TheInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO;Bulgarian:Вътрешна македонска революционна организация (ВМРО),romanized: Vatreshna Makedonska Revolyutsionna Organizatsiya (VMRO);Macedonian:Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација (ВМРО),romanized: Vnatrešna Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija (VMRO)), was a secret revolutionary society founded in theOttoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[2]
Founded in 1893 inSalonica,[3] it initially aimed to gainautonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople regions in theOttoman Empire, however, it later became an agent servingBulgarian interests in Balkan politics.[4] IMRO modeled itself after the earlier BulgarianInternal Revolutionary Organization ofVasil Levski and accepted its motto "Freedom or Death" (Свобода или смърть).[5] According to the memoirs of some founding and ordinary members, in theOrganization's earliest statute from 1894, the membership was reserved exclusively forBulgarians.[6][7][8][9] It used theBulgarian language in all its documents and in its correspondence.[10] The Organisation founded itsForeign Representation in Sofia, Bulgaria in 1896. Starting in the same year, it fought the Ottomans using guerrilla tactics, and in this, they were successful, even establishing astate within a state in some regions, including their tax collectors. This effort escalated in 1903 into theIlinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising. The fighting involved about 15,000 IMRO irregulars and 40,000 Ottoman soldiers. After the uprising failed, and the Ottomans destroyed some 100 villages, the IMRO resorted to more systematic forms of terrorism targeting civilians.[3] During theBalkan Wars and theFirst World War, the organization supported the Bulgarian army and joined Bulgarian war-time authorities when they temporarily took control over parts of Thrace and Macedonia. In this period, autonomism as a political tactic was abandoned, and annexationist positions were supported, aiming eventual incorporation of occupied areas into Bulgaria.[11]
After the First World War the combinedMacedonian-Thracian revolutionary movement separated into two detached organizations, IMRO andITRO.[12] After this moment the IMRO earned a reputation as an ultimateterror network, seeking to change state frontiers in the Macedonian regions ofGreece andSerbia (laterYugoslavia).[13] They contested the partitioning of Macedonia and launched raids from theirPetrich stronghold into Greek and Yugoslav territory. Their base of operation in Bulgaria was jeopardized by theTreaty of Niš, and the IMRO reacted by assassinating Bulgarian prime ministerAleksandar Stamboliyski in 1923, with the cooperation of other Bulgarian elements opposed to him.[14] In 1925 the Greek armylaunched a cross-border operation to reduce the IMRO base area, but it was ultimately stopped by theLeague of Nations, and IMRO attacks resumed.[15] In the interwar period the IMRO also cooperated with the CroatianUstaše, and their ultimate victim wasAlexander I of Yugoslavia, assassinated in France in 1934.[16][17] After theBulgarian coup d'état of 1934, their Petrich stronghold was subjected to a military crackdown by the Bulgarian army,[14] and the IMRO was reduced to a marginal phenomenon.[18]
The organization changed its name on several occasions. After the fall of communism in the region, numerous parties claimed the IMRO name and lineage to legitimize themselves.[19] Among them, inBulgaria a right-wing party carrying the prefix "VMRO" was established in the 1990s, while in thenRepublic of Macedonia a right-wing party was established under the name "VMRO-DPMNE".
Statute of theBulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees
Chapter I. – Goal
Art. 1. The goal of BMARC is to secure full politicalautonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions.
Art. 2. To achieve this goal they [the committees] shall raise the awareness of self-defense in the Bulgarian population in the regions mentioned in Art. 1., disseminate revolutionary ideas – printed or verbal, and prepare and carry on a general uprising.
Chapter II. – Structure and Organization
Art. 2. To achieve this goal, the organization fights to throw over the chauvinist propaganda and nationalist quarrels that are splintering and discouraging the Macedonian and Adrianople populations in his struggle against the common enemy; acts to bring in a revolutionary spirit and consciousness among the population, and uses all the means and efforts for the forthcoming and timely armament of the population with all that is needed for a general and universal uprising.
Chapter II. – Structure and Organization
Art. 3. The Secret Macedonon-Adrianoplitan revolutionary organization consists of local revolutionary organizations (bands) consisting of the members of local towns or villages.
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Art. 2. The Organization opposes any other country's intentions to divide and conquer these two regions.
Chapter II. – Means
Art. 3. To achieve this goal, the Organization aims to abolish chauvinist propaganda and nationalistic disputes, which split and weaken...The organization was founded in 1893 in OttomanThessaloniki by a small band of anti-OttomanMacedono-Bulgarian revolutionaries,[20] who considered Macedonia an indivisible territory and all of its inhabitants"Macedonians", no matter their religion or ethnicity.[21] In practice, IMRO was established by Bulgarians and most of their followers were Bulgarians.[22] The organization was a secret revolutionary society operating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the goal ofautonomous Macedonia andAdrianople regions.[23] At that time IMRO was often called "the Bulgarian Committee",[24][25] while its members were designated asComitadjis, i.e. "committee men".[26] Initially, they were against the aspirations of neighboring states in the area and saw the future autonomous Macedonia and Southern Thrace as a multi-ethnic entity.[27][28] It appears likely that at the early stages of the struggle, a possible desired outcome of the autonomy was unification with Bulgaria.[29][30][31][32] Other possible aims were the idea of transforming theBalkans into a federal state, in which Macedonia and Thrace would enter as equal members and ultimately the idea of independent Macedonia.[33][34][35][36] The idea of autonomy was strictly political and did not imply a secession from Bulgarian ethnicity.[37] Even those, who advocated for independent Macedonia and Thrace, never doubted the predominantly Bulgarian character of the Slavic population in both areas.[38] The organization was founded byHristo Tatarchev,Dame Gruev,Petar Pop-Arsov,Andon Dimitrov,Hristo Batandzhiev andIvan Hadzhinikolov.[20] All of them were closely connected with theBulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki.
According to Hristo Tatarchev's "Memoirs", IMRO was first called simply theMacedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO), and the word "Bulgarian" was later dropped from the statue.[note 1] However neither statutes nor regulations, or other basic documents with such names have not yet been found.[39] Thus, according to the Macedonian historianIvan Katardžiev, the organization never bore as an official name the designation "Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation".[40]. It is believed by many historians[1][2][3][4][5][41] that in 1894 or 1896 this probably unofficial name was changed toBulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC); and the organisation existed under this name until 1897 or 1902, when it was changed toSecret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO). Some Macedonian historians[6][7][42] also acknowledge the existence of the name "ВMARC" in the very early period of the Organisation (1894–1896), while others dispute it. Thus, inNorth Macedonia it is generally assumed that in the period 1896–1902, the name of the organization was "SMARO".[43][44] It is not disputed that the organization changed its name toInternal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) in 1905 and it is under this name referred to in Bulgarian historiography.[8] After disbanding itself during thefirst Bulgarian annexation of Macedonia (1915–1918), the organization was revived in 1919 under the nameInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), under which it is generally known today.
TheAdrianople Region was the general name given by the Organization to those areas ofThrace which, like Macedonia, had been left under Turkish rule i.e. most of it, where theBulgarian element predominated in the mixed population, too. The organized revolutionary movement in Thrace dates from 1895, whenDame Gruev recruitedHristo Kotsev, born inShtip, who was then a teacher in theBulgarian Men's High School of Adrianople. Acting in the name of the Central Committee, Kotsev set up a regional committee inAdrianople, and gradually committees were established in a large area.[45]
The stated goal of the original Committee was to unite all elements dissatisfied with theOttoman oppression inMacedonia and theAdrianople Vilayet, eventually obtaining political autonomy for the two regions. In this task, the organisation hoped to enlist the support of the localAromanians andMegleno-Romanians,Greeks and evenTurks. Efforts were concentrated on moral propaganda and the prospect of rebellion and terrorist actions seemed distant. The organization developed quickly: only in a matter of a few years, the Committee had managed to establish a wide network of local organisations across Macedonia and theAdrianople Vilayet. These usually centered around the schools of theBulgarian Exarchate and had as leaders local or Bulgarian-born teachers.[9] The leadership thought that it was using Bulgaria as a source of funds and was "working under a Bulgarian mask" while establishing its own non-Bulgarian agenda.[46]
Furthermore, some of the leaders espoused radical socialist and anarchist ideas and saw their goal as the establishment of a new form of government rather than unification with Bulgaria. Eventually, these considerations led the organisation to change its statute and accept as members not only Bulgarians but all Macedonians and Adrianopolitans regardless of ethnicity or creed. In reality, however, besides some Aromanian members, its membership remained overwhelminglyBulgarian Exarchist.[10]
Although IMRO was predominantly ethnic Bulgarian since its establishment, it favoured the idea of an autonomous Macedonia and preferred to disassociate itself from official Bulgarian policy and was not under government control. Its founding leaders believed that an autonomous movement was more likely to find favour with the Great Powers than one which was a tool of the Bulgarian government.
The initial period of idealism for SMARO ended, however, with theVinitsa Affair and the discovery by the Ottoman police of a secret depot of ammunition near theBulgarian border in 1897. The wide-scale repressions against the activists of the organization led to its transformation into a militant guerilla organization, which engaged into attacks against Ottoman officials and punitive actions against suspected traitors. The guerilla groups of SMARO, known as "chetas" (чети) later (after 1903) also waged a war against the pro-Serbian and pro-Greek armed groups during theGreek Struggle for Macedonia.
SMARO's leadership of the revolutionary movement was challenged by two other factions: theSupreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC) in Sofia (Vurhoven makedono-оdrinski komitet – Върховен македоно-одрински комитет) and a smaller group of conservatives inSalonica –Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Brotherhood (Balgarsko Tayno Revolyutsionno Bratstvo). The latter was incorporated in SMARO by 1899, its members asIvan Garvanov, were to exert a significant influence on the organization.[47] They were to push for theIlinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising and later became the core of IMRO right-wing faction.
Although SMARO and SMAC shared the goal of autonomy there were several critical differences between them. The SMARO thought that autonomy can be achieved by waging an insurgency campaign that would allure the attention and intervention of the Great Powers, as it was the case previously in otherBalkan examples. While for the SMAC the liberation was achievable only by cooperation with Bulgaria and especially the Bulgarian army. Furthermore, the SMARO preferred an independent Macedonia as part of a futureBalkan Federation, on the other hand for the SMAC the autonomy was a first step to unification with Bulgaria. Finally, and probably most critically, the SMARO was much more ambiguous to the term Macedonian, for them being the regions inhabitant was more important than ethnicity, while for the SMAC being Macedonian was equivalent to being Bulgarian.[48] SMAC became known earlier than SMARO, after the 1895 raids into Turkish territory it organised from Bulgaria. Its founders were Macedonian immigrants in Bulgaria as well as Bulgarian army officers. They became known as the "supremists" or "externals" since they were based outside of Macedonia. The supremists resorted to terrorism against the Ottomans in the hope of provoking a war and thus Bulgarian annexation of Macedonia. For a time between 1899-1901 SMARO leaders managed to gain control of the SMAC but it soon split into two factions: one loyal to the SMARO and one led by some officers close to the Bulgarian prince. The second one staged an ill-fated uprising in Eastern Macedonia in 1902, where they were opposed militarily by local SMARO bands led byYane Sandanski andHristo Chernopeev, who were later to become the leaders of the IMARO left-wing.[11]
The initial leaders of the "left" wereGoce Delchev andVasil Glavinov. Delchev imagined Macedonia as a multi-ethnic region and promoted the mottoMacedonia for the Macedonians. A friend and close associate of Delchev was the left-wing politician Vasil Glavinov, who although lived in Bulgaria, focused on the political activism that imagined the creation of state Macedonia as arepublic inside the Balkan Federation. Glavinov and Delchev edited several Socialist newspapers in which they promoted this ideas.[49] Delchev's views were emphasized in the statue of SMARO from 1896 which he co-wrote withGjorche Petrov.[50]
In April 1903, a group of young anarchists connected with SMARO, calledGemidžiite – graduates from the Bulgarian secondary school inThessaloniki – launcheda campaign of terror bombing in Thessaloniki with the aim to attract the attention of theGreat Powers to Ottoman oppression inMacedonia andEastern Thrace.
In May 1903 the undisputed leader of the organization,Gotse Delchev, was killed in a skirmish with Turkish forces. Although Delchev had opposed the ideas for an uprising as premature, he finally had no choice but agree to that course of action but at least managed to delay its start from May to August. In August 1903 SMARO organised theIlinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans in Macedonia and theAdrianople Vilayet, which after the initial successes including the forming of theKrushevo Republic, was crushed with much loss of life.
The failure of the 1903 insurrection resulted in the eventual split of the IMARO into a left-wing (federalist) faction in theSerres,Strumica andSalonica districts, and a right-wing faction (centralists) in theBitola andSkopje districts. Among the leaders of the left-wing wereYane Sandanski,Hristo Chernopeev,Dimo Hadzhidimov andPetar Pop Arsov, while in the right-wing wereIvan Garvanov,Boris Sarafov andHristo Matov. The left-wing faction opposed Bulgarian nationalism and advocated the creation of aBalkan Socialist Federation with equality for all subjects and nationalities. TheSupreme Macedonian Committee was disbanded in 1905 but the centralist faction of the IMARO drifted more and more towards Bulgarian nationalism as its regions became increasingly exposed to theincursions of Serb and Greek armed bands, which started infiltrating Macedonia after 1903. The years 1904–1908 saw much fighting between IMARO and Turkish forces as well as between IMARO and Greek and Serb detachments. Meanwhile, the split between the two factions became culminated when in 1907Todor Panitsa killed the right-wing leadersBoris Sarafov andIvan Garvanov.[12] The armed Albanian bands ofÇerçiz Topulli cooperated and were on good terms with armed groups of Bulgarian-Macedonian revolutionaries operating in theLake Prespa region andKastoria area, a bond formed due to their hostility toward Greeks.[51]
After theYoung Turk Revolution of 1908 both factions laid down their arms and joined the legal struggle.Yane Sandanski and Hristo Chernopeev contacted theYoung Turks and started legal operation. They tried to set up theMacedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (MARO). Initially, the group developed only propaganda activities. Later, the congress for MARO's official inauguration failed and federalist wing joined mainstream political life as thePeoples' Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) (PFP). Some of its leaders like Sandanski and Chernopeev participated in themarch on Istanbul to depose the counter-revolutionaries. The former centralists formed theUnion of the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs and like the PFP participated in Ottoman elections. Soon, however, theYoung Turk regime turned increasingly nationalist and sought to suppress the national aspirations of the various minorities in Macedonia and Thrace. This prompted most right-wing and some left-wing IMARO leaders such as Chernopeev to resume the armed fight in 1909.[13] In January 1910 Hristo Chernopeev and some of his followers founded aBulgarian People's Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization which merged with IMARO in 1911 and a new Central Committee of IMARO was formed consisting ofTodor Alexandrov, Hristo Chernopeev andPetar Chaulev. Its aim was to restore unity to the Organisation and direct the new armed struggle against the Turks more efficiently. After Chernopeev was killed in action in 1915 as a Bulgarian officer in World War I, he was replaced by the former supremist leader GeneralAlexander Protogerov.
During the Balkan Wars former IMARO leaders of both the left and the right joined theMacedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps and fought with the Bulgarian Army. Others like Sandanski with their bands assisted the Bulgarian army with its advance and still others penetrated as far as the region ofKastoria southwestern Macedonia.[14] In the Second Balkan War IMORO bands fought the Greeks and Serbs behind the front lines but were subsequently routed and driven out. Notably,Petar Chaulev was one of the leaders of theOhrid-Debar Uprising organised jointly by IMORO and the Albanians of Western Macedonia.
TheTikvesh Uprising was another uprising in late June 1913, organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against the Serbian occupation ofVardar Macedonia and took place behind theSerbian lines during theSecond Balkan War.
The result of the Balkan Wars was that the Macedonian region and Adrianople Thrace was partitioned between Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and the Ottoman Empire (the new state ofYugoslavia was created as after 1918 and started its existence as Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians "SHS"), with Bulgaria getting the smallest share. In 1913 the wholeThracian Bulgarian population from the Ottoman part ofEastern Thrace was forcibly expelled to Bulgaria.[15] IMARO, now led byTodor Aleksandrov, maintained its existence in Bulgaria, where it played a role in politics by playing upon Bulgarian irredentism and urging a renewed war to liberate Macedonia. This was one factor in Bulgaria allying itself withGermany andAustria-Hungary in World War I. During theFirst World War in Macedonia (1915–1918) the organization supported Bulgarian army and joined to Bulgarian war-time authorities when they took control overVardar Macedonia temporarily until the end of war. In this period the autonomism as political tactics was abandoned from all internal IMARO streams and all of them shared annexationist positions, supporting eventual incorporation of Macedonia in Bulgaria.[16] IMARO organised the Valandovo action of 1915, which was an attack on a large Serbian force. Bulgarian army, supported by the organization's forces, was successful in the first stages of this conflict, managed to drive out the Serbian forces fromVardar Macedonia and came into positions on the line of the pre-war Greek-Serbian border, which was stabilized as afirm front until end of 1918.
After 1917 the Bulgarian government started using paramilitary groups to gain control over the internal situation in both Pomoravlje and Macedonia. Aleksandar Protogerov who headed the Bulgarian occupation troops in Morava region crushed the uprising in the Toplica district with the help of IMRO irregulars. Bulgarians paramilitary groups were responsible for multiple instances of war crimes committing during the war in the parts of the Kingdom of Serbia under Bulgarian occupation.
On the eve of outbreak of World War I, IMRO paramilitary activity in Serbia aimed to provoke a war with Bulgaria. At that time Serbia implemented in Macedonia a program of forcedSerbianization.[53][54] In an incident during 1914, when Bulgaria was still neutral, ca. 2,000 strong IMRO-cheta attacked a railway bridge over the Vardar River, massacring 477 men.[55] In another incident in the same year, the first Macedonian recruits mobilized into the Serbian army demonstratively refused to take the military oath inKragujevac, and were subjected to repression.[56] As result IMRO set up a secret committee inVeles, which aim was to coordinate the transfer to Bulgaria of thousands of Macedonian deserters by the Serbian army.[57] Later itscomitadjis were incorporated into the regular Bulgarian Army and its power grew in significance. The fact that these paramilitary companies joined the Bulgarian Army marked a significant change in the way they were conducting war. At the beginning it formed the11th Macedonian Infantry Division, and later other units, as for exampleguerilla companies.[58] Its entrance into the war towards the end of 1915 contributed to the defeat and occupation of Serbia, and the unification of Macedonia with Bulgaria. In Serbia the IMRO activity was identical with the Bulgarian policy, supporting theBulgarization of the area.[59] At the end of 1915 and the beginning of 1916 several massacres of (sic)Serbomans were conducted in Vardar Macedonia in the areas ofAzot,Skopska Crna Gora andPoreče by IMRO-irregulars, aided by the guerrilla companies of the11th Macedonian Infantry Division.[60][61] The police chief of the Military Inspection Area of Macedonia reported to the interior minister that he cannot deal with the lawlessness of the paramilitaries.[62] In fact 1917 was the turning point when IMRO became the instrument used by the Bulgarian government to gain control over the internal situation in thePomoravlje and most from theregion of Macedonia. At that time the IMRO leaders as generalAleksandar Protogerov headed the Bulgarian occupation troops in Morava region and crushed the uprising in the Toplica district with the help by IMRO irregulars.[63] Their methods caused death of thousand people, destruction of their property, looting and other war crimes committed during the war in the parts of the Kingdom of Serbia under Bulgarian control.[64]
The post-warTreaty of Neuilly again denied Bulgaria what it felt was its share of Macedonia and Thrace. After this moment the combined Macedonian-Adrianopolitan revolutionary movement separated into two detached organizations:Internal Thracian Revolutionary Organisation (bulg. Вътрешна тракийска революционна организация) andInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation.[17] ITRO was a revolutionary organisation active in theGreek regions ofThrace andMacedonia to the riverStrymon andRhodope Mountains between 1922 and 1934. The reason for the establishment of ITRO was the transfer of the region from Bulgaria toGreece in May 1920. ITRO proclaimed its goal as the "unification of all the disgruntled elements inThrace regardless of their nationality", and to win full political independence for the region. Later IMRO created as a satellite organisation theInternal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation (bulg. Вътрешна западнопокрайненска революционна организация), which operated in the areas ofTsaribrod andBosilegrad, ceded to Yugoslavia. IMRO concentrated inPirin Macedonia began sending armed bands calledcheti intoAegean Macedonia andVardar Macedonia and Thrace to assassinate officials and stir up the spirit of the oppressed population. The Bulgarian Prime MinisterAleksandar Stamboliyski favoured a détente with Greece and Yugoslavia, so that Bulgaria could concentrate on its internal problems, and preferred the creation of aBalkan Federation. In 1921 by the former left-wing of IMARO theMacedonian Federative Organization was formed, they were supported by Stamboliyski and had a hostile rivalry withTodor Aleksandrov's IMRO. Among the creators of this organization was one of the leaders of the former IMARO,Gjorche Petrov who was killed on the order of Aleksandrov in Sofia in June 1921. On 23 March 1923 Stamboliyski signed theTreaty of Niš with theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and undertook the obligation to suppress the operations of the IMRO carried out from Bulgarian territory. However, in the same year IMRO agents assassinated him. IMRO hadde facto full control ofPirin Macedonia (the Petrich District of the time) and acted as a "state within a state", which it used as a base for hit and run attacks against Yugoslavia with the unofficial support of the right-wing Bulgarian government and laterFascist Italy. Because of this, contemporary observers described the Yugoslav-Bulgarian frontier as the most fortified in Europe.[65]
In 1923 and 1924 during the apogee of interwar military activity according to IMRO statistics in the region of Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia operated 53chetas (armed bands), 36 of which penetrated from Bulgaria, 12 were local and 5 entered fromAlbania.[66] The aggregate membership of the bands was 3245komitas (guerilla rebels) led by 79voivodas (commanders), 54 subcommanders, 41 secretaries and 193 couriers. 119 fights and 73 terroristic acts were documented. Serbian casualties were 304 army and gendarmery officers, soldiers and paramilitary fighters, more than 1300 were wounded.[67] IMRO lost 68voivodas andkomitas, hundreds were wounded. In the region of Greek (Aegean) Macedonia 24 chetas and 10 local reconnaissance detachments were active. The aggregate membership of the bands was 380komitas led by 18voivodas, 22 subcommanders, 11 secretaries and 25 couriers. 42 battles and 27 terrorist acts were performed.[68] Greek casualties were 83 army officers, soldiers and paramilitary fighters, over 230 were wounded. IMRO lost 22voivodas andkomitas, 48 were wounded. Thousands of locals were repressed by the Yugoslav and Greek authorities on suspicions of contacts with the revolutionary movement.[18] The population in Pirin Macedonia was organized in a mass people's home guard. This militia was the only force, which resisted the Greek army when the Greek dictator,General Pangalos launched amilitary campaign against Petrich District in 1925. In 1934 the Bulgarian army confiscated 10,938 rifles, 637 pistols, 47 machine-guns, 7 mortars and 701,388 cartridges only in the Petrich andKyustendil Districts.[19] At the same time, a youth's extension of IMRO, theMacedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization was created. The statute of MYSRO was approved personally from IMRO's leaderTodor Alexandrov.[69] The aim of MYSRO was in concordance with the statute of IMRO – unification of all of Macedonia in an authonomous unit, within a futureBalkan Federative Republic.[70]
The Sixth Congress of theBalkan Communist Federation under the leadership of the Bulgarian communistVasil Kolarov and the Fifth Congress of theComintern, an adjunct of the Soviet foreign policy, held concurrently in Moscow in 1923, voted for the formation of an "Autonomous and Independent Macedonia and Thrace." In 1924 IMRO entered negotiations with theMacedonian Federative Organization and the Comintern about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by theSoviet Union, which saw a chance for using this well-developed revolutionary movement to spread revolution in the Balkans and destabilize the Balkan monarchies. Alexandrov defended IMRO's independence and refused to concede on practically all points requested by the Communists. No agreement was reached except for a paper "Manifesto" (the so-calledMay Manifesto of 6 May 1924), in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, forming aBalkan Communist Federation and cooperation with theSoviet Union.[20] Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation, theComintern decided to discredit him and published the contents of the Manifesto on 28 July 1924 in the "Balkan Federation" newspaper. VMRO's leaders Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov promptly denied through the Bulgarian press that they've ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery.[21]Shortly after the publication,Todor Alexandrov was assassinated on 31 August, and IMRO came under the leadership ofIvan Mihailov, who became a powerful figure in Bulgarian politics. While IMRO's leadership was quick to ascribe Alexandrov's murder to the communists and even quicker to organise a revenge action against the immediate perpetrators, there is some doubt that Mihailov himself might have been responsible for the murder. Some Bulgarian and Macedonian historians like Zoran Todorovski speculate that it might have been the circle around Mihailov who organised the assassination on inspiration by the Bulgarian government, which was afraid of united IMRO-Communist action against it. However, neither version is corroborated by conclusive historical evidence. The result of the murder was further strife within the organisation and several high-profile murders, including that of Petar Chaulev (who led theOhrid-Debar Uprising against the Serbian occupation) inMilan and ultimately Protogetov himself.[22]
In this interwar period IMRO led by Aleksandrov and later by Mihailov took actions against the former left-wing assassinating several former members of IMARO'sSandanist wing, who meanwhile had gravitated towards the Bulgarian Communist Party and theMacedonian Federative Organization. In theaftermath of the May Manifesto, one the creators of it and one of the leaders of the left-wing,Todor Panitsa (who previously killed the right-wing orientedBoris Sarafov and Ivan Garvanov) was assassinated in Vienna in 1925 by Mihailov's future wife Mencha Karnichiu.Dimo Hadzhidimov,Arseni Yovkov,Vladislav Kovachev,Aleksandar Bujnov,Chudomir Kantardzhiev,Stojo Hadzhiev,Georgi Skrizhovski and many others were killed as consequence of the May Manifesto. Meanwhile, the left-wing later did form a new organisation based on the principles previously presented in the May Manifesto. The new organization which was an opponent to Mihailov's IMRO was calledIMRO (United) and was founded in 1925 inVienna. However, it did not have real popular support and remained based abroad with no revolutionary activities in Macedonia.
Mihailov's group of young IMRO cadres soon got into conflict with the older guard of the organization. The latter were in favour of the old tactic of incursions by armed bands, whereas the former favoured more flexible tactics with smaller terrorist groups carrying selective assassinations. The conflict grew into a leadership struggle and Mihailov soon, in turn, ordered the assassination in 1928 of a rival leader, General Aleksandar Protogerov, which sparked a fratricidal war between "Mihailovists" and "Protogerovists". The less numerous Protogerovists soon became allied with Yugoslavia and certain Bulgarian military circles with fascist leanings and who favoured rapprochement with Yugoslavia. The policy of assassinations was effective in making Serbian rule in Vardar Macedonia feel insecure but in turn provoked brutal reprisals on the local peasant population. Having lost a lot of popular support in Vardar Macedonia due to his policies, Mihailov favoured the "internationalization" of the Macedonian question.
Mihailov established close links with the CroatianUstashi and Italy. Numerous assassinations were carried out by IMRO agents in many countries, the majority in Yugoslavia. The most spectacular of these was the assassination of KingAlexander I of Yugoslavia and the French Foreign MinisterLouis Barthou inMarseille in 1934 in collaboration with theCroatianUstashi. The killing was carried out by the VMRO assassinVlado Chernozemski and happened after the suppression of IMRO following the 19 May 1934 military coup in Bulgaria. IMRO's constant fratricidal killings and assassinations abroad provoked some within Bulgarian military after the coup of 19 May 1934 to take control and break the power of the organization, which had come to be seen as a gangster organization inside Bulgaria and a band of assassins outside it. In 1934 Mihailov was forced to escape toTurkey. He ordered to his supporters not to resist to the Bulgarian army and to accept the disarmament peacefully, thus avoiding fratricides, destabilization of Bulgaria, civil war or external invasion.[23] Many inhabitants of Pirin Macedonia met this disbandment with satisfaction because it was perceived as relief from an unlawful and quite often brutal parallel authority. IMRO kept its organization alive in exile in various countries but ceased to be an active force in Macedonian politics except for brief moments during World War II. Meanwhile, in January 1934 aresolution of the Comintern for recognition of a distinctethnic Macedonian ethnicity was prepared in cooperation with IMRO (United), and published in April 1934. IMRO (United) remained active until 1936 when it was absorbed into theBalkan Communist Federation.[24]
IMRO used at that time, what the American journalistH. R. Knickerbocker described as:"the only system I ever heard of to guarantee that their members carry out assigned assassinations, no matter what the police terror might be".[71]
As theBulgarian army entered Yugoslav Vardar Macedonia in 1941, it was greeted by most of the population as liberators from the previuosoppressive and despised Serbian rule and former IMRO members were active in organisingBulgarian Action Committees, charged with taking over the local authorities. Some formerIMRO (United) members, such asMetodi Shatorov, who was the regional leader of theYugoslav Communist Party (YCP), also refused to define the Bulgarian forces as occupiers.[25] Contrary to instructions fromBelgrade and called for the incorporation of the local Macedonian Communist organisations within theBulgarian Communist Party, who was supportive of the idea of aindependent andunified Macedonia. Many former right-wing IMRO members were organized incounter-chetas and assisted the authorities in fightingMacedonian Partisans. The anti-Yugoslav policy of the Macedonian Partisans changed towards 1943 with the arrival of theMontenegrinSvetozar Vukmanović-Tempo, who began in earnest to organise armed resistance to the Bulgarian occupation. The former IMRO memberDimitar Vlahov was elected as a representative in the Presidium ofAVNOJ at the end of 1943.
In Greece the Bulgarian troops, following on the heels of theGerman invasion of the country, occupied the whole ofEastern Macedonia andWestern Thrace. In eastern and central Macedonia, some of the localSlavic-speaking minority greeted the Bulgarian troops as liberators, and efforts were undertaken by the Bulgarian authorities to "instill in them a Bulgarian national identity".[72] Bulgaria officially annexed the occupied territories in Yugoslavia and Greece, which had long been a target ofBulgarian irredentism.[73] The IMRO was also active in organising Bulgarian militias in Italian and German occupation zones against Greek nationalist and communist groups asEAM-ELAS andEDES. With the help of Mihailov and Macedonian emigres in Sofia, several pro-Bulgarian armed detachments "Ohrana" were organised in theKastoria,Florina andEdessa districts. These were led by Bulgarian officers originally from Greek Macedonia –Andon Kalchev andGeorgi Dimchev.[26] It was apparent that Mihailov had broader plans which envisaged the creation of a Macedonian state under a German control. It was also anticipated that the IMRO volunteers would form the core of the armed forces of a future Independent Macedonia in addition to providing administration and education in the Florina, Kastoria and Edessa districts.
On 2 August 1944 (in what in theNorth Macedonia is referred to as the SecondIlinden) in the St.Prohor Pčinjski monastery at theAntifascist assembly of the national liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) with the vice-president of the PresidiumPanko Brashnarov (the former IMRO revolutionary from the Ilinden period and the IMRO United) as a first speaker, theSR Macedonia was officially proclaimed, as a federal state withinSFR Yugoslavia, receiving recognition from the Allies. After the declaration of war by Bulgaria on Germany, in September 1944 Mihailov arrived in German-occupiedSkopje, where the Germans hoped that he could form a pro-GermanIndependent State of Macedonia with their support. Seeing that the war is lost to Germany and to avoid further bloodshed, he refused. Mihailov eventually ended up in Rome where he published numerous articles, books and pamphlets on theMacedonian Question.[27]
Members of the IMRO (United) participated in the forming ofSR Macedonia a federal state ofSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and some of the leading members entered the government:Dimitar Vlahov,Panko Brashnarov,Pavel Shatev (the latter was the last surviving member of "Gemidzhii", the group that executed theThessaloniki bombings of 1903). However, they were quickly ousted by cadres loyal to the Yugoslav Communist Party in Belgrade, who had had pro-Serbian leanings before the war.[28] According to Macedonian historianIvan Katardžiev such Macedonian activists who came from IMRO (United) and the Bulgarian Communist Party never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias and on many issues opposed theYugoslavism-educated and anti-Bulgarian oriented Macedonian communist leaders, who held most of the political power.
From the start, the Yugoslav authorities organised frequent purges and trials of Macedonian communists and non-party people charged asindependence oriented. One of the victims of these campaigns wasMetodija Andonov-Čento, a wartime partisan leader and president ofASNOM, who was convicted of having worked for a "completely independent Macedonia" as an IMRO member.Pavel Shatev andPanko Brashnarov went as far as to send a petition to the Bulgarian legation in Belgrade protesting the anti-Bulgarian policies of the Yugoslav leadership and the Serbianisation of the Macedonian language.[29] Shatev later tried to negotiate with the Bulgarian authorities the frontiers of SR Macedonia, independently from Belgrade. After theTito–Stalin split in 1948, many of the left-wing IMRO government officials, including Shatev and Brashnarov, were purged from their positions, too, then isolated, arrested, imprisoned or executed by the Yugoslav federal authorities on various (in many cases fabricated) charges including: pro-Bulgarian leanings, demands for greater or complete independence of Yugoslav Macedonia, collaboration with the Cominform, forming of conspirative political groups or organisations, demands for greater democracy, etc. A survivor among the communists associated with the idea of Macedonian independence wasDimitar Vlahov, who was pushed out of his power positions from the pro-Yugoslav circle and was used "solely for window dressing".[30]
On the other hand, former Mihailovists were also persecuted by the Belgrade-controlled authorities on accusations of collaboration with the Bulgarian occupation, Bulgarian nationalism, anti-communist and anti-Yugoslav activities, etc. Notable victims includedSpiro Kitinchev, mayor of Skopje, Ilija Kocarev, mayor of Ohrid and Georgi Karev, the mayor of Krushevo during the Bulgarian occupation and brother of Ilinden revolutionary Nikola Karev.[31] Another IMRO activist, Sterio Guli, son of Pitu Guli, reportedly shot himself upon the arrival of Tito's partisans in Krushevo in despair over what he saw as a second period of Serbian dominance in Macedonia.
IMRO's supporters in BulgarianPirin Macedonia fared no better. With the help of some former Protogerovists, their main activists were hunted by the Communist police and many of them killed or imprisoned. Because some IMRO supporters openly opposed the then official policy of Communist Bulgaria to promote Macedonian ethnic consciousness in Pirin Macedonia they were repressed or exiled to the interior of Bulgaria. Many from this persecuted people emigrated through Greece and Turkey to Western countries. At this period the American and Greek intelligence services recruited some of them, trained them and later used this so-called"Goryani" as spies and saboteurs, smuggling them back to Communist Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.[74]
Despite the fact thatYugoslav Macedonian historical scholarship reluctantly acknowledged the Bulgarian ethnic self-identification of the Ilinden IMRO leaders, they were adopted in the national pantheon of Yugoslav Macedonia as ethnic Macedonians. Official Yugoslav historiography asserted a continuity between the Ilinden of 1903 and the Ilinden of ASNOM in 1944, although in the first one, the uprising in the Adrianople part ofThrace region was included as well, which Macedonian historians see as a separate uprising not related to the Ilinden one. The names of the IMRO revolutionaries wereGoce Delchev,Pitu Guli,Dame Gruev andYane Sandanski were included in the lyrics of the anthem of the Socialist Republic of MacedoniaDenes nad Makedonija ("Today over Macedonia").
InitiallyLazar Koliševski, the leader of the new Yugoslav Republic—SR Macedonia, proclaimed that theIlinden Uprising and theIMRO were Bulgarian conspiracies.[75] Afterwards the historical studies in the country were expanded under direct political instructions from Belgrade.[76] It was advanced as a key principle of theMacedonian historiography, that its primary goal was to create a separate national consciousness, and to sever any historical ties to Bulgaria.[77] During the Cold War, particularly after theTito–Stalin split, the heroes of 19th century left-wing IMRO, especially Delchev and Sandanski, were claimed by both Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, both internally and in a tactical game of international diplomacy. One thing that two countries had in common though was that the vague populism and anarchism of these historical figures was interpreted as a definite socialist program.[78] Both regimes recognized the policies of the interwar leaders of the organization Todor Aleksandrov and Ivan Mihailov as "fascist".
In this race, theSocialist Republic of Macedonia was the first to incorporate the IMRO figures in its national pantheon, although some careful exceptions were made. The 1903 Ilinden Uprising was presented as a direct precursor of the 1944 events, which were termed a "Second Ilinden", in an effort to prove the continuity of the struggle for independence of the Macedonian nation. Consequently, it became necessary for the socialist authorities to show that 19th century IMRO figures, particularly Delchev and Sandanski, had been consciously Macedonian in identity. Delchev and Sandanski were adopted as symbols of the republic, had numerous monuments built in their honor, and they were often the topic of articles in the academic journalMacedonian Review, as was the Ilinden Uprising. In contrast, Todor Aleksandrov was labeled a Bulgarian bourgeois chauvinist. The claim to a Macedonian identity of Sandanski was used to bolsterSkopje's claim to thePirin region.[78] According to historiansJohn Lampe andMark Mazower, IMRO heroes have been important in the creation of aMacedonian national ideology, in bothBulgaria andNorth Macedonia thehistoriographies thrive on proving that their version of history is wrong in turn makinghistorical objectivity not important.[79]
In thePeople's Republic of Bulgaria the situation was more complex, because the IMRO was associated with the 1923–34 anti-communist regime. Before 1960, although the subject was not taboo, few articles on the topic appeared in Bulgarian academic venues, and the IMRO figures were given mostly regional recognition in the Pirin region. After 1960, orders from the highest level were to reincorporate the Macedonian revolutionary movement in the Bulgarian history, and to prove the Bulgarian credentials of their historical leaders. This trend reached its peak in 1981 (the 1300 year anniversary of Bulgarian state), when Delchev and Sandanski were openly made historical symbols of the Bulgarian state in a proclamation ofLyudmila Zhivkova. There were also attempts to rehabilitate Todor Aleksandrov because of his Bulgarian nationalism, but these remained controversial due to his role in suppressing the left wing, a role for which he had been declared a fascist.[78]
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With both Bulgaria and Yugoslavia under Communist rule, there was no scope for IMRO's revival.
After thefall of Communism in 1989 Yugoslaviabegan promptly to disintegrate and multi-partyism to emerge. Many exiles returned to Macedonia from abroad, and a new generation of young Macedonian intellectuals rediscovered the history of Macedonian nationalism. In these circumstances, it was not surprising that the IMRO name was revived. A new IMRO was founded on 17 June 1990 inSkopje. Although IMRO claims a line descent from the old IMRO, there is no real connection between the old IMRO and the new one. The party is called theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (InMacedonian:Vnatrešno-Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija-Demokratska Partija za Makedonsko Nacionalno Edinstvo, or VMRO-DPMNE) describes itself as aChristian Democratic party which supports the admission of Macedonia toNATO and theEuropean Union.
A minor political party carrying the name IMRO is theInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization–People's Party (VMRO-NP). Although a separate structure since the split in 2004, the political line of VMRO-NP is reminiscent of VMRO-DPMNE's and its members maintain close ties with the latter's party structure.
A distinct IMRO-related organization was also revived in Bulgaria after 1989, first under the name VMRO-SMD (ВМРО-СМД), commonly known as VMRO, in the form of a cultural organisation. In 1996, the leaders of the organisation registered it as a political party in Bulgaria under the nameVMRO – Bulgarian National Movement (ВМРО – Българско национално движение), or ВМРО–БНД (VMRO-BNM). This group continues to maintain thatethnic Macedonians are in fact Bulgarians.
A small spin-off from VMRO-BNM existed between 2010 and 2014, namedVMRO – National Ideal for Unity (ВМРО – Национален идеал за единство), or ВМРО–НИЕ (VMRO-NIU), which used VMRO-BND's flag. In 2014, NIU merged into theNational Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria.
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