Historical background
The holiday is celebrated on the occasion of the founding of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in Solun (Thessaloniki). Namely, on October 23, 1893, in the house of the Solun bookstore seller Ivan Hadzi Nikolov, six young men gathered to put the foundations of that, which would become a symbol and a flag of the Macedonians' fights for freedom. The founders were: Hristo Tatarchev, Dame Gruev, Petar Pop Arsov, Ivan Hadzi Nikolov, Anton Dimitrov and Hristo Batangiev. They set up a conspiratorial group, calling it a Macedonian Revolutionary Committee.
The organization fought for the liberation of Macedonia with its own forces, without help from outside. The formation of the MRO meant the beginning of the organized Macedonian revolutionary movement which through the Ilinden 1903 and the Krushevo Republic, and then through the National Liberation War, resulted in the creation of a modern independent Macedonian state. This date is related to the organized struggle of the Macedonian people and peoples who lived in Macedonia to form an independent state. In a political sense, the struggle for autonomy meant the formation of an independent state and therefore 23 October symbolizes the continuity of the Macedonian struggle for independence.
Controversy
Since this day is considered to be the founding of the VMRO, the Macedonian public accepted the idea of proclaiming this day as a public holiday with reserve. The Macedonian opposition, led by SDSM, was mostly against the celebration, because it considered that the party's birthday of VMRO-DPMNE must not be celebrated as a national holiday.
Celebration
In honor of the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle there are various festivities, concerts, sporting events all over Macedonia. The official solemn academy is held in the Macedonian Opera and Ballet, where the senior state officials and historians from MANU are having word.
