Following the Balkan wars in 1913, 500 years of Ottoman domination ended, and the territory traditionally known as Macedonia was divided among Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, with the Republic of Macedonia integrated into Serbia.
Macedonia was seized by Bulgaria at the outset of World War I before being returned to Serbian authority at the war's end. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was created in 1918 and renamed Yugoslavia in 1929.
During WWII, Axis forces consisting of Bulgarian, German, Italian, and Albanian soldiers controlled the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Following the conclusion of the war, there was a response against the fascist occupation, which resulted in an overwhelming victory for the communists in the 1945 elections. This resulted in the establishment of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, with Macedonia operating as a federal state inside Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia began to fall apart in June 1991, when Croatia and Slovenia proclaimed independence. Macedonia escaped the problems that beset the other federal states when it held its independence referendum on September 8, 1991. Over 95.5% of voters in the referendum supported independence.
The results were revealed on September 18, 1991, and the Republic of Macedonia declared independence on September 25, 1991, after the adoption of a new constitution in November.
The international acceptance of Macedonia's Declaration of Independence was slow because Greece opposed to using the name Macedonia, which is the same as one of its own provinces. This is why the nation changed its name to North Macedonia in June 2018.
This day has been a public holiday since 1991.
