The analysis has taken into account two main stages of developing national identity of the Macedonians which were the basis for obtaining their own independent state. The first stage of developing national identity of the Macedonian Nation, which took place at the turn of the 20th century, was connected with activities of Macedonian intellectuals and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. However, in the second stage of developing national identity of the Macedonians, which took place in the second half of the 20th century (when Macedonia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), the authorities of the Yugoslavian federation paradoxically played an important role as they were maintaining a sense of national autonomy among the people of Macedonia. After gaining independence by Macedonia in November 1991, destabilising moods developed in the state. Those moods were influenced primarily by the countries neighbouring with Macedonia and by Albanian minorities in Macedonia. The complex geopolitical situation of the independent Macedonia had a stimulating influence on consolidation of national identity of the Macedonians and contributed to increasing the importance of national factions in the state.
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