The Macedonian Struggle

[akritas]

The Bulgarian uprising of 1903 sounded the alarm in Athens, which realized -- albeit belatedly -- that merely having many schools was not the best way of balancing the dynamism of the Bulgarian committees.
The start of the Greek armed defensive can be attributed to the initiative of the metropolitan of Kastoria Yermanos Karavangelis, the diplomat Ion Dragoumis and the Macedonian Committee, an ostensibly private organization with substantial state backing, based in Athens.
The article is from the www.macedonia-heritage.gr

The Macedonian Struggle in west Macedonia

The greatest part of the armed Macedonian Struggle was waged in the mountains of western Macedonia, the homeland of the most active members of the Greek Committee and the Internal Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization, known as IMRO.

Yermanos Karavangelis, the metropolitan of Kastoria, was the first to advocate and implement the idea of an armed counterattack using local patriarchal chieftains, in the belief that IMRO's footing among the Slav-speaking followers of the Patriarchate was not solid.

The nucleus of Karavangelis' organization was the band led by the local chieftain Kotas Christou, while Pavlos Melas, an officer in the Greek army, initiated the influx of volunteer fighters from Greece; the publicity surrounding his death at Statista near Kastoria drew the attention of Athens to the Macedonian problem.

The fighting, however, was particularly burdensome for the farming and stock-breeding communities in the mountains. For four years not only did they have to feed and shelter hundreds of armed men, they also frequently paid with their blood for their allegiance to one or the other camp.

The Macedonian Struggle on the marshes of Yannitsa

The waters of the flooded Loudias river formed an extended swamp in south-central Macedonia, in the silted land between the Aliakmon and Axios rivers. In the years of the conflict between Greece and Bulgaria, this swamp, formerly accessible only to the local fishermen, was turned into a battlefield of Homeric proportions.

The safe access to its expanse of reeds offered a secure hideout, and control of the surrounding plain and any road communication towards northern and western Macedonia. However, the swampy, malaria ridden waters, combined with the trials of war, made living conditions so difficult that even the most hardened fighters sometimes succumbed.

The legendary figures of Kapetan Agras and Kapetan Nikiforos, flanked by certain local guides, came to be identified with the fighting in the sodden marshlands, and were given the central roles in Pinelopi Delta's well-known novel "The Secrets of the Swamp."

[akritas]

The Macedonian Struggle in east Macedonia

Because of its geography, the Greeks found their struggle more arduous in eastern Macedonia than anywhere else. The armed Greek counterattack did not really begin there until 1906, and even then it was carried out almost exclusively by celebrated local leaders.


Thanasis Hatzipantazis and Steryios Vlachbeis were active in the district of Beles and Meleniko; Kapetan Yianglis and the priest Kapetan Androutsos dominated the district of Nigrita, while two legendary figures, Doukas Zervas and Mitrousis Gogoulakis, carried out their operations in Zichna and Mount Pangaio.

Administrative tasks were in the hands of the Serres and Kavala consulates. A host of patriots, organized into national societies and networks, handled the dispensing of information and weapons very efficiently. However, no one in eastern Macedonia contributed more to the Struggle in terms of both deeds and prestige than the metropolitan of Drama, Chrysostomos Kalafatis. In 1907 his open collaboration with the Greek side cost him his position in the Church; 15 years later, with his violent death in Smyrna, he paid even more dearly for his national pursuits.


Thessaloniki in the Macedonian Struggle

Thessaloniki, the natural port and administrative centre for the whole of Macedonia, was the headquarters of the struggle for control of the region. This came about thanks to the efforts of two people in particular, the Greek Consul General, Lambros Koromilas, and 2nd Lieutenant Athanasios Souliotis.


From 1904 to 1907, from his office in the neoclassical building of the Consulate, Koromilas organized and directed the Greek information network and supervised the operations of the armed bands in central and eastern Macedonia.

He had valuable assistance in the form of a team of specially trained officers who were the administrative sectoral heads of the Struggle. Among them, Dimitrios Kakkavos (alias Zois) and Athanasios Exadaktylos (alias Antoniou) stood out for their experience.

Souliotis (alias Nikolaidis) was responsible for the Consulate's security and for rallying Thessaloniki's Greek community to the cause. Camouflaging his espionage activities with his role as a merchant, he managed with systematic effort to create an exceptionally efficient network of information and undercover operations.
Professionals and workers from every social class in Thessaloniki were inducted into this network, and enrolled in picking up and sending messages, executing punishments, and waging a successful economic war at the expense of the (Bulgarian) Exarchic community.

[akritas]

The Committees of Athens

The Macedonian committees of Athens were the result of efforts by circles of anxious refugees from Macedonia. After the dissolution of the 'Ethniki Etaireia' (National Society) in 1900, its former members Pavlos Melas, Kostas Mazarakis, Athanassios Exadaktylos and others, became restless: they were anxious about the fate of Macedonia, from where appeals for help kept arriving.


Neoklis Kazazis' society "Hellenism", and the Committee in support of the Greek Church and Education, headed by Vikelas, Streit and Baltatzis, filled the gap, at least temporarily. In 1902, the central Macedonian Association, founded by the brothers Theoharis and Mavroudis Yeroyiannis from Halkidiki, made a vigorous appearance on the scene. After the dramatic events of 1903, the efforts of both individuals and the state took a more dynamic turn.

In May 1904, the Macedonian Committee was founded in Athens. It soon attracted the veterans of the 'Ethniki Etaireia', the activists around the politician Stefanos Dragoumis, members of other committees and associations, as well as representatives of the state. The guiding force behind the effort was Dimitris Kalapothakis, editor of the newspaper "Embros", which came to be the Committee's mouthpiece.
Until the spring of 1908, when it essentially lost its private character, the Macedonian Committee directed and concluded the fighting in western Macedonia. Its success lay primarily in the setting up of a parallel internal organization within Macedonia, which incorporated all the local committees, national associations and information networks. Armed initiatives on a smaller scale were also undertaken by the Yeroyiannis brothers in central Macedonia.


Participants in the Macedonian Struggle from other parts of Greece

The successful waging of any unconventional war rests in the effective collaboration of the local population. That this condition was certainly met in the case of Macedonia should in no way detract from the value of the contribution to the Struggle of hundreds of volunteers from free Greece, Crete, Epirus, the Aegean islands, and even Cyprus.


Apart from the private citizens who joined in the fighting independently, the enlistment of volunteers into the bands was mainly along two lines: individual chieftains and officers in the Greek army were flanked by men either from their own units, especially the border Evzone units, or experienced fighters from the same birthplace.

As officers from Crete and the Mani formed the most ardent and hard-bitten component of the army, a large number of the fighters for Macedonia came from these two areas. The Cretans in particular, known for their zeal and their military prowess, proved to be the most valuable striking force in the whole struggle.

The Cretan bands, led by Yiannis Karavitis, Efthymios Kaoudis, Manolis Katsigaris and Yiannis Volanis, offered inestimable services to western Macedonia and came to be regarded as symbols of military skill and self-sacrifice.

[akritas]

The Political situation of Macedonia between 1897-1903

The geographical area of Macedonia being part of the dominion of the Ottoman empire was divided into three vilayets (provinces): that of Thessaloniki, of Monastir and of Skopje.

These areas were inhabited by Greek-, Slav-, Vlach- and Albanian-speaking Christian populations, as well as Turkish- and Albanian-speaking Muslims. The Greek-speaking populations constituted the majority mostly in the south, while the Slav-speaking ones were densely concentrated in the north.

From the 1860's an ecclesiastical matter had arisen, practically a schism, between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Bulgarian Exarchate. Ever since and until the beginning of the twentieth century great pressure was exerted on native Macedonian populations, especially the Slav-speaking ones, to recognize the Exarchate as their eccclesiastical authority and secede from the Patriarchate. However in many cases these populations would not recognize their integration to the Exarchate with which they shared the same language and opted to continue being under the influence of the Patriarchate. These population groups along with the Greek-speaking populations that had Greek education and belonged to the Church of Constantinople became the target of intense and violent pressure for their ecclesiastical choices on the part of the Exarchate.

In the late nineteenth century this ecclesiastical issue became the battlefield concerning the national claims of Greece and Bulgaria. The Macedonian Question constituted part of the Eastern Question, that is the management of the crumbling Ottoman empire and chiefly the partitioning of its European territories among the new national states of the Balkans. At the same time, the influence zones of the Great Powers in the area were under discussion, a fact that was reinforcing competition and clashes. The Bulgarian Principality was trying to expand its influence over the territories provided by the Treaty of San Stephano (1878) for annexation to her, that is approximately the whole of Macedonia, projecting as her props the Exarchist populations. At the same time, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was established aiming at the autonomy of Macedonia. It is not clear whether this aspiration was a sincere one.

It is likely that autonomy would be a first step towards the annexation of Macedonia to Bulgaria, as had happened with Eastern Rumelia in 1885. What is certain is that there was dissension between IMRO and the Supreme Macedonian Committee of Sofia (the Vrchovists).
In the period following 1897 Bulgarian propaganda intensified. In October 1902 the first Sofia-inspired rising broke out. Despite its failure a second rising was organized in July 1903 by IMRO, which is known as the Ilinden rising. This rising has been also suppressed, but the overall mobility of the Bulgarian part has projected the Macedonian Question on a European plane as an issue concerning mostly Bulgarians, who would be favoured by possible future regulations.

The Greek Patriarchists reacted, intensifying their efforts in matters of education and the establishment of Greek schools. Generally speaking, the Greek state being under the effect of the 1897 defeat and given the turn towards internal reconstruction did not initially take any particular interest in the events taking place in Macedonia. In the first place, individuals have been mobilized, who were trying to organize Greek guerilla bands that would counter-balance the activity of the armed Exarchists, the komitadjis (from the word committee, established by the Bulgarians in order to organize their activity in Macedonia). Germanos Karavangelis, metropolitan of Kastoria, organized the first armed bands of the Patriarchists, recruiting various Slav-speaking band leaders, such as Kotas and Gueleff, who have been collaborating so far with the IMRO.

At the same time, the appointment of competent diplomats in the consulates of Macedonia, such as Ion Dragoumis and Lambros Koromilas, upgraded Greek reaction. In 1903 a Macedonian Committee has been established in Athens by the publisher Dimitris Kalopothakis who undertook the co-ordination of the activity of the Greeks in Macedonia and their material and military aid.

source:
www.ime.gr

[akritas]

Hellenic counter-offensive in 1904-1908

The Greek government after the events of 1903 begins to realize that only through a dynamic and well-organized reaction will the Bulgarian infiltration of Macedonia be checked.

Due to the activity of the Exarchists, the devotion of the Patriarchist communities in Greece was at stake and therefore future territorial claims on the part of Greece on its northern frontier would be at risk. The first act was the dispatch to Macedonia of four young army officers, in order to make an evaluation of the situation there. In the beginning of 1904 Alexandros Kontoulis, Pavlos Melas, Anastasios Papoulas and Georgios Kolokotronis surveyed the Macedonian countryside. The view they had formed was that the situation and correlations as have been shaped could only be overturned by means of violent reaction. They claimed that armed forces organized from Greece should immediately enter Macedonia, under the leadership of experienced and determined officers, who would pursue the organization of local guerilla bands.

There were already in the area certain armed bands of Patriarchists such as that of Captain Kotas. From August 1904 Pavlos Melas was appointed commander-in-chief of the Greek guerilla bands of western Macedonia. In the same month under the nom de guerre Mikis Zezas along with a band of Cretan guerillas he crossed the frontiers. He mobilized in the area of Kastoria and in October of that same year he was killed during an engagement with a Turkish military unit. His death caused a more active interest in the Greek side and activated many of his fellow army officers.

From the end of 1904 there was an increase in the bands of Greek guerillas, the Makedonomakhoi, that deployed in Macedonia, under the leadership of Konstantinos Mazarakis Ainian, Tsontos Vardas, Efthimios Kaoudis, Spyros Spiromilios and others.

Many among the Makedonomakhoi originally came from Crete and other areas outside Macedonia. Throughout 1905 and 1906 they have participated in several engagements with bands of armed komitadjis and in operations in villages that have adhered to the Exarchate in order to take them back to the Patriarchate. In large urban centres and especially in Thessaloniki the juxtaposition took the form of an economic war between Bulgarian and Greek inhabitants. As concerns the armed struggle, interest in 1906 focused in the area of the Yanitsa lake, the "Marsh", given that its control meant the control of communication and trade routes of central Macedonia. The Greek struggle was headed by Telos Agapinos, Captain Agras, who has been killed in an ambush in Pella.

In the following period competition held strong. However, the intense Bulgarian presence and activity of the previous years has been dealt with and the Patriarchist villages have been protected. With the outbreak of the Young Turk revolution in 1908 the Greek-Bulgarian clashes practically ceased in Macedonia. To this development contributed the Young Turk initial proclamation about equal treatment before the law of the various nationalities but mostly the imposition of law and order in the interior of the Empire. Naturally the activity of the Exarchists and the Greek armed bands did not altogether stop.

The whole issue however was to be definitely resolved a few years later during the Balkan Wars, when the fate of the populations and territories of Macedonia have been definitely decided.

source:
www.ime.gr

[Ellinas]

What I have to say is that it is a shame we don't have an official celebration in whole Greece about the Macedonian struggle, one of the top events in the forming of the modern Greek nation.

The average person in Peloponnisos or Crete difficultly knows something about this...

[Ptolemy]

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

The Macedonian struggle that took place between 1904-1908 was fought amonst Greeks and Bulgarians and Turks.
The area of Macedonia was under Turrkish occupation,but it was clear thah Turks couldn't keep for very much loger.
Since 1899 Bulgarian guerillas tried to gain ''autonomy'' for Macedonia,and clashed some times with Turks.
The Bulgarian guerillas(Komitatzides) tried to take the Greek population with their side .They used terror and murder to achieve this.Meanwhile the Greek goverment was doing nothing.
Bishop Germanos animated the Greek population and made comitees for the protection of the Greek Idea.However he had no help from Athens.
The atrocities of Bulgarians,motivated many Greeks to go as volunteers to fight for the liberation of Macedonia.
Many army officers also went to fight in Macedonia.The most known of them was Pavlos Melas,Greek national hero,who fell while fighting against Turks.
The Macedonian struggle was a very complex ''war''.Officialy it wasnt a war,it was Bulgarian and Greek guerillas who where fighting each other in Macedonia,which Macedonia was under Turk occupation.Turks fought both Greeks and Bulgarians,other times more against Greeks,others more against Bulgarians.Macedonian struggle was a rough guerilla war,which mostly took place at the rough mountains of Macedonia,and it was pretty much bloody and merciless.
The weapons used by Greek volunteers in the Macedonian struggle was the French Gras and the Manlicher.
Volunteers were trained by Greek army officers,and then left for Macedonia.
The night before leaving,the unit gathered at a church and gave an oath to liberate Macedonia.After that it took the memorial Photo.





Kapetan Tsontos(Vardas) unit.
Tsontos,known as kapetan(leader) Vardas,was a Greek army officer who volunteered to go to fight in Macedonia.
His was a very brave and tough soldier,and his unit was amongst the most feared from Bulgarians and Turks.Turks gave 1.000.000 p. for his head,never managed to capture him though.He saw action at West-Macedonia,which is full of high mountains,perfect for guerilla warfare.



Pavlos Melas,the most famous Greek fighter in Macedonia.The Bulgarians informed the Turks at which village he and his men was,and the Turks circled the village.Pavlos Melas after fighting and already wounded,tried to break the enemy lines but a bullet hit him.His head was cut off by his comrades so the turks didnt take it.It was buried by bishop Germanos.
Pavlos Melas death inspired more and more Greeks to go as volunteers.


Greek fighters at lake of Giannitsa,were fierce battles were fought with Bulgarians


Telos Agras,another Greek fighter who gave his life for the Greek cause.
Telos Agras was a Greek Army officer


Agras and his men


Bishop Karavangelis,who organized Greek resistance in West-Macedonia.
Fierce Patriot,he also knew how to shoot the Manlicher well.Bulgarians tried many times to kill him,only to receive bullets.''Soul'' of the Greek resistance.


Greek fighter in Macedonia(Μακεδονομάχος)


Georgiakakis,fought in Macedonia form 1903 till 1908.



Papa-Drakos(Father-Dragon)(nickname,his name was Xriso was a Greek orthodox priest who was studying theology while the Macedonian struggle burstied out.He left the theology school and went to fight in Macedonians fierce mountains.He was famous for his bravery,and his name struck fear to Turks and Bulgarians.



Three brothers in the fight.



Statue in memory of Greek freedom fighter in Macedonia

[Ptolemy]

Name catalogues,of men who fought in the Macedonian struggle.




In memory of those who have fallen.


Statue of Greek army officer Nikolaos Tsotakos,who died while fighting at village Kalogeriko against Turks.


A memorial for Tsotakos,at the village which he fough till his last breath,almost 100 hundred years ago.


The unit of Panagiotis Papazanetas

Greek army officers,who took part in the Macedonian struggle,in a photo.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...ad.php?t=87371

[Flipper]

Originally Posted by Ellinas

What I have to say is that it is a shame we don't have an official celebration in whole Greece about the Macedonian struggle, one of the top events in the forming of the modern Greek nation.

The average person in Peloponnisos or Crete difficultly knows something about this...

@ Ptolemy & Akritas: Great sources. I didn't have knowledge in such a deepness about the matter.

@ Ellinas: Bravo re palikari!
Well said! However Cretans do usually mention their pride about fighting for Macedonia. I've also heard by fanatic Macedonians that hate Athenians that Cretans are their closest brothers in Greece because of the help they provided in Macedonia.

[Tsontos]

"Over the four years 1905-08 the Greek bands, many remaining in Macedonia to face the severe winters, roamed the mountains and villages, inflicting heavy casualties on the I.M.R.O.-exarchist bands, notables, and agents, and indeed sometimes on the Turks. Gradually they established a supremacy, evident from the ever-reduced scale of enemy operations. During that struggle they lost some 640 fighting men and agents (a figure which excludes the numerous victims, including women and children, who, though not officially in the Greek organisation, lost their lives in the village battles). Of the I.M.R.O.-exarchist losses, no exact information is available, but they were certainly many times larger than the Greek.

This victory the Greeks owed to their superior military and administrative organisation, to the intrinsic strength of Hellenism in Macedonia, to a degree of tolerance on the part of the Turks, and to the divisions in the Bulgarian Macedonian movement, with its confused and conflicting aims and its strange mixture of sheer terrorism, social revolution and religious propaganda...

...What is more the Greek officers in Macedonia maintained a degree of discipline which was lacking in other quaters. Althought they fought with much brutality and removed known enemies with merciless efficiency, they were on the whole much kinder to the villages.

p167, The Unification of Greece, 1770-1923, Douglas Dakin, 1972