World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia

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National Liberation War of Macedonia
)

World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia
Part of World War II in Yugoslavia

Map of Vardar Macedonia during World War II. The area was divided between Albania and Bulgaria and the frontier between them run approximately along the line: StrugaTetovoGjilanVranje.
(3 years, 7 months, 1 week and 5 days)
Location
Result
Territorial
changes
Part of
SFR Yugoslavia
Belligerents

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Yugoslav Partisans

  • Macedonian Partisans
Bulgaria (from Sep. 1944)
LANÇ
Chetniks Chetniks


Commanders and leaders
Strength
1,000 (1941)
2,000 (1942)
8,000 (Sep. 1944)[9][10]
66,000 (Dec. 1944)[11]
110,000 (April 1945)[12][unreliable source?]
340,000 Bulgarian soldiers in Southern Serbia and Vardar Macedonia (October – December 1944)

~ 32,000 Bulgarian soldiers in Southern Serbia and Vardar Macedonia (May 1941 – September 1944)[13]
~300,000 (Army Group E in October 1944)[14]


~8,000 Chetniks
Casualties and losses
Total casualties: 24,000
By nationality:
7,000
Civilians, 1,000 Collaborationists, 11,000 Soldiers and Partisans
7,000 victims of Concentration Camps

  1. ^ Limited influence and control, de jure Commander
  2. ^ Link between Mihajlo Apostolski and Josip Broz Tito, Supervisor

World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia started with the

Macedonian communists began in October 1941 a political and military campaign to resist the occupation of Vardar Macedonia. Officially, the area was called then Vardar Banovina, because the very name Macedonia was prohibited in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.[16][17]
It was occupied mostly by Bulgarian, but also by German, Italian, and Albanian forces.

Initially pro-Bulgarian feelings ran high among the Macedonian Slavs, as there was no organised resistance because the majority of the Macedonian Slavs.

Bulgarianization as they realised that only part of the Macedonian population felt Bulgarian or was pro-Bulgarian.[19]

Resistance started to grow in 1943 with the capitulation of Italy and the Soviet victories over Nazi Germany.[20][21] The role of the Bulgarian communists, who avoided organizing mass armed resistance, was also a key factor.[22] Their influence over the Macedonian Committee remained dominant until 1943, when it became obvious that Germany and Bulgaria would be defeated.

At that time Tito's special emissary

Albanian Partisans
also participated in the resistance movement.

After Bulgaria switched sides in the war

in September 1944, the Bulgarian 5th. Army stationed in Macedonia, moved back to the old borders of Bulgaria. In the early October the newly formed Bulgarian People's Army together with the Red Army reentered occupied Yugoslavia to blocking the German forces withdrawing from Greece. Yugoslav Macedonia was liberated in end of November when communist Yugoslavia
was established. After the German retreat forced by the Bulgarian offensive, the conscription of Macedonians in the People's Liberation Army increased significantly.

The operation was commonly called by the Yugoslav

Great Bulgarian chauvinism" and cracked down on pro-Bulgarian organisations that supported ideas of Greater Bulgaria and those which opposed the Yugoslav idea and insisted on Macedonian independence
.

Background

German ethnic map of Yugoslavia from 1940. Macedonians are depicted as a separate community, and described as claimed by Serbs and Bulgarians, but generally attributed to the last ones.
Macedonians in Sofia posing with German soldiers before the invasion in Yugoslavia. The poster praises the unification with Bulgaria with the slogan “One people, one Tsar, one kingdom”, and Independent Macedonia.[25] The invading Germans were greeted with the same posters in Skopje.[26]

The Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913, and the World War I (1914-1918) divided the region of Macedonia amongst the Kingdom of Greece, the Kingdom of Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Serbia. The territory was up until that time part of the Ottoman Empire. In those days, the majority of the Slavic speakers in Ottoman Macedonia considered themselves to be a part of the Bulgarian community.[27][28][29]

From 1912 until 1915 the territory of Vardar Macedonia remained within the territory of Serbia. In the parts administered by Serbia the new authorities forced out most of the Bulgarian priests and teachers, and began implementing a forceful state-sponsored Serbianisation of Slavic-speaking Macedonians. It was occupied by Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I between 1915 and 1918. Afterwards it was restored back to Serbia and consequently included as part of the Vardar Banovina in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During that period, there were two main autonomist agendas. The right-wing Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) led by Ivan Mihailov, was in favor of the creation of a pro-Bulgarian Macedonian state under German and Italian protection.

The leftist

IMRO (United) never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias.[31] After the organization was dissolved, most of the members ended up joining the Bulgarian Communist Party.[32]

During the interwar period in Vardar Macedonia, some young locals repressed by the Serbs, tried to find a separate Macedonian way of national development.[33] Nevertheless, the existence of considerable Macedonian national consciousness prior to the middle of the 1940s is disputed.[34][35][36] At that time anti-Serbian and pro-Bulgarian feelings among the local population prevailed.[37][38]

Occupation of Macedonia

Invasion of Yugoslavia

German 11th Panzer Division advancing into Yugoslavia from Bulgaria as part of the Twelfth Army.
Yugoslav POWs supervised by Bulgarian soldiers and German armored car.
Yugoslav Macedonian POWs in camp in Timishoara, May 1941, before their liberation. With the intercession of the Bulgarian administration more than 12,000 Macedonian POWs who had been conscripted into the Yugoslav army were released.

Fearing an invasion by the

Axis Powers, Regent Prince Paul of Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact
on 25 March 1941, pledging cooperation with the Axis. On 27 March, the regime of Prince Paul was overthrown by a military
Italy and Hungary, launched the invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and quickly conquered it. The country was subsequently divided between the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians, who took most of Macedonia. When the Bulgarians entered Yugoslav Macedonia, the people greeted them with high enthusiasm. Crowds in Skopje flew banners that greeted the unification of Macedonia and Bulgaria.[39]

Division Macedonian region of southern Yugoslavia

Italian troops entering Ohrid on 12 April 1941.
Macedonian soldiers surrendering in Skopje, April 1941. The Germans scattered leaflets in Bulgarian, prepared by the BAC, which appealed that Macedonia is set free.[40][41] As result Macedonians mobilized in the Yugoslav army surrendered en masse.[42]
A crowd in Skopje on 20 April 1941 celebrating the entry of the Bulgarian Army and displaying banners praising the Axis invasion in Macedonia.
Bulgarian troops entering Bitola on 21 April 1941. In fact, they were greeted as alleged liberators from Serbian rule, while pro-Bulgarian feelings prevailed during the early stages of the occupation.[43]
Transfer of the city of Ohrid (today in North Macedonia) by the Italian fascist authorities to Bulgarian administration through German Nazis' intermediation under the acclamations of the local Slavic population (May 1941).

A division of Vardar Macedonia, then part of the Vardar Banovina, was drawn up on 19 and 20 April 1941. Bulgarian troops entered the central and eastern parts and seized most of the banovina, including parts of Eastern Serbia and Kosovo. The most prominent force which occupied most of the area was the 5th Army. The westernmost parts of Macedonia were occupied by the fascist Kingdom of Italy.

Collaborationist organizations

Bulgarian action committees – After the defeat of the Yugoslav army, a group of

POWs who had been conscripted into the Yugoslav army were released by German, Italian and Hungarian authorities.[52] With the arrival of the Bulgarian army mass expulsion of Serbian colonists from Vardar Macedonia took place.[53] Once the region and administration became organized, the Action Committees became marginalized, and were ultimately dissolved.[54]

Balli Kombëtar forces in Debar

Balli Kombëtar in Macedonia – There were 5,500 Balli Kombëtar militants in Albanian occupied Macedonia, 2,000 of which were Tetovo-based and 500 of which were based in Debar.[55]

Ivan Mihailov's IMRO in Macedonia – After the military

Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934 the new Bulgarian government banned IMRO as a terrorist organization. Ivan Mihailov fled to Italy, where he made contact with the Italian fascist authorities and with members of the German secret service (Gestapo). After the defeat of Yugoslavia, Mihailov went to Zagreb and spent the war there with Ante Pavelić. He revitalized parts of his old organisation and ordered them to enter Vardar Macedonia and infiltrate the local Bulgarian administration, waiting for an opportunity to take over control and create a pro-German Macedonian state. Although Nazi Germany gave Bulgaria the right to annex the greater part of Vardar Macedonia, the Gestapo had contacts with Mihailov and his men in Bulgaria and Vardar Macedonia. This was in order to have a "reserve card" in case of things going wrong in Bulgaria.[56]

Serbian Chetnik Movement in Macedonia – There were approximately 8,000[57][58] Serb Chetniks led by Draža Mihailović operating in Macedonia during the conflict. For a time, they were controlled by rival Chetnik leader Kosta Pećanac.[citation needed]

Petur Gabrovski.[44] Their peak strength was 200 units in August 1944.[58]

1941

Local resistance under question

Occupation and partition of Kingdom of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Bulgaria occupied the central and eastern parts of Vardar Macedonia, while the westernmost part was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy.

In 1941 the

Vardarska Banovina in April 1941, the Macedonian communists fell in the sphere of influence of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) under Sharlo's leadership.[59] When the directive for the organization of an armed resistance movement in all regions of occupied Yugoslavia was issued, Sharlo disobeyed the order.[60][page needed] Sharlo answered the Central Committee (CC) of the CPY that the situation in Macedonia did not allow an immediate engagement with military action, but rather first propaganda activity should occur, and afterward formation of military units. On the other hand, he refused to define the Bulgarian forces as occupiers (contrary to instructions from Belgrade) and called for the incorporation of the local Macedonian Communist organizations into the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). The Macedonian Regional Committee refused to remain in contact with CPY and linked up with BCP. While the Bulgarian Communists avoided organizing mass armed uprising against the Bulgarian authorities, the Yugoslav Communists insisted that no liberation could be achieved without an armed revolt.[61]

First attempts

Resistance in Yugoslavia in September 1941. No real partisan activity is observed in Macedonia.

Because of this conflict within the RC of CPY in Macedonia, in Vardar Macedonia there was no resistance movement. At the start of World War II, the Comintern supported a policy of

non-intervention, arguing that the war was an imperialist war between various national ruling classes, this changed after the Axis invasion of Soviet Union. The RC, headed by Shatorov, immediately ordered the formation of partisan units, the first of which was formed in the Skopje region on 22 August 1941, and attacked Bulgarian guards on 8 September 1941 in Bogomila, near Skopje. At that time, with the help of the Comintern and of Joseph Stalin himself a decision was taken and the Macedonian Communists were attached to CPY.[62]
Soon after this Shatorov lost his popularity within the CPY and was discredited.

The former Bulgarian police station in Prilep was attacked by Prilep Partisan Detachment on 11 October 1941. Today the object is memorial museum.

People loyal to the CPY were next appointed as leaders of the RC with Lazar Koliševski as a secretary.[63][page needed] He was sent in September in Skopje. The new leadership began formation of partisan detachments. Armed insurgents from the Prilep Partisan Detachment attacked Axis occupied zones in the city of Prilep, notably a Bulgarian police station, on 11 October 1941.[63][page needed] This date is considered to be the symbolic beginning of the Macedonian Resistance, which began at the latest compared to the other Yugoslav republics, where it began in July.[64] The Prilep detachment was active until December 1941, when it split in three groups – the first in Skopje, the second in Tikves, and the third in Bitola. However, in November the new leader of the RC - Koliševski was arrested and sentenced to death by a Bulgarian military court. He wrote two appeals for clemency to Bulgarian Tsar and to Defense Minister, insisting on his Bulgarian origin. As result his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and Koliševski was sent to a prison in Pleven, Bulgaria.

1942

Local resistance still under question

Formation of the partisan detachment "Dame Gruev", June 6, 1942, near the village of Zlatari, Prespa.

While the Sharlo's leadership was terminated, the vestiges of his policy among part of the local communist activists were preserved. After the arrest of

Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo
.

1943

capitulation of Italy
, September 1943. In Macedonia the partisan activity is concentrated in the former Italian occupation zone ceded to Albania.
Public rally in liberated Kičevo after capitulation of Italy in Albanian zone, 26 September 1943. Yugoslav flags and anti-Bulgarian slogans were absent from the rally.[citation needed]

Support from the CC of the CPY

Although several Macedonian partisan detachments were formed through 1942 which fought battles against the Bulgarian, Italian,

Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo was sent as an assistant to the HQ of the Macedonian partisan forces. Tempo tried to organize an energetic struggle against the occupying forces. He was supposed to set up a Macedonian Communist Party within the framework of the Yugoslav one. One of his objectives was to destroy the influence of the BCP in Macedonia and to fight against any form of autonomism. He would have to "Macedonianize" the struggle's form and content, and to give it an ethnic Macedonian facade.[70]
One of his main achievements was also that the wartime pro-Bulgarian trend receded into the background of pro-Yugoslav one. Tempo was able to capitalize on the growing contradictions towards Bulgarian authorities, which during 1942 were involved into a policy of centralization, contradicting their initial agenda to respect Macedonian autonomy. Yugoslav communists proclaimed as their aim the issue of unification of the three regions of Macedonia – Yugoslav, Greek and Bulgarian, and so managed to get also Macedonian nationalists.

Formation of the Communist Party of Macedonia (CPM)

Karadjova
Valley (Greece) in 1943. Under his leadership, the pro-Bulgarian Regional committee of the communists in Macedonia was disbanded and they were bound up with the Yugoslav communists.
Albanian and Macedonian Partisans of the battalion "Mirče Acev" in liberated Kičevo, 11 September 1943 marching with a transparent. It reads: "Long live the fraternity of the Macedonian and Albanian people!"

The leadership of the Regional Committee of the CPY for Macedonia decided to establish a separate Macedonian Communist Party which would be representative of the will of the Macedonian people in the anti-fascist struggle for national liberation. The Communist Party of Macedonia (CPM) was formed on 19 March 1943 in Tetovo. The first Central Committee (CC of the CPM) was composed as of Yugoslav communists as Strahil Gigov, Kuzman Josifovski Pitu, Cvetko Uzunovski, Mara Naceva and Bane Andreev.[71][page needed]

After making a detailed analysis of the military and political situation in the country, the CC of the CPM decided to be directly involved in the fighting and to be stationed side by side with the troops on the battlefield. The territory of Vardar Macedonia was divided into five operative zones, and efforts were made to make direct contact with the liberation movements in Albania, Bulgaria and Greece.

Adding to the existing eleven, eight new Macedonian partisan detachments were formed in the summer of 1943 as more and more people entered the ranks of the partisans. They managed to create strongholds in the regions of

Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People's Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM)
, which governed Macedonia from August 1944 until the end of World War II.

Formation of the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia

Forming of the battalion "Mirče Acev".
Stiv Naumov", set up in November 1943 in Gorna Prespa
.

The date of the creation of its first major unit, the Mirče Acev Battalion, is August 18, 1943 on Mount Slavej[72] between Ohrid and Kičevo, then in the Italian occupation zone. On 11 November 1943, the 1st Macedonian Kosovo Shock Brigade was formed in western Macedonia by merging two Vardar Macedonian and one Kosovo battalion. The second — larger ethnic Macedonian military unit was the 2nd Macedonian Shock Brigade, formed on 22 December 1943 just across the border in Greek Macedonia.[73] On 26 February 1944 in the village of Zegljane, near Kumanovo, the 3rd Macedonian Shock Brigade was formed. These three brigades were the nucleus of the National Liberation Army of Macedonia, which after constant battles became stronger in numbers. In the middle of 1943, meetings were held between representatives of the

Fustani in the Pella
district of Greece, the Second Macedonian Assault Brigade was formed out of the 3 battalions of the 3rd operative zone. The Bulgarian Hristo Botev partisan battalion of the MNOV was formed out of captured and escaped Bulgarian soldiers. It was under the command of the HQ of MNOV. The rest of the fighters that were not included in the First Macedonian-Kosovo Assault Brigade and the Second Macedonian Assault Brigade (the Hristo Botev and Stiv Naumov battalion together with several smaller partisan detachments) were organized into the so-called "Third Group of Battalions".

Bulgarian actions in 1943

IMRO chieftain Peter Lesev by recruits of Bulgarian Army, after his appointment as a governor of Kratovo Municipality in 1943.[74]
Macedonian recruits formed up to 60% of the soldiers in Bulgarian Army in Vardar Macedonia.
Members of a Veles counter-cheta in 1943. Some locals formed anti-guerrilla detachments to support Bulgarian Police and Army in fighting Communist Partisans and Serbian Chetniks.

Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during World War II from deportation to Nazi concentration camps, but under German pressure those Jews from their newly annexed territories without Bulgarian citizenship were deported, such as those from Vardar Macedonia and Western Thrace.[75] The Bulgarian government was responsible for the roundup and deportation of over 7,000 Jews in Skopje and Bitola. The Bulgarian authorities created a special Gendarmerie force which received almost unlimited power to pursue the Communist partisans in the whole kingdom. The gendarmes became notorious for carrying out atrocities against captured partisans and their supporters[citation needed]. Harsh rule by the occupying forces and a number of Allied victories showing that the Axis might lose the war encouraged more Macedonians to support the Communist Partisan resistance movement of Josip Broz Tito.

Many former IMRO members assisted the Bulgarian authorities in fighting Tempo's partisans. With the help of the Bulgarian government and former IMRO members, several pro-Bulgarian paramilitary detachments (

Uhrana) were organized in occupied Greek Macedonia in 1943. These were led by Bulgarian officers originally from Greek Macedonia and charged with protecting the local population in the zones under German and Italian control. Around this time Ivan Mihailov of IMRO had plans which envisaged the creation of a Macedonian state under German control. He was a follower of the idea of a united Macedonian state with a dominant Bulgarian element.[76]
It was anticipated by the Germans that members of IMRO would form the core of the armed forces of a future Independent Macedonia led by Ivan Mihailov.

1944 and aftermath

February Campaign

Fighters of the 1st Macedonia-Kosovar Brigade during the February march of 1944.

The February march campaign of 1944 had a great political and moral impact. The whole Bulgarian 5th Army, all of the Bulgarian police, as well as the army regiments stationed in

Kjustendil and Gorna Dzumaja
were engaged in the battles. After the February march, the Bulgarian government was forced to change its strategy – organization of the fighting would no longer be the responsibility of the police but of the army, and all organizations would be obliged to help the army.

Destruction of the Vardar Chetnik Corps

At the end of January 1944, the High Command of the MNOV decided to launch an offensive, with the intention of destroying the VCC. On 29 February 1944 the partisans of the Third Macedonian Assault Brigade attacked the Chetnik flanks from north, west and south, while the Hristo Botev detachment hit the Chetniks from the east. In the battle for the village of Sejac, the Vardar Chetnik Corps was totally destroyed, suffering 53 casualties (46 shot by partisans and 7 drowned in the river Pčinja while attempting to flee). 97 Chetniks, including 5 officers, were captured in the action. On 3 March 1944 in the village of Novo Selo, Partisan fighters destroyed the remaining force, capturing 30 Chetniks and more than 100 rifles and ammunition. Various local Chetnik bands, decentralized and acting on their own accord, such as the Porech Chetniks, continued to operate in certain parts of Macedonia but they were generally scattered and disorganized.

Actions in northern Vardar Macedonia and south-eastern Serbia

After the operations which ended with the destruction of the Chetniks in Macedonia, the HQ of the MNOV, now acting as supreme commander of the partisan units in Vardar Macedonia, Kosovo and South Morava, decided to engage in three new attacks on the Bulgarian police and administration. On 26 April 1944 the Third Macedonian Assault Brigade together with the Kosovo detachment successfully attacked the city of Ristovac, where 130 Bulgarian soldiers were killed and 20 captured by the Macedonian partisans. On 3 April 1944 the 3rd Macedonian Assault Brigade attacked the mining town of Zletovo, where about 100 miners entered the ranks of the brigade.

Spring Offensive

Because of increased partisan activity, the main supply lines for the German Army group "E" stationed in Greece and Albania were constantly ambushed and at the same time, the HQ of the MNOV was making plans to liberate western Macedonia and sent the 1st Macedonian-Kosovo Assault Brigade there. Pushing towards Debarca, the 1st Macedonian-Kosovo Assault Brigade had clashes with the Bulgarians and Germans in Zavoj and Velmej. The Germans obtained reinforcements and on 8 May 1944 they counter-attacked. The fighting ended on 20 May 1944 with the Germans being pushed out of the region. After recapturing the Debarca area, more reinforcements became available, so the brigade was split in two brigades – the 1st Macedonian and 1st Kosovo Assault Brigades. In order to prevent the Germans and Bulgarians from taking total control of the action, the MNOV decided to make surprise attacks on enemy positions and to try to exhaust the enemy any way they could. The 2nd Macedonian Assault Brigade was sent to conduct several actions in Povardarie (central Macedonia) and Pelagonia near Prilep and Bitola.

ASNOM

Delegates arriving on the first plenary session of ASNOM in August 1944.

On 2 August 1944, on the 41st anniversary of the

Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) was held at the St. Prohor Pčinjski
monastery.

In spite of Tito's hopes to the contrary, the presiding committee of ASNOM was dominated by elements that were not known for their pro-Yugoslav sentiments. To the displeasure of those preferring joining the

IMRO) vice-president. The assembly tried to secure as much independence as possible for Yugoslav Macedonia and gave priority to the unification of the three parts of Macedonia.[77] Several sources state that Chento had made plans for creating an independent Macedonia which would be backed by the USA.[78]

А manifesto was written outlining the future plans of ASNOM for an independent Macedonian state and declaring the Macedonian language as the official language of Macedonia.

ASNOM was the governing body of Macedonia from its formation until the end of World War II.

"Maximalists" and "Minimalists"

Formation of the 41st Division near the village of Sheshkovo in August 1944.

The Manifesto of ASNOM eventually became a compromise between the "maximalists" and the "minimalists" – the unification of the Macedonian people was discussed and propagandized but the decision was ultimately reached that Vardar Macedonia would become a part of the new Communist Yugoslavia.

The proponents of the "maximalist" line were in favor of the creation of an independent United Macedonian state which would have ties with Yugoslavia, but not necessarily inclusion in a Yugoslav Federation. Proponents of this option included Metodija Andonov-Čento, as well as prominent figures of the former IMRO (United) such as Pavel Shatev, Panko Brashnarov, and others. They saw joining Yugoslavia as a form of Serbian dominance over Macedonia, and preferred membership in a Balkan Federation or else complete independence.[77]

Proponents of the "minimalist" line were also for the creation of a Macedonian state, but within the Yugoslavian federation.

These differences were visible in the ASNOM discussions, but they especially came into the open after the final liberation of Macedonia. It must be added that both "maximalist" and "minimalist" lines within the National Liberation Movement in Vardar Macedonia supported the existence of a separate Macedonian identity and were in favor of the creation of a separate state in which the Macedonian people would have their homeland. The greatest difference between the two lines was whether Macedonia should join Yugoslavia, or exist as an independent country.

Failed attempt to create Macedonian puppet state

Map of the Balkan military theater during September 1944 – January 1945.

By August 1944, the Soviet Army was approaching the Balkans. In a last-minute attempt to create a buffer state against the incoming Red Army, on 29 August, the Germans attempted to establish an

'independent' Macedonian puppet state,[79] led by Ivan Mihailov. Unlike the leftist resistance, the right wing followers of IMRO were pro-Bulgarian orientated, and did not support the existence of a future Yugoslavia.[80] The Bulgarian interior minister was put in charge to contact Mihajlov, who at the time was an advisor to Croatia's Nazi leader Ante Pavelić.[81] The state was to receive no military (troops or weapons) backing from Germany, because the Germans were running short on troops and weapons.[82] Telegrams from the time indicate that an orderly Bulgarian-German troop withdrawal would precede the formation of such a puppet state.[83] Bulgaria ordered its troops to withdraw from Macedonia on 2 September. In the evening on 3 September, Ivan Mihailov was flown in first from Zagreb to Sofia, to see what 'can be saved".[84] Two telegrams from 5 September at 1:7 and 6 September at 2:20 relay Hitler's reorder for the establishment of such a state.[84] Mihajlov was transported from Sofia to Skopje in the evening of 5 September.[85] Based on German telegrams from the time, Ivan Mihailov was offered the establishment of such a state, but by 18:00 (6 pm) on 6 September, he declined for inability to gather support.[86] The failure led to ordering German withdrawal from Greece on 6 September and appointing Senior-Field-Commandant for Greece Heinz Scheeuerlen as the new Senior-Field-Commandant for Macedonia.[87] Germany closed its Consulate in Skopje and evacuated its staff together with Ivan Mihailov and his wife out of Macedonia.[87] However, on 8 September, right-wing IMRO nationalists declared independence.[88] The self-proclaimed state was left "virtually defenseless" following the withdrawal of German troops.[89] The Germans did not support it as their forces withdrew from the region. In the chaos, they just tried to use the new-formed "Macedonian committees" as local police stations. Their members were former activists of Bulgarian Action Committees.[90]

Bulgaria switching sides

Bulgarian troops reentering Yugoslavia in October 1944.

In September 1944 the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and occupied part of the country. A coup d'état on 9 September led to Bulgaria joining the Soviets.[91][92] A day earlier Bulgaria had declared war on Nazi Germany. This turn of events put Bulgarian divisions stationed in Macedonia in a difficult situation. German troops had closed round them, while their command was being nonplussed by the high treason of some staff officers, who had deserted to the German side. The withdrawing Bulgarian troops in Macedonia fought their way back to the old borders of Bulgaria.[93] Josip Broz formed relations with the new pro-Communist authorities in Bulgaria.[94] After Bulgaria switching sides to the Allies negotiations between Tito and the Bulgarian Communist leaders were organized in September–October 1944, resulting in a military alliance between the Yugoslav forces and Bulgaria.[95][96] That was followed by demobilization of the Macedonian recruits, who formed as much as 40% – 60% of the soldiers in some Bulgarian battalions.[97] As a result, the Gotse Delchev brigade was set up and equipped in Sofia by the Bulgarian government providing the basis for the deployment of considerable Yugoslav troops in Vardar Macedonia.[98]

Final operations for the liberation of Macedonia

The main Bulgarian forces entering Skopje on 14 November. First Bulgarian units entered the city on November, 13.[99]
Macedonians lauding the liberation of Skopje in December 1944. The inscription on the poster praises the unification with Yugoslavia.

Bulgarian Army

Under the leadership of the new Bulgarian pro-Soviet government, four Bulgarian armies, 455,000 strong in total, were mobilized and reorganized. By the end of September, the Red Army

Yugoslav Partisan units, but only Bulgarian divisions.[108][109]

Macedonian partisans

Macedonian partisans marching through liberated Kumanovo on November 11.
Entry of the 42nd Macedonian Division into Skopje on November 14.[110]

After the German retreat, forced by the Soviet-Bulgarian offensive in Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo in the autumn of 1944, the conscription increased significantly. In October 1944 more new brigades were formed: In Veles, Skopje and Kumanovo regions, the new 12th, 16th and 18th Assault Brigades were formed; in eastern Macedonia the 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th and 21st Assault Brigades;

ELAS ordered the dissolution of their unit). The 1st Macedonian Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Macedonian Automobile Brigade were formed using captured equipment, arms, vehicles, and horses. From August until the beginning of November three Engineering Brigades were formed which started repairing the roads. The new brigades were grouped in six new divisions, which made the total force of the People's Liberation Army of Macedonia three Corps composed of seven divisions, consisting of some 66,000 Macedonian Partisans.[112] By mid-November 1944 the Germans were completely dislodged from Macedonia, and organs of "People's Authority" were established. After the liberation of Macedonia the XV Macedonian corps were sent on the Syrmian Front with a personnel of 25,000 fighters and officers of which around 1,674 died, 3,400 were wounded and 378 went missing.[113]

XV Macedonian corps on the way to Syrmian Front in January 1945. The letters on the truck say: "For Berlin".

Aftermath

Shatorov was the leader of Macedonian communists in 1941. He disappeared under unknown circumstances in September 1944. There are indications that he was killed by Tito's agents as a politically inconvenient leader.[114]
ASNOM. He was arrested in 1950 and imprisoned in Goli Otok labor camp
, where he died the following year.
Metodija Andonov, the first president of the ASNOM and of the People's Republic of Macedonia. After disagreement with the policy of new Yugoslavia he was arrested and sentenced to twelve years in prison.

Chronological composition by the number of the members of MNLA was as follows:[115]

Late 1941 Late 1942 September 1943 Late 1943 August 1944[9][10] Late 1944[116]
Macedonia 1,000 2,000 10,000 7,000 8,000 66,000

The total number of casualties in Macedonia from World War II was approximately 24,000, as follows: 7,000 Jews, 6,000 Serbians, 6,000 ethnic Macedonians, 4,000 Albanians and 1,000 Bulgarians.[117] This includes around 3,000 "collaborationists", "counter-revolutionaries" and civilian victims, 7,000 Jews exterminated in concentration camps, and 14,000 resistance fighters and soldiers. According to Bogoljub Kočović the relative number of war losses was the lowest among the Macedonians, compared to the other ethnic groups in Yugoslavia:[118]

Ethnicity
Relative loss
Jews 77.9%
Roma 31.4%
Montenegrins 10.4%
Serbs 6.9%
Muslims 6.8%
Croats 5.4%
Germans 4.8%
Slovenes 2.5%
Albanians 1%
Hungarians 1%
Macedonians 0.9%

According to a Yugoslav census from 1966 on the casualties of the war, the ethnic Macedonian victims were 6,724.[119] They are result from different reasons as follows:

Reason for death
Number of victims
Paramilitary, military and police terror. (Possibly here is included also part from the victims of then communists' repressions.)[120] 1,427 (ca. 1,200)
Soldiers who died from October 1944 to May 1945. (Most of them on the
Srem Front in 1945.)[121]
3,548 (ca. 2,500)
Victims of Allied air-raids and bombings 811
In internment 87
Prisoners 205
In deportation 70
In
April War
of 1941
266
Other reasons 49
Unclear circumstances 67
Partisans killed from October 1941 to October 1944. Most of them in Albanian zone.[122] 81
POWs 90
Forced labor 23
Total number 6,724

Despite Bulgaria's significant involvement on the side of the Allies at the end of the war,

Paris Peace Conference, 1946[126] and was ordered to pay Yugoslavia war reparations
for the occupation of Macedonia and Southern Serbia, which Yugoslavia unilaterally abandoned in 1947.

After the war for the first time in history, the Macedonian people managed to obtain their statehood, nation and language. These events marked the defeat of the

Macedonism in the area.[127]

Controversy

Communist repressions

Lazar Kolishevski
became in late 1944 the Prime Minister of the SR Macedonia. He started a policy fully implementing the pro-Yugoslav line and took hard measures against any opposition.

After the liberation the

pro-Bulgarian plan of an Independent Macedonia, etc.[134][135][136]

The new leadership of the People's Republic of Macedonia headed by Lazar Kolishevski confirmed the decisions of AVNOJ, and Macedonia joined Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia eventually all became part of the

bulgarophile sentiments, the new Communist authorities persecuted the right-wing nationalists with the charges of "great-Bulgarian chauvinism".[139] The next task was also to break up all the organisations that opposed the idea of Yugoslavia. So even older left-wing politicians, who were at some degree pro-Bulgarian oriented, were purged from their positions, then isolated, arrested and imprisoned on fabricated charges, as foreign agents, demanding greater independence, forming of conspirative political groups and the like.[140] Besides, many people went throughout the labor camp of Goli Otok in the middle 1940s.[141] The number of the victims is estimated from 50 000, up to 100 000 including those killed, imprisoned, deported, sent to forced labor, tortured, etc.[142][143]

Manipulation of historical events

Monument of the Bulgarian paratroopers fallen in North Macedonia in the autumn of 1944 (Sofia). Macedonian sources claim the Bulgarians didn't carry out any serious battles then.[144] Bulgarian sources insist 2,000—3,000 soldiers are fallen in North Macedonia at that time.

By their invasion in 1941, the Bulgarians were greeted by most of the locals as liberators from

day of the Macedonian Uprising against fascism, was a local man conscripted in the Bulgarian police.[154] Yugoslav Macedonian historians have accused the Bulgarian forces of several atrocities, most prominent among which is the massacre of 12 young civilians at the village of Vataša, but the officer commanding the operation was also a local staff.[155][156] However, after the war, the Yugoslav communist historiography did a lot to equate the term Bulgarians with "fascistic occupiers".[157] Today are some revisionist opinions in North Macedonia, this conflict was merely a civil war,[158] and the significant resistance movement against the Bulgarians is only a historical myth.[159] The number of ethnic Macedonian partisans killed from October 1941 to October 1944 in direct battles against Bulgarians is only several dozens. Indicative of the attitude of the locals towards the Bulgarians is a case which is still a taboo topic in North Macedonia. In October 1944, 25 Bulgarian soldiers captured by the Germans managed to escape and hid in the city of Ohrid. Despite threats that the city would come under artillery fire from the Germans, the soldiers were not handed over by the citizens. Subsequently, the Germans set a condition for a ransom of 12 kg. gold. To accomplish this, even a gold cross was removed from the roof of a local church. Strongly impressed by this act, the Germans refused to take the gold and to look for the fugitives further and left the city. Thus the soldiers were saved.[160]

On the other hand, the glorification of the Yugoslav Partisan movement became one of the main components of the post-war communist political propaganda. Despite that, before the autumn of 1944, the Macedonian Partisans were not significant military force. Their activity did not differ from the typically Balkan "

Belgrade Offensive of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, was the real force behind the driving the German Army Group E, counting ca. 300,000 soldiers, out of Southern Serbia, Kosovo and Macedonia. Nevertheless, the official Yugoslav and later Macedonian historiography, has played down its role by political grounds, actually at the cost of historical deceptions
.

9 September coup d'etat. The commander of the garrison, Colonel Dimitar Mladenov [bg], refused to withdraw and remained in the city with the guerrillas, managing to hold it for 12 days, blocking the movement of the German troops.[161]

For example, according to Macedonian sources Bulgarians did not participate in the operations for the

capture of Skopje in the mid of November 1944, even as observers. Once the city was seized by the guerrillas, they were not even allowed to enter it. Nevertheless, the city was seized not without the decisive role of the Bulgarian troops.[162][163] Per German military historian Karl Hnilicka, the Bulgarians developed their advance towards Skopje into a large-scale offensive, which gave rise to the danger for Army Group E of being cut off. The situation was desperate and the town was evacuated urgently at the night of 13/14 November.[164] As result on 13 and 14 November parts of the First and Fourth Bulgarian Armies entered Skopje.[165][166][167][168] According to the British commissioner in the Allied Commission in Sofia — general Walter Oxley,[169] Skopje was seized after several Bulgarian attacks, while the partisans were waiting on the hills around, but they moved on in time to support the Bulgarian entry into the city.[170] Bulgarian sources maintain at first they entered the town, and namely Bulgarian detachments seized also its center at midnight.[171]

Subsequently, a lot of Partisan monuments and memorials were built in SR Macedonia. Meanwhile, ca. 3,000 Bulgarian victims buried in different cemeteries in Yugoslavia, were collected in two ossuaries – in Nis and in Vukovar. The rest from the military cemeteries, including all of them in North Macedonia, were obliterated. Some of the Bulgarian victims were returned and buried in Bulgaria.[172] In general 3,422 Bulgarian soldiers were killed and 2,136 were missing in the autumn of 1944 in Southern Serbia, North Macedonia and Kosovo.[173]

Modern references

Soviet propaganda style of art.[174]

According to the Bulgarian Association for Research and Development of Civil Society, the 2016 WW2 Macedonian film

Vlado Buckovski, reacted that Macedonians and Bulgarians were a single people, finally separated intentionally by the Yugoslav policy after the WWII.[183]

See also

References

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  171. ^ Sinisa Jakov Marusic, North Macedonia PM's Remarks About History Hit a Nerve. BIRN, November 26, 2020.
  172. ^ VMRO-DPMNE leader Mickoski demands PM Zaev's resignation, announces more protests. MIA, 26 November, 2020 Archived 19 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
  173. ^ Любчо Георгиевски: Хората са шокирани от Заев, защото не познават миналото. Епицентър, 28 ноем. 2020.
  174. ^ Владо Бучковски: Македонците съществуват от 1944 година, българите са по-стар народ. 2 дек. 2020, Епицентър.

Sources

  • Bulajić, Danilo; Ćurčić, Jovan; Damjanović, Verica; Ilijev, Bogoljub; Ljumović, Pavle; Katanić, Petar; Kovačević, Stevan (1980). Leksikon Narodnooslobodilačkog rata i revolucije u Jugoslaviji 1941—1945. tom II. Belgrade and Ljubljana: Narodna knjiga—Partizanska knjiga.
  • Schubert, Gabriella; Otto, Harrassowitz Verlag (2005). Makedonien: Prägungen und Perspektiven. pp. 45–50.

External links

Comprehensive historic overview

Miscellaneous