Ustavmakodr.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Excerpt from the statute of BMARC, 1896 (in Bulgarian)

Statute of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees

Chapter I. - Goal
Art. 1. The goal of BMARC is to secure full political autonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions
Art. 2. To achieve this goal they committees shall raise the awareness of self-defense in the Bulgarian population in the regions mentioned in Art. 1., disseminate revolutionary ideas - printed or verbal, and prepare and carry on a general uprising

Chapter II. - Structure and Organization
Art. 3. A member of BMARC can be any Bulgarian, independent of gender,... ]]

Ustav20VMORO.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Excerpt from the statute of IMARO, 1906 (in Bulgarian)

Statute of Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (amended at the general congress in 1906)

Chapter I. - Goal
Art. 1. - The goal of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization is to unite any and all dissatisfied elements in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilyaet without regard to their nationality so that political autonomy can be gained for these two regions.
Art. 2. The Organization opposes any other country's intensions to divide and conquer these two regions.

Chapter II. - Means
''Art. 3. To achieve this goal, the Organization aims to abolish chauvinist propaganda and nationalistic disputes, which split and weaken... ]]

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (in Bulgarian: Vatreshna Makedonska Revolyutsionna Organizatsiya, Вътрешна македонска революционна организация, in Macedonian: Vnatrešna Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija, Внатрешна Македонска Револуционерна Организација, ВМРО), commonly known in English as IMRO, was the name of a revolutionary political organization in the Macedonia and Thrace regions of the Ottoman Empire, as well as in Bulgaria, and after 1913 in the Macedonian regions of Greece and Yugoslavia. The organization has changed its name on several occasions. (see below) In the 1990s it was revived as a nationalist political party in both the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria.

Origins and struggle against the Ottomans

The organization was founded in 1893 most likely in Ottoman-occupied Thessaloniki (according to other sources, in Resen or Stip) by a group of Bulgarian revolutionaries led by Hristo Tatarchev, Dame Gruev, Petar Pop-Arsov, Andon Dimitrov, Hristo Batandzhiev and Ivan Hadzhinikolov. Its first name after Hristo Tatarchev's "Memoirs" was Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO). According to him the first tactical aim of the organization was political autonomy: "We talked a long time about the goal of this organization and at last we fixed it on autonomy of Macedonia with the priority of the Bulgarian element. We couldn't accept the position for "direct joining to Bulgaria" because we saw that it would meet big difficulties by reason of confrontation of the Great powers and the aspirations of the neighbouring small countries and Turkey. It passed through our thoughts that one autonomous Macedonia could easier unite with Bulgaria subsequently and if the worst comes to the worst, that it could play a role as a unificating link of a federation of Balkan people. The region of Adrianople, as far as I remember, didn't take part in our program, and I think the idea to add it to the autonomous Macedonia came later.". In 1896 this first and probably "unofficial" name was changed to Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC) ; later it was changed to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (1902) and to Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (1906). After disbanding itself during the Bulgarian occupation of Macedonia (1915-1918), the organization was revived in 1920 under the name Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, under which it is generally known today.

The stated goal of the original Committee was to unite all elements dissatisfied with the Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet, eventually obtaining political autonomy for the two regions. In this task the organisation hoped to enlist the support of the local Vlachs, Greeks and even Turks. Efforts were concentrated on moral propaganda and the prospect of rebellion and terrorist actions seemed distant. The organization developed quickly: only in a matter of a few years, the Committee had managed to establish a wide network of local organisations across Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet. These usually centered around the schools of the Bulgarian Exarchate and had as leaders local or Bulgarian-born teachers.

The initial period of idealism for IMRO ended, however, with the Vinitsa Affair and the discovery by the Ottoman police of a secret depot of ammunition near the Bulgarian border in 1897. The wide-scale repressions against the activists of the Committee led to its transformation into a militant guerilla organization, which engaged into attacks against Ottoman officials and punitive actions against suspected traitors. The launch of pro-Serbian and pro-Greek guerilla detachments into Macedonia Macedonia at the end of the 19th century contributed additionally to its establishment as a nationalistic organisation.

Although IMRO was pro-Bulgarian since its establishment, it split up early into two major fractions. The autonomists favoured the idea of an autonomous Macedonia whereas the supremacists resorted to terrorism against the Ottomans and the kidnapping of foreigners in the hope of provoking a war and thus Bulgarian annexation of Macedonia. In 1902 the undisputed leader of the organization, Goce Delchev, was killed in an accident. In 1903 they organised the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottomans in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet, which was crushed with much loss of life, including the life of Delchev, who had actually opposed the rising as premature.

The failure of the 1903 insurrection resulted in the dispersal of the autonomy seeking, left-wing faction of IMRO and it becoming largely an agent of Bulgarian expansionism. Armed groups sponsored by all three neighboring states fought the Ottomans and each other, and the Ottomans took reprisals. The resulting turmoil played a large part in provoking the Balkan Wars which broke out in 1912.

The result of the Balkan Wars was that the Macedonian region was partitioned between Bulgaria, Greece and the new state of Yugoslavia, with Bulgaria getting the smallest share. IMRO, now led by Todor Aleksandrov, was largely driven out of the Greek and Yugoslav sections of Macedonia, but maintained its existence in Bulgaria, where it played a role in politics as an extreme right-wing nationalist party, urging a renewed war to liberate Macedonia. This was one factor in Bulgaria allying itself with Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I.

The interwar years

The post-war Treaty of Neuilly again denied Bulgaria what it felt was its share of Macedonia, and IMRO began sending armed bands called komitadzhii into Greek and Yugoslav Macedonia to assassinate officials and stir up Macedonian nationalism. In 1923 IMRO agents assassinated Bulgarian Prime Minister Aleksandar Stamboliyski, who favoured a peace treaty with Greece and Yugoslavia, so that Bulgaria could concentrate on its internal problems.

Following the assassination, the IMRO was given full control of Pirin Macedonia (the Petrich District of the time) and acted as a "state within a state", which it used as a base for hit and run attacks against Yugoslavia with the unofficial support of the right-wing Bulgarian government and Fascist Italy. Because of this, contemporary observers described the Yugoslav-Bulgarian frontier as the most fortified in Europe. In 1924 IMRO came under the leadership of Ivan Mihailov, who became a powerful figure in Bulgarian politics and favoured the "internationalization" of the Macedonian question. Numerous assassinations (over 1,000 by one account) were carried out by IMRO agents in many countries, the majority in Yugoslavia. The most spectacular of these was the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia and the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou in Marseille in 1934 in collaboration with the Croatian Ustaše.

This action finally provoked the Bulgarian military to take control and break the power of IMRO, which had come to be seen as a fascist gangster organization inside Bulgaria and a band of assassins outside it. In 1935 Mihailov was forced to escape to Turkey. IMRO kept its organization alive in exile in various countries, but ceased to be an active force in Macedonian politics. Mihailov assisted the Ustaše in German-occupied Yugoslavia in 1941. In September 1944 he arrived in Skopje only to find out that the destiny of Macedonia had already been decided within the framework of Yugoslavia. Mihailov eventually ended up in Rome where he published numerous articles, books and leaflets on Macedonia. In 1945 the Vardar Macedonian area became part of Communist Yugoslavia, all non-Communist political activity was suppressed and the supporters of the IMRO were prosecuted and tortured by the pro-Serbian authorities.

A separate organization to Mihailov's IMRO, the IMRO (United) was founded in 1925 in Vienna and was composed of former IMRO members. It remained active until 1936 and was closely linked to the interests of the Bulgarian and Greek communist parties.

The modern IMRO

Republic of Macedonia

With both Bulgaria and Yugoslavia under Communist rule, there was no scope for IMRO's revival. After the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980 Yugoslavia began to disintegrate and democratic politics in Macedonia revived. Many exiles returned to Macedonia from abroad, and a new generation of young Macedonian intellectuals rediscovered the history of Macedonian nationalism. In these circumstances it was not surprising that the IMRO name was revived. A new IMRO was founded on June 17 1990 in Skopje. Although IMRO claims a line descent from the old IMRO, there is no real connection between the old IMRO and the new one.

The Republic of Macedonia became independent in November 1991, and IMRO emerged as the leading nationalist party. The country's first presidential elections in 1994, however, were won by a moderate former Communist Kiro Gligorov. IMRO's appeal to Macedonian nationalism was helped by the refusal of Greece to recognize the new state. But IMRO was kept out of power until 1998 by the combination of President Gligorov and Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski of the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM).

By the later 1990s the main issue in Macedonian politics was relations with the large Albanian minority, and in 1998 IMRO came to power under Ljubco Georgievski on a platform of resistance to Albanian demands. In 1999 the IMRO candidate Boris Trajkovski was elected President, completing IMRO's takeover. Once in office Trajkovski pursued a more moderate policy. In 2002 Georgievski's government was defeated at legislative elections. In 2004 Trajkovski was killed in a plane crash and Crvenkovski was elected President, defeating the IMRO candidate Sashko Kedev.

The party is now officially called the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (In Macedonian: Vnatrešno-Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija-Demokratska Partija za Makedonsko Narodno Edintsvo, or VMRO-DPMNE). It describes itself as a Christian Democratic party which supports the admission of Macedonia to NATO and the European Union.

Bulgaria

A distinct IMRO organization has also been revived in Bulgaria under the name Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Bulgarian National Movement. This group continues to maintain that Slav Macedonians are in fact Bulgarians. The group's objectives include: "affirmation and complete international recognition of the Republic Macedonia's independence, preservation of its territorial integrity." The group also says that: "Despite its traditional naming after the 19th century formation, the present IMRO is a modern social and political organization." The group is not among the major parties but it was the only significant right-wing organization in Bulgarian politics until the unexpected success of extremist National Union Attack at the parliamentary elections on 25 June 2005.

At the very same election, the Bulgarian IMRO won 5.7% of the popular vote and 13 out of 240 seats in the parliament together with its partners from Bulgarian People's Union, the Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union-People's Union and the Union of Free Democrats. Thus, IMRO has a total of 5 MPs in the current Bulgarian parliament, including one from the traditional base of the movement in Blagoevgrad Province (Pirin Macedonia).

Sources

• К. Пандев. Устави и правилници на ВМОРО преди Илинденско-Преображенското въстание. - ИИИ, т. 21, С., 1970, с. 249-252.
• Христо Татарчев, Вътрешната македоно-одринска революционна организация като митологична и реална същност, София 1995.

Notes

1. Fikret Adanir – Die Makedonische Frage, Wiessbaden 1979
2. Константин Пандев, “Национално-освободителното движение в Македония и Одринско”, София, 1979, с. 129-130

See also

• Macedonia (region)
• History of Bulgaria
• History of the Republic of Macedonia

External links

• Website of Bulgarian VMRO-BND
• Website of Macedonian VMRO-DPMNE /
• Ottoman documents about the murder of Goce Delchev
• The statute of BMARC from a Macedonian language website
• The complete statute of BMARC ^*

Bulgarian revolutionary organisations

Вътрешна македонска революционна организация | Innere Mazedonische Revolutionäre Organisation | Внатрешно Македонска Револуционерна Организација | VMRO | 内部マケドニア革命組織