Part 35 – Macedonia’s Occupation by the Allied Armies

Part 35 – Macedonia’s Occupation by the Allied Armies

After the failed Ilinden Macedonian National Uprising in 1903 the Macedonian people lost hope in their own ability to liberate Macedonia and started looking to their neighbours for help. So it was no surprise when the Allied Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian armies invaded Macedonia. The Macedonian people welcomed the neighbouring armies not as their conquerors but as their liberators. The momentous occasion prompted many Macedonians to raise arms, and assisted by the foreign armies hoped to drive the Ottomans out of Macedonia. In fact Macedonians felt they were obligated to help the armies and fiercely fought to show their gratitude. Macedonians fought in the front and rear and bravely took on the mighty Ottomans at every opportunity. Macedonians liberated cities and villages and led the foreign armies to many victories and, as the Macedonians gained ground and liberated villages and towns, they established Macedonian authority. But as the Ottomans were driven out and the war began to subside, the Macedonians began to see a different side to its liberators, an ugly side suspected by a few but unexpected by the majority. Macedonia’s occupation by the allied armies during the First Balkan War was conducted in three phases. During the first phase, which took place in the months of October and November 1912, the allied armies established coordination of their operations and made contact with the Macedonian population, gaining the support of the Macedonian Chetas. The Macedonian people saw the Macedonian Chetas as the “Macedonian Army” fighting alongside the Allies to liberate Macedonia. This was made very clear by the Macedonian immigrants in a publication in the magazine “Macedonian Voice”. (Cf. Makedonski Glas, Op.cit.p.38.) (Vanche Stojchev. “Military History of Macedonia”. Military academy. Skopje, 2004. Page 443) During the second phase, which took place between the months of December 1912 and January 1913, the Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians established their respective occupation regimes, disarmed the Macedonian Chetas, disbanded earlier established local Macedonian authorities, restricted the Macedonian peoples’ movements and brought violence, terror and killing to the Macedonian population. During the third phase, which began in February 1913, the occupation of Macedonia officially began with the establishment of administrations, churches and police stations; all geared to carry out systematic attacks on the Macedonian National consciousness. This systematic attack began with the arrests and elimination of prominent Macedonian intellectuals, particularly those who struggled for the Macedonian cause. As a result of these attacks, many Macedonian intellectuals were forced to leave Macedonia, ending up in Russia where they established a colony in St. Petersburg. This colony, which for a long time kept the Macedonian dream of independence alive, served as a beacon of enlightenment for all Macedonians and pleaded Macedonia’s case before the Great Powers. After the Ottomans were driven out, the allied armies expected the Macedonian population to cheerfully surrender authority to them. But instead, wherever they went they found local Macedonian authority already established. Before being sent to Macedonia the allied armies were told that they would be fighting the Ottomans to free their own kind living in Macedonia. In other words, the Greek soldiers were told that they would be liberating “Greeks” in Macedonia. The Serbian soldiers were led to believe that they would be liberating the “Serbians” in Macedonia and the Bulgarians were told that they would be liberating the “Bulgarians” in Macedonia. All armies were led to believe that there were no Macedonians living in Macedonia; only Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians. The armies however were not only disappointed but confused when they found liberated towns and cities with local Macedonian authority already established. To solve their problem, first the Macedonians were told that they were prohibited from declaring themselves Macedonian and were given a choice of declaring themselves either “Greek”, “Serbian”, or “Bulgarian”.

As a result many people began to suspect something was not right. But no sooner had the allied armies established themselves in the cities, towns and villages in the respective territories they occupied, than they began to establish military and administrative rule, thus enforcing Macedonia’s occupation. The Greek Supreme Command ordered its military to enter Solun and establish Greek authority as soon as possible. Greek military and administrative authorities were subordinated to the Major Greek Army Headquarters stationed in Solun with King Constantine as the Chief. Greek authority in the small towns and villages was also established by the garrison commanders stationed there. At that point Macedonia was viewed as a temporary district and responsibility for managing it was given to P. Argiropoulos. On October 31st, 1912 Greek Prime Minister Elefteros Venizelos recommended that Greek King George appoint Konstantinos D. Raktivan, the Greek Minister of Justice, as governor of Macedonia; a position filled until now by the Greek army. To support the newly created administration, 10 consulate officials and 168 gendarmes from Crete, under the command of Lieutanent Colonel A. Monferaton, were dispatched on a special ship called the Arcadia from the port of Piraeus to Solun. The Solun port however was closed to Greek ships and only allowed ships flying the French flag. The French consul in Solun who managed the port allowed

only Ottoman and other pre-authorized ships to dock but would not allow ships flying the Greek flag. Failing to enter the Port of Solun, Raktivan was instructed to dock in Elefterhorion, a smaller port nearby; but again could not. After several unsuccessful attempts Venizelos recommended that Raktivan hoist the French flag on his ship before entering the port of Solun. Raktivan landed in Solun on October 30th, 1912 and immediately paid a visit to the British consul. With British support Raktivan was able to open the Solun port to Greek ships, thus providing passage to the new administration and to the gendarmes from Crete to land. By Decree, on October 31st, 1912, King George appointed Raktivan governor of Macedonia and the Greek occupied part of Macedonia was divided into 3 districts (Solun, Ber and Seres) and 18 Regions. The chiefs to administer the districts and regions were brought from Greece and the Greek occupation of Macedonia was guaranteed by the Greek army, police and by the gendarmes from Crete, well known for their hatred and cruelty towards the Macedonians. On May 30th, 1913 the Ottomans signed a Peace Treaty in London, thus surrendering the territories west of the Enos - Midia line so that an Albanian state could be created with borders to be determined later. On October 12th, 1912, right after the Kumanovo battle, the Serbian government established a special regime to begin occupying Macedonian territory. After winning the Kumanovo battle, the Serbian 1st Army Headquarters requested a police commissar, a gendarmerie detachment of 25 gendarmes and 10 cavalrymen to be sent to Kumanovo, as soon as possible, along with a number of officers to preserve law and order in the city. A police unit was also requested to be sent to Skopje after it was occupied by the Serbian army. On October 13th, 1912 a number of foreign consuls led by Kalmikov, the Russian consul, instructed the Ottomans not to enter Skopje because the city had surrendered to the Serbian army, which had already established provisional military authority in the city. On October 15th, 1912 Serbian Minister Nikola Pashich together with Police Commissar Milorad Vujichich introduced the first Serbian provisional administration and territorial division of the Serbian occupied part of Macedonia. Approved by General Radomir Putnik, Chief of Supreme Command, the Document included not only the already occupied territories, but also Macedonian territories to be occupied in the future. The document showed 8 districts and 28 regions. The districts and regions were located as follows: 3 districts with 11 regions were located in Kosovo, 1 district with 4 regions was located in Albania and 4 districts with 13 regions were located in Macedonia. Macedonian territories to be occupied by Serbia

included Kumanovo, Presevo, Kratovo, Kriva Palanka, Skopje, Kachanik, Veles, Tetovo, Brod, Gostivar, Kichevo, Debar and Radomir Regions. The borders specified in the document more or less coincided with the borders agreed to by the March 13th, 1912 secret Serbian - Bulgarian Treaty. But as Serbia continued to experience successful military campaigns its appetite for more Macedonian territory increased. After capturing Bitola, the Serbian army pushed on into Western Macedonia establishing 2 more districts; Bitola and Negotino (later renamed Kavadartsi). By the start of 1913, Serbia acquired 6 districts with 23 regions in Macedonia which included Lerin Region; a Region previously liberated by Macedonians and later confiscated by the Serbian army. On June 3rd, 1913, acting in accordance with the Greek-Serbian demarcation line Treaty, Serbia had to relinquish to Greece 132 Macedonian villages it had captured, 8 of which were located in Gevgelija Region, 20 in Lerin Region, 7 in Bitola Region, 38 in Prespa Region and 59 in Ohrid Region. For its efforts Serbia received only 4 villages, Bach, Dobroveni, Dolni Kremen and Gorni Kremen, all located in Lerin Region which Serbia attached to Bitola Region. For the first half of 1913 the Macedonian population was thrown into confusion not knowing to which country it belonged and where the borders were located. The population in Lerin Region, for example, was first occupied by Serbians and then by Greeks. Although the Serbians had established administrative rule in Prilep Region, it was unknown to which country the villages in Moriovo belonged. When Macedonians from the villages Vitolishta and Palchiste inquired of Major Mihajlo Nenadovich as to which country the villages in Mariovo, across the Tsrna Reka River, belonged he did not know. So he sent them to Nenadovich and Brejovich who also did not know. They in turn sent the Macedonians to Voden to inquire from the Greek authorities but the Greeks did not know either and told them that the villages must belong to Greece. But to make sure the villages did belong to Greece, a Greek battalion was dispatched to occupy them. When the Serbians discovered a Greek military presence only 10 km from Prilep, the Serbian army dispatched Vasilije Trbich’s forces to throw the Greeks out, pushing them across the Tsrna Reka River into Meglen Region. The situation in Gevgelija was also uncertain as to who was in charge, as each of the three armies claimed to have entered the city first and sought the right to establish authority. To solve that problem a triple condominium was created. But on April 2nd, 1913 an agreement was reached and Gevgelija and Dojran Regions were given to Serbia. On December 14th, 1912 a Decree on administering the Serbian occupied part of Macedonia was approved and remained in force until August 18th, 1913, when a new Decree was approved. The second Decree was made void by the November 20th, 1913 Decree which annexed the Macedonian territory to the Kingdom of Serbia. Police and gendarmerie units were established in order to maintain law and order and were deployed in each district. Each district chief was given a gendarmerie detachment of 20 gendarmes and each region was given 30 gendarmes. Early on there were about 1,000 gendarmes deployed in Macedonia, 600 Serbians and 400 locals; loyal citizens of the newly occupied territories. Police forces were required to maintain constant communication with the military authorities so that the districts and region chiefs could acquire help from the military as required. Serbian currency was also introduced in Macedonia, replacing the Ottoman lira, and administrative personnel from Serbia were appointed to the most responsible positions. Lesser positions were awarded to former teachers, priests and other Serbian agents who were already living in Macedonia. Establishment of Bulgarian rule in Macedonia began immediately after the Bulgarian army began its occupation of Macedonia. On October 10th, 1912 Major General Georgi Todorov, Chief of the 7th Rila Division, began his survey of the occupied territories and started to appoint personnel sent over from Bulgaria to administer the various districts.

In the meantime the Bulgarian army, supported by Macedonian Chetas, continued to advance deep into Macedonia covering as much ground as possible. By December 4th, 1912, the date of the truce, the Bulgarian army had occupied the territory of Macedonia east of the line Tsarev Vrv - Gevgelija - Nigrita - Gulf of Orfano and the Aegean Sea. The Bulgarians named their occupied part of Macedonia “Macedonian Territories”, on which they established military police authority managed by Governor General Mihail V'lkov and chief secretary Mihail Zelkov. The Bulgarian occupied part of Macedonia was organized into 4 districts; Seres, Drama, Shtip and Solun (renamed to Kukush District on December 12th, 1912). The districts were further sub-divided into regions, which coincided with the Ottoman cazas. Included in the Drama District were Drama, Kavala, Pravishte, Sarishaban and Rupcho Regions. Included in the Seres District were Seres, Ziljahovo, Nigrita, Demirhisar, Petrich, Melnik, Gorna Dzhumaja (Blagoevgrad), Razlog and Nevrokop (Gotse Delchev) Regions. Included in the Solun (Kukush) District were Solun, Lagadina, Kukush, Dojran and Gevgelija Regions. Included in the District of Shtip were Shtip, Pehchevo, Kochani, Radovish and Strumitsa Regions. Agents that had been previously sent to Macedonia from Bulgaria, to spread Bulgarian propaganda, were appointed district chiefs. In the beginning of 1913 General V'lkov created a two member commission, consisting of Dr. Bogdan Filov and Professor Atanas

Ishirkov, and dispatched it to Macedonia to find important cultural and historical monuments, which were later taken to Bulgaria. As the occupation of Macedonia continued a rift between the three occupiers began to develop as each expected more of the others. To manage these expectations, two separate commissions were established. A Bulgarian - Greek commission was formed in February 1913 and a separate Bulgarian - Serbian commission was established some time later. Unfortunately the commissions could not come to any agreements because the crux of their problems was that all three countries wanted more of Macedonia’s territory and none was willing to give up any. On February 24th, 1912 Greek and Serbian representatives held a secret meeting in Solun where they signed a treaty to work jointly against Bulgaria, in an effort to take Macedonian land away from Bulgaria. Bulgaria in the meantime moved its army from Thrace to Macedonia in an effort to occupy all of Macedonia and take it away from Greece and Serbia. As a final note to this drama the Macedonian people not only lost their opportunity to free themselves and create their own state but lost countless lives in the process as they unwittingly helped their enemies occupy and carve up their country. On the Ottoman side, 153,000 soldiers were killed, wounded and captured. Bulgaria lost 73,000 soldiers, Serbia lost 30,000 soldiers, Greece lost 28,671 soldiers and Montenegro lost 10,000 soldiers. Material damage to Bulgaria was estimated to be one billion and 300 million French franks, Serbia lost 590 million franks, Greece lost 467 million franks and Montenegro lost about 100,000 franks. Unfortunately there is no data to show losses on the Macedonian side even though the war took place in Macedonia and hundreds of thousands of Macedonians participated. But outside of material and human losses, the Macedonian people also lost their freedom and opportunity to create their own country. Worse than that, Macedonia was carved up into three pieces and completely lost its identity and history and the Macedonian peoples’ existence was buried forever. Besides those losses, the Macedonian people also suffered massive economic losses and starvation. Not counting the independent and local Chetas that took part in Macedonia’s liberation from the Ottomans, more than 100,000 Macedonians fought alongside the Allied armies but were never registered as Macedonians, not even the fighters that lost their lives. However there are estimates that put the dead to several thousands but on a different scale, hundreds of thousands of Macedonians fled Macedonia because of the terror and oppression they experienced first from the Ottomans and later from the so-called “liberators”, the Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian armies. Instead of improving, as was expected, the situation in Macedonia became worse after the Ottomans left. When the Second Balkan War was still raging in Macedonia in 1913, the Carnegie Endowment dispatched a Commission on a fact finding mission to investigate atrocities committed in Macedonia during the Balkan Wars. According to the Commission, the cities Voden, Negus, Enidze Vardar, Ber and others were turned to dust. The people living in these cities had no choice but to flee and as a result became permanent refugees. According to official Bulgarian sources, 111,560 Macedonian refugees were taken by Bulgaria, Greece took 156,659 and 135,000 fled with the Ottomans. The Commission also noted that during the Ottoman army retreat from Macedonia, the Ottomans burned down 170 villages. The Allied armies also burned houses and robbed the Macedonian population of its material possessions and livestock. In June 1913 the Greek army burned down the entire city Kukush, 39 villages and more than 4,000 houses in Seres. Similarly the Greek army burned down villages in Solun, Strumitsa, Gorna Dzhumaja and Vardar Regions. But this was only the beginning. Besides being subjugated, the Greek occupied part of Macedonia was soon to be denationalized and repopulated with Turkish Christian settlers from Asia Minor and from beyond.