The “Macedonian Question" as a Balkan problem in the 1940s

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine and analyse the “Macedonian 

Question” in the context of Balkan politics in the 1940s. During this period
one may observe two distinct phases. In the first phase, April 1941 - October
1944, there was a struggle for supremacy in Yugoslav Macedonia between
the Bulgarian authorities and the Yugoslav and Bulgarian communist parties.
The second phase, November 1944-summer 1948 was dominated by Tito’s
ambitions for a South-Slav federation, which greatly complicated the international
situation in the Balkans and was closely related to the problem of
the territorial claims of the Balkan states.