Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (in Macedonian: Vnatre?na Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija, ????????? ?????????? ?????????????? ????????????, in Bulgarian: Vatreshna Makedonska Revolyucionna Organizaciya, ???????? ?????????? ???????????? ???????????, VMRO), commonly known in English as IMRO, was the name of a revolutionary political organization in the Macedonia region of the Ottoman Empire, and later in Bulgaria and the Macedonian regions of Greece and Yugoslavia. 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 in Ottoman-occupied Solun Thessaloniki by a group of Bulgarian revolutionaries led by Hristo Tatarchev and Dame Gruev under the name Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committee (BMARC). BMARC later changed its name to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (1902) and to Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (1906). After being disbanded 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 nowadays.

Related Topics:
1893 - Thessaloniki - Hristo Tatarchev - Dame Gruev - 1902 - 1906 - 1915 - 1918 - 1920

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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 organisation 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.

Related Topics:
Ottoman - Macedonia - Vlachs - Greeks - Turks - Bulgarian Exarchate

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The initial period of idealism for IMRO ended, however, with the Vinitza 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 organisation, 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 at the end of the 19th century contributed additionally to its establishment as a nationalistic organisation. By 1903 Greeks and Serbians were as decidedly enemies for IMRO as were the Turks. Murder and terrorism were the usual tactics of the organisation not only against the rival military factions, but also against Greek and Serbian teachers, priests and civilians.

Related Topics:
Bulgaria - 1897 - Macedonia - 19th century - 1903

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Though 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 Supremists 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 1903 they organised an 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.

Related Topics:
1903 - Ilinden uprising

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The failure of the 1903 rising resulted in the dispersal of the autonomy seeking, left-wing faction of IMRO and its 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.

Related Topics:
1903 - Balkan Wars - 1912

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The result of the Balkan Wars was that the Macedonia region was partitioned between Bulgaria, Greece and the new state of Yugoslavia, with Bulgaria getting the smallest share. IMRO, now led by Todor Alexandrov, was largely driven out of the Greek and Yugoslav sections of Macedonia, but it 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.

Related Topics:
Yugoslavia - Todor Alexandrov - Germany - Austria-Hungary - World War I

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