July 28, 2017 Comments Off on Less is more: Skopje during the 1950s Views: 4893 Skopje, Virtual Memoirs

What happened to Skopje during the first part of the 20th century? What kind of city was it? It’s not an easy answer as Skopje was amid the center of numerous turbulent historic events. To find some answers and understand how this city developed, we must time travel as early as the 1910s.

An important year is 1912 when an alliance composed of Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia was determined to expel the Turks from Europe and make an end of the Ottoman Empire rule. This was known as the First Balkan War and it would be Serbian forces to encapture Skopje on 26 October 1912. However, by that date, the Turkish forces had left the city, after which, some 725 Turkish families did the same.

The next years will be much more turbulent. Serbian authorities would control the region until WWI when the Bulgarians invaded. The city was liberated in 1918 by the French forces, after which Skopje and Macedonia, became part of the newly-formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, later on, as of 1929, The Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

A turning point perhaps was 1931, when Skopje was named the capital of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Up until World War Two, this city would experience strong economic growth and its population also largely increased. If Skopje had some roughly 41,000 citizens in 1921, by 1941 that number had doubled.

In addition, despite Skopje was located in an underdeveloped region, it still attracted wealthy Serbs who opened new businesses here and contributed to the modernisation of the city. By 1941, Skopje had 45 factories, which would be half the industry in the whole of Macedonia.

Then, of course, World War Two came, and Yugoslavia was invaded by Nazi Germany. Germans would cease Skopje by 8 April but would leave it to their Bulgarian allies. Some estimated number of 4,000 Jews who lived in Skopje were deported to Treblinka where they were almost all killed, and Bulgarians also engaged in Bulgarisation of the society during this period.

As the war was through, Skopje recovered and greatly benefited from the Socialist Yugoslav policies which stimulated more industry growth and development. The city also became the home of important institutions of national interest, and it got its own national library, a national philharmonic orchestra, a university and the Macedonian Academy among others.

A decade before it was diminished by the violent 1963 earthquake, Skopje had less, but more. Here is how this city looks through some photos made during the 1950s

River Vardar running through the center of Skopje c. 1950

Part of Skopje during the 1950s: Building of department store NAMA

In the background, you can see Vodno Mountain

Marshal Tito Square, the 1950s

City of Bicycles… quite a few on this photo

Marsal Tito Square & NAMA. An officer can be seen in the middle controlling the traffic, in an era when there were no traffic lights…

We also thought to remind you of how Skopje became the City of Solidarity

Photo credits: The State Archives of the Republic of Macedonia (DARM), Skopje Department

Tags: 1950s, Macedonia, Nostalgia, Skopje