the deletion of the term bulgarian in this article and its substitution with the term macedonian is pov throughout the middle ages and until the early th century there was no clear formulation or expression of a distinct macedonian ethnicity the slavic speaking majority in the region of macedonia had been referred to both by themselves and outsiders as bulgarians and that is how they were predominantly seen since th who are the macedonians hugh poulton c hurst co publishers isbn p formation of the bulgarian nation its development in the middle ages th th c academician dimit r simeonov angelov summary sofia press pp up until the early th century center for documentation and information on minorities in europe southeast europe cedime se macedonians of bulgaria p it is generally acknowledged that the ethnic macedonian identity emerged in the late th century or even later krste misirkov on the macedonian matters za makedonckite raboti sofia and anyway what sort of new macedonian nation can this be when we and our fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers have always been called bulgarians cite book last zielonka first jan last pravda first alex title democratic consolidation in eastern europe year publisher oxford university press location oxford isbn pages quote unlike the slovene and croatian ide