"Shoot the Teacher!": Education and the Roots of the Macedonian Struggle
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"SHOOT THE TEACHER!" EDUCATION AND THE ROOTS OF THE MACEDONIAN STRUGGLE Julian Allan Brooks Bachelor of Arts, University of Victoria, 1992 Bachelor of Education, University of British Columbia, 200 1 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of History O Julian Allan Brooks 2005 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2005 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Julian Allan Brooks Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: "Shoot the Teacher!" Education and the Roots of the Macedonian Struggle Examining Committee: Chair: Professor Mark Leier Professor of History Professor AndrC Gerolymatos Senior Supervisor Professor of History Professor Nadine Roth Supervisor Assistant Professor of History Professor John Iatrides External Examiner Professor of International Relations Southern Connecticut State University Date Approved: DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection, and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada ABSTRACT Education brought nationalism from Western Europe to the nineteenth century Balkans, upsetting the theocratic order of the Ottoman Empire. The children of Christian merchants journeyed abroad for better education and many returned imbued with nationalism and a determination to agitate against Ottoman rule. The Ottoman Empire's structure permitted Christians to educate themselves, allowing the educated returnees to inspire future generations. The educated generations made vital contributions to the revolutionary uprisings in Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, which led to independence. However, no one nation dominated the mixed population of Ottoman Macedonia. Competition from neighbouring states intensified after 1878 with teachers arriving to vie for the loyalty of the population. This "Education Race" produced new generations of patriots for the rival nations. Additionally, a group of Macedonian Slavs emerged who declared "Macedonia for the Macedonians," and initiated an armed uprising in 1903 that marked the onset of the Macedonian Struggle of 1903-1 908. Keywords Macedonia, Macedonian Struggle, Balkans, Eiducation, Nationalism. To the memory of my father, Allan Cecil Brooks, who encouraged my interest in history. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my senior supervisor, Dr. Andre Gerolymatos, for his encouragement and valuable advice, enabling me to turn an array of concepts and facts into a coherent thesis. Thanks also to my supervisor, Dr. Nadine Roth, and my external examiner, Dr. John Iatrides, for their comments and suggestions. I am grateful to the Edward and Emily McWhinney Foundation Scholarship for the opportunity to attend the 2004 session on multiculturalism and international law at the Institute of International Public Law and International Relations in Thessaloniki, Greece. Thanks to the direction of Dr. Aristotle Constantinides, my article on education rights was published in the Institute's journal. While in Thessaloniki, Persefoni G. Karabati at the Centre for Macedonian History and Documentation helpfully directed me to several useful sources for my thesis. Dr. Blazhe Ristovski of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Skopje kindly offered his support during the formative days of this thesis. Dr. Penney Clark and Dr. Richard Mackie have greatly aided my development as a historian and as a teacher. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who gave their time and energies to helping me research and write this thesis, especially my sister, Jocie Ingram, and my brother-in-law, David Ingram, who gave up many hours of their spare time to creating a map and proofreading successive drafts of my thesis. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. Approval ............................................................................................................................II ... Abstract ...........................................................................................................................111 Dedication .........................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................v Table of Contents .............................................................................................................vi Introduction........................................................................................................................ 1 Terminology ................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter I: The Making of National Dreams .................................................................13 The Land of Many Histories .........................................................................................13 Education in the Time of Ottoman Rule ........................................................................15 The Declining Empire ....................................................................................................20 The Serbian Uprising .....................................................................................................28 The Greek Revolution ....................................................................................................32 The Principle of Nationality and the Spectre of 1848 ....................................................39 The Ottoman Reforms ....................................................................................................45 Summary .......................................................................................................................49 Chapter 11: School Settings .............................................................................................52 Plans for Change ............................................................................................................52 Systems to Work with ....................................................................................................52 Bulgarian Awakening .....................................................................................................55 American Print ...............................................................................................................66 Stirrings in the Disputed Land: Macedonia pre-1878 ....................................................72 Bulgarian or Macedonian? .............................................................................................80 Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 83 Chapter 111: The Education Race ...................................................................................85 The Starting Line ............................................................................................................85 The Bulgarian Advance post 1878 .................................................................................87 The Greek Response .....................................................................................................100 Serbian School Ventures ..............................................................................................106 Romanian Schools, Vlach Students ............................................................................12 The Rest of the Pack: Albanians, Muslims, Jews and Protestants ...............................116 Quality of Education ....................................................................................................125 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 127 Chapter IV: IMRO: A Product of Education .............................................................129 Of Teachers and Students ............................................................................................