Gotse Delchev
Encyclopedia
Georgi Nikolov Delchev (1872–1903) (Bulgarian
: Георги Николов Делчев; Macedonian
: Ѓорги Николов Делчев, known as Gotse Delchev, also spelled Goce Delčev) was an important revolutionary figure in Ottoman
-ruled Macedonia
and Thrace
at the turn of the 20th century. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today as Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a paramilitary organization active in the Ottoman territories in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
(Kukush), then in the Ottoman Empire (today in Greece
), which was populated predominantly with Macedonian Bulgarians of the Orthodox
and the Uniate faith. Since 1874 Kukush became one of the centers of the Bulgarian Uniat Church, but after 1884, most of its population gradually joined the Bulgarian Exarchate
. As a student Delchev began first to study in the Bulgarian Uniate's primary school and then in the Bulgarian Exarchate's junior high school. He also read widely in the town's chitalishte
, where he was impressed with revolutionary books, and especially Delchev was imbued with the ideas of Bulgarian liberation struggle
. In 1888 his family sent him to the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki
, where he organized and led a secret revolutionary brotherhood. Delchev also distributed revolutionary literature, which he acquired from the school’s graduates who studied in Bulgaria. Graduation from a Bulgarian school was faced with few career prospects and Delchev decided to follow the path of his former school-mate Boris Sarafov
, entering the military school in Sofia
in 1891. He at first encountered the newly independent Bulgaria full of idealism and dedication, but he later became disappointed with the commercialized life of the society and with the authoritarian politics of the dictator Stefan Stambolov
. Gotsе spent his leaves in the company of emigrants from Macedonia. Most of them belonged to the Young Macedonian Literary Society
. One of his friends was Vasil Glavinov
, a leader of the Macedonian-Adrianople faction of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party. Through Glavinov and his comrades, he came into contact with a different people, who offered a new forms of social struggle. In June 1892 Delchev and the journalist Kosta Shahov
, a chairman of the Young Macedonian Literary Society, met in Sofia with the bookseller from Salonica, Ivan Hadzhinikolov
. Hadzhinikolov disclosed on this meeting his plans to create a revolutionary organization in Ottoman Macedonia. They discussed together its basic principles and agreed fully on all scores. Delchev explained, he has no intention of remaining an officer and promised after graduating from the Military School, he will return to Macedonia to join the organization. In the Spring of 1894, only a month before graduation, he was expelled because his political activity as a member of illegal socialist circle. He was given a possibility to enter the Army again through re-applyng for commission, but he refused. Afterwards he returned to European Turkey to work there as a teacher, hoping to organize a national liberation movement through the Bulgarian Exarchate
's educational net.
a revolutionary organization was founded in 1893, by a small band of anti-Ottoman Macedono-Bulgarian revolutionaries, including Hadzhinikolov. At this time the name of the organization was Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC), in 1902 changed to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO). It was decided at a meeting in Resen
in August 1894 to preferably recruit teachers from the Bulgarian schools as committee members. In the Autumn of 1894 Delchev became teacher in an Еxarchate's school in Štip
, where he met another teacher – Dame Gruev
, who was also a leader of the newly established local committee of BMARC. As a result of the close friendship between the two, Delchev joined the organization immediately, and gradually became one of its main leaders. After this, both Gruev and Delchev worked together in Štip and its environs. At the same time the Organization developed quickly and had managed to begin establishing a network of local organizations across Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet, usually centered around the schools of the Bulgarian Exarchate. The expansion of the BMARC at the time was considerable, particularly after Gruev settled in Thessaloniki
during the years 1895–1897, in the quality of a Bulgarian school inspector. Under his direction, Delchev travelled during the vacations throughout Macedonia and established and organized committees in villages and cities. Delchev also established contacts with some of the leaders of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC). Its official declaration was a struggle for autonomy of Macedonia and Thrace. However, as a rule, most of SMAC's leaders were officers with stronger connections with the governments, waging terrorist struggle against the Ottomans in the hope of provoking a war and thus Bulgarian annexation of both areas. He arrived illegally in Bulgaria's capital and tried to get support from the SMAC's leadership. Delchev had a number of meetings with Danail Nikolaev
, Yosif Kovachev, Toma Karayovov, Andrey Lyapchev and others, but he was often frustrated of their views. As a whole, Delchev had a negative attitude towards their activities. After spending the next school year (1895/1896) as a teacher in the town of Bansko
, he participated in the Thessaloniki Congress of BMARC in 1896. Afterwards Delchev gave his resignation as teacher and in 1897 he moved back to Bulgaria, where he, together with Gyorche Petrov, served as a foreign representatives of the organization in Sofia. At that time the organization was largely dependent on the Bulgarian state and army assistance, that was mediated by the foreign representatives.
s) in every district. From 1902 till his death he was the leader of the cheta
s, i.e. the military institute of the Organization because, he had considerable knowledge in the area of military skills. Delchev ensured the functioning of the underground border crossings of the organization and the arms depots added to them, alongside the then Bulgarian-Ottoman border.
His correspondence with other BMARC/SMARO members covers extensive data on supplies, transport and storage of weapons and ammunition in Macedonia. Delchev envisioned independent production of weapons, which resulted in the establishment of a bomb manufacturing plant in the village of Sabler near Kyustendil
in Bulgaria. The bombs were later smuggled across the Ottoman border into Macedonia. Gotse Delchev was the first to organize and lead a band into Macedonia with the purpose of robbing or kidnapping a rich Turks. His experiences demonstrate the weaknesses and difficulties which the Organization faced in its early years. Later he was one of the organizers of the Miss Stone Affair
. He made two short visits to the Adrianople area of Thrace in 1896 and 1898. In the winter of 1900 he resided for a while in Burgas
, where Delchev organized another bomb manufacturing plant, which dynamite was used later by the Thessaloniki bombings. In 1900 he inspected also the BMARC's detachments in Eastern Thrace again, aiming better coordination between Macedonian and Thracian revolutionary committees. Since the Autumn of 1901 till the early Spring of 1902, he made an important inspection in Macedonia, touring all revolutionary districts there. He led also the congress of the Adrianople revolutionary district held in Plovdiv
in April 1902. Afterwards Delchev inspected the BMARC's structures in the Central Rhodopes. The inclusion of the rural areas into the organizational districts contributed to the expansion of the organization and the increase in its membership, while providing the essential prerequisites for the formation of the military power of the organization, at the same time having Delchev as its military advisor (inspector) and chief of all internal revolutionary bands.
After 1897 there was a rapid growth of secret Officer's brotherhoods, whose members by 1900 numbered about a thousand. Much of the Brotherhoods' activists were involved in the revolutionary activity of the BMORK. Among the main supporters of their activities was Gotse Delchev. Delchev aimed also better coordination between BMARC and the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. For a short time in the late 1890s lieutenant Boris Sarafov
, who was former school-mate of Delchev became its leader. At that period the foreign representatives Delchev and Petrov became by rights members of the leadership of the Supreme Committee and so BMARC even managed to gain de facto control of the SMAC. Nevertheless it soon split into two factions: one loyal to the BMARC and one led by some officers close to the Bulgarian prince. Delchev opposed this officers' insistent attempts to gain control over the activity of BMARC. Sometimes SMAC even clashed militarily with local SMARO bands as in the autumn of 1902. Then the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee organized a failed uprising in Pirin Macedonia (Gorna Dzhumaya), which merely served to provoke Ottoman repressions and hampered the work of the underground network of SMARO.
The primary question regarding the timing of the uprising in Macedonia and Thrace implicated an apparent discordance not only among the SMAC and the SMARO, but also among the SMARO's leadership. At the Salonika Congress of January 1903, where Delchev did not participate, an early uprising was debated and it was decided to stage one in the Spring of 1903. This led to fiercing debates among the representatives at the Sofia SMARO's Conference in March 1903. By that time two strong tendecies had crystallized within the SMARO. The right-wing majority was convinced that if the Organization would unleash a general uprising, Bulgaria would be provoced to declare war of the Ottomans and after the subsequent intervention of the Great Powers the Еmpire would collapse. The left-wing faction led by Delchev, on the other hand, warned against the risks of such unrealistic plans, opposing the uprising as inappropriate as tactics and premature by time. Deltchev, who was under the influence of the leading Bulgarian anarchists as Mihail Gerdzhikov
and Varban Kilifarski
personally supported the tactics of permanent terrorist attacks
as the Thessaloniki bombings of 1903. Finally, he had no choice but agree to that course of action at least managing to delay its start from May to August. Delchev also convinced the SMARO leadership to transform its idea of a mass rising involving the civil population into a rising based on guerrilla warfare
. Towards the end of March 1903 Gotse with his detachment destroyed the railway bridge over Angista
river, aiming to test the new guerrilla tactics. Following that he set out for Salonica to meet with Dame Gruev
after his release from prison in March 1903. Dame Gruev met with Delchev in the late April and they discussed the decision of starting the uprising. Afterwards they negotiated with some of the Salonica bombers to ask them to give up the attacks as dangerous to the liberation movement, or at least to wait for the impending uprising. Subsequently Delchev met also with Ivan Garvanov
, who was at that time the leader of the SMARO. After this meetings Delchev headed for Mount Ali Botush where he was expected to meet with representatives from the Seres
Revolutionary District detachments and to check their military preparation. But he never made it.
Meanwhile, on April 28, members of the Gemidzii circle started terrorist attacks in Salonica. As a consequence martial law
was declared in the city and many Turkish soldiers and "bashibozouks" where concentrated in the Salonica Vilayet. This led eventually to the tracking of Delchev's cheta and his subsequent death. He died on May 4, 1903 in a skirmish with the Turkish
police near the village of Banitsa
, probably after betrayal by local villagers, as rumours asserted, while preparing the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
. After being identified by the local authorities in Seres
, the bodies of Delchev and his comrade, Dimitar Gushtanov, were buried in a common grave in Banitsa. Soon afterwards SMARO, aided by SMAC organized the uprising against the Ottomans, which after the initial successes, was crushed with much loss of life. Two of his brothers, Mitso Delchev and Milan Delchev were also killed fighting against the Ottomans as militants in the SMARO cheta
s of the Bulgarian voivodas Hristo Chernopeev
and Krstjo Asenov in 1901 and 1903, respectively. In 1914, with a royal decree of Tsar Ferdinand I, a pension for life was granted to their father Nikola Delchev, because of the merits of his sons to the freedom of Macedonia.
During the Second Balkan War
of 1913, Kilkis, which had been annexed by Bulgaria in the First Balkan War
, was taken by the Greeks. Virtually all of its pre-war 7,000 Bulgarian inhabitants, including Delchev's family, were expelled to Bulgaria by the Greek Army. The same happened to the population of Banitsa
, the village where Delchev was buried. During the First World War, when Bulgaria was temporarily in control of the area, Delchev's remains were transferred to Sofia, where they rested until after the Second World War. During the Second World War, the area was taken by the Bulgarians again and Delchev's grave near Banitsa was restored. Until then Delchev was considered one of the greatest Bulgarians from Macedonia.
After 1944, the Bulgarian policy on the Macedonian Question was changed under Bulgaria's new communist regime, which was committed to the Comintern policy
of supporting the development of a distinct ethnic Macedonian consciousness. Communist Yugoslavia also began to implement the same policy. The region of Macedonia was proclaimed as the connecting link for the establishment of future Balkan Communist Federation
. The newly established Yugoslav
People's Republic of Macedonia, was characterized as a natural result of Delchev's aspirations for autonomous Macedonia. However, initially he was proclaimed by its Communist leader Lazar Koliševski
as: "...one Bulgarian of no significance for the liberation struggles...". But on October 10, 1946, under direct pressure from Moscow, as part of the policy to foster the development of separate Macedonian identity, Delchev's mortal remains were transported to Skopje. On the following day they were enshrined in a marble sarcophagus in the yard of the church "Sveti Spas", where they have remained since.
After the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, Bulgaria gradually shifted to its previous view, that Macedonian Slavs are in fact Bulgarians. Yugoslav authorities, in contrast, exerted efforts to claim Delchev for the Macedonian national cause, and started measures that would overcome the pro-Bulgarian feeling among parts of its population. As a consequence the Bulgarophobia increased in Vardar Macedonia
to the level of state ideology. Aiming to enforce the belief Delchev was an ethnic Macedonian, all documents written by him in standard Bulgarian
were translated into the standartized in 1945 Macedonian language
, and presented as originals. The new rendition of history reappraised the 1903 Ilinden Uprising as an anti-Bulgarian revolt. The past was systematycally falsified to conceal the truth, that most of the well-known Macedonians had felt themselves to be Bulgarians. As a result, Delchev was declared an ethnic Macedonian hero, and Macedonian school textbooks began even to hint at Bulgarian complicity in his death.
Despite this problematic efforts of the post-1945 Yugoslav historigraphy to represent Delchev as ethnic Macedonian separatist, if he was still alive in SFRY during the late 1940s, probably he would have finished up in an internment camp, as other former IMRO activists of that time. In the People's Republic of Bulgaria the situation was more complex, and before 1960 Delchev was given mostly regional recognition in Pirin Macedonia. Afterwards orders from the highest political level were given to incorporate the Macedonian revolutionary movement again in the Bulgarian history, and to prove the Bulgarian credentials of its historical leaders.
The international, cosmopolitan
views of Delchev could be summarized in his proverbial sentence: "I understand the world solely as a field for cultural competition among the peoples". In the late 19th century the anarchists and socialists from Bulgaria linked their struggle closely with the revolutionary movements in Macedonia and Thrace. Thus, as a young cadet in Sofia Delchev became a member of a left circle, where he was strongly influenced by the modern than Marxist and Bakunin's ideas. His views were formed also under the influence of the ideas of earlier anti-Ottoman fighters as Levski
, Botev
and Zahari Stoyanov
, who were among the founders of the pro-Bulgrarian Internal Revolutionary Organization, the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee
and the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee, respectively. Later he participated in the Internal organization's struggle and as well educated leader, became one of its theoreticians and co-author of the BMARC's statute from 1896.
Developing his ideas further in 1902 he took the step, together with other left functionaries, of changing its nationalistic character, which determined that members of the organization can be only Bulgarians. The new supra-nationalistic statute renamed it to Secret Macedono-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization (SMARO), which was to be an insurgent organization, open to all Macedonians and Thracians regardless of nationality, who wished to participate in the movement for their autonomy. This scenario was partially facilitated by the Treaty of Berlin (1878), according to which Macedonia and Adrianople areas were given back from Bulgaria to the Ottomans, but especially by its unrealized 23rd. article, which promised future autonomy for unspecified territories in European Turkey
, settled with Christian population.
In general, an autonomous status was presumed to imply a special kind of constitution of the region, a reorganization of gendarmerie, broader representation of the local Christian population in it as well as in all the administration, similarly to what happened in the short-lived Eastern Rumelia
. However, there was not a clear political agenda behind IMRO's idea about autonomy and its final outcome, after the expected dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
. Delcev, like other left-wing activists, vaguely determined the bonds in the future common Macedonian-Adrianopolitan autonomous region on the one hand, and on the other between it, the Principality of Bulgaria, and de facto annexed Eastern Rumelia. Even the possibility that Bulgaria could be absorbed into a future autonomous Macedonia, rather than the reverse, was discussed. It is claimed that the personal view of the convinced republican Delchev, was much more likely to see inclusion in a future Balkan Confederative Republic
, or eventually an incorporation into Bulgaria. The both ideas were probably influenced by the views of the founders of the organization.
The ideas of a separate Macedonian nation and language were as yet promoted only by small circles of intellectuals in Delchev's time, and failed to gain wide popular support. As a whole the idea of autonomy was strictly political and did not imply a secession from Bulgarian ethnicity. In fact, for militants such as Delchev and other leftists, that participated in the national movement retaining a political outlook, national liberation meant "radical political liberation through shaking off the social shackles". There aren't any indications suggesting his doubt about the Bulgarian ethnic character of the Macedonian Slavs at that time. Delchev also used the Bulgarian standard language, and he was in any way interested in the creation of separate Macedonian language. The Bulgarian ethnic self-identification of Delchev has been recognized аs from leading international researchers of the Macedonian Question, as well as from the Macedonian historical scholarship, although reluctantly.
However, despite his Bulgarian loyalty, he was against any chauvinistic propaganda and nationalism. According to him, no outside force could or would help the Organization and it ought to rely only upon itself and only upon its own will and strength. He thoutht that any intervention by Bulgaria would provoke intervention by the neighbouring states as well, and could result in Macedonia and Thrace being torn apart. That is why the peoples inhabited these two regions had themselves, to win their own freedom, within the frontiers of an autonomous Macedonian-Adrianople state.
in Bulgaria and Delčevo
in the Republic of Macedonia. There are also two peaks named after Delchev: Gotsev Vrah, the summit of Slavyanka Mountain, and Delchev Vrah or Delchev Peak
on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands
in Antarctica. Delchev Ridge
on Livingston Island bears also his name. The University of Štip
in the Republic of Macedonia carries his name too.
During the post-Informbiro period, there have been also long going unproductive debates between parties in Bulgaria and the SFRY about the ethnic affiliation of Delchev. After the breakup of Yugoslavia and the fall of Communism, some attempts were made from Bulgarian officials for joint celebration with the Republic of Macedonia
, of the common IMRO heroes, e.g. Delchev, but they all were rejected as politically unacceptable.
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
: Георги Николов Делчев; Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
: Ѓорги Николов Делчев, known as Gotse Delchev, also spelled Goce Delčev) was an important revolutionary figure in 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...
-ruled Macedonia
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 Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
at the turn of the 20th century. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today as Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a paramilitary organization active in the Ottoman territories in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
Biography
Early life
He was born in a large family on February 4, 1872 in KilkisKilkis
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...
(Kukush), then in the Ottoman Empire (today in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
), which was populated predominantly with Macedonian Bulgarians of the Orthodox
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
and the Uniate faith. Since 1874 Kukush became one of the centers of the Bulgarian Uniat Church, but after 1884, most of its population gradually joined the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
. As a student Delchev began first to study in the Bulgarian Uniate's primary school and then in the Bulgarian Exarchate's junior high school. He also read widely in the town's chitalishte
Chitalishte
A chitalishte is a typical Bulgarian public institution and building which fulfils several functions at once, such as a community centre, library and a theatre. It is also used as an educational institution, where people of all ages can enroll in foreign language, dance, music and other courses....
, where he was impressed with revolutionary books, and especially Delchev was imbued with the ideas of Bulgarian liberation struggle
Liberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
. In 1888 his family sent him to 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 organized and led a secret revolutionary brotherhood. Delchev also distributed revolutionary literature, which he acquired from the school’s graduates who studied in Bulgaria. Graduation from a Bulgarian school was faced with few career prospects and Delchev decided to follow the path of his former school-mate Boris Sarafov
Boris Sarafov
Boris Petrov Sarafov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia, one of the leaders of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization...
, entering the military 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...
in 1891. He at first encountered the newly independent Bulgaria full of idealism and dedication, but he later became disappointed with the commercialized life of the society and with the authoritarian politics of the dictator Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Stambolov
Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is considered one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria", and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck".- Early years :Stambolov was born in Veliko Tarnovo...
. Gotsе spent his leaves in the company of emigrants from Macedonia. Most of them belonged to the Young Macedonian Literary Society
Young Macedonian Literary Society
The Young Macedonian Literary Society was founded in 1891 in Sofia together with its magazine Loza. The purpose of the society was twofold: the official one was primarily scholarly and literary. One of the purposes of the magazine of Young Macedonian Literary Society was to defend the idea the...
. One of his friends was Vasil Glavinov
Vasil Glavinov
Vasil Kostov Glavinov was a Bulgarian socialist from Ottoman Macedonia, a member of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party. He is considered a Macedonian in the Republic of Macedonia.Glavinov worked in his native Veles before moving to Sofia in 1887...
, a leader of the Macedonian-Adrianople faction of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party. Through Glavinov and his comrades, he came into contact with a different people, who offered a new forms of social struggle. In June 1892 Delchev and the journalist Kosta Shahov
Kosta Shahov
Kosta S. Shahov was a Bulgarian public figure, journalist, activist of the Young Macedonian Literary Society and the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee....
, a chairman of the Young Macedonian Literary Society, met in Sofia with the bookseller from Salonica, Ivan Hadzhinikolov
Ivan Hadzhinikolov
Ivan Hadzhinikolov was a Bulgarian revolutionary from Macedonia, leader of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Eastern and Western Thrace...
. Hadzhinikolov disclosed on this meeting his plans to create a revolutionary organization in Ottoman Macedonia. They discussed together its basic principles and agreed fully on all scores. Delchev explained, he has no intention of remaining an officer and promised after graduating from the Military School, he will return to Macedonia to join the organization. In the Spring of 1894, only a month before graduation, he was expelled because his political activity as a member of illegal socialist circle. He was given a possibility to enter the Army again through re-applyng for commission, but he refused. Afterwards he returned to European Turkey to work there as a teacher, hoping to organize a national liberation movement through the Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
's educational net.
Teacher and revolutionist
Meanwhile in Ottoman ThessalonikiThessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
a revolutionary organization was founded in 1893, by a small band of anti-Ottoman Macedono-Bulgarian revolutionaries, including Hadzhinikolov. At this time the name of the organization was Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC), in 1902 changed to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO). It was decided at a meeting in Resen
Resen
Resen was, according to Genesis 10:11, a city founded by Asshur son of Shem.Resen is stated, according to Genesis 10:12, to have been located between Nineveh and Calah and became a great city. Its exact location is today unclear. According to Genesis, it is within the vicinity of ancient Assyria,...
in August 1894 to preferably recruit teachers from the Bulgarian schools as committee members. In the Autumn of 1894 Delchev became teacher in an Еxarchate's school in Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
, where he met another teacher – Dame Gruev
Dame Gruev
Damyan Yovanov Gruev or Damjan Jovanov Gruev, often known by his short name Dame Gruev, was an insurgent leader in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace...
, who was also a leader of the newly established local committee of BMARC. As a result of the close friendship between the two, Delchev joined the organization immediately, and gradually became one of its main leaders. After this, both Gruev and Delchev worked together in Štip and its environs. At the same time the Organization developed quickly and had managed to begin establishing a network of local organizations across Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet, usually centered around the schools of the Bulgarian Exarchate. The expansion of the BMARC at the time was considerable, particularly after Gruev settled in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
during the years 1895–1897, in the quality of a Bulgarian school inspector. Under his direction, Delchev travelled during the vacations throughout Macedonia and established and organized committees in villages and cities. Delchev also established contacts with some of the leaders of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC). Its official declaration was a struggle for autonomy of Macedonia and Thrace. However, as a rule, most of SMAC's leaders were officers with stronger connections with the governments, waging terrorist struggle against the Ottomans in the hope of provoking a war and thus Bulgarian annexation of both areas. He arrived illegally in Bulgaria's capital and tried to get support from the SMAC's leadership. Delchev had a number of meetings with Danail Nikolaev
Danail Nikolaev
Danail Tsonev Nikolaev , was a Bulgarian officer and Minister of War on the eve of the Balkan wars. He was the first person to attain the highest rank in the Bulgarian military, General of the infantry...
, Yosif Kovachev, Toma Karayovov, Andrey Lyapchev and others, but he was often frustrated of their views. As a whole, Delchev had a negative attitude towards their activities. After spending the next school year (1895/1896) as a teacher in the town of Bansko
Bansko
Bansko is a town and a popular ski resort in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Pirin Mountains at an elevation of 925 m above sea level....
, he participated in the Thessaloniki Congress of BMARC in 1896. Afterwards Delchev gave his resignation as teacher and in 1897 he moved back to Bulgaria, where he, together with Gyorche Petrov, served as a foreign representatives of the organization in Sofia. At that time the organization was largely dependent on the Bulgarian state and army assistance, that was mediated by the foreign representatives.
Revolutionary activity as a part of the leadership of the Organization
Delchev's involvement in BMARC was an important moment in the history of the Macedonian-Adrianople liberation movement. The years between the end of 1896, when he left the Exarchate's educational system and 1903 when he died, represented the final and most effective revolutionary phase of his short life. In the period 1897–1902 he was a representative of the Foreign Committee of the BMARC in Sofia. Again in Sofia, negotiating with suspicious politicians and arms merchants, Delchev saw more of the unpleasant face of the Principality, and became even more disillusioned with its political system. In 1897 he, along with Gyorche Petrov, wrote the new organization's statute, which divided Macedonia and Adrianople areas into seven regions, each with a regional structure and secret police, following the Internal Revolutionary Organization's example. Below the regional committees were districts. The Central committee was placed in Salonica. In 1898 Delchev decided to be created a permanent acting armed bands (chetaCheta
Cheta was an armed band, organized by the Christian population on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, aiming at anti-Turkish activity. The cheta was usually led by a leader, called voivoda. The members of the chetas were called chetnik....
s) in every district. From 1902 till his death he was the leader of the cheta
Cheta
Cheta was an armed band, organized by the Christian population on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, aiming at anti-Turkish activity. The cheta was usually led by a leader, called voivoda. The members of the chetas were called chetnik....
s, i.e. the military institute of the Organization because, he had considerable knowledge in the area of military skills. Delchev ensured the functioning of the underground border crossings of the organization and the arms depots added to them, alongside the then Bulgarian-Ottoman border.
His correspondence with other BMARC/SMARO members covers extensive data on supplies, transport and storage of weapons and ammunition in Macedonia. Delchev envisioned independent production of weapons, which resulted in the establishment of a bomb manufacturing plant in the village of Sabler near Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...
in Bulgaria. The bombs were later smuggled across the Ottoman border into Macedonia. Gotse Delchev was the first to organize and lead a band into Macedonia with the purpose of robbing or kidnapping a rich Turks. His experiences demonstrate the weaknesses and difficulties which the Organization faced in its early years. Later he was one of the organizers of the Miss Stone Affair
Miss Stone Affair
The Miss Stone Affair was the kidnapping of American Protestant missionary Ellen Maria Stone and her pregnant friend Katerina Stefanova–Tsilka by an IMORO detachment led by the voivoda Yane Sandanski and the sub-voivodas Hristo Chernopeev and Krǎstyo Asenov on 21 August 1901. The two women were...
. He made two short visits to the Adrianople area of Thrace in 1896 and 1898. In the winter of 1900 he resided for a while in Burgas
Burgas
-History:During the rule of the Ancient Romans, near Burgas, Debeltum was established as a military colony for veterans by Vespasian. In the Middle Ages, a small fortress called Pyrgos was erected where Burgas is today and was most probably used as a watchtower...
, where Delchev organized another bomb manufacturing plant, which dynamite was used later by the Thessaloniki bombings. In 1900 he inspected also the BMARC's detachments in Eastern Thrace again, aiming better coordination between Macedonian and Thracian revolutionary committees. Since the Autumn of 1901 till the early Spring of 1902, he made an important inspection in Macedonia, touring all revolutionary districts there. He led also the congress of the Adrianople revolutionary district held in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
in April 1902. Afterwards Delchev inspected the BMARC's structures in the Central Rhodopes. The inclusion of the rural areas into the organizational districts contributed to the expansion of the organization and the increase in its membership, while providing the essential prerequisites for the formation of the military power of the organization, at the same time having Delchev as its military advisor (inspector) and chief of all internal revolutionary bands.
After 1897 there was a rapid growth of secret Officer's brotherhoods, whose members by 1900 numbered about a thousand. Much of the Brotherhoods' activists were involved in the revolutionary activity of the BMORK. Among the main supporters of their activities was Gotse Delchev. Delchev aimed also better coordination between BMARC and the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee. For a short time in the late 1890s lieutenant Boris Sarafov
Boris Sarafov
Boris Petrov Sarafov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia, one of the leaders of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization...
, who was former school-mate of Delchev became its leader. At that period the foreign representatives Delchev and Petrov became by rights members of the leadership of the Supreme Committee and so BMARC even managed to gain de facto control of the SMAC. Nevertheless it soon split into two factions: one loyal to the BMARC and one led by some officers close to the Bulgarian prince. Delchev opposed this officers' insistent attempts to gain control over the activity of BMARC. Sometimes SMAC even clashed militarily with local SMARO bands as in the autumn of 1902. Then the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee organized a failed uprising in Pirin Macedonia (Gorna Dzhumaya), which merely served to provoke Ottoman repressions and hampered the work of the underground network of SMARO.
The primary question regarding the timing of the uprising in Macedonia and Thrace implicated an apparent discordance not only among the SMAC and the SMARO, but also among the SMARO's leadership. At the Salonika Congress of January 1903, where Delchev did not participate, an early uprising was debated and it was decided to stage one in the Spring of 1903. This led to fiercing debates among the representatives at the Sofia SMARO's Conference in March 1903. By that time two strong tendecies had crystallized within the SMARO. The right-wing majority was convinced that if the Organization would unleash a general uprising, Bulgaria would be provoced to declare war of the Ottomans and after the subsequent intervention of the Great Powers the Еmpire would collapse. The left-wing faction led by Delchev, on the other hand, warned against the risks of such unrealistic plans, opposing the uprising as inappropriate as tactics and premature by time. Deltchev, who was under the influence of the leading Bulgarian anarchists as Mihail Gerdzhikov
Mihail Gerdzhikov
Mihail Gerdzhikov was born in Plovdiv, then in the Ottoman Empire, in 1877. He studied at the French College, where he received the nickname Michelle. As a student in 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as the leader of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee...
and Varban Kilifarski
Varban Kilifarski
Varban Kilifarski was born in Harsovo, Bulgaria in 1879. He studied at the gymnazium in Razgrad. Of bourgeois origin, he discovered very young the anarchistic ideas. In 1893 he started his revolutionary activities as a member of a Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee...
personally supported the tactics of permanent terrorist attacks
Permanent Revolution
Permanent revolution is a term within Marxist theory, established in usage by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels by at least 1850 but which has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. The use of the term by different theorists is not identical...
as the Thessaloniki bombings of 1903. Finally, he had no choice but agree to that course of action at least managing to delay its start from May to August. Delchev also convinced the SMARO leadership to transform its idea of a mass rising involving the civil population into a rising based on guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. Towards the end of March 1903 Gotse with his detachment destroyed the railway bridge over Angista
Aggitis
Aggitis River , also known as Angista or Angitis is a tributary of the River Strymonas.It is located in Northern Greece, in the prefectures of Serres and Drama. River Aggitis is 75 km long and it is considered to be an important tributary of the Strymonas. The river is the setting for a number...
river, aiming to test the new guerrilla tactics. Following that he set out for Salonica to meet with Dame Gruev
Dame Gruev
Damyan Yovanov Gruev or Damjan Jovanov Gruev, often known by his short name Dame Gruev, was an insurgent leader in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace...
after his release from prison in March 1903. Dame Gruev met with Delchev in the late April and they discussed the decision of starting the uprising. Afterwards they negotiated with some of the Salonica bombers to ask them to give up the attacks as dangerous to the liberation movement, or at least to wait for the impending uprising. Subsequently Delchev met also with Ivan Garvanov
Ivan Garvanov
Ivan Garvanov was a Bulgarian revolutionary and leader of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Brotherhood and later of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees...
, who was at that time the leader of the SMARO. After this meetings Delchev headed for Mount Ali Botush where he was expected to meet with representatives from the Seres
Seres
Seres was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the inhabitants of eastern Central Asia. It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
Revolutionary District detachments and to check their military preparation. But he never made it.
Death and aftermath
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
was declared in the city and many Turkish soldiers and "bashibozouks" where concentrated in the Salonica Vilayet. This led eventually to the tracking of Delchev's cheta and his subsequent death. He died on May 4, 1903 in a skirmish with the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
police near the village of Banitsa
Banitsa (ruins)
Banitsa is a deserted former village in Serres prefecture, northern Greece. Its ruins are situated some 15 km north-east of the town of Serres, near the present-day village of Orini, on the southern slopes of the Vrontous mountains. During the Ottoman period it had a Bulgarian population...
, probably after betrayal by local villagers, as rumours asserted, while preparing the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August 1903 |Macedonia]] affected most of the central and southwestern parts of the Monastir Vilayet receiving the support mainly of the local Bulgarian peasants and to some extent of the Aromanian population of the region...
. After being identified by the local authorities in Seres
Seres
Seres was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the inhabitants of eastern Central Asia. It meant "of silk," or people of the "land where silk comes from." The country of the Seres was Serica....
, the bodies of Delchev and his comrade, Dimitar Gushtanov, were buried in a common grave in Banitsa. Soon afterwards SMARO, aided by SMAC organized the uprising against the Ottomans, which after the initial successes, was crushed with much loss of life. Two of his brothers, Mitso Delchev and Milan Delchev were also killed fighting against the Ottomans as militants in the SMARO cheta
Cheta
Cheta was an armed band, organized by the Christian population on the territory of the Ottoman Empire, aiming at anti-Turkish activity. The cheta was usually led by a leader, called voivoda. The members of the chetas were called chetnik....
s of the Bulgarian voivodas Hristo Chernopeev
Hristo Chernopeev
Hristo Chernopeev was a Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia...
and Krstjo Asenov in 1901 and 1903, respectively. In 1914, with a royal decree of Tsar Ferdinand I, a pension for life was granted to their father Nikola Delchev, because of the merits of his sons to the freedom of Macedonia.
During the Second Balkan War
Second Balkan War
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 29 June 1913. Bulgaria had a prewar agreement about the division of region of Macedonia...
of 1913, Kilkis, which had been annexed by Bulgaria in the First Balkan War
First Balkan War
The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...
, was taken by the Greeks. Virtually all of its pre-war 7,000 Bulgarian inhabitants, including Delchev's family, were expelled to Bulgaria by the Greek Army. The same happened to the population of Banitsa
Banitsa (ruins)
Banitsa is a deserted former village in Serres prefecture, northern Greece. Its ruins are situated some 15 km north-east of the town of Serres, near the present-day village of Orini, on the southern slopes of the Vrontous mountains. During the Ottoman period it had a Bulgarian population...
, the village where Delchev was buried. During the First World War, when Bulgaria was temporarily in control of the area, Delchev's remains were transferred to Sofia, where they rested until after the Second World War. During the Second World War, the area was taken by the Bulgarians again and Delchev's grave near Banitsa was restored. Until then Delchev was considered one of the greatest Bulgarians from Macedonia.
After 1944, the Bulgarian policy on the Macedonian Question was changed under Bulgaria's new communist regime, which was committed to the Comintern policy
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...
of supporting the development of a distinct ethnic Macedonian consciousness. Communist Yugoslavia also began to implement the same policy. The region of Macedonia was proclaimed as the connecting link for the establishment of future 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...
. The newly established Yugoslav
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
People's Republic of Macedonia, was characterized as a natural result of Delchev's aspirations for autonomous Macedonia. However, initially he was proclaimed by its Communist leader Lazar Koliševski
Lazar Koliševski
Lazar Koliševski was a Communist political leader in Socialist Republic of Macedonia and briefly the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia closely allied with Tito.- Early years :...
as: "...one Bulgarian of no significance for the liberation struggles...". But on October 10, 1946, under direct pressure from Moscow, as part of the policy to foster the development of separate Macedonian identity, Delchev's mortal remains were transported to Skopje. On the following day they were enshrined in a marble sarcophagus in the yard of the church "Sveti Spas", where they have remained since.
After the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, Bulgaria gradually shifted to its previous view, that Macedonian Slavs are in fact Bulgarians. Yugoslav authorities, in contrast, exerted efforts to claim Delchev for the Macedonian national cause, and started measures that would overcome the pro-Bulgarian feeling among parts of its population. As a consequence the Bulgarophobia increased in Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
to the level of state ideology. Aiming to enforce the belief Delchev was an ethnic Macedonian, all documents written by him in standard Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
were translated into the standartized in 1945 Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
, and presented as originals. The new rendition of history reappraised the 1903 Ilinden Uprising as an anti-Bulgarian revolt. The past was systematycally falsified to conceal the truth, that most of the well-known Macedonians had felt themselves to be Bulgarians. As a result, Delchev was declared an ethnic Macedonian hero, and Macedonian school textbooks began even to hint at Bulgarian complicity in his death.
Despite this problematic efforts of the post-1945 Yugoslav historigraphy to represent Delchev as ethnic Macedonian separatist, if he was still alive in SFRY during the late 1940s, probably he would have finished up in an internment camp, as other former IMRO activists of that time. In the People's Republic of Bulgaria the situation was more complex, and before 1960 Delchev was given mostly regional recognition in Pirin Macedonia. Afterwards orders from the highest political level were given to incorporate the Macedonian revolutionary movement again in the Bulgarian history, and to prove the Bulgarian credentials of its historical leaders.
Delchev's views
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. This is contrasted with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism...
views of Delchev could be summarized in his proverbial sentence: "I understand the world solely as a field for cultural competition among the peoples". In the late 19th century the anarchists and socialists from Bulgaria linked their struggle closely with the revolutionary movements in Macedonia and Thrace. Thus, as a young cadet in Sofia Delchev became a member of a left circle, where he was strongly influenced by the modern than Marxist and Bakunin's ideas. His views were formed also under the influence of the ideas of earlier anti-Ottoman fighters as Levski
Vasil Levski
Vasil Levski, born Vasil Ivanov Kunchev, , is a Bulgarian revolutionary and a national hero of Bulgaria. Dubbed the Apostle of Freedom, Levski ideologised and strategised a revolutionary movement to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule...
, Botev
Botev
-Places:* Botevgrad* Botev Peak, the highest peak of the Balkan mountains* Botev Point-Sports:* FC Botev Vratsa, Bulgarian soccer club* PFC Botev Plovdiv, a soccer club from Plovdiv* Botev Krivodol, Bulgarian soccer club...
and Zahari Stoyanov
Zahari Stoyanov
Zahari Stoyanov , born Dzhendo Stoyanov Dzhedev , was a Bulgarian revolutionary, writer, and historian. A participant in the April Uprising of 1876, he became its first historiographer with his book Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings...
, who were among the founders of the pro-Bulgrarian Internal Revolutionary Organization, the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee
Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee
The Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee or BRCK was a Bulgarian revolutionary organisation founded in 1869 among the Bulgarian emigrant circles in Romania. The decisive influence for the establishment of the committee was exerted by the Svoboda newspaper which Lyuben Karavelov began to...
and the Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee, respectively. Later he participated in the Internal organization's struggle and as well educated leader, became one of its theoreticians and co-author of the BMARC's statute from 1896.
Developing his ideas further in 1902 he took the step, together with other left functionaries, of changing its nationalistic character, which determined that members of the organization can be only Bulgarians. The new supra-nationalistic statute renamed it to Secret Macedono-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization (SMARO), which was to be an insurgent organization, open to all Macedonians and Thracians regardless of nationality, who wished to participate in the movement for their autonomy. This scenario was partially facilitated by the Treaty of Berlin (1878), according to which Macedonia and Adrianople areas were given back from Bulgaria to the Ottomans, but especially by its unrealized 23rd. article, which promised future autonomy for unspecified territories in European Turkey
European Turkey
European Turkey may refer to:*Eastern Thrace, the European portion of Turkey*Rumelia, the historical Ottoman territories in Europe*the suggested Accession of Turkey to the European Union...
, settled with Christian population.
In general, an autonomous status was presumed to imply a special kind of constitution of the region, a reorganization of gendarmerie, broader representation of the local Christian population in it as well as in all the administration, similarly to what happened in the short-lived Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia
Eastern Rumelia or Eastern Roumelia was an administratively autonomous province in the Ottoman Empire and Principality of Bulgaria from 1878 to 1908. It was under full Bulgarian control from 1885 on, when it willingly united with the tributary Principality of Bulgaria after a bloodless revolution...
. However, there was not a clear political agenda behind IMRO's idea about autonomy and its final outcome, after the expected dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire
The Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire included the watershed events of the Young Turk Revolution and the establishment of the Second Constitutional Era, and ended with the Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire by the victorious sides of World War I.- Establishment of the Second Constitutional Era, 24...
. Delcev, like other left-wing activists, vaguely determined the bonds in the future common Macedonian-Adrianopolitan autonomous region on the one hand, and on the other between it, the Principality of Bulgaria, and de facto annexed Eastern Rumelia. Even the possibility that Bulgaria could be absorbed into a future autonomous Macedonia, rather than the reverse, was discussed. It is claimed that the personal view of the convinced republican Delchev, was much more likely to see inclusion in a future Balkan Confederative Republic
Balkan 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...
, or eventually an incorporation into Bulgaria. The both ideas were probably influenced by the views of the founders of the organization.
The ideas of a separate Macedonian nation and language were as yet promoted only by small circles of intellectuals in Delchev's time, and failed to gain wide popular support. As a whole the idea of autonomy was strictly political and did not imply a secession from Bulgarian ethnicity. In fact, for militants such as Delchev and other leftists, that participated in the national movement retaining a political outlook, national liberation meant "radical political liberation through shaking off the social shackles". There aren't any indications suggesting his doubt about the Bulgarian ethnic character of the Macedonian Slavs at that time. Delchev also used the Bulgarian standard language, and he was in any way interested in the creation of separate Macedonian language. The Bulgarian ethnic self-identification of Delchev has been recognized аs from leading international researchers of the Macedonian Question, as well as from the Macedonian historical scholarship, although reluctantly.
However, despite his Bulgarian loyalty, he was against any chauvinistic propaganda and nationalism. According to him, no outside force could or would help the Organization and it ought to rely only upon itself and only upon its own will and strength. He thoutht that any intervention by Bulgaria would provoke intervention by the neighbouring states as well, and could result in Macedonia and Thrace being torn apart. That is why the peoples inhabited these two regions had themselves, to win their own freedom, within the frontiers of an autonomous Macedonian-Adrianople state.
Delchev's legacy and controversy
Delchev is today regarded both in Bulgaria and in the Republic of Macedonia as an important national hero, and both nations see him as part of their own national history. His memory is honoured especially in the Bulgarian parts of Macedonia and among the descendants of Bulgarian refugees from other parts of the region, where he is regarded as the most important revolutionary from the second generation of freedom fighters. His name appears also in the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia – "Denes nad Makedonija". There are two towns named in his honour: Gotse DelchevGotse Delchev (town)
Gotse Delchev , is a town in Blagoevgrad Province of Bulgaria with a population of 23,573.In 1951 the town was renamed after the Bulgarian revolutionary Georgi Nikolov Delchev. It had hitherto been called Nevrokop ....
in Bulgaria and Delčevo
Delcevo
Delčevo is a small town in the eastern mountainous part of the Republic of Macedonia. It is the municipal seat of the eponymous municipality. The town is named after revolutionary Goce Delčev.-Demographics:Delčevo has 11,500 residents....
in the Republic of Macedonia. There are also two peaks named after Delchev: Gotsev Vrah, the summit of Slavyanka Mountain, and Delchev Vrah or Delchev Peak
Delchev Peak
Delchev Peak is the summit of Delchev Ridge, Tangra Mountains, Livingston Island and rises to approximately 940 m. The peak surmounts Iskar Glacier to the west, Sopot Ice Piedmont to the north, and Ropotamo Glacier to the south...
on Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
in Antarctica. Delchev Ridge
Delchev Ridge
Delchev Ridge is the eastern ridge of the Tangra Mountains, Livingston Island and extends 10 km east-northeastward from Devin Saddle to Renier Point. The ridge is named in association with Delchev Peak.-Location:...
on Livingston Island bears also his name. The University of Štip
Goce Delcev University of Štip
The Goce Delčev University of Štip is a state university in Macedonia. It was founded on 27 March 2007 by the Assembly of Macedonia as the fourth state university. Its headquarters are in Štip...
in the Republic of Macedonia carries his name too.
During the post-Informbiro period, there have been also long going unproductive debates between parties in Bulgaria and the SFRY about the ethnic affiliation of Delchev. After the breakup of Yugoslavia and the fall of Communism, some attempts were made from Bulgarian officials for joint celebration with 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...
, of the common IMRO heroes, e.g. Delchev, but they all were rejected as politically unacceptable.
See also
- Macedonian nationalismMacedonian nationalismMacedonian nationalism is a term referring to the ethnic Macedonian version of nationalism.-Late 19th century beginning:The development of the Macedonian ethnicity can be said to have begun in the late 19th and early 20th century. This is the time of the first expressions of ethnic nationalism by...