Misirikov and The Bulgarian Matters

[akritas]

Is known that Misirikov after the the Macedonian matters published a series of articles that expossed the Bulgarian line of the Macedonist moovement against primarily in the Serbian and secondly against Greece. The bellow is a translation from works of K. Misirkov, "Balazki po juzno-slavjanskata fiologija ...", Bilgarska Sbirka. XVII, 1, Sofija, 1910
The purpose of this thread is to expose the Bulgarian views of Misirikov after the know "Macedonian Matters"


In other words, he returns to the views concerning linguistic and national boundaries between Serbo-croats, and Bulgarians which he expressed during his period of study at the University of St Petersburg (1897-1902). It is obvious that he identifies the geographical boundaries in which a Slavic idiom or dialect has been spread and is spoken with the national boundaries of the people which he regards as its bearer. In other words, he adopts the then widely prevalent view and from the Slavic academic world, according to which the uniqueness and autonomy of a people’s language is a necessary condition for the recognition of its national uniqueness and autonomy.

Having as his foundation the middle-age southern Slavic sources, the ancient Slavic texts of the Serbs and the Bulgarians and the “southern-Slavic cycle” of epic demotic narratives and songs about Volkasin and Marko, the Slavic leaders of Macedonia, he puts forward a series of claims which tend towards one general conclusion: The Slavs of Macedonia belonged to the same Slavic racial group as the Slavs of Bulgaria during their settlement in the area, and that they maintained their linguistic and national identity with the Bulgarians from the middle-ages to the contemporary times. Misirkov repeatedly voices the view that the Slavs of Macedonia had a “Bulgarian national consciousness” as subjects of Samuel’s state, of Byzantium, as well as the state of the Serb dynasty of Nemanje. We briefly list the basic tenets of the Misirkov article:

The Morava valley is included among the “Bulgarian countries”, because the Slavs who settled in the area did not belong to the Serbo-croatian racial entity but to the same racial entity as the Slavs of Bulgaria. Their settlement in the Morava valley took place earlier than the arrival of the Serbo-croats in the Balkans. The “Moravic” idiom belongs to the Bulgarian language, however, because it is the “most western-Bulgarian” idiom along the boundaries of the Bulgarian and Serbian linguistic area, has also taken on Serbian characteristics.
The linguistic and national boundaries between “Slavic Bulgarians” and Serbo-croats are defined by the geographical line which begins at the right bank of the Savos river, descends to the south along the length of the waterline of the Kolubar and Morava rivers and continues along the length of the Morava and Ibar rivers , to Skadros in the Adriatic.
The Slavs who settled in the Morava area but also in Albania, Macedonia, Greece and Thrace belong to the Slavic racial entity as the Slavs of Bulgaria. The majority of them descended almost simultaneously from the Moravia valley and not from Eastern Bulgaria. The settlement of the Slavic element in the Moravia valley, in today’s Western Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace as well as in areas which were later Albanized and Hellenized (Albania, Greece), took place earlier than the descent of the Sebo-croats in the Balkans. Therefore, the Moravia valley, Macedonia and Thrace are included among “Bulgarian countries: because their population is Bulgarian as far as descent and culture are concerned.
During the Nemanje dynasty, the Serbian state extended its borders and occupied the “Bulgarian countries” (valley of Moravia, today’s West. Bulgaria, “Old Serbia” and Macedonia). The Bulgarian population of these areas allied with the Nemanje and accepted Serbian political authority because it wished to be delivered from the yoke of Byzantium. In this way an extensive Serbian state was formed, in which the Serbian element almost disappeared before the great mass of Bulgarian population of integrated new countries. The dynasty which governed the state was Serbian, but the great majority of the population were Bulgarian, having accepted the name “Serbs” as a political rather than national term.
The induction of Macedonia into the territory of the Serbian state of the Nemanje did not result in the Serbinization of the area’s Bulgarian Slavic population. To the contrary, the “Bulgarian culture” of the occupied influenced the culture of the Serbian occupiers.
The integration of the northern “Bulgarian countries” (valley of Moravia, today’s “Old Serbia”) into the Serbian state of Nemanje resulted in the ethnic Bulgarian character of the population of theses areas coming under Serbian influence. While the integration of the southern “Bulgarian countries” (Macedonia, today’s southwestern Bulgaria) did not bring about any change in the “Bulgarian national consciousness” of the population.
With the integration of the “Bulgarian countries” and the increase of the Bulgarian population in the state of Nemanje, the Serbian element gradually lost the politically dominant position it held and became a secondary factor of state life.
The “Bulgarian national consciousness” of the Slavic population of Macedonia during the 13th and 14th centuries played a significant role in the formation and disintegration of the state of Dustan. Dusan, the Serb leader, granted political privileges and senior titles to the Bulgarian aristocracy of Macedonia and displaced the center of political power from “the Serbian north” to the Bulgarian south” of the state. Reinforcement of the position of the Bulgarian aristocracy, during the leadership of Dusan and his heirs, indicates that the “Serbian kingdom of Nominee took on a Bulgarian character and changed into a “western Bulgarian” state. Dustan’s favor towards the Bulgarian aristocracy attracted the ire and reaction of the ‘Serbian north’ of the state. For this reason, Dusan was treated negatively by the Serbian chronicles and the Serbian popular tradition.
The Slavic leaders of Macedonia, Volkasin and Markos, are hailed in the Serbian chronicles as Bulgarian leaders, due to the ‘Bulgarian national consciousness’ of the population of their state territory. For the Serbs the name Macedonia had the same meaning as the name Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian national character of Macedonia is also proven by the study of the ‘southern Slavic’ cycle of epic demotic songs and stories about Volkasin and, especially, “Krali Markos’.

The above quote translated from Voulgaroktonos and came from the book with title Misirkov and the Makedonist moovement ,pages 402-405 (http://www.macedoniaontheweb.com/forum/interesting-macedonian-books-sources/465-misirkov-makedonist-moovement.html)

Please if anyone want to participate in the translations(I have plenty) in order to bring new argyments as about the Skopjan propagnda please e-mail me or PM

[Tsontos]

In 1903, while in Sofia, he published the book Za Makedonckite Raboti (On Macedonian Matters) in which he laid down the principles of the 'Macedonian' literary language. According to this book, the 'Macedonian' language should be based on its central Bitola dialects. He also used those dialects in the book itself. Misirkov's principles played a crucial role in the future codification of the 'Macedonian' language, by CPY (Communist Party of Yugoslavia) commitees set up right after the World War II.

It appears that at one point in his life, under Russian sponsorship, he favoured his own brand of Macedonism and this is when he published his book on the 'Macedonian' language. Later he adopted a vehemently Bulgarian nationalist stance and abandoned his Macedonism, apparently beleiving it would never materialise as an ideology; though it ironically it did, long after his death after WW2.

In his book, ''The national identity of the Macedonians'', which he wrote in 1924, two years before he died, he uncompromisingly defends the Bulgarian character of the population of Macedonia saying "We [Macedonian Slavs] are more Bulgarian than those in Bulgaria!". He completley retracts everything he wrote in his book ''Za Makedonckite Raboti'' about the Macedonian language, with the explanation that "I wrote it as a politician". The book is considerably pro-Bulgarian, describing himself as a Bulgarian, nationalistically so.



Krste Misirkov
National Identity of the Macedonians. 1924 γ:




Krste Misirkov wrote:

1. We speak Bulgarian language and we believed with Bulgarians is our strong power.

2. The Bulgarians in Macedonia. The future of Macedonia is spiritual union of the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

3. The Macedonian Slavs are called Bulgarians.

4. The biggest part of the population are called Bulgarians.

5. All spoke that Macedonians are Bulgarians. Until 1978 all including Russian Government spoke the Macedonians are Bulgarians. But after the Berlin Congress the Serbs came with pretension to have Macedonia. They try to change the European opinion that in Macedonia there are Serbian too.

6. If Ilinden uprising win we will be thankful to Bulgarians, but Serbians try to compete with Bulgarians and spend a lot of money and propaganda. If Macedonia is autonomic there will be no space for propaganda and the Serbs have to leave Bulgarian in peace.

7. The Ilinden Uprising Committee is Bulgarian.

8. Bulgarian Language and Bulgarian name. The Committee is ready to give guarantee to Europe that Macedonia will not unify with Bulgaria, but they can't take the Bulgarian name and language from Macedonia!

9. Unification between Turks and Bulgarians in Macedonia. Serbia and Greece do not want to give us autonomous and independent Macedonia, because they see this as a fist step to unification. In Macedonia have only pure Bulgarian population, which can't be unified with the Turks.

10. Serbia is against autonomous Macedonia. Serbia is afraid because Macedonia with the Bulgarian population will have tendency to united with Bulgaria and for this reason Serbia will not allow this.

11. They divided us and now they do not allow us to unify. We are living now 25 years divided from Bulgaria and they do not allow us to unify? We call ourselves Bulgarians or Macedonians and see us as separate and radically different from the Serbs with Bulgarian national consciousness.

12. Our Grandfathers call themselves Bulgarians. They never thing that we will be having such a problem to call ourselves so.

13. Bulgarian Literally Language. We the Macedonians voluntarily choose one and the same language with Bulgarians long before the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkey. The prohibition from the Serbs to use our literally language, which is the only one connection between us and Bulgarians is significant violation of our human rights. .. and further.. when they forbid us to call ourselves Bulgarians, to learn Bulgarian history and to be ashamed from everything which connect us with Bulgarians. It is enough to learn our Macedonian culture and history to understand that we are very different from Serbian nationality.

14. There no difference between Bulgarian and Macedonian Slav. The Greeks in 1804 long before Bulgarian exarchate do not make any difference between Bulgarian and West Macedonian dialect.

15. Bulgarian national name of Macedonians. In the IX century in the first Bulgarian kingdom we do not have anything against this Bulgarian national name for us and for the rest of Bulgarians in Bulgaria.

16. We Macedonian Bulgarians (Macedonians) like Bulgarian state as our own.

17. The Serbs are much inferior than we are. We demand freedom for all of us and not to be material for assimilation experiments of the Serbs, which stand much inferior from us in spiritual narrow-mindedness and chauvinism.

18. The Serbs come to the idea of the Macedonian nationality. The Serbs develop the concept for special Macedonian Nation, which they put in the south Macedonia. They declare north Macedonia as a pure Serbian land. Middle Macedonia as a transition between Serbian and Macedonian language.

19. The population of Skopje is pure Bulgarian. Bulgaria make a big error when recognize the territory for "neutral". It is pure Bulgarian and the population in Skopje and surrounding area is pure Bulgarian.

20. Why the Serbs want Macedonia? What Serbian you can find in this pure Bulgarian land, which is since 6 century till today Bulgarian, despite of all vicissitude of the historical destiny.

21. Serbian-Greek attempt on the Bulgarians in Macedonia. Because of the treaty between Serbia and Greece Bulgaria was robed and 2 Millions Bulgarians where conquered from Serbia and Greece. Yes! To many damage did the Serbs on Bulgaria, Macedonia and Dobrudja and with this they do not stop! They filled that their vicious work will be discovered and to be prosecuted by the Slavic consciousness because of the freedom of 1/3 of Bulgarians - the Bulgarians in Macedonia.

22. The lies about Bulgarian and Bulgaria. Restoration of the human rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Dobrudja, despite of the lies spread for Bulgaria and Bulgarians! Who is against Great Bulgaria, he is against the Slavs!

23. Krali Marko songs in Macedonia are from Bulgarian origin. The songs of Krali Marko in Macedonia are from Bulgarian origin and speak for the Bulgarian influence over the Serbs and not the opposite.

24. The Serbs will coarse many wars, if the "Dushan empire" will not disappear. In the last quarter of the XIX century the Serbs start to dream to restore this abandon from Serbs it selves empire. With intrigues and and allies they conquer big part of Bulgarian Macedonia. But this Serbian advantages of 1912 coarse the war in 1913 and they coarse the war in 1915-1918 and will coarse many more wars, unless "Dushan empire" get liquidate in the same way as in XIV century on the principal of the self-determination of the nations.

25. Serbs falsify the history. In Bulgaria Macedonians have all personal rights, freedom of expression and self-determination in Bulgaria. The Serbs try to destroy the soul of the Macedonians and for that reason the falsify the hole history. In this Serbian logic and Serbian fillings there are something abnormal, which is prove of the failure of the Serbian state. They are afraid from the Macedonians in Macedonia and also this living outside.

26. The Macedonian population is against Serbs. You have to know that because your Serbian politics against Macedonians you have against you all past present and future Balkan governments and the Macedonian population.

27. The Bulgarians are our fellow citizens. The European recognize that only independent sate will put an end of the competition conquer and hegemony on the Balkan. An will end once forever violence of the new conquer. And everlasting peace on the Balkan and in Europe will rise. Greece and Serbia will loose territorially and les Bulgaria and will win all Macedonians.

28. The Serbs forbid us to celebrate all Bulgarian holidays. We are forced to celebrate St. Sava and forbid to celebrate St. Cyril and St. Methodius and Ilinden Uprising.

29. Our souls are in Bulgaria. Serbia conquer the land and the body of Macedonians, the souls are in Bulgaria and with Bulgaria.

30. Krste Petkov Misirkov defines himself as a Bulgarian. 1897 I was accepted in Petersburg University in Russia and five years I was Bulgarian student community as Bulgarian.

31. Self appreciation of the statement in the book "For Macedonian matters". The readers of this article will be very surprised of the big controversy opinion, which they will meet here in comparison with the article "For Macedonian matters". To understand this contradiction I will remember you, that I wrote as an improvised politicians




From a skop site:

http://nka.com.mk/misirkov/can_macedonia.htm


Another thing on Misirkov:

Misirkov, was changing nationalities like we change underpants. He flirted with the Serbs but rejected them in favour of the Bulgarians and later, under the support of Russia, he developed his "Macedonianism", which he ditched after he realized that it would never materialize - ironically it did by a Croat after his death. Yet his true nationality should be considered Bessarabian (Surprised?) since he was a member of the Bessarabian parliament, just before the Bessarabians voted themselves Romanians (Bessarabia, much like "Macedonia", was a Russian experiment, that was later re-established as "Moldova".

[Tsontos]

In other words, he adopts the then widely prevalent view and from the Slavic academic world, according to which the uniqueness and autonomy of a people’s language is a necessary condition for the recognition of its national uniqueness and autonomy.

giafto pisteuw oti pollous apo tous 3enous parathrhtes.... lan8asmena... den anagnwrisan tous ellhnes slavofonous

[akritas]

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/6097/misirkov2xl5.jpg

Why the Serbs want Macedonia? What Serbian you can find in this pure Bulgarian land, which is since 6 century till today Bulgarian, despite of all vicissitude of the historical destiny.
Restoration of the human rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Dobrudja, despite of the lies spread for Bulgaria and Bulgarians! Who is against Great Bulgaria, he is against the Slavs!

[akritas]

Whether we call ourselves Bulgarians or Macedonians, we have always maintained a separate, unified, and different nationality from the Serbs, and we have Bulgarian consciousness.

[Misirikov "20th of July" newspaper in Sofia, 1919]


And of course the latter discover. In his recently discovered 381 page diary, written in 1913 while he resided in Odessa (Ucraine) Misirkov identified as Macedonian Bulgarian

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3167/misirkovsignaturevd1.jpg

[Istor]

This site: Misirkov (http://www.geocities.com/mac_truth/misirkov-sobir.html)

says:

---------------------------------

And now let us see what happened only a month ago at the International Symposium on the life and heritage of K.P. Misirkov.

The symposium took place in Skopje, starting on 27 Nov. and ending on 29 Nov, 2003. On the following Internet address you can read an account (in Bulgarian) of the main discussions at this meeting:

Misirkov (http://www.geocities.com/mac_truth/misirkov-sobir.html)

Now, Bulgarian is a mother tongue for most Fyromians and they do not need a translation. But for all the other curious souls who yearn to know more about the Fyromian idol Misirkov, here I present the relevant information translated in English. The narrator is a Bulgarian participant in the meeting: I am translating his words literally.

*Account of a participant: what was said about Misirkov*
================================================== ==

I thought that the emotions had run out of steam, bit yesterday, 29 Nov. 2003, a new scandal erupted quite surprisingly, despite the absence of Katardzhiev. After two rather obtuse presentations, it was the turn of Rostislav Terzioski to present the results of his latest research on Misirkov.

Terzioski is specialized on Russia and the USSR and is a very good expert on the historical Russian archives related to Balkan history. His talk was titled: About some opinions of Misirkov concerning the Macedonian question.

Terzioski said that he had found in Russia a file of about 80 pages, written by Misirkov during 1914, consisting mainly of documents, memorandums and appeals to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other Russian institutions. All documents were related to the Macedonian question. Terzioski said that the documents had been known to very few people until now, and that they deserved to be published because of their importance.

The words of Rostislav Terzioski follow:
***************
Terzioski:
The content of these documents is in contradiction with some of the other writings of Misirkov, notably with his pamphlet "On the Macedonian Affairs". The documents do not confirm the established opinion of our historians about Misirkov. Is this a dilemma or is it a "so called" dilemma?

For example, in a letter to the Russian foreign affairs minister, Misirkov declares himself to be a Bulgarian, talks about the unquestionably Bulgarian population of Macedonia, about his own Bulgarian background, about the Bulgarian people of Macedonia.

Misirkov mourns for San-Stephano Bulgaria (which included all Macedonia), states that Macedonia is a staunchly Bulgarian land, talks about the suffering of the Bulgarian people in Macedonia under the Serbs, talks about the three main ethnic Bulgarian areas: North Bulgaria, Thrace and Macedonia.

Misirkov says that 2.5 million Bulgarians were enslaved by Serbs and Greeks. He accuses Russia for separating Macedonia from Bulgaria and states that the Bulgarian national rights on Macedonia were unquestionable. He expresses his desperation from the fact that Macedonia was torn away from Bulgaria.

Misirkov lashes out against the Serb propaganda which, according to him, was underway in Russia. He says that after the Bucharest treaty 2 million Bulgarians were enslaved by the Serbs. Misirkov demands united ethnic Bulgaria including all Macedonia, Dobrudzha, and Eastern Thrace. He states that the Serbs plundered lands that were ethnically purely Bulgarian, and that the Greeks stole Solun (Thessaloniki) from Bulgarians.

Misirkov also has some...how should I say...some racist opinions about the Serbs. He states that Serbs are nothing but Shumadian shepherds and swine herdsmen, that Serbia was created by the swine trader Karageorge, that Serbia was the main culprit for the suffering of the Macedonian Bulgarians. He talks about some characteristic feature of the Serb swine herdsmen as "King killers" and traitors, and says that Serbs were suppressing and destroying a thousand years old Bulgarian culture in Macedonia.

Misirkov says that the population of Macedonia is Bulgarian and as such it must live in a united Bulgarian land. He calls on the Russian government to stop the assimilation of the Macedonian Bulgarians by the Serbs.

He talks about the Bulgarian cultural superiority in comparison with the Serbs, expresses many times his conviction that Macedonia must be united with Bulgaria, and is worried that there was a danger of most of Bulgarians leaving Macedonia.

In other documents Misirkov argues against the theories of the Serb historian Cviich and his theses that the Slavic population of Macedonia was a "fluid mass of people without a national consciousness". Misirkov proves that the Macedonian population "is not a mass of pliable dough, as Cviich alleges, but rather a very thoroughly baked Bulgarian bread, which belongs to Bulgaria".

In one of his letters from 1914 Misirkov states that the term "Macedonians" means only Macedonian Bulgarians and can not mean anything else. He accuses the Russian ambassador Rostkovsky for giving in to Serb propaganda and accepting the Serb theory that Macedonians were only Slavs, but not Bulgarians. Misirkov says that this theory is a Serb lie and that the Russian ambassador was somehow tricked by the Serbs to accept it.

In all his letters Misirkov expresses his deep sorrow for the fate of Bulgaria, which was torn and plundered by her neighbors during the Balkan wars.

******************
(End of Terzioski citation. Narrator resumes his account)

Terzioski talked about all these things for more than 15 minutes. Most of the listeners looked as if they had suddenly frozen.

In the end Terzioski simply thanked for the attention, said that all these facts were not entirely new, that some people had written before on this topic. He referred in particular to the writings of Cyrnushanov, who "researched well all the zigzags of Misirkov's ideas". He said that such data exists in Macedonia too, but the official historians think that such data must not be published.

Without mentioning his name, he attacked Blazhe Ristovski, who had tried the previous day to dismiss the allusions of the Polish historian Jolanta Suiecka about Misirkov being a Bulgarian chauvinist. Ristovski had tried to brush away such thoughts by alleging that Misirkov expressed his Bulgarian nationalist ideas only after 1920, when he lived in Bulgaria: according to Ristovski at that time Misirkov was forced to conform to the political situation in Bulgaria, his articles were edited, etc. - All in all a heap of worthless artificial explanations.

So Terzioski reminded the audience about these explanations of Ristosvki, and rhetorically asked the question: Who forced Misirkov to write such things in 1914, when he did not live in Bulgaria, and there was no one to "force him to conform to the political situation"?

Without any applause, Terzioski left the stage and went to his seat. The audience had sunk in deep silence and gloom.

===========================================
(End of participant's account)

Well, as we can see Macedonians are finally discovering the big truth about their past and about who they are. I mean the real Macedonians, which according to Misirkov are Macedonian Bulgarians.
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