Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United)

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (1925–1936)[n. 1] commonly known in English as IMRO (United), was the name of a revolutionary political organization active across the entire geographical region of Macedonia.

The statute of IMRO (United), 1925, Vienna.

History

IMRO (United) was founded in 1925 in Vienna after the failure of the May Manifesto by the left wing of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).[1] It was under the leadership of several revolutionaries from Macedonia such as Dimitar Vlahov, Pavel Shatev, Georgi Zankov, Rizo Rizov, Vladimir Poptomov, Metodi Shatorov and Hristo Yankov. Its main objective was to free Macedonia within its geographical and economical borders, and to create a new political entity which would become an equal member of the future Balkan Federative Republic. It was accepted as a partner in the Balkan Communist Federation and was sponsored directly by the Comintern,[2] maintaining close links with the Bulgarian communist leader Georgi Dimitrov. He, as secret agent of GRU was responsible especially for the contacts with the IMRO (United).[3]

In 1920s the IMRO (United) as a whole, defined the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians.[4] By the 1930s however, IMRO endorsed Macedonism. The Resolution of the Comintern publicly acknowledged the existence of the Macedonian nation and Macedonian language, although published as a resolution of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United), was undoubtedly the most significant international acknowledgement of the Macedonian national individuality, which had very favorable consequences for its development and affirmation. The text of this historic document was prepared in the period between December 20, 1933, and January 7, 1934, by the Balkan Secretariat of the Comintern. It was accepted by the Political Secretariat in Moscow on January 11, 1934, and approved by the Executive Committee of the Comintern. It was published for the first time in the April issue of Makedonsko Delo under the title "The Situation in Macedonia and the Tasks of IMRO (United)". After replying to those who, even within the progressive movement, denied the existence of a separate Macedonian nation, the Resolution, among other things, stated:

"...The bourgeoisie of the ruling nations in the three imperialist states among which Macedonia is partitioned, tries to camouflage its national oppression, denying the national features of the Macedonian people and the existence of the Macedonian nation.".

By 1935, the IMRO (United) organisation in Greece was working closely with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Indeed, on 3 July 1935, the KKE newspaper, Rizospastis, reported a statement issued by the IMRO (United) organisation in Edesa (Voden) and signed by G. Slavos:

"...We Macedonians also insist on not being called Bulgarians, for we are neither Bulgarians, nor Serbs, nor Greeks, but Macedonians. We invite all Macedonians to join the ranks of the IMRO (United), and all of us together will fight for a free Macedonia..."

Later, IMRO (United) members were put on trial due to suspected illegal political activity.[5] Many members listed their nationality as Macedonian. Until its dissolution in 1936 it sought to act as part of a Bulgarian Communist Party, Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Communist Party of Greece and in fact attempted to play the part of a Communist-led Macedonian national or popular front. After the organization was dissolved, most of the members ended up joining the Bulgarian Communist Party.[6] During its existence, the organization had little influence over the Macedonian population.[1][7] However such activists who came from the IMRO (United) maintained their strong pro-Bulgarian bias,[8] and according to Ivan Katardžiev they continued to see themselves as Bulgarians.[9]

Bibliograpjy
  • VMRO (obedineta), vol. I, p. 131 Skopje 1991
  • Andrew Rossos. The Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia: A British officer's report, 1944.

References
  1. Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia (2019), Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev; Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 1538119625, pp. 148-149
  2. Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History, Andrew Rossos, Hoover Press, 2008, ISBN 081794883X, p. 132.
  3. BBC Bulgaria; 10.10. 2005 - Георги Димитров съветски агент? Димитър Димитров.
  4. Dimitar Bechev, Historical dictionary of Republic of Macedonia, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, p. 235.
  5. Entangled Histories of the Balkans: Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies (2013), Balkan Studies Library, Roumen Dontchev Daskalov; Tchavdar Marinov, BRILL, ISBN 978-9004250765, p. 311
  6. Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900-1996, Author Chris Kostov, Publisher Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3034301960, p. 79.
  7. Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Two: Transfers of Political Ideologies and Institutions (2013), Balkan Studies Library, Roumen Dontchev Daskalov; Diana Mishkova, BRILL, ISBN 9004261915, p. 510
  8. Palmer, S. and R. King Yugoslav Communism and the Macedonian Question, Archon Books (June 1971), p. 137.
  9. According to the Macedonian historian Academician Ivan Katardzhiev all left-wing Macedonian revolutionaries from the period until the early 1930s declared themselves as "Bulgarians" and he asserts that the political separatism of some Macedonian revolutionaries toward official Bulgarian policy was yet only political phenomenon without ethnic character. Katardzhiev claims all those veterans from IMRO (United) and Bulgarian communist party remained only at the level of political, not of national separatism. Thus, they practically continued to feel themselves as Bulgarians, i.e. they didn't developed clear national separatist position even in Communist Yugoslavia. This will bring even one of them - Dimitar Vlahov on the session of the Politburo of the Macedonian communist party in 1948, to say that in 1932 (when left wing of IMRO issued for the first time the idea of separate Macedonian nation) a mistake was made..Katardziev also clarified "A phenomenon must be mentioned here. The division of Macedonia in 1913 played an extremely harmful role in the consciousness of Macedonians. Why? Because it interrupted normal communication - political, cultural, economic - between Macedonians. It stopped the process of creating a unique Macedonian history of the entire Macedonian area. Macedonian progressive forces tied them to the progressive forces of the countries in which they existed. They began to accept the political determination and philosophy of the countries between which Macedonia was divided. Thus, during the NOB, when the time came for connection, there was a huge gap in the consciousness of Macedonians from the three parts of the country. Everyone said they were Macedonians, but everyone gave that term a different meaning". Академик Катарџиев, Иван. Верувам во националниот имунитет на македонецот, интервју за списание "Форум", 22 jули 2000, броj 329.

Notes
  1. Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация - обединена, romanized: Vâtrešna makedonska revoljucionna organizacija - Obedinena; Macedonian: Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација - обединета, romanized: Vnatrešna makedonska revolucionerna organizacija - obedineta)
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