The Macedonian Regiment in the Russian Army in the 18th Century

Abstract

The article analyzes the Macedonian military regiments in the 18th century Russian army fighting in the territory of Novorossiya, and touches upon the wider historical, geopolitical, national and strategic context of their emergence, their motivations, goals, aspirations and achievements. Russia’s specific goal and motive for the 18th century recruitment of the Macedonians and other hussar regiments consisting of South Slavic and Balkan peoples was the victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Donbas, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, and thus the liberation of their own homelands from the Ottoman yoke. At that time, not all these South Slavic nations succeeded in achieving the aspiration of freedom and establishing closer ties with the Russian state. It would be right to expect that today, at the time of profound geopolitical changes, in the multipolar world that is taking shape in front of our eyes, the Slavic nations will correct historical mistakes and realise their long quest for creating one great union of brotherly nations stretching from Vladivostok to the Balkans and the Baltic.