1944
Macedonian
ASNOM Manifesto
by ASNOM
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Note
This work has been sourced from the Veles "Goce Delčev” Digital Library . The materials are used for scholarly, educational, and cultural-historical purposes, in support of the preservation, study, and promotion of Macedonian cultural heritage.
Description
The ASNOM Manifesto (Манифест на АСНОМ) is a foundational historical document adopted during the first session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) on August 2, 1944.
It declares the establishment of the Macedonian state within the federal Yugoslavia, fulfilling the centuries-old aspirations for national freedom and marking the first such achievement since the time of Tsar Samuil. The manifesto emphasizes the anti-fascist struggle, the blood shed by Macedonian fighters, brotherhood with other Yugoslav peoples, equality for all nationalities in Macedonia (including Albanians, Turks, and Vlachs), and a call for the unification of the Macedonian people across regions.
It portrays Macedonia's previous status under the old Yugoslavia as colonial and positions the new state as a realization of the Ilinden Uprising's ideals.
About the Institution
Institution
ASNOM(1944 - 1945)
The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) was the supreme legislative and executive people’s representative body of the communist Macedonian state from August 1944 until the end of World War II. It was established by the Macedonian Partisans during the final stages of the war in Yugoslav Macedonia (the National Liberation Struggle), clandestinely in August 1944, within the Bulgarian occupation zone of Yugoslavia.
The first plenary session of ASNOM was dubbed the “Second Ilinden” because it was convened underground on the symbolic date of 2 August (Ilinden Uprising Day) in 1944, at the St. Prohor Pčinjski Monastery (today in Serbia). The most important decisions included the proclamation of a Macedonian nation-state of ethnic Macedonians, the adoption of Macedonian as the official language of the Macedonian state, guarantees of civil rights for all citizens regardless of ethnicity, including the right to their mother tongue and freedom of religion, and the proclamation of Ilinden as a national holiday.
The first session opened with the anthem of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), “Rise up, dayspring of the freedom”, and the unofficial Yugoslav anthem, “Hey, Slavs”. The Assembly issued a Manifesto describing Vardar Macedonia’s position under the old Yugoslavia as that of a colony, while declaring “brotherhood and unity” with the other Yugoslav peoples. It also affirmed the equality of all nationalities in Macedonia and called on Albanians, Turks, and Vlachs to join the national liberation struggle. A call for the “unification of the whole Macedonian people”, meaning across the entire geographical region of Macedonia, was also made. Panko Brashnarov, a former IMRO member and the oldest delegate, chaired the inaugural session, while Metodija Andonov-Čento was elected as president. Both advocated greater independence for the future republic.