The Macedonian Federative Organization ( Bulgarian and Macedonian: Македонска федеративна организация/организација; MFO/МФО) was established in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

in 1921 by former

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), 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 initia ...

(IMRO) left-wing's activists.

History

Background

In November 1918, the members of the left-wing of the former Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO), particulary the

Serres Serres ( ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Northern Greece. The c ...

group issued a declaration in which they called for the restoration of Macedonia to its original geographical boundaries as the basis of a future Balkan Federation. On the principles of the declaration in 1919 the Temporary representation of the former United Internal Revolutionary Organization was created, which issued a Appeal in March 1919 and send it to the

Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

on the Paris Peace Conference. In October 1920 the Temporary Commission of the Macedonian Brotherhoods in Bulgaria was formed in Sofia. The commission in their platform determined, that the sons of Macedonia struggled through the years for the realization of the ideals of the population, and while some found the right path, of an autonomous and independent Macedonia in its entirety, others, driven not by reason, but by feelings, were in vain dragged by the mirage of accession with Bulgaria. The members of the commission became the core of the MFO later. Reestablished in 1920 by the right-wing leaders, the

IMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), 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 init ...

became a formidable organization, with Pirin Macedonia as its stronghold. From its secure bases in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

it launched armed attacks and propaganda campaigns into

Aegean Macedonia Aegean Macedonia ('';'' ) is a term describing the region of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia in Northern Greece. It is currently mainly used in the North Macedonia, Republic of North Macedonia, including in the Irredentism, irredentist context of a ...

and

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian language, Macedonian and ) is a historical term referring to the central part of the broader Macedonian region, roughly corresponding to present-day North Macedonia. The name derives from the Vardar, Vardar River and i ...

. In the early 1920s, the IMRO confronted with the left-wing of the former IMARO over the ultimate goal of its activity. The right faction led by Todor Alexandrov sought the incorporation of all Macedonian territory into Bulgaria. In contrast, the left faction sought an autonomous Macedonia that could join the Balkan Federation.

Origins and goals

Amongst the founders of MFO were

Gjorche Petrov Gyorche Petrov Nikolov,(; ) born Georgi Petrov Nikolov(; ) (April 2, 1865 – June 28, 1921), was a Macedonian Bulgarian teacher and revolutionary, one of the leaders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).Aleksandar Dimitrov who was the Minister of Interior of Bulgaria. The both of them were assassinated by the right-wing IMRO in June and October 1921. The initial leaders of the MFO were Filip Atanasov,

Todor Panitsa Todor Nikolov Panitsa (; July 2, 1879 – May 8, 1925) was a Bulgarian revolutionary figure, active in the region of Macedonia. He was one of the leaders of the left wing of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Biography Panits ...

, Vladislav Kovachev, Hristo Dalkalchev, Nikola Yurukov, Hristo Tatarchev and others. Its adherents were commonly known as "federalists" by way of distinction from the IMRO-members known as "autonomists". In the statute of MFO under the motto Macedonia for the Macedonians, the primary goals were to work in a legal manner for the elevation of Macedonia within its geographical and economic borders into an Independent State with full and equal participation in its governance of all its nationalities, with equal religious, national and political rights for them. Also, to cultivate the idea of forming a Balkan Federation, in order to eliminate the rivalries between the Balkan peoples and reconcile their cultural, economic and political interests. Per the MFO ideologist Vladislav Kovachev, Macedonia was a geographic designation that had to become national. In a attempt to achieve this goal he called for a formation of a distinct national collectivity that, under the designation "Macedonians" would unite the distinct nationalities living in Macedonia, incl. Bulgarians, Turks, Albanians, etc. Kovachev likewise believed in encouraging those people there, who had begun to call themselves "Macedonians", without adding "Bulgarians". The Macedonian nationalism developed by the federalists was further emphasized in the newspaper ''Macedonian consciousness''. They recommended dropping the diverse ethnic designations in Macedonia and uniting all national elements in a distinct entity "Macedonians", historical figures such as Philip II,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and Aristotele appeared on the pages of the newspaper. The federalists' programme contained a formulation of a future Macedonian state using

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

as official language. In December 1921, activists of MFO formed the official ''Macedonian Emigre's Federalist Organization'' (''MEFO'') and in 1922 another group formed the clandestine ''Macedonian Federative Revolutionary Organization'' (''MFRO''). The only difference between the MEFO and MFRO was that the MFRO was determined for an armed struggle to achieve the liberation of

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. Both wings of the MFO supported the creation of a federal Macedonian state within a future Balkan Federation, which concept was similar to the ideas proclaimed by the Balkan Communist Federation at that time. As for the relations of the Organization with the Bulgarian government of

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

, it supported the federalist's movement and was openly hostile to the aspirations of the autonomists. MFO organized a number of armed forays into Pirin Macedonia (Nevrokop and Kyustendil), where it attacked the local IMRO detachments. In March 1923,

Stamboliyski Stamboliyski ( ) is a town in Plovdiv Province, southern Bulgaria. It is located on the Maritsa river. Stamboliyski was founded in 1873–75, when the Istanbul-Belovo, Bulgaria, Belovo railway was built. It was initially called Gara Krichim ('K ...

, in consequence of the Yugoslav-Bulgarian agreement reached in

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

, began cooperating with

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

against IMRO. Aided by the government, the federalists set out to destroy the military network of the enemy, but the autonomists scattered the federalist's chetas and launched an attack on the Stamboliyski's government.

Decline and dissolution

Violence between the MFO and IMRO reinforced a political crisis growing public impression that Bulgarian governments were unstable. In the summer of 1923, IMRO aided by radical officers, organized a coup d'état. The fall of the government was a great success to the power of IMRO. The new government was condemned by the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

, as well as the absent communist resistance to it. When the communists aided by the federalists did try to revolt in the

September Uprising The September Uprising (, ''Septemvriysko vastanie''), also called the September Riots (Септемврийски бунтове),Голяма енциклопедия България, том 10, Главен редактор акад. Вас ...

, they were quickly crushed by the government and its IMRO allies. As a result, some of the fleeing federalists placed themselves in

, others collaborated with the Greek communists. Todor Panitsa also had to flee and went in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where the federalist's leadership began seeking foreign contacts, especially

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

diplomats. They served as mediators by consecution of secret reconciling negotiations with IMRO. Continuing into 1924 secret negotiations between the federalists, BCP and IMRO representatives were conducted to unite all groups under the goal of independence or autonomy of a Macedonian state. The new position of the IMRO was identical to that of the Balkan communists and won for the MFO the endorsement of its policy by the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

. The so called

May Manifesto The "May Manifesto" of May 6, 1924 was a manifesto in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned region of Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchi ...

was signed by the sides on 6 May 1924. However later IMRO officially rejected its support of the document and its leaders even denied endorsing it. In the aftermath of the failed agreement Todor Alexandrov, as well as key figures of the ''Federalists'' including Todor Panitsa and Vladislav Kovachev, were assassinated in the subsequent clash. Weakened the organization disappeared as a real entity. Most of its members joined afterwards the IMRO (United) and later the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

Notes

Sources

* Гребенаров, Александър, Легални и тайни организации на македонските бежанци в България (1918–1947), МНИ, София, 2006 г.,470 с. * The Communist party of Bulgaria: origins and development, 1883–1936, Joseph Rothschild, AMS Press, 1972, , p. 117.
„Националноосвободителната борба в Македония, 1919 - 1941 г.“, Колектив, Македонски Научен Институт.

External links

{{in lang, bg Modern history of Macedonia (region) Bulgarian revolutionary organisations 1921 establishments in Bulgaria Organizations established in 1921 Defunct organizations based in Bulgaria Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Macedonian Question Balkan federalism