Turkey and its people, Sir Edwin Pears, 1911

[Makedonia22]

Turkey and its people by Sir Edwin Pears, 1911.

Some quotes from this book-


"The people of the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula (with the exception of a few Albanians and Turks) consider themselves either Greeks or Slavs. It is, however, simply impossible to draw a line across Macedonia and truthfully say that all north of it are Slavs and south are Greeks."
pg 95

"Bulgaria is the Balkan state which has made most progress and for various reasons and principally because of the large body of Bulgarians in Macedonia"
pg 204

"The Bulgarians are a race allied to the Finns. Their language, however, is now Slavic. It may be fairly be said that the race began its career of early civilization when the great missionaries of the Eastern Church, Cyril and Methodius, in the second half of the ninth century, converted them to Christianity and gave them a Slavic liturgy."
pg 204


"Salonika is the most important city on the sea-coast of Macedonia. It is true that its influence and its commerce are now mostly due to its Jewish population. The Jews, largely of Spanish descent, the offspring of exiles driven out of Spain under Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, still speak spanish. But except during the last half century the Greeks had most of the business in their hands. Even now, the Greeks are by far the most important element after the Jews."
pg 231


"As we penetrate inland we find at once Greek villages side by side with Bulgarians ; but on the shores the great majority of the people are Greek."
pg 231

"Hundreds of Bulgarians emigrated into Bulgaria. It is asserted that even now, after some have returned to their desolated homes, there are 20,000 Macedonians in Sofia itself. But all along the borderland of Bulgaria families quited the country which was the scene of violent anarchy and disorder in order to escape into the land of their countrymen which had obtained freedom."
pg233

[chicagogeorge]

Good find!