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The European Country That Never Existed (Pindus Republic)
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May 13, 2025
Get up to 30% off until May 19th - use code KNOWLEDGE at checkout to get an extra 10% off: https://partner.ekster.com/generalknowledge Become a member on Patreon & get your name in the credits + exclusive content! https://www.patreon.com/generalknowledge In this video I explore the story of the Aromanians - an ethnic group in the southern Balkans with their own Latin-derived language and a long history, who once tried to create an independent country called Samarina, or Terra Vlachorum. Learning who the Aromanians are, where they come from, and how their culture, language, and identity developed across Albania, Greece, North Macedonia, and beyond. From their ancient Roman roots and the destruction of their cultural capital Moscopole, to their struggles with assimilation and identity in a region filled with competing national movements, this video covers it all. Diving into their political history, namely how they gained recognition in the Ottoman Empire, attempted to form a state after WW1 during the Paris Peace Conference, and tried again under Axis protection in WW2, only to see both attempts fail. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 The European Country That Never Was 00:43 Who Are The Aromanians? 01:31 Their Many Names 01.53 Their Language 02:22 The Greek/Ottoman Exonym of 'Vlach' 02:45 Where Did They Live? 03:33 How Did They Get There? 04:20 Their National Awakening 05:35 Ekster 07:00 Integration of Elites Into Other Cultures 07:40 Romania's Influence 08:19 Austro-Hungarian Support 08:41 Lack Of Local Enthusiasm
View Video Transcript
0:00
What if I told you there is a group of people in Europe that have always wanted their own country
0:05
but never got it. Maybe a few examples popped into your mind but I want to talk about one
0:09
in specific. They have their own ethnicity and language spoken over by a quarter million people
0:15
they were even present as a delegation in the peace conference of world war one
0:20
and a draft map was made of what their potential country could look like
0:25
This is the story of the Aromanians and their would-be country of Teha Vlacorum, also known as Samarina
0:42
So first, who are these people? The Aromanians are an ethnic group native to the southern Balkans
0:49
They speak Aromanian and Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in South Albania, Northern Greece and North Macedonia as well as Western Bulgaria
1:01
In fact, the over 250,000 people that speak Ottomanian today live mostly in these places, the majority in Greece
1:09
Many of them also live abroad throughout the world as a part of the Ottomanian diaspora due to their ancestors
1:15
leaving the great Ottomanian capital of Moskopol, today a small village, but at times one of the greatest cities in the Balkans
1:25
rivaled only by Constantinople but destroyed by Ali Pasha in 1788. Ottomanians are known by other names too
1:35
Some call them Vlaks, other Macedo-Romanians. The latter is perhaps justified by the fact that they live exactly in the area of the
1:44
Yiresic line, an imaginary line that shows where Latin, Greek, and then later Slavic influences
1:51
meet in the Balkans. The language is, in fact, as you can probably tell by the name, very similar to Romanian itself
1:59
Both evolved from vulgar Latin spoken by people in the region after the Romanization of the
2:05
area during the Roman Empire. and their ethanim of Aromanian precisely derives from the Latin Romanus, meaning Roman citizen
2:14
It was coined by Gustav Weigand, a German linguist, in his book titled Die Arumunen from 1813
2:22
While Vlach was an exonym used mostly by Greek people during medieval times to refer to these people
2:29
it meant something like shepherd for the Greeks at the time. In fact, this depiction from 1899 shows us a Romanian man dressed as a shepherd
2:39
And interestingly, the word also meant bandit or rebel for the Ottomans
2:45
A name that was also mentioned in Byzantine chronicles from the 13th century
2:50
such as the Strategikon of Kekkaumenos or even Anakomemnes Alexia, where they are described as living in the area of Thessaly
3:00
Many other sources list Thessaly as another main city of a little Vlachia
3:06
This map of 1265 shows us that, connecting it culturally to the larger Vlachia up north
3:13
roughly where Romania is today, perhaps confirming the connection between them. And all of these pieces of information about them their main city destroyed in 1788 the study of their name in 1813 and most of all the record of what they were called in the medieval period shows us something
3:31
They've been around for a long time. So how did they get here
3:35
Most scholars have assumed that Vlaks are descendants of Roman soldiers or Latinized native populations of the Balkans
3:43
Some Romanian scholars claim they were part of a Dacian-Romanian migration from the north of the Danube River in around the 7th century
3:53
while Greek ones claim they descend from Roman legionnaires that married Greek women
3:58
The true origin is uncertain, but a genetic study from 2006 showed that current Romanians are genetically indistinguishable from other Balkan populations
4:09
Most likely, a combination of both stories is true. with a complete mix of these people with the locals having taken place by modern times
4:18
but their identity still remains. In the 19th century, as other national movements began in the Balkans
4:25
seeking independence from the Ottoman Empire, a distinct Adomanian national identity awoke too
4:31
And it was difficult for that identity to form. They were looked upon as Eastern Romans
4:37
they practiced Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and they were culturally Hellenized. In fact, the first book written in Ottomanian was written in the Greek alphabet
4:48
By the late 19th century, however, the Latin element of their heritage began to be explored
4:54
in a series of pamphlets and books. In 1815, the Ottomanians of Budapest requested permission to use their language in liturgy
5:03
but it was turned down by the local mayor, but it proved that something was happening
5:08
However, the establishment of a distinct Ottomanian national consciousness was hampered by the tendency of the Ottomanian upper classes to be absorbed in the dominant surrounding ethnicities and espouse their respective national causes as their own
5:25
I think it's like everything else. The great divide isn't that much about ethnicity or about sex
5:32
It's about social class and money. Now, speaking of that Aromanian upper class, they were probably people that had a good amount of
5:41
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7:00
aromanians were so ingrained with the local cultures that a lot of Balkan histographies
7:05
named them as the best Albanians, the best Greeks, or the best Bulgarians
7:11
leading to researchers calling them the chameleons of the Balkans. Consequently, many Aromanians played a prominent role in the modern history of Balkan nations
7:20
the revolutionary Pitugali, the Greek prime minister, Ioannis Coletis, a Greek magnate called Georgios Averov
7:29
a Serbian prime minister, Vladan Dordevic, or the patriarch of Constantinople, Atenagoras I, among many others
7:36
But even them couldn't suppress the will of some Aromanian people, As Romania became independent, it began sponsoring cultural and educational networks in the southern
7:46
Balkans, focused mostly on these people. As a result, the Ottomanians split into three main factions, one being pro-Greek, another
7:54
pro-Romanian, and a third smaller, focusing on their unique identity that mixed the two cultures
8:00
The Macedonian Struggle, a local conflict that took place in Ottoman Macedonia between
8:05
1893 and 1912, saw a series of military conflicts between Greeks and Bulgarians
8:10
and it's a perfect example of the struggle between Ottoman factions as one sided with the Greeks and the other with the Bulgarians
8:19
As Vienna and Budapest had been the main destinations of the Ottoman diaspora
8:24
after the destruction of Moskopol, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also became an advocate of their identity
8:30
In 1905, with Austrian and Romanian support, they became a distinct entity within the Ottoman Empire
8:36
gaining freedom of worship and education in their own language. Many claim that this came too late, as the people were already divided in these factions
8:47
and none of them seemed to really want autonomy. Gustav Weigand has a quote from 1897 stating
8:53
Most Ottomanians are not only indifferent, but actively hostile to their own national movement
9:00
Nevertheless, the movement existed, and with the outbreak and ending of World War I
9:05
it was going to see some more developments. As the Central Powers were defeated, the Entente began to
9:10
meet in Paris to discuss the peace terms and the reorganization of the world's map. One of the key
9:15
items on the agenda was the support of several movements that seeked their own independence
9:21
They wanted, especially the Americans, that the new borders would be drawn along lines of national
9:26
identity and ethnicity. And so, seeing this as an opportunity, an Ottoman delegation joined the
9:33
negotiations in Paris. They called themselves the National Committee of the Pindus and had the aim
9:39
of establishing an independent or at least autonomous Aromanian entity, flying an interesting
9:45
flag in all white with a set of blue lines creating a rectangle and circle. I feel like I've seen this
9:51
pattern somewhere but I can't remember where so if you know just leave a comment. They proposed this
9:57
map depicting a territory in what is now northern Greece as well as part of North Macedonia and
10:02
The country would be called the Samarina Republic or the Republic of the Pindus
10:08
It followed the attempt to create an Ottomanian Canton under Italian protection still during the war At the time the Latins had occupied part of this region and they kind of incentivized the Ottomanians to seek out their Latin heritage in order to gain
10:24
their support. However, when they declared independence in 1917, they sought Italian
10:29
support and the Italians didn't want to follow through, they withdraw their troops and the
10:34
Greeks retook the regions. Essentially, neither the Italians nor the other Untine powers cared
10:40
enough to make a stand for them and other Balkan nations wanted the territory for their
10:43
own, all of this paired with the fact that the majority of the Aromanians themselves either
10:47
didn't care enough about the national movement either or actively opposed it and so the would-be
10:53
country of Samarina failed to exist. After World War I ended, Romanian involvement declined but during World War II as the Axis
11:03
occupied Greece, Italy again encouraged Aromanian nationalists to form their own entity under
11:09
Italian protection. A new principality of Pindus was declared, existing between 1941 and 42 and
11:15
flying an awful looking flag. But as soon as it was declared, Italy, Germany, Romania and
11:21
Calabrianist Greece all opposed it. The Axis wanted the Aromanians to mobilize in the favor
11:27
of the Axis, not in their own favor. And so the principality of Pindus failed as well
11:33
In modern times, the Aromanian identity continues to exist. Over 200,000 people of their descent live in Albania, maybe up to 300,000 in Greece
11:43
and all around the Balkans and the world, a quarter billion people speak the language
11:48
This map of the southern Balkans shows us where they live today, with many pockets still existing in the region they once claimed as their own country
11:56
But they have essentially all adopted whichever dominant national culture exists where they live
12:01
sometimes holding at most a dual identity. Examples of Aromanian cuisine can still be found in specific dishes
12:09
like mezzovon and Aromanian cheese. They have their own type of music, literature, and traditional clothing
12:15
but it seems that, at least for now, the fight for the independent country that never was is at least put on hold
12:22
But hey, in 2001, 30 Aromanian mayors signed a protest, resolution against the human rights situation in Greece
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So who knows, maybe one day Aromanians will try to become their own country again
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and a new republic of Samarina or Vlachia will be born in the Balkans
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We all know they could use one extra country to argue about. So that is the European country that never existed
12:44
What do you think about this? Should it have existed? Do you know of any other ethnic groups that wanted to be independent but failed to achieve it
12:53
Let me know in the comments. Thank you so much to my patrons for their direct support and thank you to you for watching this video
12:58
Remember to subscribe if you want to catch future ones. And I will see you next time for more general knowledge
13:13
Okay, the Moomin Cup today. It's really bright. It's the ghosts. They're having a tea party
13:21
And then a bunch of people are like, I don't know. I think I need to lower the blinds a little bit
13:27
because a couple of videos ago I got a comment, which was very nice of somebody saying
13:32
oh, the lighting setup is really good, which lights do you use? I use the sun, it's a window
13:38
It's very well positioned, so that's very good, but it's just a window
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