MACEDONIAN SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE – SOFIA Ass. Prof. Stoyan Germanov, PhD THE MACEDONIAN QUESTION HISTORY AND ACTUALITY Sofia, 2010 Assoc. Prof. Stoyan Germanov, Dr. is a descendent of Ohrid refugees. He finished high school in the town of Petrich and graduated from “St. Kliment Ohridski” Sofia University with a history degree. His scientific interest is aimed at the Bulgarian national liberation movement after the Berlin Congress, the policy of the Great Powers about the Macedonian Question, etc. He has specialized in London, Mos- cow and St. Peterburg. He has written more than 60 studios, articles and 2 mono- graphs. Also, he has participated in national and international scientific events – XXI symposium of military history, Quebec (1995); XVII World’s Congress of Historians, Montreal (1995); the Congress of the Organization of Security and Co- operation in Europe, Warsaw (1998); VI World’s Congress for search of Central and South Europe, Tampere, Finland (2000), Scientific symposium for the ethnical changes in Macedonia, Skopie (1994), etc. Since 1991 he has been a research associ- ate and scientific secretary of the restored Macedonian Scientific Institute – Sofia. THE MACEDONIAN QUESTION. HISTORY AND ACTUALITY © Stoyan Germanov, autor © Kosta Zhekov, cover design Reviewer: Prof. Trendafil Mitev, DSc Translated into english by: Galina Kopcheva Editor: Vania Stoianova, PhD Computerprint design: Emil Iliev, PhD Printing Press of Prof. Marin Drinov Academic Publishing House ISBN 978–954–8187–77–0 – 3 – CONTENTS Essence of the Macedonian Question and first ideas for its solution ................................................................. 4 From the Balkan Wars to the Versailles System ............................................. 6 The Comintern and the Macedonian Question .............................................. 10 The Macedonian Question during the War Period ........................................ 15 New Ideas, new mistakes and compromises .................................................. 17 First Attempts for Reconsideration ............................................................... 31 The Beginning of a New Course .................................................................... 34 The Macedonian Question in Bilateral Bulgarian-Yugoslavian Meetings and Conversations ............................................................................... 37 The Macedonian Question at the End of the XX and the Beginning of the XXI Century .............................................................................. 40 Bibliography ................................................................................................. 49 – 4 – For over a century the Macedonian Question has been of interest to scien- tists, politicians and statesmen crossing the frontiers of the Balkans and becoming an issue for the policy and diplomacy of a series of countries. It has been the object of political and scientific disputes, diplomatic schemes, utopian projects, political designs and territorial claims. Nowadays some aspects of the Macedonian Question have reached scientific or political decisions, others are still controversial due to the exceptive politicization and the stereotypical thinking from the near past. Over the last two decades the historical science has made it possible for new analyses and prognoses to take place. New documents began to be used in science, a new generation of research-workers appeared in Bulgaria and abroad, who made a great contribution to the Macedonian Question by throwing light upon it from a contemporary point of view. In the present survey an attempt is made to follow up the objective prereq- uisites for the rise of the Macedonian Question and its development till the Balkan Wars, also, the period between the two wars has been taken into account. Special attention is paid to the events during and after the Second World War. The nation- al-territorial, state-political and people’s strivings are analyzed in every stage; the standpoints for new nations are outlined under the influence of the Communist movement and its doctrines; the ideas for a Balkan and South-Slavic federation as a possible solution for the Macedonian Question are presented as well as the under- standings for the Macedonian Question after the changes from the 1990s and the beginning of the XXI century. ESSENCE OF THE MACEDONIAN QUESTION AND FIRST IDEAS FOR ITS SOLUTION The Macedonian Question originated as a part of the insoluble Bulgarian national question. The European scientific and political thought as early as before the Liberation recognized the ethnical boundaries of the Bulgarian people. This fact was also confirmed at the Constantinople Conference of the Great Powers (1876), as well as by the self-determining of the Bulgarian population during political and spiritual fights. But the Congress of Berlin (1878) hindered the wishes and aspira- – 5 – tions of the Bulgarian nation for national unification by opening a wound which has been bleeding till nowadays. In that way, the unsuccessful attempt for uniting the Bulgarian nation in 1878, the interference of the Great Powers and the territori- al aspirations of the neighboring Balkan countries were the main reasons for the rise of the Macedonian Question. Bulgaria was compelled for decades on to take care of issues that our neighbors had solved much quickly at minimum losses, in- stead of concentrating on the state’s cultural and economical life. One of the most important aspects of the Macedonian Question, among all, concerns the ethnical character of the Slavic population in Macedonia which was a majority. Even before the era of the disputes, the studies of such scrupulous, unbi- ased scientists and travelers as V. Grigorovich, Ami Boué, Leon Lamouche, Georges Desbons, Gustav Weigand, Lubor Niederle, Pavel Milukov, Nikodim Kondakov, Nikolai Derjavin, Henry Brailsford and many others had proven con- vincingly that the Slavic population in Macedonia was Bulgarian according to his- tory, manner of life and culture and the Bulgarians were dominant element. This was not to the benefit of the Belgrade and Athens ruling circles. During the dis- putes, seemingly harmless at first, a wish for the realization of the long term strate- gies of Serbia and Greece became apparent. Help was needed and the scientific thought of both countries was summoned. A competition began - whose interests were bigger, who had historical rights, etc. The Russian diplomacy in the person of the consuls in Bitola, Skopie and Thessaloniki joined in help of the Serbian thesis despite having another opinion beforehand. However, when realizing that the policy for direct Serbianisation of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia had no perspective from a political and scien- tific point of view, a part of the Serbian intelligentsia oriented to Macedonianism. In its origin Macedonianism was the offspring of the Great-Serbian propaganda and aspirations. It aimed at disuniting the Bulgarians and denationalizing a part of the people. Its goal was to destroy the Macedonian Bulgarians’ feelings of belong- ing the to the Bulgarian nation, to make them forget their Bulgarian spirit and root. But till the Balkan Wars the Macedonianism had very little influence and support in Macedonia itself. Few Bulgarians were like Kr. Misirkov who yielded to Serbian suggestions and sacrificed their Bulgarian national feeling. Being dependent on the particular situation and position of the Powers, the solution of the Macedonian Question during the first stage, namely till the wars, – 6 – was searched in several directions. Direct joining to Bulgaria was one of the first suggestions for solving the Macedonian Question. But it was postponed due to the hardship which might have been created by the Great Powers and the neighboring Balkan countries. The other option for the solving of the Macedonian Question was autonomy. That view was appropriated by the Revolutionary movement in Mace- donia after it had become clear that the unification with Bulgaria would be more difficult due to the territorial aspirations of Serbia and Greece and later of other countries. Autonomy with priority of the Bulgarian element, for being the most nu- merous one, was accepted not only by the Revolutionary organization, but also by the Bulgarian government. However, under no circumstances Serbia and Greece would support the autonomy. Their inmost wish was to divide Macedonia and till that moment to define spheres of influence. In that way, during this stage two tendencies were outlined - one under the leadership of the Internal Macedonian and Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) for preparation of a mass armed uprising and the other – the pursuit of Serbia, Greece, Romania with the coopera- tion of the Turkish authorities to establish specific spheres of influence. This mutu- al fight going on through the whole period and especially during the Reform action (1903-1908) reflected worst the Bulgarian element and considerably reduced it, far before the tragic events in 1913 when actually the Serbians, Greeks and Turks uni- fied against the Bulgarians. FROM THE BALKAN WARS TO THE VERSAILLES SYSTEM After the Balkan Wars, especially after the First World War, the Macedo- nian Question entered a new stage of development. It had turned out that neither the Balkan countries, nor the Great Powers had the intention of finding a solution, in the least a fair one, according to the proclaimed principles of self-determination of the nations by the American