to the rise of an younger anti-Bulgarian oriented generation of partisan leaders, who were loyal to Yugoslavia. (Full article...)
... about theStone town, situated by theKuklica village in theKratovo area. According to the sources, the stone figures that are called Dolls by the local population, date from the ancient prehistory...
