Macedonia is Bulgarian,

but...,
by A Macedonian
The Macedonian identity was, at the end of the 19 th century, a complex
question. The confusing situation in Macedonia based on the ottoman
millet system. The people of the Ottoman Empire were divided into
religious groups under the control of one of the Balkan states churches:
Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian. This churches work also as national
propaganda with the aim to create more Greeks, Bulgarians and
Serbians in Macedonia. At the same time the Macedonians did not
have a own church or national institution.
Having this in mind, it should be pretty clear, that sources about
the Macedonian identity from that time, can not be seen as objective or
relevant to describe the national orientation of a whole people.
In this article I will concentrate on statements from Bulgarian
intellectuals and institutions, to give a different perspective to the official
Bulgarian state policy, which saw the Macedonians as a subgroup of the
Bulgarian nation.
The first example is a letter from the secretary of the Bulgarian
Exachat, Atanas Shopoff. He wrote in 1885 to the Russian slavists Ivan
Sergevitch Aksakov and Vladimir Laminski, to initiate the reforms for
Macedonia. He wrote: The Macedonians are counting on you... The
Macedonias just want to get the promised reforms.
In the second half of 1891 the Young Macedonian Literary Society
was formed in Sofia. In 1892 the Society published, for the first time, the
paper Grapevine. In this paper the young Macedonians described the
hazard of the foreign national propaganda for the Macedonian people.
The progovernmental paper Freedom wrote the following words about
the YMLS: In the capitel of Bulgaria some individuals came up to prove
that the Macedonians are a seperate nation, with own language, and
with a own historical task. And: The young society is preparing the
Bulgarian society for the separation of Macedonia from Bulgaria and it
will introduce words from the Ohrid dialect, which will be the standard
language of the future Greater Macedonia, with a leader like Philipp and
Alexander.
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In 1896 the Bulgarian Czar Ferdinand met the Serbian diplomat,

Vladan Gorgevitch, in Istanbul. In a conversation the Czar stated: In
Macedonia, the main population is neither Bulgarian, nor Serbian, its
Slav and Christian, which speaks a language as close or as distant to the
Serbian and the Bulgarian language, but a language, which is a seperate
dialect, if not language. Instead of arguing, weather this is a dialect of
the Serbian or Bulgarian language, we have to work jointly to secure a
human life and cultural prosperity... If this is done the culture of the
Macedonians will solve the question, which no power can solve....
The French publicist Gaston Rutie visited Macedonia in 1903 after
the Ilinden uprising. His impressions have been published in his book
called: La question Macedoine on doit au peuple verite. Rutie also
visited Bulgaria and came into contact with the Bulgarian education
secretary, Ivan Shishmanoff. In their conversation Shishmanoff said:
After ten years, when Macedonia became autonomous, there will not be
neither Bulgarians, nor Serbians or Greeks, there will be only
Macedonians...So, Macedonia will be independent and the Macedonians
will remain Macedonians. When Europe thinks differently, it is
mistaken, when the Bulgarians are thinking about the Bulgarization of
Macedonia, that are illusions. Rutie concluded: Dr. Shishmanov spoke
the truth, Macedonia for the Macedonians is the best solution to prevent
the region from division...
Interesting testimonies, for the individuality of the Macedonians
and their role for the whole Bulgarian nation, are given from the
Bulgarian trading agent, Atanas Shopoff, in his letter to the Bulgarian
minister for foreign affairs in 1904. In this letter Shopoff talked about
his meeting with Hasan Fehmi, who asked: Are the Macedonians still
ruling in Bulgaria? Shopoff answered: Yes of course, the biggest part of
the Macedonian population is in Bulgaria, the main population in Sofia
is Macedonian; a big part of the Generals in the Bulgarian army is
Macedonian...the whole inteligencija from Macedonia is in Bulgaria.
Shopoff stated further, that the Macedonians were always important for
the Bulgarians. Father Paisii as an author for the Bulgarian history, Kiril
Pejtchinovitch and his study on the Bulgarian language, Theodore
Sinaetski, who opened the first Bulgarian printery in Salonica; and then
Neofit, who opened the first Bulgarian school in Gabrovo.... It is
interesting that none of these are seen as Bulgarians, but as
Macedonians. At the ende Shopoff stated: You see, that the role of the
Macedonians has been always important for the life of the Bulgarian
people.
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For the coordination of the Bulgarian policy in context with the

Macedonian question, in 1904 in the ministry of foreign affairs a
department was created, which concentrated its work only on
Macedonia. This institution created in 1906 a report, in which the
situation of Macedonia and the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement is
analyzed.
The report told that the main aim of the Bulgarian policy must be
to create a Bulgarian Macedonia. Furthermore it is reportet, that the
international character of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople
Revolutionary Organization should only be supported, if the Bulgarian
identity of the Macedonians is not questioned, like by some leaders of
the movement. With such statements, the department indirectly
recognized the national individuality of the Macedonians. After that, in
the report it is explicitly told, that there are people in the IMARO, which
do not have a Bulgarian consciousness: The persons from this group are
living for Macedonia and only for Macedonia. In the report, the
Macedonians are, as usually, seen as Bulgarians. But it also is stated,
that the consciousness is raised by the propaganda of churches and
schools.