Dimitar Vlahov
Encyclopedia
Dimitar Yanakiev Vlahov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia
and member of the left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement (also known as Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)). As with many other IMRO members of the time, historians from the Republic of Macedonia
consider him an ethnic Macedonian
and in Bulgaria
he is considered an ethnic Bulgarian
.
He was born in Kilkis
(present-day Greece
) and attended the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
. After that he emigrated to the Kingdom of Bulgaria
and graduated from secondary school
in Belogradtchik. Vlachov also studied chemistry
in Germany
and Switzerland
, where he took part in socialist circles. However, he graduated in these subjects from Sofia University
. Here he enrolled in the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party
. In 1903, Vlahov entered a military service in an officer's school in Sofia
. Then he worked as a teacher in the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
where he was active in IMRO. During this period, he was arrested by the Ottoman
authorities. In 1905, Vlahov was released and went back to Bulgaria where he worked as a teacher in Kazanlak
. In 1908, after the Young Turks
revolution he began working in the Bulgarian secondary school in Thessaloniki again.
In the next few years, Vlahov was politically active as a member of the Ottoman Parliament as a representative from the People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section). After the dissolution of the PFP in 1911, he became a member the Ottoman Socialist Party
and in 1912 was elected again as a deputy in the Ottoman Parliament. After the Balkan Wars
, Vlachov was a representative of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in high diplomatic and administrative positions in Odessa
, Kiev
, Pristina
and Vienna
. After World War I and the reestablishment of IMRO in 1920, Vlahov was elected as alternate member of its Central Committee, representing the left wing. At that time he was sent in Varna
from Todor Alexandrov to establish a contact between IMRO and Soviet Russia
. As a messenger served Krastyo Rakovski, his best man and prominent figure of the Comintern. On behalf of IMRO, Vlahov departed in July 1923 to Moscow. So in 1924, IMRO entered negotiations in Vienna
with the Comintern
about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. Vlahov helped the subscription of the so-called May Manifesto
about forming a Balkan Communist Federation
and cooperation with the Soviet Union
. After the subsequent rift between the organization and the Communists, the new leadership headed by Ivan Mihailov
excluded him from the organization and he was sentenced to death. In 1925, he was one of the founders of the IMRO (United) in Vienna. He also became a member of Bulgarian Communist Party
. During the late 1920s, he worked in France
, Germany and Austria
as a Comintern publicist. During this period he was chased by IMRO and against him were organized several failed assassination attempts.
In 1932 a members of IMRO (United), put for the first time the issue of the recognition of a separate Macedonian nation in a lecture in Moscow
. The question was also studied in the highest institutions of the Comintern and in the autumn of 1933, Dimitar Vlahov arrived in Moscow and took part in a number of meetings. So on January 11, 1934, the Political Secretariat of the Comintern adopted a special Resolution on the Macedonian Question
. From 1936 to 1944, Vlahov lived in the Soviet Union
and in 1944 he went to the new Yugoslavia with Socialist Republic of Macedonia, where he worked in high state and political positions. However such Macedonian activists, who came from the IMRO (United) and the BCP never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias.
In 1948 on a meeting of the Central committee of the Macedonaian Communist Party
he claimed that the decision by the IMRO (United) from 1932 on the formation of a separate Macedonian ethnicity was a political mistake. Later, he was gradually pushed out of his power positions from the pro-Yugoslav circle around Lazar Kolishevski. Vlahov died in Belgrade in 1953.
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and member of the left wing of the Macedonian-Adrianople revolutionary movement (also known as Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)). As with many other IMRO members of the time, historians from the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
consider him an ethnic Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
and in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
he is considered an ethnic Bulgarian
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...
.
He was born in Kilkis
Kilkis
Kilkis is an industrial city in Central Macedonia, Greece. As of 2001 there were 17,430 people living in the city proper, 24,812 people living in the municipal unit, and 56,336 in the municipality of Kilkis. It is also the capital city of the regional unit of Kilkis.-Name:Kilkis is located in a...
(present-day Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) and attended the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki was the first Bulgarian high school in Macedonia. One of the most influential Bulgarian educational centres in Macedonia and Southern Thrace, it was founded in autumn 1880 in Ottoman Thessaloniki and existed until...
. After that he emigrated to the Kingdom of Bulgaria
Kingdom of Bulgaria
The Kingdom of Bulgaria was established as an independent state when the Principality of Bulgaria, an Ottoman vassal, officially proclaimed itself independent on October 5, 1908 . This move also formalised the annexation of the Ottoman province of Eastern Rumelia, which had been under the control...
and graduated from secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in Belogradtchik. Vlachov also studied chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where he took part in socialist circles. However, he graduated in these subjects from Sofia University
Sofia University
The St. Clement of Ohrid University of Sofia or Sofia University is the oldest higher education institution in Bulgaria, founded on 1 October 1888...
. Here he enrolled in the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party
Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party
The foundations of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party were in 1894.In July 1891 on the initiative of Dimitar Blagoev, the social democratic circles of Tarnovo, Gabrovo, Sliven, Stara Zagora, Kazanlak and other cities united to form the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party...
. In 1903, Vlahov entered a military service in an officer's school in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
. Then he worked as a teacher in the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
The Sts. Cyril and Methodius Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki was the first Bulgarian high school in Macedonia. One of the most influential Bulgarian educational centres in Macedonia and Southern Thrace, it was founded in autumn 1880 in Ottoman Thessaloniki and existed until...
where he was active in IMRO. During this period, he was arrested by the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities. In 1905, Vlahov was released and went back to Bulgaria where he worked as a teacher in Kazanlak
Kazanlak
Kazanlak, formerly Kazanlık is a Bulgarian town in Stara Zagora Province, located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan mountain range, at the eastern end of the Rose Valley...
. In 1908, after the Young Turks
Young Turks
The Young Turks , from French: Les Jeunes Turcs) were a coalition of various groups favouring reformation of the administration of the Ottoman Empire. The movement was against the absolute monarchy of the Ottoman Sultan and favoured a re-installation of the short-lived Kanûn-ı Esâsî constitution...
revolution he began working in the Bulgarian secondary school in Thessaloniki again.
In the next few years, Vlahov was politically active as a member of the Ottoman Parliament as a representative from the People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section). After the dissolution of the PFP in 1911, he became a member the Ottoman Socialist Party
Ottoman Socialist Party
The Ottoman Socialist Party was the first Turkish socialist political party founded in the Ottoman Empire in 1910.-First period as Ottoman Socialist Party :...
and in 1912 was elected again as a deputy in the Ottoman Parliament. After the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, Vlachov was a representative of the Kingdom of Bulgaria in high diplomatic and administrative positions in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. After World War I and the reestablishment of IMRO in 1920, Vlahov was elected as alternate member of its Central Committee, representing the left wing. At that time he was sent in Varna
Varna
Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011...
from Todor Alexandrov to establish a contact between IMRO and Soviet Russia
Soviet Russia
Soviet Russia usually refers to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. It may also denote:* Soviet Russia , magazine of the Friends of Soviet Russia in the United States...
. As a messenger served Krastyo Rakovski, his best man and prominent figure of the Comintern. On behalf of IMRO, Vlahov departed in July 1923 to Moscow. So in 1924, IMRO entered negotiations in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
with the Comintern
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
about collaboration between the communists and the Macedonian movement and the creation of a united Macedonian movement. Vlahov helped the subscription of the so-called May Manifesto
May Manifesto
The so-called May Manifesto of May 6, 1924 was a paper in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchies, supporting the Balkan Communist Federation and...
about forming a Balkan Communist Federation
Balkan Communist Federation
The Balkan Federation was a project about the creation of a Balkan federation or confederation, based mainly on left political ideas.The concept of a Balkan federation emerged at the late 19th century from among left political forces in the region...
and cooperation with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. After the subsequent rift between the organization and the Communists, the new leadership headed by Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov , was a Bulgarian revolutionary in Ottoman and interwar Macedonia, and leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization after 1924.-Early years:...
excluded him from the organization and he was sentenced to death. In 1925, he was one of the founders of the IMRO (United) in Vienna. He also became a member of Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
. During the late 1920s, he worked in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
as a Comintern publicist. During this period he was chased by IMRO and against him were organized several failed assassination attempts.
In 1932 a members of IMRO (United), put for the first time the issue of the recognition of a separate Macedonian nation in a lecture in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. The question was also studied in the highest institutions of the Comintern and in the autumn of 1933, Dimitar Vlahov arrived in Moscow and took part in a number of meetings. So on January 11, 1934, the Political Secretariat of the Comintern adopted a special Resolution on the Macedonian Question
Resolution of the Comintern on the Macedonian Question
The resolution of the Comintern of January 11, 1934 was an official policitical document, in which for the first time, an authoritative international organization provides direction for recognizing of the existence of a separate Macedonian nation and Macedonian language.In June 1931 the registrar...
. From 1936 to 1944, Vlahov lived in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and in 1944 he went to the new Yugoslavia with Socialist Republic of Macedonia, where he worked in high state and political positions. However such Macedonian activists, who came from the IMRO (United) and the BCP never managed to get rid of their pro-Bulgarian bias.
In 1948 on a meeting of the Central committee of the Macedonaian Communist Party
League of Communists of Macedonia
League of Communists of Macedonia was the Macedonian branch of the ruling League of Communists of Yugoslavia during the period 1943 – 1990. It was formed under the name Communist Party of Macedonia during the antifascist National Liberation War of Macedonia in the Second World War...
he claimed that the decision by the IMRO (United) from 1932 on the formation of a separate Macedonian ethnicity was a political mistake. Later, he was gradually pushed out of his power positions from the pro-Yugoslav circle around Lazar Kolishevski. Vlahov died in Belgrade in 1953.
External links
- Biography of Dimitar Vlahov, Skopje, 1966, Gustav Vlahov (Macedonian)
- Dimitar Vlahov, Struggle of the Macedonian people for liberation, Vienna 1925 (Bulgarian)