A monument inStruga dedicated to "Denes nad Makedonija"A Macedonian soldier saluting on behalf of his subordinates during a performance of the Macedonian national anthem in 2008
The lyrics of "Denes nad Makedonija" were penned byVlado Maleski, a writer who was active in thePartisan movement duringWorld War II.[1] The musical portion was composed byTodor Skalovski. The song was first played in 1942 inStruga, among partisan and communist circles.[2][1] According to oral recounts, the hymn was played by Maleski himself onNew Year's Eve in the presence of 24 youths, whose identities were subsequently documented in writing only in 1981. Even though the resistance consisted of fighters from the different ethnic groups across Yugoslavia, the aforementioned youths are believed to have all identified as Macedonians.[3] From the end of the war, it was utilized – albeit unofficially[3] – as the regional anthem of theSocialist Republic of Macedonia (which was part ofYugoslavia at the time)[4] until 1989.[3] In June 1943, the song was published in a collection of Macedonian national liberation songs, edited byKočo Racin.[3][5] The lyrics were slightly different, mentioningNikola Karev andDimitar Vlahov.[3]
During theInformbiro period, a small change was made in the lyrics. In the new version, the names of Karev and Vlahov were removed and that ofDame Gruev was added.[2] Karev and his brothers were suspected of beingBulgarophiles.[6] Vlahov also was dismissed, because he communicated much better in Bulgarian than in Macedonian and had no political supporters in SR Macedonia, among other reasons.[7] According toNikola Karev's nephew Mishe Karev, the communist elite discussed the idea of removing the name ofGotse Delchev too and not including that ofDame Gruev, and proclaiming them as Bulgarians, but it was declined.[8] On 14 April 1989, the socialist republic's Assemblyamended the Constitution of 1974, expressly affirming "Denes nad Makedonija" as its official regional anthem.[3] However, this change was short-lived, as the Assembly declared Macedonia's sovereignty two years later in January.[9] Macedonia's independence was approved on 8 September 1991 ina referendum that saw Macedonians vote overwhelmingly in favour of independence.[10][11]
Soon after independence, theMacedonian national legislature held a contest to determine a national anthem for the state.[3] "Denes nad Makedonija" was one of several candidates in contention[2] – the others in the running were "Himna" (English:"Anthem",lit.'Hymn') by Taki Hrisik and "Da ni bideš večna" (English:"That You Should be Eternal") byAleksandar Džambazov[3] – and ended up finishing runner-up in the final results.[2] Despite this, most members of the Assembly Commission voted to make it the national anthem of the state, and it was duly adopted on 11 August 1992.[2][3] The Albanian political parties did not support the anthem on the basis that it favored one ethnic group and excluded the others.[2][12]
Macedonia'sSobranie (legislative chamber) passedlegislation titled "The Law on the Anthem of the Republic of Macedonia" on 11 August 1992. This officially adopted "Denes nad Makedonija" as the national anthem of the country,[3] with Article 2 specifically confirming the song's status as such.[2] However, it did not stipulate which stanzas should be recognized as official.[3] Article 5 of thecountry's constitution requires laws regardingnational symbols to be approved by a two-thirds majority.[3][13] Although 88 out of the 120 members of the Assembly voted for it,Albanian representatives were not involved.[2]
In the 2011IPSOS survey, 84.8% of the respondents said that they liked the anthem, while 15.2% said they did not.[2] Ethnically, 54% of the Albanian respondents said they did not like it and 46% said they did, while 97% of the Macedonian respondents said that they liked it.
"Denes nad Makedonija", as originally written, consists of four stanzas. North Macedonia's law does not exactly specify which stanzas officially constitute the national anthem.[3] However, the second stanza is often omitted from the lyrics of the national anthem that are posted on North Macedonia's government websites.[14][13]
The lyrics of "Denes nad Makedonija" are reflective of amilitary marching song, which is fitting given its connection to theYugoslav Macedonian theatre of the Second World War. They are not a call to arms for Macedonians; instead, the hymn usesimagery to take the person singing it back to the time the anthem was written and purports that they themselves were engaging in combat at the time.[3] The lyrics previously alluded to the concepts of mothers and motherhood (specifically in the second stanza). This is in line with the national anthems – both past and present – of otherSoutheast European countries likeBosnia and Herzegovina ("Jedna si jedina"),Croatia ("Horvatska domovina"), andMontenegro ("Oj, svijetla majska zoro").[14] It discussed how mothers mourn for their fallen sons, who died fighting for the rights and liberty of their country. They are comforted for their loss by being reminded of the bravery of their sons and the nobleness of the cause for which they died. Although this theme has been described as a "standard anthemic device", it was subsequently expunged from the official words of the state anthem.[14] The lyrics which also mention the inter-generational and inter-gender unity in the fight for rights are omitted.[3]
^abcdefghijklmnoAleksandar Pavković; Christopher Kelen (2016). "Chapter 6 – A Fight for Rights: Macedonia 1941".Anthems and the Making of Nation States: Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. I.B. Tauris. pp. 155–167.ISBN9781784531263.
^"Macedonia".The World Factbook. CIA. June 15, 2017. RetrievedJune 23, 2017.
^Csaba G. Kiss (2023).The Anthems of East-Central Europe: Reflections on the History of a National Symbol. Routledge. p. 61.ISBN9781003318774.
^Keith Brown, The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation, Princeton University Press, 2018ISBN0691188432, p. 191.
^Andrew Rossos, Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History; Hoover Institution Press Publication, Hoover Press, 2013,ISBN081794883X, p. 238.
^Последното интервју на Мише Карев: Колишевски и Страхил Гигов сакале да ги прогласат Гоце, Даме и Никола за Бугари!Денешен весник, 01.07.2019.
^Allcock, John B.; Danforth, Loring (December 6, 2016)."Macedonia – History".Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. RetrievedJune 23, 2017.
^"Republic of Macedonia – History".Gale Encyclopedia of World History: Governments (1st ed.). Thomson Gale. 2008. RetrievedJune 23, 2017.
^Branislav Radeljić (2017). "Identities in the Balkans: assessing the politics of nationalization and Europeanization".European Politics and Society.18 (4): 560.doi:10.1080/23745118.2017.1376901.S2CID158511152.
^abcKelen, Christopher; Pavković, Aleksandar (2014). ""Zdravljica" – toast to a cosmopolitan nation anthem quality in the Slovenian context".Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity.42 (5): 839.doi:10.1080/00905992.2014.916664.S2CID194065835.(registration required)
^"Државни симболи на Р. Македонија".Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in Macedonian). Government of the Republic of Macedonia. Archived fromthe original on June 17, 2017. RetrievedJune 17, 2017.
Government of North Macedonia – North Macedonia's government website has a page about North Macedonia's national symbols such as the national anthem, including a vocal version(in Macedonian)
