CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST WAS DRAFTED

CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE TREATY OF BUCHAREST WAS DRAFTED

As mentioned earlier, there were no definite plans on how to divide Macedonia since Macedonia never belonged to any of its neighbours. There were no national dividing lines to speak of other than the Patriarchist or Exarchist affiliated villages which existed all over Macedonia. So after the first Balkan War ended, arbitrary borders were set up more or less where the armies stopped their advance.

Serbia was looking to gain access to the Adriatic Sea but Austria-Hungary and Italy saw to it that it didn’t by proposing the creation of Albania.

This loss of territory on the Serbian side lead to a renewed conflict in the region termed the second Balkan War in 1913 involving Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Rumania.

As a result of this conflict, the original borders proposed after the first Balkan War were shifted and Macedonia was once again arbitrarily partitioned.

According to military historian Dr. Vanche Stojchev, author of the book “Military History of Macedonia” while the Treaty of Bucharest was being drafted in 1913, the occupying armies were still fighting in Macedonia. Every time one side took a hill or a ridge from the others, its military commander telegraphed his counterpart in Bucharest who in turn asked the commission to modify the maps to include the new gains. Says Professor Dr. Vanche Stojchev

I have uncovered various inconsistencies and anomalies in this treaty which would be of interest and importance to the Macedonian people. For example not many people know that the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest was not ratified by Austro-Hungary. Austro-Hungary was the first Great Power in the Balkans. After the signing of the treaty both Russia and Austro-Hungary called for further revisions which were basically ignored. Russia only accepted the treaty because it was pressured by the other Great Powers which in reality means the treaty may not be valid. Says Professor Dr. Vanche Stojchev

The reason why Macedonian institutions are not yet affirming the idea that Macedonian roots extend from the ancient times to today is because everything that was taught in Macedonia up to now had to be politically correct. We were taught a politicized history which catered less to reality and more to political aspects on how history should be viewed. Says Professor Dr. Vanche Stojchev

HOW WERE MACEDONIANS MADE INTO GREEKS, SERBIANS AND BULGARIANS?

In order to prevent future problems, the Great Powers insisted that Macedonia be partitioned along ethnic lines which basically became the blueprint on how to divide Macedonia between Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. Unfortunately the people of the Balkans under Ottoman rule had no concept of what “ethnicity” was. For many centuries they identified by their religion and language and not by ethnicity. By the 1890’s when nationalism had gripped Macedonia and the Macedonian people began to awaken to their ethnic and national consciousness, Macedonia was already promised to Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. So rather than supporting the Macedonians in fostering growth in their Macedonian consciousness, the Great Powers allowed Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria through propaganda and armed intervention to suppress it. While Macedonians were busy struggling to free themselves from the Ottoman yoke, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria were busy publishing demographic statistics of ethnicities in Macedonia to prove to the world how “Greek”, “Serbian”, or “Bulgarian” Macedonia was. These demographic statistics were based purely on “Church Affiliation” and not on ethnicity. In other words, the ethnic identity of a Macedonian was

based on which church he or she attended liturgy. Those attending liturgy in the Greek churches were counted as Greeks, those attending liturgy in the Serbian churches were counted as Serbians and those attending liturgy in the Bulgarian churches were counted as Bulgarians. To increase their numbers Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria each secretly employed armed thugs to scare people into changing churches. Priests affiliated with the opposing church were usually driven out or outright killed.

Unfortunately, even by using church affiliation as a substitute for ethnicity none of the three competitors could muster any regional support. The best they could do was maintain full or partial support at village level. In other words in a cluster of villages most villagers would be of mixed affiliation. Even if entire villages were affiliated with one church or another they would belong to a mixed cluster thus making it very difficult to divide them by any means.

After Macedonia was invaded and occupied by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912, all three states continued to refer to the Macedonians by their church affiliation calling them “Greek” if they went to the Greek church, “Serbian” if they went to the Serbian church and “Bulgarian” if they went to the Bulgarian church. But after each state consolidated its power over Macedonian territories, Macedonians belonging to the competitors’ churches were forced to change church affiliation or “get out”. Many were driven out and exiled.

This practice of identifying Macedonians by their church affiliation continued even outside of Macedonia. That is why we have western authors referring to Macedonians as Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians.

Modern Greeks today claim there are no Macedonians in the Greek province of Macedonia!