Macedonian Struggle

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia, known as the National Liberation Struggle of Macedonia.
Macedonian Struggle
Part of the decline of the Ottoman Empire

The geographical region of Macedonia as defined in the 1800s
Date1893–1912 (19 years)
Location
Ottoman Macedonia
  • Salonika Vilayet
  • Monastir Vilayet
  • Kosovo Vilayet
Result Bulgarian and Greek dominance
Belligerents

HMC
Greek Patriarchate
Supported by:
Greece Greece

Chetniks Serbian Chetniks
Supported by:
 Serbia

SCMR
Supported by:
 Romania

IMRO
Bulgaria SMAC
Bulgaria BSRB
Bulgaria Bulgarian Exarchate
Supported by:
 Bulgaria

 Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders

Ion Dragoumis
Germanos Karavangelis
Lambros Koromilas
Pavlos Melas †
Kottas Christou Executed
Gonos Yiotas †

Chetniks Milorad Gođevac
Chetniks Gligor Sokolović †
Chetniks Jovan Babunski
Chetniks Aksentije Bacetić †

Ștefan Mihăileanu †[1]

Vasil Chakalarov
Apostol Petkov †
Marko Lerinski †

Ottoman Empire Abdul Hamid II
Ottoman Empire Hüseyin Hilmi Pasha
Ottoman Empire Mahmud Shevket Pasha
Casualties and losses
8,000 militants and civilians killed (1903–1908)[2]

The Macedonian Struggle (Bulgarian: Македонска борба; Greek: Μακεδονικός Αγώνας; Macedonian: Борба за Македонија; Serbian: Борба за Македонију; Turkish: Makedonya Mücadelesi) was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts that were mainly fought between Greek and Bulgarian subjects who lived in Ottoman Macedonia between 1893 and 1912. The conflict was part of a wider guerilla war in which revolutionary organizations of Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs all fought over Macedonia. Gradually the Greek and Bulgarian bands gained the upper hand. Though the conflict largely ceased by the Young Turk Revolution, it continued as a low intensity insurgency until the Balkan Wars.

Background

See also:
Decline of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic speakers in Ottoman Macedonia, and Nationalism

Initially the conflict was waged through educational and religious means, with a fierce rivalry developing between supporters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (Greek-speaking or Slavic/Romance-speaking people who generally identified as Greek), and supporters of the Bulgarian Exarchate, which had been recognized by the Ottomans in 1870.[3]

A 1903 map of the Salonika Vilayet depicting Greek (red), Bulgarian (green), Romanian (purple), and Serbian (blue) schools, in addition to Greek churches (red cross) and monasteries (red cross on red dot)
Austrian ethnographic map from 1899 depicting Christian Bulgarians (light green), Christian Greeks (horizontal blue and yellow stripes), Bulgarians and Serbs mixed (diagonal blue and yellow stripes), Christian Serbs (diagonal blue and white stripes), Christian Aromanians (light blue)

As Ottoman rule in the Balkans crumbled in the late 19th century, competition arose between Greeks and Bulgarians (and to a lesser extent also other ethnic groups such as Serbs,

Hellenic Macedonian Committee. The region quickly became a constant battleground among various armed groups, with hostilities peaking in 1904-1908. The Ottoman Army was also involved in the conflict and perpetuated atrocities against the Christian population in attempt to quell the unrest. Due to the Christian population of Macedonia, whether Greek, Serb, Bulgarian or Aromanian, engaging in more or less constant rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, in conjunction with the revolutionary activities of Armenian nationalists in Anatolia, many Ottoman officers believed that all Christians of the empire were disloyal and treasonous.[8]

Bulgarian activity

See also: Bulgarian Millet and Bulgarian Exarchate

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation

Seal of the CC of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization containing the motto Svoboda ili smart.

In 1893, the Bulgarian

Mitre The Vlach, Ioryi Mucitano and Alexandru Coshca.[19][20] The IMRO ultimately weakened due to a split into a left-wing faction (federalist) and a right-wing faction (centralists) following the failed Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising. Many of the members of the organization saw Macedonian autonomy as an intermediate step to unification with Bulgaria,[21]
but others saw as their aim the creation of a Balkan federal state, with Macedonia as an equal member.

Bulgarian efforts

Already from 1895 the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committees were formed in Sofia in order to reinforce the Bulgarian actions in Ottoman Empire. One of Komitadjis' first activities was the capture of the predominantly Greek town of Meleniko (today Melnik, Bulgaria), but they couldn't hold it for more than a few hours.[22][23] Bulgarian bands destroyed the Pomak village of Dospat where they massacred local inhabitants.[23] This kind of activity alerted Greeks and Serbians, who made a farce of the slogan "Macedonia to Macedonians", being against the constitution of Macedonia as separate state.[24]

Supreme Macedonian Committee
's cheta during the Ilinden Uprising.

As Bulgarian efforts intensified, they started to affect European public opinion. In April 1903, a group known as the

Adrianople
.

Greek activity

See also: Ottoman Greeks and Rum Millet

Hellenic Macedonian Committee

Seal of the Greek Macedonian Committee depicting Alexander the Great and Byzantine Emperor Basil II
Pavlos Melas in Macedonomachos uniform

In order to strengthen Greek efforts for Macedonia, the

Hellenic Macedonian Committee was founded in 1903 by Stefanos Dragoumis and functioned under the leadership of wealthy publisher Dimitrios Kalapothakis. Its members included many Greek notables in addition to the fighters. Among its members were Ion Dragoumis and Pavlos Melas.[25] Its fighters were known as Makedonomachoi ("Macedonian fighters").[26]

Under these conditions, in 1904 a vicious guerrilla war broke as response of IMRO activities between Bulgarian and Greek bands within Ottoman Macedonia. The Bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis, who was sent to Macedonia by Nikolaos Mavrokordatos, the ambassador of Greece, and Ion Dragoumis, the consul of Greece in Monastir, realised that it was time to act in a more efficient way and began to organise the intensification of the Greek opposition.

While Dragoumis concerned himself with the financial organisation of the efforts, the central figure in the military struggle was the very capable

Greek population
to take action against the IMRO. Many committees were also formed to promote the Greek national interests.

Katechakis and Karavangelis succeeded in the recruitment and organization of guerrilla groups that were later reinforced with volunteers from Greece. Volunteers often came from

local Greeks, such as Periklis Drakos
, were also involved in the smuggling and stashing of weapons and ammunition around the region.

Greek efforts

Armed Mount Athos monks
Üsküp and Monastir area. The rioting in Macedonia, especially the death of Pavlos Melas in 1904, caused intense nationalistic feelings in Greece. This led to the decision to send more volunteers to reinforce and better organise the armed bands and thwart the Bulgarian efforts to bring all of the Slavic-speakers of Macedonia on under their influence.

The band of Gonos Yiotas (seated right) and Apostolis Matopoulos
(seated left).

The Greek General Consulate in Thessaloniki, under Lambros Koromilas, became the centre of the struggle, coordinating the Greek bands, distributing, and nursing the wounded. Fierce conflicts between the Greeks and Bulgarians started in the area of Kastoria, in the Giannitsa Lake area, and elsewhere. During 1905, guerilla activity increased and the Makedonomachoi gained significant advantage within 10 months, extending their control towards the areas of Mariovo and East Macedonia, Kastanohoria (near Kastoria), the plains north and south of Florina and the routes around Monastir.[28] However, from early 1906 the situation became critical and the forces of the Makedonomachoi were forced to withdraw from various areas. Nevertheless, the groups of Tellos Agras and Ioannis Demestichas had some success in the marsh of Giannitsa.[28] There were great advances of the Serb forces, joined by Muslim Slavs, in summer of 1906 in the northern areas of the Sanjak of Üsküp.[29]

While the armed bands confronted the Ottoman Army, the Ottoman administration often ignored the activities of the Greek guerrillas,[30] and according to Dakin assisted them against the Bulgarians outright.[24] However, once the subversive potential of the Bulgarians had been neutralised, Ottoman policy ended the favourable neutrality to the Greek side and embarked upon relentless persecutions against the Greeks.[31] During the course of the conflict Greek armed bands numbered 2,000 men. Of whom over 700 were killed in action along with 1,250 pro-Greek civilians.[32]

Aromanian activity

Aromanian revolutionaries in Veria

The Greek–Romanian conflict concerning the Aromanians reached its climax during the Macedonian Struggle, with Aromanians being no longer divided into pro-Greek and pro-Romanian factions but into "Greeks" and "Romanians" proper.[33] The pro-Greek faction was the largest and most powerful.[34]

Pro-Greek Aromanians

Most Aromanians during the Macedonian Struggle were pro-Greek, supporting the Greek revolutionaries and the

Greekness.[37]
In Veria, there was a small local unit which was under the leadership of a pro-Greek Aromanian, Tasos Koukotegos. This unit, being small and somewhat isolated, had been operating without definite objectives, but it proved to be very important for the Greek cause as it helped in fights against local Turkish chiefs, pro-Romanian Aromanians, and Bulgarian komitadjis.[37] Additionally, local support from pro-Greek Aromanians in Kastoria empowered Greek activity in the region.[37] A notable Greek makedonomachos of Aromanian descent was Anastasios Pichion.

Anastasios Pichion, a pro-Greek Aromanian

In Pelagonia, the pro-Greek sentiments of Aromanians during the Macedonian Struggle contributed to their displacement.[38] When they migrated to Greece, they were already financially ruined.[39]

Pro-Bulgarian Aromanians

Pitu Guli, a pro-Bulgarian Aromanian

Many Aromanians were also pro-Bulgarian, joining their efforts in the struggle. They were aligned with the Bulgarian Exarchate rather than the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and sympathized with the goals and aspiration of the Bulgarian cause. Some notable pro-Bulgarian Aromanians include Pitu Guli and Mitre Pangiaru.

Pro-Romanian Aromanians

As the Bulgarians had managed to introduce their language in church services and education in the Ottoman Empire, so did the pro-Romanian Aromanians start demanding the same rights. The Greek Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople reacted strongly to this however amid increased rivalry in the region and eight Aromanian churches were closed by his personal order in 1875. This produced protests from the pro-Romanian Aromanians to the Ottoman and Romanian government, and also increased tensions between the pro-Romanian Aromanians and the Greeks[40] as well as with pro-Greek Aromanians,[41] which led to physical violence that often ended in fatalities.[40]

In 1903, following the failure of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in which many pro-Romanian Aromanian and Bulgarian soldiers had fought with the aim of creating a Macedonian autonomy, the Ottoman Empire allowed the intervention of Greek militias, known as antartes and formed within Greece with commanders from the Greek state, to suppress potential renewed attempts of this objective. These commanders began to threaten the leaders of various Romanian schools in Aromanian villages, warning them that if they did not close down their activities, they would be attacked. Given this, some pro-Romanian Aromanian fighters referred to as armatoles (armatoli, armatol in singular) began to take up arms, the first ones being Mihail Handuri from Livadia (Giumala de Jos or Livãdz) and Hali Joga from Ano Grammatiko [bg; el; mk] (Grãmãticuva), who having been joined by various young pro-Romanian Aromanian fighters, began to attack Greek bands in the area of Edessa and Veria. These pro-Romanian Aromanian bands were allied with Bulgarian bands in Ottoman Macedonia. In 1906, under Ioryi Mucitano,[42] they were organized into two committees, one in Bucharest led by Alexandru Coshca and Sterie Milioru and the other in Sofia led by Mucitano. He decided to divide their area of operations into districts led by a so-called voivode. These bands were allowed free passage by Bulgarian villages.[43]

Clashes

Starting from summer of 1904, clashes between pro-Romanian Aromanian and ethnic Greek[43] or pro-Greek Aromanian bands,[41] be it only between themselves or with other combatants involved, erupted in the village of Condusula (between Edessa and Naousa), Ano Grammatiko,[43] Pyrgoi and Dervent.[44] Pro-Greek schools and churches were destroyed by the pro-Romanian Aromanians and pro-Greek Aromanians retaliated by doing the same to pro-Romanian schools and churches.[45] The two factions expelled each other and even murdered opponent schoolteachers and clergy.[45] One such case took place in 1911, when komitadjis and pro-Romanian Aromanians murdered Emilianos Lazaridis [el], Metropolitan of Grevena [el].[46] Another example is Haralambie Balamaci [ro], an Aromanian priest murdered in 1914 by Greek antartes.[47]

Greeks and pro-Greek Aromanians suffered attacks from Turkish troops and bashibazouks who killed 41 of them and destroyed 366 and 203 of their houses and shops respectively.[37]

Crimes

War crimes were committed by both sides during the Macedonian struggle. According to a 1900 British report compiled by

Macedonian Bulgarian villages, with the aim of forcing their inhabitants to switch their allegiance from the Exarchate back to the Patriarchate and accept Greek priest and teachers,[51] but they also carried out massacres against the civilian population,[52] especially in the central parts of Macedonia in 1905[53] and in 1906.[54] One of the notable cases was the massacre[55] at the village Zagorichani (today Vasiliada, Greece), which was a Bulgarian Exarchist stronghold[24] near Kastoria on 25 March 1905, where between 60 and 78 villagers were killed by Greek bands.[54][56]

According to British reports on political crimes (including the above-mentioned Biliotti report), during the period from 1897 to 1912 over 4000 political murders were committed (66 before 1901, 200 between 1901 and 1903, 3300 between 1903 and 1908 and 600 between 1908 and 1912), excluding those killed during the Ilinden Uprising and the members of the Bulgarian and Greek bands. Of those who were killed, 53% were Bulgarians, 33.5% were Greeks, Serbs and Aromanians together 3.5% and 10% were of unknown ethnicity.[57]

These conflicts decreased their intensity after the revolution of Young Turks in July 1908, as they promised to respect all ethnicities and religions, and to provide a constitution.

Consequences

The success of Greek efforts in Macedonia was an experience that gave confidence to the country. It helped develop an intention to annex Greek-speaking areas, and bolster Greek presence in the still Ottoman ruled Macedonia.

The events in Macedonia, specifically the consequences of the conflicts between Greek and Bulgarian national activists, including Greek massacres against the Bulgarian population in 1905 and 1906, gave rise to pogroms against the ca. 70,000-80,000 strong Greek communities that lived in Bulgaria, who were considered to share responsibility for the actions of the Greek guerrilla groups.[56][58]

Nevertheless, the Young Turk movement resulted in a few instances of collaboration between Greek and Bulgarian bands, while this time the official policy in both countries continue to support the penetration of armed fighters into Ottoman Macedonia, but without having fully ensured that there would be no attacks on each other.[59]

Legacy

Greek writer Penelope Delta wrote the novel Τά μυστικά τοῦ Βάλτου (Ta Mystiká tou Váltou – The Secrets of the Swamp) about the fighting around the Giannitsa Lake.

Germanos Karavangelis published his memoirs as Ὁ Μακεδονικός Ἀγών (The Macedonian Struggle).

The 1973 Greek film Pavlos Melas depicts the life and death of Pavlos Melas.

Albert Sonnichsen, an American volunteer in the IMRO depicted Bulgarian activities in the book Confessions of a Macedonian Bandit: A Californian in the Balkan Wars.

Many museums have been dedicated to the conflict, including those in Thessaloniki[60] (housed in the former Greek consulate), Kastoria, Chromio, and Skopje.

See also

Notes

  1. ISSN 0076-289X
    . Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  2. ISBN 978-0-241-44432-0
    .
  3. ^ a b Clogg, Richard. A Concise History of Greece. Cambridge University Press, 1992. 257 pp. p.81.
  4. ISBN 9780253213594
    p. 53.
  5. ISBN 9781538119624
    , p. 11.
  6. ISBN 9783643914460
    , p. 211.
  7. ^ Clogg, Richard. A Concise History of Greece. Cambridge University Press, 1992. p. 71.
  8. ^ Akmeşe 2005, pp. 50–53.
  9. ISBN 0914710559
    , p. 10.
  10. ISBN 9780880333832
    , p. 39.
  11. ISBN 0810862956
    , Introduction.
  12. ISBN 0226424995
    , p. 100.
  13. ISBN 0801469791
    , p. 16.
  14. ISBN 0191528722
    , p. 17.
  15. ISBN 1438110197
    , p. 135.
  16. ISBN 081794883X
    ,p. 105.
  17. ISBN 184908419X
    , p. 21.
  18. ISBN 1442241802
    , p. 520.
  19. ^ "The Aromanians and IMRO (Nikola Minov) - Republic of Macedonia - Balkans". Scribd.
  20. ^ Maxwell, Alexander. “Slavic Macedonian Nationalism: From 'Regional' to 'Ethnic.'” Ethnologia Balkanica 11 (2007): 127–55. p. 141.
  21. ISBN 954-91083-5-X
    , p. 31-32.
  22. ISBN 978-0-914710-55-4
    .
  23. ^ a b "Le meurtre du prêtre comme violence inaugurale (Bulgarie 1872, Macédoine 1900)". http://balkanologie. IX (1–2). December 2005. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  24. ^ a b c Dakin, Douglas (1966). The Greek struggle in Macedonia, 1897-1913. Institute for Balkan Studies. pp. 48, 224 and p.337.
  25. ^ Konstantinos Vakalopoulos, Historia tou voreiou hellenismou, vol 2, 1990, pp. 429-430
  26. ISBN 978-0-7391-0384-5
    .
  27. ^ Bulgarian Historical Review, vol 31, 1-4, 2003, p 117 "Only a few days later -on November 1- Katehakis arrived in Macedonia as Melas' successor"
  28. ^ a b Gounaris, Basil C. "National Claims, Conflicts and Developments in Macedonia, 1870-1912" (PDF). macedonian-heritage.gr. p. 194. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  29. ISBN 978-0-88033-527-0
    .
  30. ISBN 978-1-4008-2968-2
    .
  31. ^ Gounaris, Basil C. "National Claims, Conflicts and Developments in Macedonia, 1870-1912" (PDF). macedonian-heritage.gr. p. 196. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  32. ^ Christopoulos & Bastias 1977, p. 254.
  33. ^ a b c Kahl, Thede (2002). "The Ethnicity of Aromanians after 1990: the Identity of a Minority that Behaves like a Majority". Ethnologia Balkanica (6): 145–169 – via Central and Eastern European Online Library.
  34. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85065-705-7
    .
  35. S2CID 145106821
    .
  36. ISBN 978-0-262-26575-1
    .
  37. ^ a b c d e Dakin, Douglas (1966). The Greek struggle in Macedonia, 1897-1913. Institute for Balkan Studies. pp. 26, 103, 217, 309, 365–366.
  38. ^ Asterios I. Koukoudēs, (2003), The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Zitros p. 469
  39. ^ Asterios I. Koukoudēs, (2003), The Vlachs: Metropolis and Diaspora. Zitros p. 470
  40. ^ a b Arslan 2003, p. 81.
  41. ^ a b Kofos, Evangelos (1964). Nationalism and Communism in Macedonia. Institute for Balkan studies. p. 314.
  42. ^ Nicea 2001, p. 4.
  43. ^ a b c Nicea 2001, p. 5.
  44. ^ Nicea 2001, p. 6.
  45. ^
    doi:10.24498/ajames.26.2_151
    .
  46. ^ Tziola, Alexandrou (1 October 2023). "30. 9. 1911 : δολοφονείται με μαρτυρικό θάνατο ο Μητροπολίτης Γρεβενών Αιμιλιανός Λαζαρίδης, σε ηλικία 34 ετών". Efimerida Kozani (in Greek).
  47. ^ Modiga, Iulia (25 March 2019). "Comemorarea martirilor din Balcani. 105 ani de la martirizarea părintelui Haralambie Balamaci". InfoPrut (in Romanian).
  48. ^ David Barchard, The Fearless and Self-Reliant Servant: The Life and Career of Sir Alfred Biliotti (1833-1895), p.50
  49. ^ Gounaris, Basil C. "National Claims, Conflicts and Developments in Macedonia, 1870-1912" (PDF). macedonian-heritage.gr. p. 189. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  50. ISBN 978-0-86356-574-8
    .
  51. ^ Hazell's Annual. Hazell, Watson and Viney. 1908. p. 574.; Edmund Burke (1907). The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year. Vol. 148. Longmans, Green. p. 334.
  52. ^ The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge. Vol. 27. Encyclopedia Americana Corporation. 1920. p. 194.
  53. ^ Henry Noël Brailsford (1906). Macedonia; its races and their future. Metheun. pp. 215–216.
  54. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8014-6116-3
    .
  55. ^ Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1906). Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command. Vol. 137. H.M. Stationery Office. p. 24.
  56. ^ a b The Macedonian question, 1893-1908, from Western sources; Nadine Lange-Akhund; 1998 p.279
  57. ^ Basil C. Gounaris; Preachers of God and martyrs of the Nation: The politics of murder in Ottoman Macedonia in the early 20th century; Balkanologie, Vol. IX, December 2005
  58. ISBN 978-0-8014-6116-3
    . New Greek massacres of Bulgarians in Macedonia in 1906 led to a repetition of anti-Greek violence in the Principality of Bulgaria
  59. ^ Gounaris, Basil C. "National Claims, Conflicts and Developments in Macedonia, 1870-1912" (PDF). macedonian-heritage.gr. p. 201. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  60. ISSN 2204-3128
    .

References

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