Western Outlands
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The Western Outlands (Bulgarian: Западни покрайнини Zapadni pokraynini) or the Western Bulgarian Outlands is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several territorially separate regions in southeastern Serbia and in the southeast of the Republic of Macedonia. It refers to the territory which Bulgaria ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia) after World War I. The region is traditionally considered terra irredenta by Bulgarian nationalists, and usage of the name "Western Outlands" is found offensive by Serbs and (Slav) Macedonians.
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[edit] The Treaty of Neuilly
The Western Outlands formed a part of Bulgaria from the liberation of the country in 1878 until 1919 when they were ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Treaty of Neuilly. The cession of the region was partly a compensation for the occupation of the southern and eastern part of Serbia by Bulgarian troops in the period between 1915 and 1918 and partly served strategic grounds. The old political boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia followed a chain of high mountain ridges, whereas the new one gave significant military and strategic advantages to the Serbs exposing dangerously the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and thus reducing significantly the military threat for eastern Serbia in case of a new war between the two countries (see also Balkan Wars and World War I).
The Treaty of Neuilly was one in the series of treaties after the World War I (like the Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of Saint-Germain, Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Sèvres) which were meant to diminish the military and political stength of the defeated members of the Central Powers. As a result of this, some areas with absolute Bulgarian majority (such as Bosilegrad and a part of the Dimitrovgrad municipality) were ceded to Serbia (within the three-nation kingdom), whilst some areas with a significant Serbian population (around the town of Trn) remained in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian sources claim[citation needed] that the treaty was to last for twenty years and that all territories should have been returned to Bulgaria in 1939, but that was not specified in the treaty.
[edit] Region and population
Territories ceded by the treaty cover an area of 1,545 km² in Serbia and 1,028 km² in the Republic of Macedonia.
In Serbia, to which the term generally applies in Bulgaria, the area is split between the modern Serbian District of Pirot (municipality of Dimitrovgrad and smaller parts of the municipalities of Pirot and Babušnica) and District of Pčinja (municipality of Bosilegrad and a small part of the municipality of Surdulica). It also includes a small section along the Timok River in the municipality and District of Zaječar.
In 1919 the area corresponded to the following parts of the Bulgarian okrugs: Kyustendil, 661 km², Tzaribrod 418 km², Trn 278 km², Kula 172 km² and Vidin 17 km².
Bulgarian sources claim that the Bulgarian population made 95% of the population in Bosilegrad and 75% of the population in Tzaribrod at the time. In the Yugoslav Census of 1931, all South Slavs were simply counted as Yugoslavs (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bulgarians) so a comparison could not be made. According to the last Census in Serbia from 2002, Bulgarians made 50% and 71% of population in Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad respectively.
[edit] Controversy
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
The term itself is exaggerated and highly controversial. Several small, fractioned and sparsely populated areas have been named Western Outlands as respresenting one entity, even though they are not connected in any geographical, political, historical or ethnic sense. Calling a part of one country the western part of another is a clear example of a territorial claim, as when Germany would refer to Alsace in France as its western outland (or Russia for Poland, United Kingdom for Ireland, etc).
Presumably for that reason, in official contacts of Sofia and Belgrade the term was never used. It was mentioned once, in the Bled Accords in 1948 by Josip Broz Tito and Georgi Dimitrov, but that was in the period of Joseph Stalin's insisting of a Communist super-state in the Balkans, the Balkan Federation, comprised of Yugoslavia (with annexed Albania) and Bulgaria. After the Informbiro Resolution in 1948 when Tito and Stalin split, the idea was off too, so as the term itself. Despite not being used internationally (until 1990s when it was revived), it is very widely used in internal social and political communication in Bulgaria.
The Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation (Bulgarian: Вътрешна Западно-Покрайненска Революционна Организация, or Vǎtreshna Zapadno-Pokrayienska Revolyutsionna Organizatsiya), countering Yugoslav rule in the region, was engaged in repeated attacks against the Yugoslav police and army during the 1920–1941 period. As a part of World War II Bulgaria re-occupied the territory 1941–1944.
With the wake of nationalism in the Balkans in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bulgarian nationalists began internationalizing the issue. With Serbia and Yugoslavia being under severe sanctions from the international community and in succession of wars, it was an easy target. The contemporary Yugoslav administration was accused of:
- denying the Bulgarian population education in their mother tongue even though it was available and all other minorities inside the country were practising this right. Bulgarians exercised it the least, even today.[citation needed] Also, the rate of people declaring themselves Yugoslavs in Serbia was among the highest in these two municipalities.
- not permitting Bulgarians to rename Dimitrovgrad to their traditional name, Tzaribrod (Цариброд). Tito changed the name in 1950 after Georgi Dimitrov's death. On a referendum of 2004, 57% of the voters voted to keep the name Dimitrovgrad. Serbs by this time had completely removed their phonetical preference Bosiljgrad (Босиљград) in favor of Bulgarian Bosilegrad (Босилеград), a variation more in harmony with Standard Bulgarian.
- for settling thousands of Serbian refugees in the area in the 1990s to diminish the number of Bulgarians, which the population Censа of 1991 and 2002 proved to be totally untrue, not to mention the poor economic status of the area which could not support such an influx of population.
- for Slobodan Milošević's regime and his oppression against Bulgarians, even though municipalities in these areas were strongholds of his, and his wife Mirjana Marković's parties with the most ardent supporters, which was a source of many jokes in Serbia.
- for decades long deliberate neglect of the area which caused economic fall-behind and depopulation of Bulgarians. As much as this is true, it can be said for the entire south of Serbia which was left without any attention from the central government; this caused these areas to be the least developed in Serbia, all regardless of the ethnic structure. Serbian municipalities from this area, like Trgovište, Surdulica or Crna Trava are among the poorest in Serbia. Also, Crna Trava set a record in depopulation as it plunged from 13,748 in 1953 to 2,563 in 2002.
[edit] Strumica
The town of Strumica and its surrounding area (including Novo Selo) was the only sector from those awarded to the Serbian Kingdom to be in the Republic of Macedonia. It became a part of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia when Yugoslavia reformed in 1943. Ethnic Bulgarians are still to be found in these municipalities but over the years, the absolute majority of the southernmost territory lost by Bulgaria have declared themselves Macedonian. Bulgarians composed 0.5% of the last census taken in Macedonia and the number of citizens in Bulgaria to have delcared themselves Macedonian was somewhat higher both in number and in overall percentage.
One legacy of Strumica once having been a part of Bulgaria is the local dialect. Removed from Standard Macedonian, its own features would make it unique in any case, but the few decades spent within Bulgaria did pass many Bulgarianisms down to each generation. Even though Strumica has already been a part of either Yugoslavia or Macedonia for longer than it was in Bulgaria, the unique language usage has shown little sign of weakening, even by young educated residents or others who identify as Macedonian.
[edit] See also
"One legacy of Strumica once having been a part of Bulgaria is the local dialect. Removed from Standard Macedonian, its own features would make it unique in any case, but the few decades spent within Bulgaria did pass many Bulgarianisms down to each generation."
Strumica (and its region, which is the subject of this article) was within Bulgaria de facto seven years - since its liberation by the Bulgarian troops in October 1912, during the first Balkan War (until then Strumica and its region, along with entire Macedonia, was within the Ottoman Empire), to the Treaty of Neully in November 1919, and de jure six years - since the Treaty of London in May 1913 (ending the first Balkan War), to the Treaty of Neully in November 1919. To this might be added some three years, 1941-44, under Bulgarian administration. So, "the few decades spent within Bulgaria" in the above citation is factually wrong and it aims an obvious manipulation.
