With the Decline of the ottoman empire in the 19th century, the great European powers and the Balkan peoples striving for independence under Turkish rule began to concern themselves with the territorial reorganization of southeastern Europe.

Shortly after the conclusion of the treaty, the Second Balkan War broke out, as Bulgaria was not satisfied with what had been achieved (especially with regard to the division of Macedonia).

During the interwar period, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), which had its base of operations in Bulgaria, fought massively against the inclusion of Vardar Macedonia in Yugoslavia.

This solidarization was also related to the fact that one saw parallels to one's own fate, since many Germans, like the Macedonians, had to live under foreign rule as a consequence of the war.

[2] In the Second World War, a similar constellation as in the First appeared: Bulgaria joined the three-power pact led by Nazi Germany in 1941 and was allowed to occupy the east and the center of Serbian Macedonia after the breakup of Yugoslavia in the course of the Balkan campaign in the same year.

After the conquest of Yugoslavia in 1941, western formerly Serbian Macedonia was annexed to the Italian, and since 1943 German, protectorate of Greater Albania.

In the summer of 1944, the German Reich responded to the massive deterioration of its position in the Balkans by considering the creation of a formally independent Macedonian state.

[2] In October 1944, German troops killed 80 unarmed inhabitants of the village of Radolišta (Ladorishti) in the Ladorisht massacre in "retaliation" for previous partisan attacks.

While Slovenia and Croatia had already declared their independence in June 1991 and were recognized by Germany on their own in the same year, developments in Macedonia were slower.

This also put a strain on German-Greek relations, as Germany argued for recognition of the Republic of Macedonia to stabilize the crisis region and provide the model for a peaceful exit from the disintegrating Yugoslavia.