History of FYROM: April 2007

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

De-Bulgarization and persecutions of Bulgarians in FYROM

Outgoing No 86/08 Sept. 1997
Attention: Mr. Kiro Gligorov
President of the Republic of Macedonia
Skopje
O P E N L E T T E R
from the Macedonian Scientific Institute, Sofia
(re: Your interview of 23 July 1997)
Mr. President,

Not long ago, the Macedonian Bulgarians living in the USA, Canada and Australia, as well as those in Germany, addressed You with an Open Letter on the occasion of Your interview of 23 July 1997. In our capacity of Macedonian Bulgarians and members of the Macedonian Scientific Institute - academicians, corresponding members, professors, assistant professors, research associates, and public figures, we would also like to express our attitude to the problems treated by You in the interview.

We are pleased with the fact that You recognized a number of facts considering the Republic of Macedonia and the relations between our two countries, namely:

1. This was the first time You have declared before the world that the process of "de-Bulgarization" in the Republic of Macedonia has been completed "with the exception of some persons and one or two parties". That statement of Yours confirms the historic truth that, until 1944, the Slavonic population of the Republic of Macedonia has been a Bulgarian one. Furthermore, in this way You supported the statement made by President Petar Stoyanov in Strasbourg - that "Macedonian history is a part of Bulgarian history, and one of its most romantic parts - the struggle of the Christian population against the enslavers".

2. You pointed out that the pro-Bulgarian attitudes in the Republic of Macedonia were a "standing problem" for You. This, Mr. President, is true only regarding the period since 1944. It is well known that the population of Macedonia has always legitimized itself as being Bulgarian, which is testified by the Ottoman archives, the diplomatic correspondence of the foreign consuls, foreign observers, travellers, eminent scientists, military people, and others who had worked in the historical-geographic region on Macedonia, as well as by the written documents left by the most prominent figures of the National Revival period - Father Paissiy, Neophyte Rilski, Grigor Parlichev, the Miladinov brothers, Jordan Hadjikonstantinov (Djinot), Kouzman Shapkarev, Rayko Zhinzifof, etc.; the national revolutionaries Damyan Grouev, Gotse Delchev, Pere Toshev, Todor Alexandrov, Ivan Mihaylov; the builders of our state - M. Andonov (Chento), P. Shatev, V. Markovski, etc.

3. You finally found the courage to confirm a statement we have made a number of times, namely that "the recognition of a state, and not of a language or a nation, is a matter of international law". This is exactly the truth, Mr. President, for the state is a political, i. e. legal category, which is subject to recognition or non-recognition, while the language and the nation are scientific categories which are not subject to recognition. The policy of the Serbo-Communists in the Republic of Macedonia towards legitimizing the Comintern decision of 1934 for creation a "Macedonian nation" and a "Macedonian language" have led to the present situation, i. e. search for a political decision of the problem. The recent statement of the Greek President, Mr. Kostas Stefanopoulos, cited by the "New Macedonia" newspaper, that "the Macedonians are Bulgarians and their language is a fabrication" confirm indisputably in another way the historical truth.

4. You are right, Mr. President, in stating that the language dispute is "a domestic problem of your own". The Macedonian Serbo-Communists have "conjured up" that language which, according to the "Focus" newspaper, is spoken by less than a half of the people of the Republic of Macedonia. Therefore, we dare ask you: since this is a domestic problem of yours, why is Your government constantly intruding it onto us and using it to block the normal relations between our states?

However, along with the confessions made, You went on by trying to support and legalize a number of non-truths:

First. You allowed Yourself to identify the Republic of Macedonia with the whole historical-geographical region of Macedonia, as well as to appear as a spokesman for its entire population. Yet you neglected the fact, Mr. President, that the region in question belongs to three independent states - the republics of Macedonia, Greece and Bulgaria. Your behaviour gives us the reason to assume that You are expressing explicit territorial claims which is an anachronism for the present day.

You declared Yourself a spokesman for the population of the three areas of Macedonia. We have the right to ask you: who authorized You to do so? The events in "Mechkin Kamen" on the occasion of the Ilinden Uprising allows us to doubt Your chances of being a spokesman even for the opinion of the Republic of Macedonia.

Second. In Your interview, You once again made an attempt at proving the existence of a "Macedonian minority" in the republics of Greece, Albania and Bulgaria. You certainly are aware of the fact that there is no such minority not only in Bulgaria, but also in the rest of the countries. It is well known that the attempts made on the part of the Bulgarian Communist Party, under the strong pressure exerted by the Comuntern and Tito's Yugoslavia, to Macedonize the Bulgarian population in the Pirin region in 1946-47 were a complete failure. Nowadays, the successors of that Party - Bulgarian socialists - came out with a declaration which confessed and condemned the attempts at a de-Bulgarization made by their predecessors, since these were strongly urged from foreign powers and against the will of the people from the region. Not long ago, the former Albanian President, Mr. Sali Berisha declared that about 150-200 thousand Bulgarians are living in his country. The International Kelsinki Committee, as well as the American newspaper "New York Times" of 1996 stated that about 150 000 Bulgarian live in Greece. Probably You consider a minority the small group of people who (with the financial support of the Yugoslav embassy in Sofia and the "Koukoush-1913" joint company) established the illegitimate organization OMO "Ilinden". Their activities confine to their appearances on Skopje Television and in the anti-Bulgarian loudspeaker - the newspaper "Nova Macedonia". Their slapstick actions are a subject of ridicule and regret in Bulgaria.

Third. In Your interview, You attributed a sign of equivalence between nationality and political regime in the Republic of Macedonia. Mr. Gligorov, political regimes are something transitory. They come and go, yet nationality remains. The regime of Serbo-Communism in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia has left painful memories in the consciousness of the population of the Republic of Macedonia. During a period of about 50 years, about 720 trials were held, resulting in over 200 death sentences; more than 20 000 citizens were killed without any trial or sentence; over 150 000 were sent to prisons and prison camps in Idrizovo, Goli Otok, etc.; another 180 000 were forced to leave the country seeking refuge in Bulgaria and in other countries all over the world - only because they wanted to remain Bulgarians. That population, subjected to genocide by Your ideological adherents and political regimes, has nothing in common with the ruling top.

Fourth. You often take unfair advantage of the "Bulgarian occupation in Macedonia". For more than a half century you have identified the Bulgarians with fascists. Both in the past and at present, Bulgarians, like people all over the world, have had differing political convictions and views.The fact that the Bulgarian people availed themselves of the war-time situation to regain the territories torn from it by force of the Bucharest (1913) and Neuilly (1919) treaties, does not give You the right to use a forged terminology. Let us remind you that before the invasion of Bulgarian troops in Vardar Macedonia, the area already hosted Bulgarian action committees organized by the local population, which is a historical demonstration of a national self-identification and establishment of a local Bulgarian power. During that period, Mr. President, the whole population greeted with flowers, flags and church gonfalons "the occupiers", as You termed them. Let us remind You that 70 % of the officers and 50 % of the soldiers were born in Macedonia. They were coming back to their native places and their relatives. That is why the population greeted them as liberators. This is testified by the archive documentaries which are being kept in our archives.

We would also like to remind you that, during the Bulgarian administration of Vardar Macedonia, dozens of schools, hospitals,roads and bridges were built; the construction of several railroads to Sofia started; all settlements were provided with town-settlement plans, etc. In other words, for less than 4 years Bulgaria did more than what was done during the 26-year-long Serb occupation. Yet, never and nowhere have You spoken out a single word against it. Our archives keep numerous documents about the active involvement of the young people of Vardar Macedonia in the social-political and cultural life.

Fifth. In the same interview, You rejoiced that it is the great advantage of the Republic of Macedonia and the "Macedonian language" that they avail of their own alphabet. Why are You unable, Mr. President, to tell the truth that this is not a Macedonian but a Serbian alphabet. Why did not You tell that it was made up by order of Tito, Djilas, Tempo and Kolishevski by special orthographic commissions (27 November - 3 December 1944)? Those commissions rejected the Bulgarian alphabet which had been used till 1913 by the Bulgarians throughout Macedonia, in 1373 schools and 13 high schools, by 2266 teachers and over 100 000 students. that was the alphabet used by all figures of the National Revival period, led by Dame Grouev, Gotse Delchev, Todor Alexandrov, etc. The Serbian alphabet which was introduced by the Serbs in 1913 and legitimized in 1944 infringed on the eleven-century-long all-Bulgarian cultural tradition started by Cyril and Methodius and their disciples Kliment and Naoum.

Mr. President, once upon a time, our great poet Ivan Vazov, who is of Macedonian origin, used to say - "You cannot quench the unquenchable". You and your follower would not be able, in spite of every efforts made, to quench the Bulgarian spirit of the population of Macedonia. You are afraid that the notion of "One people in two states" might assert itself. You are right to do so because that is an idea which enjoys ever greater popularity among the people from both sides of the Rouen and Belasitsa mountains. That idea has also been a part of the programme of the national liberation movement of the Bulgarians in Macedonia for decades now. This is a righteous idea which has its future.

At present, the attitude of the Republic of Bulgaria towards the Republic of Macedonia is more than well-wishing one. Namely because of this Bulgaria:

1. Was the first country in the world to recognize Your state.
2. Helped you save your economy from a crash (without any signed agreements) and during the double economic embargo.
3. Did not consent to a division of the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.
4. Interceded with Russia and other countries for the recognition of Your state, and they listened to the voice of Sofia.

All this testifies to the fact that the Bulgarian state is not an enemy of the Republic of Macedonia, and that its people are a real brother to its people. You should not also forget that the Republic of Bulgaria is the home for over 3 million of Macedonian Bulgarians and their descendants who have been driven away by the Turkish, Serbian and Macedonian authorities, i. e. over than three times more than the Slavonic population of Macedonia. Therefore, we are not indifferent to the fate of the Republic of Macedonia.

Mr. Gligorov, in our capacity of Bulgarians from Macedonia and as scholars, we are well aware of the complex political heritage left by the Serbo-Communists to the Republic of Macedonia. Yet, the brothers from both sides of the Rouen and Belasitsa mountains, would like to live at peace and with wide open borders, instead of in an atmosphere of mistrust and hostility, imposed by the present government of Yours and servicing interests alien to both the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria.

September 1997
Macedonian Scientific Institute
Sofia

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Orac...4/msi-lett.htm

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Linguistic origins of F.Y.R.O.M - From Bulgarian dialect to "Macedonian" language

Linguistic origins of F.Y.R.O.M - From Bulgarian dialect to "Macedonian" language

Introduction

Linguistically the current so-called "Macedonian" language was and is infact a Bulgarian dialect. Beginning in the 1860 and 70s, the Bulgarian idiom was dubbed 'makedonski' by the first Macedonists, without success initially they attempted to promote the term among the wider Slavonic population of Macedonia. In 1903 whilst in Sofia, Krste Misirikov, (who indeed possessed of a strong Bulgarian conscience) was the first person to transform the idiom into a literary language by laying down the principles of the 'Makedonski' language in his book: ''Za Makedonckite Raboti'' (On Macedonian Matters). Come the Balkan wars, the Slavic idiom of the population of Vardar was still regarded by most Slavologists and foreign obsevers as a Bulgarian dialect, despite Serbian claims of it being a off-shoot of the Serbian language. In 1913 Yugoslavia undertook a policy of de-bulgarianization and Serbinization of the Slavic idiom of Vardarska. In 1945 a similar policy was adopted in terms of de-bulgarianising the dialect by the YCP (Yugoslav Communist Party) who codified the "Macedonian" alphabet and language. The codification of the idiom was based in part on the principles laid down by Misirkov. Despite the Slavs of F.Y.R.O.M being under the rule of Belgrade for 75 years (monarchist rule from 1913 until communist rule from 1945), the so-called "Macedonian" language of F.Y.R.O.M is still mutually intelligible with standard Bulgarian and from a linguistic point is undeniably a Bulgarian dialect. This page will examine the language both linguistically and track its progress historically.

The first instances of the Bulgarian idiom being dubbed "Makedonski" by Macedonists

The early origins of the Bulgarian idiom being referred to as 'Macedonian' or 'Makedonski' by Macedonists is described as being "Imposed" on the Slavs in the Macedonian region by outsiders (Foreign powers such as Russia are linked to such developments):

Quote:

In a letter to Prof. Marin Drinov of May 25, 1888 Kuzman Shapkarev writes:"But even stranger is the name Macedonians, which was imposed on us only 10 to 15 years ago by outsiders, and not as something by our own intellectuals... Yet the people in Macedonia know nothing of that ancient name, reintroduced today with a cunning aim on the one hand and a stupid one on the other. They know the older word: "Bugari", although mispronounced: they have even adopted it as peculiarly theirs, inapplicable to other Bulgarians. You can find more about this in the introduction to the booklets I am sending you. They call their own Macedono-Bulgarian dialect the "Bugarski language", while the rest of the Bulgarian dialects they refer to as the "Shopski language". (Makedonski pregled, IX, 2, 1934, p. 55; the original letter is kept in the Marin Drinov Museum in Sofia, and it is available for examination and study)Here is the text in the original In Bulgarian

"No pochudno e imeto Makedonci, koeto naskoro, edvay predi 10-15 godini, ni natrapiha i to otvqn, a ne kakto nyakoi mislyat ot samata nasha inteligenciya... Narodqt obache v Makedoniya ne znae nishto za tova arhaichesko, a dnes, s lukava cel ot edna strana, s glupeshka ot druga, podnoveno prozvishte; toy si znae postaroto: Bugari, makar i nepravilno proiznasyano, daje osvoyava si go kato sobstveno i preimushtestveno svoe, nejeli za drugite Bqlgari. Za tova shte vidite i v predgovora na izpratenite mi knijici. Toy naricha Bugarski ezik svoeto Makaedono-bqlgarsko narechie, kogato drugite bqlgarski narechiya naricha Shopski."

------------------

Krste Misirkov

Krste Misirkov is a prime example of the often fluxuating ethnic conscience of some of the early Macedonists at the turn of the century. Many intellectuals were having to decide whether they favoured annexation by Bulgaria, or an autonomous Macedonia. While Misirkov is curiously heralded by Skopjians as one of the "founders of the Macedonian nation", he is also wrote that the Slavs of Macedonia "are more Bulgarian than those in Bulgaria!".

He was the first person to transform "Macedonian" as a literary language. While in Sofia in 1903, he published the book ''Za Makedonckite Raboti'' ('On Macedonian Matters') in which he laid down the principles of the 'Macedonian' language. According to this book, the language should be based on the central dialects of Vardar. He also used those dialects to write the book itself. Misirkov died in 1926. Decades after his death with the communist takeover of Yugoslavia, Misirkov's principles were used by the Yugoslav committees for the codification of the Macedonian language.

It appears that at one point in his life, under Russian sponsership, he favoured his own brand of Macedonism and this is when he published his book on the 'Macedonian language. Later he adopted a vehemently Bulgarian nationalist stance and abandoned his Macedonism, apparently beleiving it would never materialise as an ideology; though it ironically it did, long after his death after WW2.

In his book, ''The national identity of the Macedonians'', which he wrote in 1924, two years before he died, he uncompromisingly defends the Bulgarian character of the population of Macedonia saying "We [Macedonian Slavs] are more Bulgarian than those in Bulgaria!". He completley retracts everything he wrote in his book ''Za Makedonckite Raboti'' about the Macedonian language, with the explanation that "I wrote it as a politician". The book is considerably pro-Bulgarian, describing himself as a Bulgarian, nationalistically so.

Krste Misirkov
National Identity of the Macedonians. 1924 γ:

Quote:

Krste Misirkov wrote:1. We speak Bulgarian language and we believed with Bulgarians is our strong power.2. The Bulgarians in Macedonia. The future of Macedonia is spiritual union of the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

3. The Macedonian Slavs are called Bulgarians.

4. The biggest part of the population are called Bulgarians.

5. All spoke that Macedonians are Bulgarians. Until 1978 all including Russian Government spoke the Macedonians are Bulgarians. But after the Berlin Congress the Serbs came with pretension to have Macedonia. They try to change the European opinion that in Macedonia there are Serbian too.

6. If Ilinden uprising win we will be thankful to Bulgarians, but Serbians try to compete with Bulgarians and spend a lot of money and propaganda. If Macedonia is autonomic there will be no space for propaganda and the Serbs have to leave Bulgarian in peace.

7. The Ilinden Uprising Committee is Bulgarian.

8. Bulgarian Language and Bulgarian name. The Committee is ready to give guarantee to Europe that Macedonia will not unify with Bulgaria, but they can't take the Bulgarian name and language from Macedonia!

9. Unification between Turks and Bulgarians in Macedonia. Serbia and Greece do not want to give us autonomous and independent Macedonia, because they see this as a fist step to unification. In Macedonia have only pure Bulgarian population, which can't be unified with the Turks.

10. Serbia is against autonomous Macedonia. Serbia is afraid because Macedonia with the Bulgarian population will have tendency to united with Bulgaria and for this reason Serbia will not allow this.

11. They divided us and now they do not allow us to unify. We are living now 25 years divided from Bulgaria and they do not allow us to unify? We call ourselves Bulgarians or Macedonians and see us as separate and radically different from the Serbs with Bulgarian national consciousness.

12. Our Grandfathers call themselves Bulgarians. They never thing that we will be having such a problem to call ourselves so.

13. Bulgarian Literally Language. We the Macedonians voluntarily choose one and the same language with Bulgarians long before the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkey. The prohibition from the Serbs to use our literally language, which is the only one connection between us and Bulgarians is significant violation of our human rights. .. and further.. when they forbid us to call ourselves Bulgarians, to learn Bulgarian history and to be ashamed from everything which connect us with Bulgarians. It is enough to learn our Macedonian culture and history to understand that we are very different from Serbian nationality.

14. There no difference between Bulgarian and Macedonian Slav. The Greeks in 1804 long before Bulgarian exarchate do not make any difference between Bulgarian and West Macedonian dialect.

15. Bulgarian national name of Macedonians. In the IX century in the first Bulgarian kingdom we do not have anything against this Bulgarian national name for us and for the rest of Bulgarians in Bulgaria.

16. We Macedonian Bulgarians (Macedonians) like Bulgarian state as our own.

17. The Serbs are much inferior than we are. We demand freedom for all of us and not to be material for assimilation experiments of the Serbs, which stand much inferior from us in spiritual narrow-mindedness and chauvinism.

18. The Serbs come to the idea of the Macedonian nationality. The Serbs develop the concept for special Macedonian Nation, which they put in the south Macedonia. They declare north Macedonia as a pure Serbian land. Middle Macedonia as a transition between Serbian and Macedonian language.

19. The population of Skopje is pure Bulgarian. Bulgaria make a big error when recognize the territory for "neutral". It is pure Bulgarian and the population in Skopje and surrounding area is pure Bulgarian.

20. Why the Serbs want Macedonia? What Serbian you can find in this pure Bulgarian land, which is since 6 century till today Bulgarian, despite of all vicissitude of the historical destiny.

21. Serbian-Greek attempt on the Bulgarians in Macedonia. Because of the treaty between Serbia and Greece Bulgaria was robed and 2 Millions Bulgarians where conquered from Serbia and Greece. Yes! To many damage did the Serbs on Bulgaria, Macedonia and Dobrudja and with this they do not stop! They filled that their vicious work will be discovered and to be prosecuted by the Slavic consciousness because of the freedom of 1/3 of Bulgarians - the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

22. The lies about Bulgarian and Bulgaria. Restoration of the human rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Dobrudja, despite of the lies spread for Bulgaria and Bulgarians! Who is against Great Bulgaria, he is against the Slavs!

23. Krali Marko songs in Macedonia are from Bulgarian origin. The songs of Krali Marko in Macedonia are from Bulgarian origin and speak for the Bulgarian influence over the Serbs and not the opposite.

24. The Serbs will coarse many wars, if the "Dushan empire" will not disappear. In the last quarter of the XIX century the Serbs start to dream to restore this abandon from Serbs it selves empire. With intrigues and and allies they conquer big part of Bulgarian Macedonia. But this Serbian advantages of 1912 coarse the war in 1913 and they coarse the war in 1915-1918 and will coarse many more wars, unless "Dushan empire" get liquidate in the same way as in XIV century on the principal of the self-determination of the nations.

25. Serbs falsify the history. In Bulgaria Macedonians have all personal rights, freedom of expression and self-determination in Bulgaria. The Serbs try to destroy the soul of the Macedonians and for that reason the falsify the hole history. In this Serbian logic and Serbian fillings there are something abnormal, which is prove of the failure of the Serbian state. They are afraid from the Macedonians in Macedonia and also this living outside.

26. The Macedonian population is against Serbs. You have to know that because your Serbian politics against Macedonians you have against you all past present and future Balkan governments and the Macedonian population.

27. The Bulgarians are our fellow citizens. The European recognize that only independent sate will put an end of the competition conquer and hegemony on the Balkan. An will end once forever violence of the new conquer. And everlasting peace on the Balkan and in Europe will rise. Greece and Serbia will loose territorially and les Bulgaria and will win all Macedonians.

28. The Serbs forbid us to celebrate all Bulgarian holidays. We are forced to celebrate St. Sava and forbid to celebrate St. Cyril and St. Methodius and Ilinden Uprising.

29. Our souls are in Bulgaria. Serbia conquer the land and the body of Macedonians, the souls are in Bulgaria and with Bulgaria.

30. Krste Petkov Misirkov defines himself as a Bulgarian. 1897 I was accepted in Petersburg University in Russia and five years I was Bulgarian student community as Bulgarian.

31. Self appreciation of the statement in the book "For Macedonian matters". The readers of this article will be very surprised of the big controversy opinion, which they will meet here in comparison with the article "For Macedonian matters". To understand this contradiction I will remember you, that I wrote as an improvised politicians

http://nka.com.mk/misirkov/can_macedonia.htm

Contemporary foreign evaluation of the Slavonic idiom and the other languages spoken in MacedoniaAmerican 1910 Census of languages spoken in the U.S: Note that:

*that the instructions in bold at the bottom indicate to the census enumerators that the language of each American citizen is to be classified on the basis of language spoken, be it Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian, Albanian, Turkish, Vlach etc, rather than classifying them geographically as 'Macedonian'.

*It is seen from through that despite efforts of the Macedonists to have the Slavonic dialect recognised as "Macedonian", no foreign records describe such a language in their list of the various languages spoken in the Balkans:

Department of Commerce and Labour
Bureau of the Census
Washington
Thirteenth Census of the United StatesApril 15, 1910p.32 - Instructions to census Enumerators:

Quote:

Study these instructions carefully before beginning work and carry this book with you during your work. Washington: Government Printing Office: 1910ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH133. Column 17. Whether able to speak English; or, if not, give language spoken.—This question applies to all person 10 years of age and over. If such a person is able to speak English, write English. If he is not able to speak English—and in such cases only—write the names of the language which he does speak, as French, German, Italian. If he speaks more than one language, but does not speak English, write the name of that language which is his native language or mother tongue. For persons under 10 years of age, leave the column blank.

134. The following is a list of principal foreign languages spoken in the United States. Avoid giving other names when one in this list can be applied to the language spoken. With the exception of certain languages of eastern Russian, the list gives a name for ever European language in the proper sense of the word.
Albanian
Armenian
Basque
Bohemian
Briton
Bulgarian
Chinese
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
Flemish
French
German
Greek
Gypsy
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Lappish
Lettish
Little Russian
Lithuanian
Magyar
Moravian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Rhaeto-Romanish
Roumanian
Russian
Ruthenian
Scotch
Servian or Croatian (Including Russian, Dalmatian, Herzegovinian, and Montenegrin)
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish
Syrian
Turkish
Welsh
Wendish
Yiddish

135. Do not write "Austrian," but write German, Bohemian, Ruthenian, Roumanian, Slovenian, Slovak, or such other term as correctly defines the language spoken.

136. Do not write "Slavic" or "Slavonian," but write Slovak, Slovenian, Russian, etc., as the case may be.

137. Do not write "Macedonian," but write Bulgarian, Turkish, Greek, Servian, or Roumanian, as the case may be.

138. Do not write "Czech," but write Bohemian, Moravian,or Slovak, as the case may be.

139. Write Magyar instead of "Hungarian."

140. Write Croatian instead of "Hervat."

141. Write Little Russian instead of "Ukrainian."

142. Write Ruthenian instead of "Rosniak" or "Russine."

143. Write Roumanian instead of "Moldavian," "Wallachian," "Tsintsar," or "Kutzo-Vlach."

1913-WW2, 1945-present day - Belgrade's impact on the Skopjian idiom

From 1913 until its collapse on account of the German invasion in WW2, the Yugoslav (monarchist) Government adopted a policy of Serbinzation and de-Bulgarianisation of the Slavic idiom spoken in Vardar (FYROM); an idiom which was generally considered by foreign sources and Slavologists to be a Bulgarian dialect.

From the end of WW2 with the Communists in control of Yugoslavia, a similar yet project, with many differences however was undertaken with the linguism of Vardar. While efforts de-bulgarianise the idiom and bring it closer to the Serbo-Croat dialect were again undertaken (Multiple peices of evidence confirm this), communist rule and the subsuming of Macedonism as an ideology meant that Belgrade made a concerted effort to develope unique aspects of the language. Surenames in some cases are even recorded as having been changed from the traditional Bulgarian possessive ending ‘ov’ to an ending to an ‘ovski’ surename ending. Commitees were set up by the Yugoslav Commitern to "resolve" matters of a "Macedonian" language and alphabet.

Venko Markovski, was one of the creators of the 'Macedonian' alphabet in 1944, but lost favour with Tito and fled to Bulgaria later on.

The Yugoslav committee for the creation of the Macedonian alphabet in November 1944.
Left to right: Vasil Ilioski, Hristo Zografov, Krum Toshev, Dare Djambas, Venko Markovski, Mirko Pavlovski, Mihail Petrushevski, Hristo Prodanov, Georgi Kiselinov, Georgi Shoptraianov, Iovan Kostov

http://www.veni.com/venko-azbuka.html

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Bulgarian origin of FYROM slavs

Quote:

The town of Monastir, capital of the vilayet of Monsastir, lies just about half way between Bulgarian and Greek territory. North, the majority of Macedonians are Bulgar, south the majority are Hellenes. The villages meet, cross, and mix in the Monastir vilayet. The reason, therefore, we hear so much about disturbances at Monastir is not because the Turks there are more wicked than Turks elsewhere, but because there is a persistent feud between Greek and Bulgarian political religionists.
.....
Monastir is an undistinguished, motley sort of town of some 60,000 nhabitants, 14,000 of them Greek, 10,000 of them Bulgarian, four or five thousand Albanian, two or three thousand Jew, and the rest Turk.

"Pictures From The Balkans" by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), chapter 20.

Quote:

But who are the Macedonians? You will find Bulgarians and Turks who call themselves Macedonians, you find Greek Macedonians, there are Servian Macedonians, and it is possible to find Roumanian Macedonians. You will NOT, however, find a single Christian Macedonian who is not a Servian, a Bulgarian, a Greek, or a Roumanian. They all curse the Turk, and they love Macedonia. But it is Greek Macedonia, or Bulgarian Macedonia, and their eyes flame with passion, whilst their fingers seek the triggers of their guns

"Pictures From The Balkans" by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 5

Quote:

They visited the Bulgarian villages, levied contributions, and stored arms, so that on an appointed day there might be a rising against the Turk, and Bulgarian Macedonians be liberated from their oppressors for ever. Naturally they were greeted as heroes;

"Pictures From The Balkans" by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 8

Quote:

i have some hope that in years to come the inhabitants will think less of their Turkish, Bulgarian or Greek Origin and a great deal more with the fact that they are all Macedonians.

"Pictures From The Balkans" by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 17

Quote:

There was petty persecution; Bulgarian Christians crossed from Macedonia into Bulgaria proper and told their tales of woe. Then followed raids by armed bands of Bulgarians into Turkey. In time associations were formed in Bulgaria and secret committees in Macedonia to aid the Bulgarian cause. In time came a congress and the formation of the " High Committee," having for its object the securing of political autonomy for Macedonia, and pledged, in order to secure it, to take any action " which may be dictated by circumstances." The consequence was that peaceful Bulgarians in Macedonia were forced into the revolutionary movement, compelled to secrete arms, made to contribute to the maintenance of the "bands," and were put to death if they reported to the Turks, or were massacred by the Turks because they were revolutionaries. However oppressive the Turks had been, however zealous were good Bulgarians to save their fellow - countrymen and co- religionists in Macedonia from oppression, the revolutionary movement, as it is in Macedonia to-day, is the outcome of terror and murder.

"Pictures From The Balkans" by John Foster Fraser (published in 1906), PAGE 179

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Basil II of Constantinople in 1014 decided to end once and for all a war that had already lasted forty years. To break the spirit of the hated Bulgarians, he blinded all but 150 of 15,000 prisoners. The “lucky” 150 were blinded in one eye only. Every 100 blind men were guided by a one-eyed leader back to the Bulgarian capital of Ohdrid, whose ruler, Samuel , had received word that his army was returning to him. Samuel hastened to meet his men and found himself staring at thousand of helpless blind men. The sight was fatal. Samuel suffered a stroke on the spot and died two days later. (Basil II received the surname Bulgaroktonos, meaning “slayer of Bulgarians”, )

Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts By Isaac Asimov, page 225

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They population of Uskioub, consisting of Arnouts, Jews, Armenians, Zinzars, Greeks, Bulgarians and Servians, amounts to upwards of twelve thousand

"Travels in European Turkey, in 1850: Through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace,..." By Edmund Spencer, page 28, Published 1851

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As the day was drawing to a close, we descended into the vast plain of Bittoglia, where we had to ford several unimportant streams rushing onward to the sluggish waters of the karasu,..With the exception of a few Greeks and Zinzars, the congregation consisted of Bulgarians, EASILY DISTINGUISHED by their short, thick-set figures, honest open countenances, and the unvarying costume, we before described

"Travels in European Turkey, in 1850: Through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace,..." By Edmund Spencer, page 46, Published 1851

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Those of the vilayets of Adrianople and Macedonia , where, at the recent census, two-thirds of the inhabitants were found to be Bulgarians

"The Balkan Peninsula" by E. Laveleye, 1887, Page 251

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The unfortunate Armenians are at the present time most piteously oppressed and pillaged by the Kurds, the Circassians, and more especially by Turkish functionaries. 'Their condition is very similar to that of the Bulgarians in Macedonia

"The Balkan Peninsula" by E. Laveleye, 1887, Page 305

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But having lived now with the Montenegrins, the Serbs, and the Bulgarian 'Macedonians,' I clung to the idea that somehow or other I must get right into Albanian territories

"The Burden of the Balkans" By M. Edith Durham 1863-1944, page 207

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Vatatzes was now quick to perceive the high tide in his efforts and decided to sail with the current. He ventured north to take Melnik, and continued northeastward to capture Stenimachus, Tzapaena and other places in the upper valley of the Maritsa, which became the boundary between Bulgaria and the Nicene empire, all without a struggle, "as though he was taking over an inheritance from his father". He pushed on into the far northwest, taking Velbuzd (Kustendil) on the upper strymon; moved south taking skopje and trip in teh vardar region; then through Veles, Prilep and Pelagonia in the plains of Monastir; and eastward again to the Vardar where he took Prosek. It was a triumphant progress from beginning to end, but the end was not yet. In less than three months Vatatzes had overrun all Sourthwestern Bulgaria.

The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 By Kenneth Meyer Setton, page 62

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Theodore Ducas began his spectacular reign over Epirus by an attack upon the Bulgarians (1216) from whom he seized the important towns of Ochrida and Prilep, extending his northeastern border to the plains of Monastir

The Papacy and the Levant, 1204-1571 By Kenneth Meyer Setton, page 43

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In Monastir also, the majority of the inhabitants is Bulgarian, and Bulgarian is the language in the market

"We, the Macedonians", by Constantine Stephanove

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and Uskub, the great majority of the population is Slavic, ... the middle ages until 1913 called themselves and were called by their neighbors Bulgarians

The Journal of International Relations By george h. blakeslee

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Si la Bulgarie, après beaucoup d'hésitations et non sans regret, a fait le grand sacrifice d'abandonner Uskub, dont la population est bulgare

Documents diplomatiques français (1871-1914). By France. Commission de publication des documents relatifs aux origines de la guerre de 1914

Translation: If Bulgaria, after many hesitations and not without regret, did the great sacrifice and give up Uskub, whose population is Bulgarian

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The writer who has frequently visited Monastir, can add his to mony to these pronouncements. The population of Monastir is Turkish, Bulgarian and Vlach

"The Quarterly Review" Published 1872, J. Murray

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Krushevo:
"In the house where the power resided, a BULGARIAN flag was put": A wire of the Serbian cunsul in Bitola to the Moinister of the Foreign
Affairs of Serbia, 13 August 1903.

(Quote after Ilindenski Sbornik, 1903 - 1953, Skopje 1953, p. 40.)

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Tagepost 15 August 1903:
"The Bitola pashalik has been took over by general common
movement. Krushevo has saluted the BULGARIAN banner and
wants temporary to proclaim a republic".

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Istambul, August 15, 1903:
SIR,
The political situation in Macedonia continues to grow worse each week.[...]
The real foundation for all the trouble is the desire of the BULGARIAN
population for freedom from Turkish rule, and were the powers to say to Bulgaria what they have already said to Turkey, "that under no conditions
would she be permitted to take one foot on additional soil", the trouble
would be speedily ended , but this they will not do, and consequently the
twentieth century crusade against the Turks is likely to go on, as no power,
not excepting Germany, is to brave public opinion openly taking sides with
the Turks against the Christians".

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September 19, 1903:
"The Bulgarian government is in most delicate position.... and unless the
powers should intervene Bulgaria will be forced openly to embrace the
Macedonian cause. ... I am quite of the opinion that the people in Bulgaria
will revolt against the government unless something be done..." writes the
American ambassador at the Porte, Leishman

John G. Leishman, US Ambassador to the Sublime Porte (serving 1900 - 1908)
to John Hay, American Secretary of State.Source: U.S. Deaprtment of State.
Diplomatic Despatches. Despatches from U.S. Ministers to Turkey, 1818 -
1906. National Archives Publications, M46, Roll 72, July 5 - October 29,
1903.

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The name ANTES suggest this people was intermixed with Iranians, and linguists point to a large number of Iranian loanwords in Slavic that were acquired very early. This would not be surpsising if the Slavs came from Ukraine because they would have had contact with both Iranian Scythians and Sarmatians. Indeed the Sarmatians were still to be found in Backa and the Banat near the Danybe at the time Slavs arrived there.

The Early Medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century By John Van Antwerp Fine, page 26

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Most of the Balkans were settled by Slavs of one of the two types. (excluding the smaller groups of Slavic Slovenes and Turkic Avars in the western Balkans). Each one of these two main Slavic groups was to be named for a second conquering group who appeared later in te Seventh century.The first of these two groups was the Bulgaro-Macedonians, whose Slavic component the Bulgarian historian Zlatarski derives from the Antes. They were conquered in the late seventh century by the Turkic Bulgars. The slavs eventually assimilated them, but the Bulgars' name survived.

The Early Medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century By John Van Antwerp Fine, page 36

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Until the late nineteenth century both outside observers and those Bulgaro-Macedonians who had an ethnic consiousness believed that their group, which is NOW two seperate nationalities, comprised a SINGLE people, THE BULGARIANS. Thus the reader should IGNORE references to ethnic Macedonians in the Middle Ages which appear in some modern works. In the Middle Ages and into the nineteenth century, the term 'Macedonian' was used ENTIRELY in reference to a geographical region. Anyone who lived within its confines, regardless of nationality could be called a Macedonian.

The Early Medieval Balkans: a critical survey from the sixth to the late twelfth century By John Van Antwerp Fine, Page 37

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It is the national identity of these Slav Macedonians that has been the most violently contested aspect of the whole Macedonian dispute, and is still being contested today. There is NO DOUBT that they are southern Slavs; they have a language, or a group of varying dialects, that is grammatically akin to Bulgarian but phonetically in some respects akin to Serbian, and which has certain quite distinctive features of its own.

[Elisabeth Barker, "Macedonia, its place in Balkan power politics",
(originally published in 1950 by the Royal Institute of International Affairs), p.10]

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In regard to their own national feelings, all that can SAFELY be said is that during the last eighty years many MORE Slav Macedonians seem to have considered themselves Bulgarian, or closely linked to Bulgaria, than have considered themselves Serbian, or closely linked to Serbia (or Yugoslavia). Only the people of the Skoplje region, in the north west, have ever shown much tendency to regard themselves as Serbs. The feeling of being Macedonians, and nothiNg but Macedonians, seems to be a sentiment of fairly recent growth, and even today is not very deep-rooted.

[Elisabeth Barker, "Macedonia, its place in Balkan power politics",
(originally published in 1950 by the Royal Institute of International Affairs), p.10]

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May the heroic Serb people at last find the necessary moral force--and they have it, it dwells within them--to recognize spontaneously what has long and unanimously been recognized by history, science, and the national sentiment of the Macedonian population itself, which sees in the Bulgarians ITS BROTHERS in language and blood, and which has fought hand in hand with them for religion, life, and liberty.

[N.S. Derzhavin, "Bulgaro-Serb Relations and the Macedonian Question", (1918)]

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You seem to be afraid of Kimon Georgiev, you have involved yourselves too much with him and do not want to give autonomy to Pirin Macedonia. That a Macedonian consciousness HAS NOT YET DEVELOPED AMONG THE POPULATION IS OF NO ACCOUNT. No such consciousness existed in Byelorussia either when we proclaimed it a Soviet Republic. However, later it was shown that a Byelorussian people did in fact exist.

[Stalin to Bulgarian Delegation (G. Dimitrov, V. Korarov, T. Kostov) on 7 June 1946]

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It should be remembered, to begin with, that there is NO Macedonian race, as a distinct type. Macedonians may belong to any of the races of Eastern Europe or Western Asia, as, indeed, they do. A Macedonian Bulgar is just the same as a Bulgar of Bulgaria proper, the old principality, that in October, 1908, at Tirnova, was proclaimed independent of Turkey. He looks the same, talks the same, and very largely, thinks the same way. IN SHORT HE IS OF THE SAME STOCK. There is no difference, whatsoever, between the two branches of the race, except that the Macedonian Bulgars, as a result of their position under the Turkish government, have less culture and education than their northern brethren.

[Arthur Douglas Howden Smith, "Fighting the Turk in the Balkans: An American's Adventures with the Macedonian Revolutionists", 1908, p. 4-5]

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In general, however, the Macedonian Slavs differ somewhat both in appearance and character from their neighbours beyond the Bulgarian and Servian frontiers: the peculiar type which they present is probably due to a considerable admixture of Vlach, Hellenic, Albanian and Turkish blood, and to the influence of the surrounding races. Almost all independent authorities,however, agree that the bulk of the Slavonic population of Macedonia IS BULGARIAN. The principal indication is furnished by the language, which, though resembling Servian in some respects (e.g. the case-endings, which are occasionally retained), presents most of the characteristic features of Bulgarian.

[The 1911 Edition Encyclopedia, found online at: ]Bad title - LoveToKnow 1911

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Modern turkish histories present the idea that the macedonian question was the essential ingredient in understanding the volatile mix of problems that ultimately led to Balkan wars. Because the population of Macedonia was primarily Bulgarian, it was influenced heavily by the events of 1878. It is very likely that the establishment of the greater Bulgaria envisioned by the treaty of San Stefano, and which included much of Macedonia whetted the nationalistic appetites of a substantial portion of the Bulgarian population of Macedonia.

"Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913" By Edward J. Erickson, page 39

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In Sofia, Bulgarians organized the Adrianople Region- MAcedonia Committee in 1890, and in Salonika, the internal Macedonian Revolutionary committee and Organization was formed in 1893.

"Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans, 1912-1913" By Edward J. Erickson, page 42

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In order to pave the way to the annexation of Rumelia, the task before the Bulgarian imperialists was twofold. In the first place they had to detach the Slav-speaking inhabitants from the Patriarcate, and attach them to the Exarchate. But that in itself would not have been enough, because of the local distribution of the different races. The Hellenes, as we should expect, occupy the whole of the sea coast in a nearly solid mass, which shades off in approaching the centre and north. The Slav element is equally solid in the north, and fades away to almost nothing on approaching the sea. The danger which the statesmen of Sofia had to fear was an equitable partition of the country on these lines between the two natioanalities, which would leave Bulgaria bigger indeed, but without the coveted coastline of the Aegean, and without that reversion to Contantinople which is the prime goal of Balkan ambitions. [...]In order to justify the annexation of the entire territory between Bulgaria and the sea, therefore, it became necessary to create a FICTITIOUS country with a FICTITIOUS nationality. To return to the former illustration, we must imagine an independant Irish Republic desirous of adding the whole of Scottland to its dominion. It would be obliged, in the first place, to teach the Gaelic population that they were Irishmen, in order to enlist their support, and then to preach that Scotland was an invisible whole in order to establish a claim over the low lands.

[b]The Bulgarian propagandists found what they required in the word "Macedonia" a name with no more definite significance than Wessex or Languedoc.[/B] Unfortunately for themselves, the Greeks had been the first to make use of this name, with its classical associations, and to give it a wide extension to the north in interests of Hellenic expansion. As usual their exaggerated pretensions defeated themselves, and the Bulgars now hoist them with their own petard, by persuading Europe that Macedonia was a definite political entity, like Wales or Switzerland. [..]

The Macedonia thus constituted has no more national identity or cohesion than India. But the Christians on the whole outnumber the Moslems by probably four to three, and if the European Powers could be wrought upon to ignore the Moslem element in the population, as is so constantly done by European writers, and erect "Macedonia" into an autonomous state like Eastern Rumelia, Bulgaria would have the fairest prospect of repeating her former coup. It was possibly with a view to some such result that Gladstone threw out the phrase "Macedonia for the Macedonians", a phrase which, be it said with all respect, could *not* have been used by any man of impartiality and intelligence who possesed a first hand knowledge of the country. The Bulgarians were prompt to adopt it, for the use against the Turks, while keeping that of Macedonia for the bulgars for use against the Greeks. Within the last few years, however, they have felt encouraged to lay claim openly to the remaining vilayet of Rumelia; the committee which directs the Folk War from Sofia has taken the name of "Macedonia-Adrianople" and bands of Comitadjis have been actively at work in the valley of the Martiza. IT IS THEREFORE NO LONGER NECESSARY TO DEMONSTRATE THE MYTHICAL CHARACTER OF THE "MACEDONIAN" nationality in the eyes of every element in the Macedonian population.

Allen Upward, The East End of Europe, London 1908, pp 25-27

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And so the "Bulgarophone" villagers are no longer willing to admit they speak Bulgarian. They have coined a NEW term of their own accord, and henceforth, until they have got rid of it, is to be known as "Macedonian". My Athenian friends were delighted when I told them of this on my return. It should give even greater pleasure to those Bulgarian agents who are SO ANXIOUS TO SEE THE MACEDONIANS TAUGHT THEY ARE MACEDONIANS

Allen Upward, The East End of Europe, London 1908, pp 205

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A letter from Dimiter Miladinov1 (in Ohrid) to Victor Grigorovich2 (in Vienna) about the search for Bulgarian folk songs and relics in MacedoniaFebruary 25th, 1846

I have not received a single line since your departure. In the meantime my efforts concerning OUR Bulgarian language and the Bulgarian (folk) songs, in compliance with your recommendations are unsurpassed. I have not for one moment ceased to fulfill the pledge which I made to you, Sir, because the Bulgarians are spontaneously striving for the truth. But I hope you will excuse my delay up till now, which is due to the difficulty I had in selecting the best songs and also in my work on the grammar. I hope that, on another convenient occasion, after I have collected more songs and finished the grammar, I will be able to send them to you. Please write where and through whom it would be safe to send them to you (as you so ardently wish).

We are completely convinced, by assurances of the villagers of Glavinitsa, that the stone inscriptions for which we have been looking will also be found. I will study them next spring. It would be wonderful and desirable if, with your assistance, we could ask the Government for the holy relics of Saint Clement of Ohrid, verified by the Great Church of Christ, as you yourself witnessed with your own eye, and requested on your own initiative. And the steps taken before the authorities here concerning the holy relics in question will do much to bring you praise and to confer benefit upon our newly-opened school.

I am writing you this letter on the instructions of the notables in Ohrid. Looking forward to an immediate reply in Greek through the same bearer, I greet you with the deepest esteem and respect.

Братя Миладинови, Преписка, София (The Miladinov Brothers, Correspondence), Sofia, 1964, p. 15; the original is in Greek.

1 Dimiter Miladinov (1810-1862), born in Strouga, an eminent figure of the Bulgarian Revival and an active fighter for public education of the Bulgarians and for their spiritual and political awakening; he taught in Strouga, Ohrid, Koukoush and Prilep, where he introduced the Bulgarian language into the schools, where Greek had previously been the medium of instruction. Falsely accused by the Greek bishop of Ohrid, he was sent to prison in Constantinople where he died
2 Victor Ivanovich Grigorovich (1815-1876), Russian slavicist. In 1844-1847 traveled throughout the Bulgarian lands, including Macedonia and collected ethnographic and folklore material

II. The National Revival Period 1

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The origin of the Macedonian dispute the south-east half of Slav Macedonia where the population was most nearly Bulgarian

The New Macedonian Question (St. Antony's) by James Pettifer, page 12

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Where an overaching identity existed among Slavs in Macedonia, it was a Bulgarian one UNTIL at least the 1860s. The cultural impetus for a seperated Macedonian identity would only emerge LATER

Outcast Europe BY Tom Gallagher, page 47

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..descendant of Samuil, collected an army and took the chief Bulgarian town, Skopje, and soon came to dominate Thrace, Epirus and Macedonia

A Concise History of Bulgaria (Cambridge Concise Histories) by R. J. Crampton, page 23

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Among the Bulgarians of Prilep, after the ceremony in church is over, one of the brothers entertains his relatives..

Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 4 by James Hastings, page 79

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The Bulgarians fall into two divisions, the Black Bulgarians and the Gaugauz.--The latter came from the Dobrudzha between 1804 and 1812, the former are subdivided in

Black Bulgarians and Macedonians and

Black Bulgarians of Rumanyo origin.The former came in 1830, the latter at the same time with the Gaugauz.

The Gaugauz speak Turkish and write in the Romanyo Alphabete
The Black Bulgarians speak --those of Macedonian origin writing in Greek , those of the Romanyo countries in Slavonic characters.

The Nationalities of Europe, Robert Gordon Latham ,1863, Colonists in Russia,page 360

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"The general estimate is that between forty and fifty United thousand Bulgars (from Bulgaria and Macedonia) have come to this country, including those in Canada. Their principal centre was here in Granite City, an outlying suburb of St. Louis, but during the last year the majority of the 10,000 who were here have migrated westward. At present there are less than a thousand here. About 10,000 are now working on the railroad lines in Montana, the two Dakotas, Iowa and Minnesota. The belief is they will return here in autumn, but my own impression is, there will never again be 10,000 of them in Granite City.
" Other important centres are Seattle, Butte, Montana, Chicago, Indianapolis and Steelton, Pennsylvania; but they are too shifting a people to make estimates of their numbers in those centres of any value.
"I hope you are not making any racial distinctions between Bulgars and Macedonians. I believe the Bulgars who have come from Macedonia are registered on Ellis Island as Macedonians, which is bound to be confusing and inaccurate, for Macedonians may include Greeks, Vlachs, and even Turks. The distinction between the Bulgars from Bulgaria and those from Macedonia is PURELY political. Many of those who are registered as Greeks are so in church affiliation only, being Slavic by race and tongue.
"The majority (I should say about 80 per cent) of the Bulgars in this country are from Macedonia, and nearly all are from one small districtin Monastir vilayet; Kostur, or Castoria.Their reasons for coming are fundamentally economic, but the immediate causes are the revolution of 1904, when half the people in Monastir were rendered homeless by the burning of their villages, and the continued persecution of the Greek Church since then, which closed Greece to them as a market for their labor. Not five per cent of the Bulgars in this country came before four years ago.

"Our Slavic Fellow Citizens" By Emily Greene Balch pp 274-275

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It is very interesting to compare together the different inhabitants of European Turkey, such as the Servians, the Bulgarians, the Wallachians, the Greeks, and the Albanians. The Servians and Bulgarians may be said to be nearly the same people, and appear to be more numerous than the Greeks;

The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal: exhibiting a view of the Progressive discoveries.." Published 1838
by A. and C. Black - Original from the New York Public Library - p.240

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The language of these various populations divides itself into two principal idioms: each of these into three where the difference is less. Of the Southern dialect are the Slovaks, the Serbs and Bulgarians; of the Northern, the Bohemians, Poles, and Russians.

Vacation Tourists and Notes of Travel in 1860 By Francis Galton Published 1861 Macmillan and co. Original from the University of Michigan, page 108

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The Bulgarians in their turn wanted to exploit the dense presence of Slavonic-Speakers all over Macedonia to support their own irredentist aspirations in the region. A leading part in achieving their national goals was to be played by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Bulgarian presence and influence throughout Macedonia, particularly in the controversial middle linguistic zone, was considerably strengthened by means of education and the Exarchal Church. This combination was regarded as the best counterweigtht to the Greek Patriarchal influence in the region, in an effort to offset the losses inflicted by the treaty of Berlin. The chief aim of the Bulgarian strategy was to awaken the notion of self-defence in the Bulgarian-speaking population of Macedonia and Thrace, which would urge them to demand and achieve a degree of political autonomy within the Ottoman empirel subsequently they could be annexed by Bulgaria.

Mediterranean Politics By Richard Gillespie, page 88

http://historyofmacedonia.wordpress.com/2007/02/14/modern-writers-about-the-bulgarian-origin-of-fyroms-slavs/