Which Name Was Restricted in Greece?

📌 Which Name Was Restricted in Greece?

During much of the 20th century, the terms “Macedonian” and “Macedonian language” were effectively restricted (in practice), especially in reference to an ethnic group or language other than Greek. This was not always through a single explicit law forbidding the word itself, but through state policies and practices that made using the term in that sense difficult or dangerous for people living in Greece.

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🧾 1. Historical Policies of Suppression

🟠 Assimilation and Language Restrictions (Early 20th Century)

After the Balkan Wars and World War I, when Greece gained control of what is today northern Greece (Aegean Macedonia), the Greek state pursued strong policies of national homogenization. According to historical research:

Slavic-speaking populations in northern Greece were strongly discouraged or legally prevented from using their language and identifying as “Macedonian.”

Some sources note that the Macedonian language was banned in public spheres, schools, and even in private communication in villages. There were pressures to speak only Greek and adopt Greek personal names and place names. 

📍 Examples from Policies

All place names and personal surnames were changed to Greek forms in the 1920s, and Slavic/Macedonian names were systematically removed from public use. 

The Macedonian language was generally treated as “barbarian,” with its daily use discouraged or punished. 

These practices continued in various forms for decades as part of a broader assimilation policy.

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🧠 2. Name and Identity in the 20th Century

For most of the 20th century, Greece did not officially recognize a “Macedonian language” or a distinct Macedonian ethnicity within its borders. As a result:

People using the term “Macedonian” in an ethnic sense could face discrimination or legal scrutiny.

The ethnic term was generally reserved for Greeks from the region of Macedonia (i.e., “Greek Macedonians”), not for a separate Slavic-speaking community.

This meant that while the word itself wasn’t always formally banned, its use in specific contexts (ethnicity, language) was heavily restricted socially and institutionally.

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🧩 3. Modern Developments and Legal Recognition

🟢 Prespa Agreement (2018)

The Prespa Agreement between Greece and the then Republic of Macedonia resolved the long-standing state name dispute. Among its provisions:

The country became officially North Macedonia.

The term “Macedonian language” was accepted by Greece as the language of North Macedonia.

The treaty also clarifies that this language is a South Slavic language unrelated to ancient Greek heritage. 

This was a major legal shift, because for the first time Greece acknowledged the term “Macedonian language” in a formal international agreement (though the interpretation of the recognition varies between parties).

🟡 NGO Recognition (2022)

In 2022, judicial authorities in Greece officially registered the “Centre for the Macedonian Language in Greece”, using the name of the language in Macedonian Cyrillic — a historic first for a group explicitly named after the Macedonian language in Greece. 

This does not equal full official minority status under Greek law, but it legally allows the organization to exist and use its name, which was much harder before.

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🧾 4. Summary (Clear Takeaways)

✔️ The term that was heavily restricted in practice — socially, politically, and institutionally — was:

“Macedonian” and “Macedonian language” when used to refer to a distinct ethnic group and language within Greece (not as the Greek regional identity).  

✔️ This restriction was not always one explicit written law prohibiting the word outright, but rather state policies and social pressures that made such use risky (punitive, censorious, or discouraged).

✔️ In modern times, legal and diplomatic changes (especially after the Prespa Agreement and 2022 NGO recognition) have weakened or ended many of those restrictions.

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If you’d like, I can also provide:

Specific legal references to Greek laws about names and language policies

Human rights reports on minority language use in Greece

A timeline of how public attitudes and laws changed over time