Bačka Oblast ( Serbo-Croatian : Bačka oblast or Бачка област ) was one of the oblasts of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1922 to 1929. Its administrative center was Novi Sad .
156-455: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed in 1918 and was initially divided into counties and districts (this division was inherited from previous state administrations). In 1922, new administrative units known as oblasts ( Serbo-Croatian : oblasti / области) were introduced and the whole country was divided into 33 oblasts. Before 1922, the territory of the Bačka Oblast was part of
312-629: A state within a state in some regions, including their tax collectors. This effort escalated in 1903 into the Ilinden–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. During the Balkan Wars and
468-837: A "horrible brutality which is being practiced upon the Croatian People". The appeal was addressed to the Paris-based Ligue des droits de l'homme (Human Rights League). In their letter Einstein and Mann held the Yugoslav king Aleksandar explicitly responsible for these circumstances. Croat opposition to the new régime was strong and, in late 1932, the Croatian Peasant Party issued the Zagreb Manifesto which sought an end to Serb hegemony and dictatorship. The government reacted by imprisoning many political opponents including
624-667: A Bulgarian ploy to settle the Macedonian question to its own advantage by creating a Bulgarian Macedonia... If the autonomy of Macedonia should result from the present Uprising, the Macedonian question will be settled not to the advantage of the Macedonians but of the Bulgarians, for the Committee, as we have seen earlier, is working behind a Bulgarian front... Thus the reason why the Uprising failed
780-714: A Germanophile. In the late 1930s, internal tensions continued to increase with Serbs and Croats seeking to establish ethnic federal subdivisions. Serbs wanted Vardar Banovina (later known within Yugoslavia as Vardar Macedonia), Vojvodina , Montenegro united with the Serb lands, and Croatia wanted Dalmatia and some of Vojvodina. Both sides claimed territory in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina populated also by Bosnian Muslims . The expansion of Nazi Germany in 1938 gave new momentum to efforts to solve these problems and, in 1939, Prince Paul appointed Dragiša Cvetković as prime minister, with
936-591: A Serbo-centric policy increased. In the early 1920s, the Yugoslav government of prime minister Nikola Pašić used police pressure over voters and ethnic minorities, confiscation of opposition pamphlets and other measure to rig elections . This was ineffective against the Croatian Peasant Party (formerly the Croatian Republican Peasant Party), whose members continued to win election to the Yugoslav parliament in large numbers, but did harm
1092-542: A government led by Stojan Protić committed to the restoration of parliamentary norms and mitigating the centralization of the previous government. Their opposition to the former governments program of radical land reform also united them. As several small groups and individuals switched sides, Protić now even had a small majority. However, the Democratic Party and the Social Democrats now boycotted parliament and Protić
1248-505: A group of Muslims from Macedonia and Kosovo, saved it. On 28 June 1921, the Vidovdan Constitution was passed, establishing a unitary monarchy. The pre–World War I traditional regions were abolished and 33 new administrative oblasts (provinces) ruled from the center were instituted. During this time, King Peter I died (16 August 1921), and the prince-regent succeeded to the throne as King Alexander I . Ljubomir Davidović of
1404-418: A hilly, infertile region. No large estates existed except in the north, and all of those were owned by foreigners. Indeed, one of the first actions undertaken by the new Yugoslav state in 1919 was to break up the estates and dispose of foreign, and in particular Hungarian landowners. Nearly 40% of the rural population was surplus (i.e., excess people not needed to maintain current production levels), and despite
1560-468: 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
1716-437: A new government led by the neutral figure of Milenko Vesnić. The Social Democrats did not follow the Democratic Party, their former allies, into government because they were opposed to the anti-communist measures to which the new government was committed. The controversies that had divided the parties earlier were still very much live issues. The Democratic Party continued to push its agenda of centralization and still insisted on
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#17330851380281872-581: A pretext the political crisis triggered by the shooting, King Alexander abolished the Constitution, prorogued the Parliament and introduced a personal dictatorship (known as the "January 6 Dictatorship", Šestosiječanjska diktatura , Šestojanuarska diktatura ) with the aim of establishing the Yugoslav ideology and single Yugoslav nation . He changed the name of the country to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia", and changed
2028-581: A program of forced Serbianization . 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. In another incident in the same year, the first Macedonian recruits mobilized into the Serbian army demonstratively refused to take the military oath in Kragujevac , and were subjected to repression. As result IMRO set up
2184-446: A role as a unifying link of a federation of Balkan people. The region of Adrianople, as far as I remember, didn't take part in our program, and I think the idea to add it to autonomous Macedonia came later. In Dame Gruev 's memoirs, the MRO's goals are stated as follows: We grouped together and jointly worked out a statute. It was based on the same principles: demand for the implementation of
2340-622: 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 with Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I. During the First World War in Macedonia (1915–1918) the organization supported Bulgarian army and joined to Bulgarian war-time authorities when they took control over Vardar Macedonia temporarily until
2496-516: A secret committee in Veles , which aim was to coordinate the transfer to Bulgaria of thousands of Macedonian deserters by the Serbian army. Later its comitadjis 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
2652-399: A timid way tried to express the discontent that Croatian Republican Peasant Party mobilized) had been too tainted by their participation in government and was all but eliminated. The other gainers were the communists who had done especially well in the wider Macedonia region. The remainder of the seats were taken up by smaller parties that were at best skeptical of the centralizing platform of
2808-457: A violent reaction from the governing majority including death threats. On 20 June 1928, a member of the government majority, the Serb deputy Puniša Račić , shot five members of the Croatian Peasant Party, including their leader Stjepan Radić, after Radić refused to apologize for earlier offense in which he accused Račić of stealing from civilian population. Two died on the floor of the Assembly while
2964-686: A war against the pro-Serbian and pro-Greek armed groups during the Greek Struggle for Macedonia . IMARO's leadership of the revolutionary movement was challenged by two other factions: the Macedonian Supreme Committee in Sofia ( Vurhoven makedono-оdrinski komitet – Върховен македоно-одрински комитет) and a smaller group of conservatives in Salonica – Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Brotherhood ( Balgarsko Tayno Revolyutsionno Bratstvo ). The latter
3120-404: A warm climate, Yugoslavia was also relatively dry. Internal communications were poor, damage from World War I had been extensive, and with few exceptions agriculture was devoid of machinery or other modern farming technologies. Manufacturing was limited to Belgrade and the other major population centers, and consisted mainly of small, comparatively primitive facilities that produced strictly for
3276-408: Is generally assumed that in the period 1896–1902, the name of the organization was "SMARO". It is not disputed that the organization changed its name to Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ( IMARO ) in 1905 and it is under this name referred to in Bulgarian historiography. After disbanding itself during the first Bulgarian annexation of Macedonia (1915–1918), the organization
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#17330851380283432-507: Is more, some of its younger 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 Odrinians regardless of ethnicity or creed. In reality, however, besides some Aromanian members, its membership remained overwhelmingly Bulgarian Exarchist. In regard to
3588-459: Is perfectly clear: from the very outset it was established on the wrong basis instead of being a general Macedonian Uprising it was a partial insurrection with Bulgarian overtones. The only Macedonian Slavs who played a leading part in the Uprising were those who called themselves Bulgarians. Dimitar Vlahov , another extremely controversial politician and revolutionary, who also alternated between pan-Bulgarian and pan-Macedonian nationalism, member of
3744-605: The 11th Macedonian Infantry Division , and later other units, as for example guerilla companies . 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 the Bulgarization of the area. At the end of 1915 and the beginning of 1916 several massacres of ( sic ) Serbomans were conducted in Vardar Macedonia in
3900-559: The Adrianople Vilayet . These usually centered around the schools of the Bulgarian Exarchate and had as leaders local or Bulgarian-born teachers. 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
4056-533: The Allies to support the creation of an independent Yugoslavia . Trumbić faced initial hostility from Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić , who preferred an enlarged Serbia over a unified Yugoslav state. However, both Pašić and Trumbić agreed to a compromise, which was delivered at the Corfu Declaration on 20 July 1917 that advocated the creation of a united state of Serbs , Croats, and Slovenes to be led by
4212-830: The Balkan Communist Federation under the leadership of the Bulgarian communist Vasil Kolarov and the Fifth Congress of the Comintern , 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 the Macedonian Federative Organization and the Comintern about collaboration between
4368-674: The Bulgarian Men's High School of Adrianople . Acting in the name of the Central Committee, Kotsev set up a regional committee in Adrianople , and gradually committees were established in a large area. The stated goal of the original Committee was to unite all elements dissatisfied with the Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet , eventually obtaining political autonomy for
4524-510: The Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki . According to Hristo Tatarchev's "Memoirs", IMRO was first called simply the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( MRO ), and the word "Bulgarian" was later dropped from it. However neither statutes nor regulations, or other basic documents with such names have not yet been found. It is believed by many historians that in 1894 or 1896 this probably unofficial name
4680-510: The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934 , their Petrich stronghold was subjected to a military crackdown by the Bulgarian army, and the IMRO was reduced to a marginal phenomenon. 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. Among them, in Bulgaria a right-wing party carrying
4836-552: The Comintern 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. Shortly after the publication, Todor Alexandrov was assassinated on 31 August, and IMRO came under
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4992-578: The First 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. After the First World War the combined Macedonian - Thracian revolutionary movement separated into two detached organizations, IMRO and ITRO . After this moment
5148-722: The Peoples' Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) . Some of its leaders like Sandanski and Chernopeev participated in the march on Istanbul to depose the counter-revolutionaries. The former centralists formed the Union of the Bulgarian Constitutional Clubs and like the PFP participated in Ottoman elections. Soon, however, the Young Turk regime turned increasingly nationalist and sought to suppress
5304-552: The Treaty of Rapallo a population of half a million South Slavs, mostly Slovenes, were subjected to forced Italianization until the fall of Fascism in Italy . At the time when Benito Mussolini was willing to modify the Rapallo borders in order to annex the independent state of Rijeka to Italy , Pašić's attempts to correct the borders at Postojna and Idrija were effectively undermined by
5460-503: The Vinitsa Affair and the discovery by the Ottoman police of a secret depot of ammunition near the Bulgarian border in 1897. The wide-scale repressions against the activists of the Committee 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 IMARO, known as "chetas" (чети) later (after 1903) also waged
5616-662: The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 both factions laid down their arms and joined the legal struggle. Yane Sandanski and Hristo Chernopeev contacted the Young Turks and started legal operation. They tried to set up the Macedonian-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
5772-792: 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 in the late 1890s IMARO leaders managed to gain control of the Supreme Committee but it soon split into two factions: one loyal to the IMARO 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 IMARO bands led by Yane Sandanski and Hristo Chernopeev , who were later to become
5928-732: The Albanians of Western Macedonia. The Tikvesh Uprising was another uprising in late June 1913, organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against the Serbian occupation of Vardar Macedonia and took place behind the Serbian lines during the Second Balkan War . The result of the Balkan Wars was that the Macedonian region and Adrianople Thrace was partitioned between Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and
6084-555: The Berlin Treaty. The statute was worked out after the model of the Bulgarian revolutionary organisation before the Liberation . Our motto was "Implementation of the resolutions of the Berlin Treaty". We established a "Central Committee" with branches, membership fees, etc. Swearing in for each member was also envisaged. In the regulations, there was nothing concerning the Serbian propaganda but we intended to counteract it by enlightening
6240-610: 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 of Kastoria southwestern Macedonia. 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 the Ohrid-Debar Uprising organised jointly by IMORO and
6396-464: The Bulgarian element. We couldn't accept the position for "direct joining to Bulgaria" because we saw that it would meet big difficulties by reason of confrontation of the Great powers and the aspirations of the neighbouring small countries and Turkey. It passed through our thoughts that one autonomous Macedonia could easier unite with Bulgaria subsequently and if the worst comes to the worst, that it could play
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6552-541: The Communists. No agreement was reached except for a paper "Manifesto" (the so-called May 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 a Balkan Communist Federation and cooperation with the Soviet Union . Failing to secure Alexandrov's cooperation,
6708-546: The Croatian extreme nationalist Ustaše organisation. Because Aleksandar's eldest son, Peter II , was a minor, a regency council of three, specified in Aleksandar's will, took over the new king's royal powers and duties. The council was dominated by the 11-year-old king's first cousin once removed Prince Paul . Prince Paul decided to appoint well-known economist Milan Stojadinović as prime minister in 1935. His solution to solving
6864-601: The Croatian nationalist Ustaše, who were also angered by any settlement short of full independence for a Greater Croatia including all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Fearing an invasion by the Axis powers , Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941, pledging cooperation with the Axis. Massive anti-Axis demonstrations followed in Belgrade . On 27 March, the regime of Prince Paul
7020-438: The Democratic Party. The results left Nikola Pašić in a very strong position as the Democrats had no choice but to ally with the Radicals if they wanted to get their concept of a centralized Yugoslavia through. Pašić was always careful to keep open the option of a deal with the Croatian opposition. The Democrats and the Radicals were not quite strong enough to get the constitution through on their own and they made an alliance with
7176-510: The Democrats began to have doubts about the wisdom of his party's commitment to centralization and opened up negotiations with the opposition. This threatened to provoke a split in his party as his action was opposed by Svetozar Pribićević. It also gave Pašić a pretext to end the coalition. At first the King gave Pašić a mandate to form a coalition with Pribićević's Democrats. However, Pašić offered Pribićević too little for there to be much chance that Pribićević would agree. A purely Radical government
7332-479: The IMRO earned a reputation as an ultimate terror network, seeking to change state frontiers in the Macedonian regions of Greece and Serbia (later Yugoslavia ). They contested the partitioning of Macedonia and launched raids from their Petrich stronghold into Greek and Yugoslav territory. Their base of operation in Bulgaria was jeopardized by the Treaty of Niš , and the IMRO reacted by assassinating Bulgarian prime minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski in 1923, with
7488-488: The Ilinden uprising, wrote to the Bulgarian government: The general staff considers for its duty to pay attention of the honoured Bulgarian government to the catastrophic consequences for Bulgarian nation, in case the government doesn't fulfill its duty toward its homogeneous brothers here in an impressible and energetic way, imposed by the circumstances and the danger, which threaten Bulgarian fatherland today. In his Macedonistic publication On Macedonian Matters written in
7644-434: The King, and legislation could become law with the approval of one of the houses alone if also approved by the King. That same year, Croatian historian and anti-Yugoslavist intellectual Milan Šufflay was assassinated in Zagreb. As a response, Albert Einstein and Heinrich Mann sent an appeal to the International League of Human Rights in Paris condemning the murder, accusing the Yugoslav government. The letter states of
7800-505: 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
7956-401: The Novi Sad County. In 1929, 33 oblasts were administratively replaced with 9 banovinas and one district, and the territory of the Bačka Oblast was administratively included into the Danube Banovina . The Bačka Oblast included western parts of Bačka and the region of Baranja . It shared borders with the Belgrade Oblast in the east, the Syrmia Oblast in the south, the Osijek Oblast in
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#17330851380288112-419: The Ottoman Empire (the new state of Yugoslavia 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 whole Thracian Bulgarian population from the Ottoman part of Eastern Thrace was forcibly expelled to Bulgaria. IMARO, now led by Todor Aleksandrov , maintained its existence in Bulgaria, where it played
8268-432: The Petrich and Kyustendil Districts. At the same time, a youth's extension of IMRO, the Macedonian Youth Secret Revolutionary Organization was created. The statute of MYSRO was approved personally from IMRO's leader Todor Alexandrov . The aim of MYSRO was in concordance with the statute of IMRO – unification of all of Macedonia in an authonomous unit, within a future Balkan Federative Republic . The Sixth Congress of
8424-407: The Provisional Representation and the government. Because the Democratic Party led by Ljubomir Davidović pushed a highly centralized agenda a number of Croatian delegates moved into opposition. However, the radicals themselves were not happy that they had only three ministers to the Democratic Party's 11 and, on 16 August 1919, Protić handed in his resignation. Davidović then formed a coalition with
8580-437: The Radicals' main Serbian rivals, the Democrats. Stjepan Radić , the head of the Croatian Peasant Party, was imprisoned many times for political reasons. He was released in 1925 and returned to parliament. In the spring of 1928, Radić and Svetozar Pribićević waged a bitter parliamentary battle against the ratification of the Nettuno Convention with Italy. In this they mobilised nationalist opposition in Serbia but provoked
8736-443: The Serbian House of Karađorđević . In 1916, the Yugoslav Committee started negotiations with the Serbian Government in exile , on which they decided on the creation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, declaring the joint Corfu Declaration in 1917, the meetings were held at the Municipal Theatre of Corfu . In November 1918, the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs appointed 28 members to start negotiation with
8892-413: The Serbian forces from Vardar Macedonia and came into positions on the line of the pre-war Greek-Serbian border, which was stabilized as a firm 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
9048-442: The Serbian occupation) in Milan and ultimately Protogetov himself. In this interwar period IMRO led by Aleksandrov and later by Mihailov took actions against the former left-wing assassinating several former members of IMORO's Sandanist wing, who meanwhile had gravitated towards the Bulgarian Communist Party and Macedonian Federative Organization . Gjorche Petrov was killed in Sofia in 1922, Todor Panitsa (who previously killed
9204-430: The Social Democrats. This government had a majority, but the quorum of the Provisional Representation was half plus one vote. The opposition then began to boycott the parliament. As the government could never guarantee that all of its supporters would turn up, it became impossible to hold a quorate meeting of the parliament. Davidović soon resigned, but as no one else could form a government he again became prime minister. As
9360-429: The Yugoslav Muslim Organization (JMO). The Muslim party sought and got concessions over the preservation of Bosnia in its borders and how the land reform would affect Muslim landowners in Bosnia. The Croatian Republican Peasant Party refused to swear allegiance to the King on the grounds that this presumed that Yugoslavia would be a monarchy, something that it contended only the Constituent Assembly could decide. The party
9516-470: The Yugoslav and Greek authorities on suspicions of contacts with the revolutionary movement. 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 a military 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
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#17330851380289672-499: The Yugoslav people as a whole. The Radicals had done no better in that region but this presented them far less of a problem because they had campaigned openly as a Serbian party. The most dramatic gains had been made by the two anti-system parties. The Croatian Republican Peasant Party's leadership had been released from prison only as the election campaign began to get underway. According to Gligorijević, this had helped them more than active campaigning. The Croatian community (that had in
9828-434: The areas of Azot , Skopska Crna Gora and Poreče by IMRO-irregulars, aided by the guerrilla companies of the 11th Macedonian Infantry Division . 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. In fact 1917 was the turning point when IMRO became the instrument used by the Bulgarian government to gain control over
9984-443: The aspirations of neighboring states in the area and saw the future autonomous Macedonia and Southern Thrace as a multi-ethnic entity. It appears likely that at the early stages of the struggle, a desired outcome of the autonomy was unification with Bulgaria. This aim was changed later with the idea of transforming the Balkans into a federal state, in which Macedonia and Thrace would enter as equal members. The idea of autonomy
10140-400: 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
10296-513: The beginning of a movement for women's suffrage appeared with the creation of the new state. The Social Democrats and the Slovenian People's Party supported women's suffrage but the Radicals opposed it. The Democratic Party was open to the idea but not committed enough to make an issue of it so the proposal fell. Proportional Representation was accepted in principle but the system chosen ( d'Hondt with very small constituencies) favored large parties and parties with strong regional support. The election
10452-417: 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 the Ohrid-Debar Uprising against
10608-418: The communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. The idea for a new unified organization was supported by the Soviet 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
10764-409: The cooperation of other Bulgarian elements opposed to him. In 1925 the Greek army launched a cross-border operation to reduce the IMRO base area, but it was ultimately stopped by the League of Nations , and IMRO attacks resumed. In the interwar period the IMRO also cooperated with the Croatian Ustaše , and their ultimate victim was Alexander I of Yugoslavia , assassinated in France in 1934. After
10920-416: The country was occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers . A royal government-in-exile , recognized by the United Kingdom and, later, by all the Allies , was established in London . In 1944, after pressure from the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill , the King recognized the government of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia as the legitimate government. This was established on 2 November following
11076-410: The country's three universities in Belgrade , Ljubljana , and Zagreb . Immediately after 1 December proclamation, negotiations between the National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Serbian government resulted in agreement over the new government which was to be headed by Nikola Pašić . However, when this agreement was submitted to the approval of the regent, Alexander Karađorđević, it
11232-518: 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 to Turkey . 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. Many inhabitants of Pirin Macedonia met this disbandment with satisfaction because it
11388-567: The court. Pribićević later went into exile, whereas over the course of the 1930s Maček would become the leader of the entire opposition bloc. Immediately after the dictatorship was proclaimed, Croatian deputy Ante Pavelić left for exile from the country. The following years Pavelić worked to establish a revolutionary organization, the Ustaše , allied with the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) against
11544-574: The creation of a Balkan Socialist Federation with equality for all subjects and nationalities. The Supreme Macedonian Committee was disbanded in 1903 but the centralist faction of the IMORO drifted more and more towards Bulgarian nationalism as its regions became increasingly exposed to the incursions of Serb and Greek armed bands, which started infiltrating Macedonia after 1903. The years 1905–1907 saw much fighting between IMORO and Turkish forces as well as between IMORO and Greek and Serb detachments. Meanwhile,
11700-423: The different Yugoslav ethnic groups . Trumbić opposed the 1921 constitution and over time grew increasingly hostile towards the Yugoslav government that he saw as being centralized in the favor of Serb hegemony over Yugoslavia. Three-quarters of the Yugoslav workforce was engaged in agriculture. A few commercial farmers existed, but most were subsistence peasants. Those in the south were especially poor, living in
11856-530: The district of Novi Sad . The oblast included following districts: Besides these districts, several cities in the oblast had a separate status: Main cities and towns in the district were: All the mentioned cities and towns are nowadays in Serbia . Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it
12012-402: The domestic market. The commercial potential of Yugoslavia's Adriatic ports went to waste because the nation lacked the capital or technical knowledge to operate a shipping industry. On the other hand, the mining industry was well developed due to the nation's abundance of mineral resources, but since it was primarily owned and operated by foreigners, most production was exported. Yugoslavia was
12168-527: The economic problems left over from the Great Depression was to make trade deals and get closer to Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany . The JRZ had majority support from Slovenes, Bosniaks, and Serbs. The only part missing was the support from Croats. This is why Milan Stojadinović called the JRZ regime a "Three-Legged Chair", Stojadinović wrote in his memoirs: "I called our party the three-legged chair, on which it
12324-476: The election of the Constituent Assembly, a Provisional Representation served as a parliament which was formed by delegates from the various elected bodies that had existed before the creation of the state. A realignment of parties combining several members of the Serbian opposition with political parties from the former Austria-Hungary led to the creation of a new party, The Democratic Party, that dominated
12480-495: 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. 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
12636-526: The escalation of South Slavic nationalism and calls by Slavic nationalists for the independence and unification of the South Slavic nationalities of Austria-Hungary along with Serbia and Montenegro into a single State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs . The Dalmatian Croat politician Ante Trumbić became a prominent South Slavic leader during the war and led the Yugoslav Committee that lobbied
12792-564: The former Austria-Hungary , encompassing today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and most of today's Croatia and Slovenia ) and Banat, Bačka and Baranja (that had been part of the Kingdom of Hungary within Austria-Hungary) with the formerly independent Kingdom of Serbia . In the same year, the Kingdom of Montenegro also proclaimed its unification with Serbia, whereas the regions of Kosovo and Vardar Macedonia had become parts of Serbia prior to
12948-570: The founders of the organization. These other nationalities were for IMRO foreign people... Later, when the leaders of IMARO saw, that the idea for liberation of Macedonia can find followers among the Bulgarians non-Exarchists, as also among the other nationalities in Macedonia, and under the pressure from IMARO-members with left, socialist or anarchist convictions, they changed the statute of IMARO in sense, that member of IMARO can be any Macedonian, regardless of ethnicity or religious denomination. The initial period of idealism for IMARO ended, however, with
13104-425: The goal of reaching an agreement with the Croatian opposition. Accordingly, on 26 August 1939, Vladko Maček became vice premier of Yugoslavia and an autonomous Banovina of Croatia was established with its own parliament. These changes satisfied neither Serbs, who were concerned with the status of the Serb minority in the new Banovina of Croatia and who wanted more of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Serbian territory, nor
13260-484: The government and of minister Svetozar Pribićević in particular. One of the few laws successfully passed by the Provisional Representation was the electoral law for the constituent assembly. During the negotiations that preceded the foundation of the new state, it had been agreed that voting would be secret and based on universal suffrage. It had not occurred to them that universal might include women until
13416-551: The initial successes including the forming of the Krushevo 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 the Seres and Strumica districts and a right-wing faction (centralists) in the Salonica , Monastir , and Uskub (present-day Skopje) districts. The left-wing faction opposed Bulgarian nationalism and advocated
13572-587: The internal divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas on 3 October. This decision was made following a proposal by the British ambassador to better decentralize the country, modeled on Czechoslovakia . A Court for the Protection of the State was soon established to act as the new regime's tool for putting down any dissent. Opposition politicians Vladko Maček and Svetozar Pribićević were arrested under charges by
13728-563: The internal situation in the Pomoravlje and most from the region of Macedonia . At that time the IMRO leaders as general Aleksandar Protogerov headed the Bulgarian occupation troops in Morava region and crushed the uprising in the Toplica district with the help by IMRO irregulars. Their methods caused death of thousand people, destruction of their property, looting and other war crimes committed during
13884-534: The kingdom was established. The name of the new Yugoslav state was Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ( Serbo-Croatian : Kraljevina Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca / Краљевина Срба, Хрвата и Словенаца ; Slovene : Kraljevina Srbov, Hrvatov in Slovencev ) or its abbreviated form Kingdom of SCS ( Kraljevina SHS / Краљевина СХС ). The new kingdom was made up of the formerly independent kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro ( Montenegro having been absorbed into Serbia
14040-543: The lead of its neighbors in allowing itself to become a dependent of Nazi Germany . Although Yugoslavia had enacted a compulsory public education policy, it was inaccessible to many peasants in the countryside. Official literacy figures for the population stood at 50%, but it varied widely throughout the country. Less than 10% of Slovenes were illiterate, whereas over 80% of Macedonians and Bosnians could not read or write. Approximately 10% of initial elementary school students went on to attend higher forms of education, at one of
14196-569: The leaders of the IMARO left wing. In Spring 1903, a group by young anarchists connected with IMARO from the Gemidzhii Circle – graduates from the Bulgarian secondary school in Thessaloniki – launched a campaign of terror bombing with the aim to attract the attention of the Great Powers to Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace . In the same time the undisputed leader of
14352-434: The leadership of Ivan 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
14508-928: The left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement, later Bulgarian deputy in Ottoman Parliament , afterwards one of the main leaders of IMRO (United) – de facto extension of the Bulgarian Communist Party , finally elected in 1946 as ethnic Macedonian vice-president of the Praesidium of Communist Yugoslavia 's Parliament, expressed in his book " The struggles of Macedonian people for freedom ", published in Vienna in 1925, his view, confirmed again in Vlahov's "Memoirs" , published in Skopje in 1970: Firstly
14664-514: The life of Radić hung in the balance. The opposition now completely withdrew from parliament, declaring that they would not return to a parliament in which several of their representatives had been killed, and insisting on new elections. On 1 August, at a meeting in Zagreb, they renounced 1 December Declaration of 1920. They demanded that the negotiations for unification should begin from scratch. On 8 August Stjepan Radić died. On 6 January 1929, using as
14820-805: The majority in Yugoslavia. The most spectacular of these was the assassination of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou in Marseille in 1934 in collaboration with the Croatian Ustashi . The killing was carried out by the VMRO assassin Vlado 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
14976-410: The market for them to collapse as global demand contracted heavily and the situation for export-oriented farmers further deteriorated when nations everywhere started to erect trade barriers. Italy was a major trading partner of Yugoslavia in the initial years after World War I, but ties fell off after Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. In the grim economic situation of the 1930s, Yugoslavia followed
15132-529: The members of local towns or villages. Art. 2. The Organization opposes any other country's intentions to divide and conquer these two regions. Chapter II. – Means The organization was founded in 1893 in Ottoman Thessaloniki by a small band of anti-Ottoman Macedono-Bulgarian revolutionaries, who considered Macedonia an indivisible territory and all of its inhabitants " Macedonians " , no matter their religion or ethnicity. In practice, IMRO
15288-510: The memoirs of some founding and ordinary members, in the Organization's earliest statute from 1894, the membership was reserved exclusively for Bulgarians . It used the Bulgarian language in all its documents and in its correspondence. The Organisation founded its Foreign 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
15444-448: The national aspirations of the various minorities in Macedonia and Thrace. This prompted most right-wing and some left-wing IMARO leaders to resume the armed fight in 1909. In January 1910 Hristo Chernopeev and some of his followers founded a Bulgarian People's Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization . In 1911 a new Central Committee of IMARO was formed consisting of Todor Alexandrov , Hristo Chernopeev and Petar Chaulev . Its aim
15600-513: The need for radical land reform. A disagreement over electoral law finally led the Democratic Party to vote against the government in Parliament and the government was defeated. Though this meeting had not been quorate, Vesnić used this as a pretext to resign. His resignation had the intended effect: the Radical Party agreed to accept the need for centralization, and the Democratic Party agreed to drop its insistence on land reform. Vesnić again headed
15756-491: The new Croatian Peasant Party leader Vladko Maček. Despite these measures, opposition to the dictatorship continued, with Croats calling for a solution to what was called the "Croatian question". On 9 October 1934, the king was assassinated in Marseille , France, by Bulgarian Veličko Kerin (also known by his revolutionary pseudonym Vlado Chernozemski ), an activist of IMRO, in a conspiracy with Yugoslav exiles and radical members of banned political parties in cooperation with
15912-574: The new government. The Croatian Community and the Slovenian People's Party were however not happy with the Radicals' acceptance of centralization. Neither was Stojan Protić, and he withdrew from the government on this issue. In September 1920 a peasant revolt broke out in Croatia, the immediate cause of which was the branding of the peasants' cattle. The Croatian community blamed the centralizing policies of
16068-557: The opposition continued their boycott, the government decided it had no alternative but to rule by decree. This was denounced by the opposition who began to style themselves as the Parliamentary Community. Davidović realized that the situation was untenable and asked the King to hold immediate elections for the Constituent Assembly. When the King refused, he felt he had no alternative but to resign. The Parliamentary Community now formed
16224-557: The oppressed population. On 23 March 1923 Aleksandar Stamboliyski , who favoured a détente with Greece and Yugoslavia, so that Bulgaria could concentrate on its internal problems, signed the Treaty of Niš with the Kingdom 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 had de facto full control of Pirin Macedonia (the Petrich District of
16380-494: 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. After his death in 1903 IMARO organised the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising against the Ottomans in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet , which after
16536-683: The pan-Slavic movement, all of the South Slav (Yugoslav) people had united into a single state. The creation was also supported by the Allies, who sought to break up the Austro-Hungarian Empire . The newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes participated in the Paris Peace Conference with Trumbić as the country's representative. Since the Allies had lured the Italians into
16692-559: The people. The Adrianople Region was the general name given by the Organization to those areas of Thrace which, like Macedonia, had been left under Turkish rule i.e. most of it, where the Bulgarian element predominated in the mixed population, too. The organized revolutionary movement in Thrace dates from 1895, when Dame Gruev recruited Hristo Kotsev , born in Shtip , who was then a teacher in
16848-536: The prefix " VMRO " was established in the 1990s, while in then Republic of Macedonia a right-wing party was established under the name " VMRO-DPMNE ". Statute of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees Chapter I. – Goal Art. 1. The goal of BMARC is to secure full political autonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions . Art. 2. To achieve this goal they [the committees] shall raise
17004-449: The previous month ), and of a substantial amount of territory that was formerly part of Austria-Hungary, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The main states which formed the new Kingdom were the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs; Vojvodina ; and the Kingdom of Serbia with the Kingdom of Montenegro. The creation of the state was supported by pan-Slavists and Yugoslav nationalists. For
17160-580: The prospects of any Christian race in Turkey. The Macedonian peasantry will bestow their allegiance only on a propaganda which promises them some speedy prospect of release from the Ottoman yoke. The Servian movement is a purely official agitation, guided and financed in Belgrade; whereas, despite the sympathy of Sofia, the Bulgarian Revolutionary Committee is a genuine Macedonian organisation. What
17316-536: The regent Alexander who preferred "good relations " with Italy. The Yugoslav kingdom bordered Italy and Austria to the northwest at the Rapallo border, Hungary and Romania to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece and Albania to the south, and the Adriatic Sea to the west. Almost immediately, it ran into disputes with most of its neighbours. Slovenia was difficult to determine, since it had been an integral part of Austria for 400 years. The Vojvodina region
17472-472: The region of Greek (Aegean) Macedonia 24 chetas and 10 local reconnaissance detachments were active. The aggregate membership of the bands was 380 komitas led by 18 voivodas , 22 subcommanders, 11 secretaries and 25 couriers. 42 battles and 27 terrorist acts were performed. Greek casualties were 83 army officers, soldiers and paramilitary fighters, over 230 were wounded. IMRO lost 22 voivodas and komitas , 48 were wounded. Thousands of locals were repressed by
17628-562: The region of Yugoslav (Vardar) Macedonia operated 53 chetas (armed bands), 36 of which penetrated from Bulgaria, 12 were local and 5 entered from Albania . The aggregate membership of the bands was 3245 komitas (guerilla rebels) led by 79 voivodas (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. IMRO lost 68 voivodas and komitas , hundreds were wounded. In
17784-498: The region. Later IMRO created as a satellite organisation the Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation ( bulg. Вътрешна западнопокрайненска революционна организация), which operated in the areas of Tsaribrod and Bosilegrad , ceded to Yugoslavia. IMRO began sending armed bands called cheti into Greek and Yugoslav Macedonia and Thrace to assassinate officials and stir up the spirit of
17940-508: The representatives of the government of the Kingdom of Serbia and Montenegro on creation of a new Yugoslav state, the delegation negotiated directly with regent Alexander Karađorđević . The negotiations would end, with the delegation of the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs led by Ante Pavelić reading the address in front of regent Alexander, who represented his father, King Peter I of Serbia , by which acceptance
18096-454: The revolutionaries were playing a two sided game working under a "Bulgarian mask" in order to gain support and make use of the Bulgarian people, their official representatives and institutions to serve their own separatist interests . Misirkov wrote: We can call the Uprising whatever we like, but in fact, it was only a partial movement. It was, and still is, an affair of the Exarchists: that is,
18252-713: The revolutionary organization began to work among the Bulgarian population, even not among the whole of it, but only among this part, which participated in the Bulgarian Exarchate. IMRO treated suspiciously to the Bulgarians, which participated in other churches, as the Greek Patriarchate, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. As to the revolutionary activity among the other nationalities as Turks, Albanians, Greeks and Vlahs, such question did not exist for
18408-422: The right-wing oriented Boris Sarafov and Ivan Garvanov) was assassinated in Vienna in 1924 by Mihailov's future wife Mencha Karnichiu. Dimo Hadjidimov , Georgi Skrizhovski, Alexander Bujnov, Chudomir Kantardjiev and many others were killed in the events of 1925. Meanwhile, the left-wing later did form the new organisation based on the principles previously presented in the May Manifesto. The new organization which
18564-590: The signing of the Treaty of Vis by Ivan Šubašić (on behalf of the Kingdom) and Josip Broz Tito (on behalf of the Yugoslav Partisans ). Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria by the Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip and the outbreak of World War I , Serbia was invaded and occupied by a combined Bulgarian , Austrian and German force on 6 October 1915. This saw
18720-487: The socialist and cosmopolitan ideas within the revolutionary movement, the American Albert Sonnichsen says: I think that was the force of the abstract thought, that they kept in their mind, a thought which was far from chauvinism, because freedom for them stood higher than the rule of the Bulgarian, for them it was one perfect system equally applicable to Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks, a kind of heaven to which
18876-454: The split between the two factions became final when in 1907 Todor Panitza killed the right-wing activists Boris Sarafov and Ivan Garvanov . The armed Albanian bands of Çerçiz Topulli cooperated and were on good terms with armed groups of Bulgarian-Macedonian revolutionaries operating in the Lake Prespa region and Kastoria area, a bond formed due to their hostility toward Greeks. After
19032-400: The state. In 1931, Alexander decreed a new Constitution which made executive power the gift of the King. Elections were to be by universal male suffrage. The provision for a secret ballot was dropped, and pressure on public employees to vote for the governing party was to be a feature of all elections held under Alexander's constitution. Further, half the upper house was directly appointed by
19188-768: The third least industrialized nation in Eastern Europe after Bulgaria and Albania . Yugoslavia was typical of Eastern European nations in that it borrowed large sums of money from the West during the 1920s. When the Great Depression began in 1929, the Western lenders called in their debts, which could not be paid back. Some of the money was lost to graft, although most was used by farmers to improve production and export potential. Agricultural exports, however, were always an unstable prospect as their export earnings were heavily reliant on volatile world market prices. The Great Depression caused
19344-534: 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 later Fascist Italy . Because of this, contemporary observers described the Yugoslav-Bulgarian frontier as the most fortified in Europe. In 1923 and 1924 during the apogee of interwar military activity according to IMRO statistics in
19500-434: The two regions. In this task, the organisation hoped to enlist the support of the local Aromanians and Megleno-Romanians , Greeks and even Turks . 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
19656-523: The unification. The state was ruled by the Serbian dynasty of Karađorđević , which previously ruled the Kingdom of Serbia under Peter I from 1903 (after the May Coup ) onward. Peter I became the first king of Yugoslavia until his death in 1921. He was succeeded by his son Alexander I , who had been regent for his father. He was known as "Alexander the Unifier" and he renamed the kingdom "Yugoslavia" in 1929. He
19812-457: 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
19968-494: The wake of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising , Krste Misirkov , a highly controversial writer who alternated between pan-Bulgarian and pan-Macedonian nationalism throughout his lifetime, described the IMARO as an organization of Bulgarian officials who work for Bulgarian interests and who are linked in name, and in church and school matters, to the people of Bulgaria, their country and their interests. However, he adds that
20124-465: The war in the parts of the Kingdom of Serbia under Bulgarian control. The post-war Treaty 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) and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation . ITRO
20280-403: The war with a promise of substantial territorial gains in exchange , which cut off a quarter of Slovene ethnic territory from the remaining three-quarters of Slovenes living in the Kingdom of SCS, Trumbić successfully vouched for the inclusion of most Slavs living in the former Austria-Hungary to be included within the borders of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Nevertheless, with
20436-473: The west, and Hungary in the northwest. According to the 1921 census, the oblast had a linguistically heterogeneous population: speakers of Serbo-Croatian were dominant in the cities of Novi Sad , Sombor and Subotica ; speakers of German were dominant in the districts of Apatin , Darda , Kula , Odžaci , Sombor and Stara Palanka ; speakers of Hungarian were dominant in the districts of Topola and Batina ; while speakers of Slovak were dominant in
20592-523: The whole world should aim. It is claimed by contemporary historians that the right wing supporters within the IMRO were probably much more likely to see unification with Bulgaria as a natural final outcome of Macedonian autonomy. Among other documents, they cite as an expression of this understanding the official letter that Dame Gruev and Boris Sarafov, leaders of the headquarters of the Second Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary district during
20748-578: Was a revolutionary organisation active in the Greek regions of Thrace and Macedonia to the river Strymon and Rhodope Mountains between 1922 and 1934. The reason for the establishment of ITRO was the transfer of the region from Bulgaria to Greece in May 1920. ITRO proclaimed its goal as the "unification of all the disgruntled elements in Thrace regardless of their nationality", and to win full political independence for
20904-650: Was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe , that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica , it initially aimed to gain autonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople regions in the Ottoman Empire , however, it later became an agent serving Bulgarian interests in Balkan politics. IMRO modeled itself after the earlier Bulgarian Internal Revolutionary Organization of Vasil Levski and accepted its motto "Freedom or Death" ( Свобода или смърть ). According to
21060-576: Was an opponent to Mihailov's IMRO was called IMRO (United) was founded in 1925 in Vienna . 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
21216-479: Was assassinated in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski , a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), during his visit to France in 1934. The crown passed to his 11-year-old son, Peter . Alexander's cousin Paul ruled as Prince regent until 1941, when Peter II came of age. The royal family flew to London the same year, prior to the country being invaded by the Axis powers . In April 1941,
21372-549: Was changed to Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees ( BMARC ); and the organisation existed under this name until 1897 or 1902, when it was changed to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ( SMARO ). Some Macedonian historians also acknowledge the existence of the name "ВMARC" in the very early period of the Organisation (1894–1896), while others dispute it. Thus, in North Macedonia it
21528-535: Was declared to be the Free State of Fiume , but it was soon occupied, and in 1924 annexed , by Italy, which had also been promised the Dalmatian coast during World War I, and Yugoslavia claiming Istria , a part of the former Austrian Littoral which had been annexed to Italy, but which contained a considerable population of Croats and Slovenes. The formation of the Vidovdan Constitution in 1921 sparked tensions between
21684-527: Was disputed with Hungary, Macedonia with Bulgaria, Rijeka with Italy. A plebiscite was also held in the Province of Carinthia , which opted to remain in Austria. Austrians had formed a majority in this region although numbers reflected that some Slovenes did vote for Carinthia to become part of Austria. The Dalmatian port city of Zadar and a few of the Dalmatian islands were given to Italy. The city of Rijeka
21840-494: 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. He established close links with the Croatian Ustashi and Italy. Numerous assassinations were carried out by IMRO agents in many countries,
21996-477: Was established by Bulgarians and most of their followers were Bulgarians. The organization was a secret revolutionary society operating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the goal of autonomous Macedonia and Adrianople regions. At that time IMRO was often called "the Bulgarian Committee", while its members were designated as Comitadjis , i.e. "committee men". Initially, they were against
22152-418: Was formed with a mandate to hold elections. The Radicals made gains at the expense of the Democrats but elsewhere there were gains by Radić's Peasant's Party. Serb politicians around Radic regarded Serbia as the standard bearer of Yugoslav unity, as the state of Piedmont had been for Italy, or Prussia for the German Empire ; a kind of " Greater Serbia ". Over the following years, Croatian resistance against
22308-402: Was held on 28 November 1920. When the votes were counted the Democratic Party had won the most seats, more than the Radicals – but only just. For a party that had been so dominant in the Provisional Representation, that amounted to a defeat. Further it had done rather badly in all former Austria-Hungarian areas. That undercut the party's belief that its centralization policy represented the will of
22464-482: Was incorporated in IMARO by 1902 but its members as Ivan Garvanov , were to exert a significant influence on the organization. They were to push for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising and later became the core of IMRO right-wing faction. The former organisation became known earlier than IMRO, 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
22620-498: Was more likely to find favour with the Great Powers than one which was a tool of the Bulgarian government. In the words of British contemporary observer Henry Brailsford : When, in addition to these advantages, the Bulgarophil Macedonians started their marvellously-organised revolutionary committee in 1893, the Servian cause received its death-blow. By way of emphasising her antagonism to Bulgaria, official Servia now adopted an openly Turcophil policy, and nothing could be more fatal to
22776-699: Was not in any real position to help. Regardless of this, on 6 April 1941, the Axis powers launched the invasion of Yugoslavia and quickly conquered it. The royal family, including Prince Paul, escaped abroad and were kept under house arrest in British Kenya . Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ; Bulgarian : Вътрешна македонска революционна организация (ВМРО) , romanized : Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija ( VMRO ) ; Macedonian : Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација (ВМРО) , romanized : Vnatrešna Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija (VMRO) ),
22932-458: Was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes , but the term " Yugoslavia " ( lit. ' Land of the South Slavs ' ) was its colloquial name due to its origins. The official name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929. The preliminary kingdom was formed in 1918 by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (itself formed from territories of
23088-415: Was overthrown by a military coup d'état with British support. The 17-year-old Peter II was declared to be of age and placed in power. General Dušan Simović became his Prime Minister. Yugoslavia withdrew its support for the Axis de facto without formally renouncing the Tripartite Pact. Although the new rulers opposed Nazi Germany , they also feared that if Germany attacked Yugoslavia, the United Kingdom
23244-440: 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, a resolution of the Comintern for recognition of a distinct ethnic Macedonian ethnicity, which was accepted also by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United),
23400-460: Was possible to sit when necessary, although a chair with four legs is far more stable" - the fourth leg being the Croats, whose support was mostly behind the HSS. Prince Paul did not like this at first, but let him continue as long as it fixed the economy. Paul was concerned with rising tensions in Europe, especially with the Anschluss and the Munich Agreement Therefore, Paul ousted Milan Stojadinović replacing him with Dragiša Cvetković for being
23556-419: Was rejected, producing the new state's first governmental crisis. Many regarded this rejection as a violation of parliamentary principles, but the matter was resolved when the regent suggested replacing Pašić with Stojan Protić , a leading member of Pašić's Radical Party. The National Council and the Serbian government agreed and the new government came into existence on 20 December 1918. In this period before
23712-400: Was revived in 1919 under the name Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization ( IMRO ), under which it is generally known today. Ivan Hadzhinikolov in his memoirs lists the five basic principles of the MRO's foundation: According to Dr. Hristo Tatarchev : We talked a long time about the goal of this organization and at last we fixed it on the autonomy of Macedonia with the priority of
23868-427: Was strictly political and did not imply a secession from Bulgarian ethnicity. Even those, who advocated for independent Macedonia and Thrace, never doubted the predominantly Bulgarian character of the Slavic population in both areas. The organization was founded by Hristo Tatarchev , Dame Gruev , Petar Pop-Arsov , Andon Dimitrov , Hristo Batandzhiev and Ivan Hadzhinikolov . All of them were closely connected with
24024-422: 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 General Alexander Protogerov . During the Balkan Wars former IMARO leaders of both the left and the right joined the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps and fought with
24180-491: Was unable to muster a quorum. Hence the Parliamentary Community, now in government, was forced to rule by decree. For the Parliamentary Community to thus violate the basic principle around which they had formed put them in an extremely difficult position. In April 1920, widespread worker unrest and a railway strike broke out. According to Gligorijević, this put pressure on the two main parties to settle their differences. After successful negotiations, Protić resigned to make way for
24336-458: Was unable to take its seats. Most of the opposition though initially taking their seats declared boycotts as time went so that there were few votes against. However, the constitution decided against 1918 agreement between the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia , which stated that a 66% majority that 50% plus one vote would be needed to pass, irrespective of how many voted against. Only last minute concessions to Džemijet ,
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