From: epetraki@.stern.nyu.edu (Emmanuel Petrakis)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.greek,alt.news.macedonia
Subject: The Bulgarian occupation of Greece during World War II (part 2)
Date: 24 Jan 93 16:29:52 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.europe
Organization: NYU Stern School of Business

We can see that in the Greek cities under German control along
the northern border, Greeks without any coordination and without
any direction attempted to uphold the morale of the population. 
During that period, the reappearance of the Greek administration
was considered a good sign, amid the rumors and the uncertainty
of the period.  Before even resistance groups had the chance to
form, the Greek administration (public services, police, the
church and cultural and vocational groups) led the struggle
against the Bulgarian propaganda.  It was on this matter that
the collaborating government in Athens tried to find a raison d'
etre.  At the same time Macedonians living n Athens, headed by
professors Keramopoulos and Svolos, took the initiative and
created a panhellenic committee that had as a purpose the
defense of Greece against the Bulgarian actions in Macedonia.



The appearance and the strengthening of EAM/ELAS (communist led
resistance) in Macedonia under the direction of members of the
Greek Communist party (KKE), with different political objectives
from other organizations (in particular PAO) brought EAM and PAO
to the point of open conflict.  If one forgets the opposing
political goals of the two organizations, the most important
point in their conflict was the position of KKE on the
Macedonian question during the interwar years.  It is true that
slavopohone members of the KKE, that had openly advocated the
creation of a Macedonian nation, were now becoming active again
through the ELAS ranks.  Their behavior was such, that in many
instances there was strong opposition within ELAS itself, since
many of its members, in particular Greek army officers,
disapproved reactivating KKE slavophone members within ELAS.



Despite the help of the British military expedition in Greece
and the recognition of PAO, with EAM/ELAS, EDES and EKKA as the
main resistance movements (all except ELAS were non-communist)
the conflict between ELAS and the other organizations could not
be prevented.  As it became apparent later on, the goal of the
leaders of KKE was to neutralize and exterminate any rival
resistance movement and to force all resistance fighters to
unite under ELAS.



At exact the same time that the agreement  for cooperation and
for common headquarters between all resistance groups and the
British expeditionary force was being signed, ELAS forces
attacked and destroyed the armed forces of PAO. At that point
PAO ceased to exist as a military force.  Many of its members
joined ELAS, others fled to the Middle East, while some chose to
fight ELAS through the Germans and the collaborating Greek
government.  PAO continued to work as a spying/resistance
movement, supplying information to the Allies throughout the war.



At the end of 1943, the Yugoslav dimension to the Macedonian
question (Bulgarian-Greek conflict) was added.  This had it
origins to the Yugoslav-Macedonian problem.  The pro-Bulgarian
population of southern Yugoslavia expressed open support to the
Bulgarian army upon its entrance to Yugoslavia.  The most
important event, apart from open festivities in villages and
urban areas, was the defection of the local Yugoslav communist
party and its merger with the Bulgarian Communist Party.  This
move reinforced the view that the annexation of Yugoslav
Macedonia by Bulgaria had the overwhelming support of the local
population, including organizations such as the local communist
party.



The reaction of the leader of the Yugoslav Communist party
Broz-Tito was instantaneous.  He requested and got Stalin's
approval (August 1941) that the control of the Macedonian
question be given to the Yugoslavs on the basis of a new
platform proposed by the Yugoslav Communist Party.  According to
that platform, any Bulgarian actions approved by Germany on
Macedonia were invalidated (i.e. the annexation of Yugoslav
territories by Bulgaria).  In addition, it talked about a
"Macedonian" nation and of a new Macedonian nation that would
become a republic of post war Yugoslavia.



Stalin's reaction, through COMINTERN, was very favorable.



It was apparent that the decision of the Soviet Union assigned
to the Yugoslavs the solution to the Macedonian question.  Thus
it took it from the Bulgarians that it had it assigned through
COMINTERN during the interwar years and handed it to Tito. It
was obvious that the military needs of the Soviet Union  in the
early war years had priority over anything else.  Bulgaria, a
German ally, and the weak Bulgarian Communist party could not
even count on the Soviet indifference on the matter.



This gave the Yugoslav Communists a unique opportunity.  It
would not only allow the Yugoslav Communist party to clean up
its house (vis a vis the defections of its party members) and
try to win the support of the population in the south, but it
would also create a new "Macedonian" consciousness that would
help control the party members in the south and drive the
population away from the Bulgarians.



While the Yugoslav Communist party realized its growing strength
within a growing resistance movement, it started to have high
aspirations regarding the post war role of Yugoslavia in the
Balkans.  During 1943, these aspirations had become specific
political goals that aimed at establishing Yugoslavian
hegemonism in the Balkans.



The Macedonian question, could be transformed from the weakest
point of the Yugoslav Communist Party into a new direction in
policy.  Assuming that the Communists parties of Bulgaria and
Greece would accept the new line of COMINTERN and would align
themselves with the Yugoslavian policy on the matter, there
would be a final solution to the Macedonian problem that would
lead into the unification of Macedonia within post war
Yugoslavia.



(to be continued) 

Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.yugoslavia,soc.culture.croatia