The Macedonian Struggle (Greek: Μακεδονικὸς Ἀγών, Macedonian Struggle, Bulgarian: Гръцка въоръжена пропаганда в Македония, Greek armed propaganda in Macedonia) was a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts between Greeks and Bulgarians in the region of Ottoman Macedonia between 1904 and 1908. Gradually the Greek bands gained the upper hand, paving the way for the annexation of large parts of Ottoman Macedonia by Greece during the Balkan Wars in 1912-1913.[1]
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Since the creation of the modern Greek state in 1830, the Megali Idea, an irredentist concept of Greek nationalism, dominated Greek politics. The Megali Idea project called for the annexation of all ethnic Greek lands, including Macedonia, parts of which had participated in the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s, but remained under foreign rule. There was a rebellion in 1854 aiming to unite Macedonia with Greece, but it failed.[2] 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, Aromanians and Albanians) over the multi-ethnic region of Macedonia.[1] Initially the conflict was waged through educational and religious propaganda, with a fierce rivalry developing between supporters of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, who generally identified as Greek, and supporters of the Bulgarian Exarchate, which had been established by the Ottomans in 1870.[1] In 1894, an organization known as the as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was founded by Bulgarian anti-Ottoman revolutionaries in Thessaloníki, with the aim of liberating Macedonia and Thrace from Ottoman rule. Initially IMRO was declared as a Bulgarian organization, but later it was opened to all ethnic groups in Macedonia and IMRO's claimed that it was fighting for the autonomy of Macedonia and not for annexation to Bulgaria. In practice, most of the followers of the IMRO were Bulgarians,[3] though they also had some Aromanian supporters (for example Pitu Guli). Many of the members of the organization saw Macedonian autonomy as an intermediate step to unification with Bulgaria,[4][5] but others saw as their aim the creation of a Balkan federal state, with Macedonia as an equal member.[6] Serbia and especially Greece opposed the IMRO movement. The Greeks of Macedonia had no interest in autonomy, but desired enosis (union) with Greece, which cause was supported by the Greek government. A vicious guerrilla war broke out between Bulgarian and Greek armed bands within Ottoman Macedonia in 1904, ending in 1908 when the Young Turks movement came into power in the Ottoman Empire with its initially democratic and modernization agenda.
The defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 was a loss that appalled Greeks.[7] The Ethniki Eteria was dissolved by Prime Minister Theotokis. In order to strengthen Greek efforts for Macedonia, the Makedoniko Komitato (Μακεδονικό Κομιτάτο, meaning "Macedonian Committee") was formed in 1903, under the leadership of wealthy publisher Dimitrios Kalapothakis; its members included Ion Dragoumis and Pavlos Melas.[8]
As noted above , the guerrillas of the IMRO were fighting against the Ottoman authorities with the slogan "autonomy for Macedonia". IMRO had declared as its intention the uniting of all "disgruntled elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople region, regardless of their nationality". But gradually, increasing tensions emerged between the followers of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (the Patriarchalists, mostly, but not only, Greeks) and those of the Bulgarian Exarchate; the Greeks of Macedonia had no interest in autonomy, but desired enosis (union) with Greece. There were also great social differences between the ethnic groups in Macedonia; Greeks generally were urban businessmen and Bulgarians were mostly rural farmers.[9]
The situation in Macedonia became heated and started to affect European public opinion. In April 1903, a group called Gemidzhii with some assistance from the IMRO blew up the French ship Guadalquivir and the Ottoman Bank in the harbour of Thessaloniki. In August 1903, IMRO managed to organise an uprising (the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising) in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet. After the forming of the short-lived Krushevo Republic, the insurrection was suppressed by the Ottomans with the subsequent destruction of many villages and the devastation of large areas in Western Macedonia and around Kırk Kilise near Adrianople.
The Bishop of Kastoria, Germanos Karavangelis sent to Macedonia by the ambassador of Greece Nikolaos Mavrokordatos and the consul of Greece in Monastiri, Ion Dragoumis, realised that it was time to act in a more efficient way and started organising Greek opposition.
As Ion Dragoumis wrote in his calendar "I am thinking how these communities of Greece outside of the Kingdom of Greece can affiliate in our state. Why wait their liberation only from Greece? Let them work as Greece didn’t exist and then she will help them." Dragoumis later called, in his book Martyron kai Iroon Aima (Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Blood), for Greeks to follow the example of Basil II: "Basil II, instead of blinding so many people should have better killed them instead. On one hand this people would not suffer as eyeless survivors, on the other the sheer number of Bulgarians would have diminished by 15 000, which is something very useful."[10]
While Dragoumis concerned himself with the financial organisation of the efforts, the central figure in the military struggle was the very capable Cretan officer Georgios Katehakis (Γεώργιος Κατεχάκης in Greek).[11] Katehakis later became a war hero in the Balkan Wars and World War I, and was Defense Minister in the interwar years. Bishop Germanos Karavangelis animated the Greek population against the IMRO and formed committees to promote the Greek national interests. Taking advantage of the internal political and personal disputes in IMRO, Katehakis and Karavangelis initially succeeded to recruit some IMRO former members and to organize guerilla groups, that were later reinforced with people sent from Greece and thus were mainly composed of ex-officers of the Hellenic Army, volunteers brought from Crete, from the Mani area of the Peloponnese, as well as Macedonian Greeks, such as Evangelos Natsis from the village of Asprogia, Lazaros Apostolidis from Kastoria, Captain Giaglis from Ierissos, Konstantinos Kottas from the village of Roulia, Florina Prefecture (a former adherent of the IMRO), Michael Sionidis, Captain Ramnalis, Pantelis Papaioannou, Stefanos Papagalos from Veria, Dimitrios Dalipis from Kastoria, Pericles Drakos from Kavala, Christos Dellios, Christos Argyrakos and many more.
The fighters for the Greek cause labelled themselves Makedonomachoi (Μακεδονομάχοι - Macedonian Fighters) and were portrayed by Greek writer Penelope Delta in her novel Τά μυστικά τοῦ Βάλτου (Ta Mystiká tou Váltou - The Secrets of the Swamp), as well as in the book of memoirs Ὁ Μακεδονικός Ἀγών (The Macedonian Struggle) by Germanos Karavangelis, while on the other side, the fighters of IMRO and their activities are depicted in the book Confessions of a Macedonian Bandit: A Californian in the Balkan Wars, written by Albert Sonnichsen, an American volunteer in the IMRO during the Macedonian Struggle.
The Greek state became concerned, not only because of Bulgarian penetration in Macedonia, but also due to the Serbian interest, which was concentrated mainly in Skopje and Bitola area. The rioting in Macedonia and especially the death of Pavlos Melas in 1904 (he was the first Greek officer to enter Macedonia with guerrillas and was killed in battle with the Ottoman army) caused intense nationalistic feelings in Greece. This led to the decision to send more guerrilla troops in order to thwart Bulgarian efforts to bring all of the Slavic-speaking majority population of Macedonia on their side.
The Greek General Consulate in Thessaloniki, under Lambros Koromilas, became the centre of the struggle, coordinating the guerrilla troops, distributing military materiel and nursing the wounded. Fierce conflicts between the Greeks and Bulgarians started in the area of Kastoria, in the Giannitsa Lake area, and elsewhere; both parties committed cruel crimes at points. The greatest bloodshed was the massacre in the village Zagorichani (was predominantly populated by Bulgarians) near Kastoria on 25 March 1905, when 79 villagers were executed by Greek andartes at nighttime.
Both guerrilla groups had also to confront the Turkish Army, though the Ottoman administration often ignored the activity of the Greek guerrillas.[12] These conflicts ended after the revolution of "Young Turks" in July, 1908, as they promised to respect all ethnicities and religions, and to provide a constitution.
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.