From: lb@cs.man.ac.uk (Luben Boyanov)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bulgaria
Subject: The Bulgarians  (incl. a Macedonian fable)
Summary: What race they are (were?)
Keywords: Bulgarians, Macedonian Bulgarians.
Date: 29 Aug 92 16:50:20 GMT
Organization: Dept Computer Science, University of Manchester, U.K.

Hello everybody,

Holding a book from the start of this century turned out to be more
exciting than I thought initially. Instead of making a quick and simple
reference to, I was dragged into reading pages and pages (alas, don't have
the time to read the entire book). And during that time, (i.e. when reading
the "few" pages I wanted to), I've been thinking "Something exactly for
'soc.culture.bulgaria'." I hope I was not wrong.

Here are some of the descriptions of Bulgarians by H. N. Brailsford
from the years 1903-04. The book - "MACEDONIA - its races and their
future", was first published in 1906 (I think I'm holding an edition from
1907, or the original one). Initially, I thought to write down the
"Macedonian" fable only, but later on, I decided to include the preceeding
page with a description of the Bulgars. Then I added some more, then more
... Judge for yourself. The paragraphs which I have chosen ARE NOT intended
to be used for the discussion on Macedonia, and I'd like to ask netters,
who haven't read the book, and don't know the author's full story on
Macedonia, not to pick sentences for such purposes (although what is
quoted here can give a clear insight on many issues).

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

pp 116-118.


[about the movement for independent Macedonia - skipped]

... In this way the movement became democratic as well as revolutionary.
The Bulgars are not a speculative race. I have never met even among their
leaders the type of thinker and theorist whom one encounters so often among
Russian exiles - perhaps they are hardly as yet at that level of culture.
But in a practical and quite clear-sighted way they did become a real
people's party. Their decisions are taken by general conferences, which
contrive in some mysterious way to meet once or twice a year in the very
heart of Macedonia. Their leaders are elected, from the president of the
whole organisation down to the chiefs of each village band. They have known
how to bend the Bishops to their will, and in the corrupt little world of
the village communities, where the wealthier peasants rule with the support
of the Turks, they have fostered a very wholesome spirit of criticism and
opposition. Year by year the Committee became more and more a genuinely
national organisation. It knew how to use enthusiasm and to inspire the
young. It had its songs and its heroes. At Uskub [i.e. Skopie] the lads in
the upper classes of the secondary school have been known to march through
the streets of the town under the eyes of the Turks, chanting their ballads
of revolt for all to hear. But this reckless spirit of youth and
self-sacrifice was guided by other heads. The organisation included the
cautious peasant with his habit of compromise and guile, the wealthy
merchant of the towns, and the educated professional man, as well as these
younger and hotter heads. Discipline and organisation were its chief ends
for many a long year of waiting, and patience amid fallacious hopes and
alarming persecutions was its typical virtue. Enthusiasm is possessed, like
all revolutionary movements, but its passion for method and detail were
even more remarkable. It had its correspondents in every centre, its
couriers, its treasurers, its experts for explosives, its medical service,
its hired agents among the Turks, its archives, and its official records.
There is a Macedonian fable which tells how several races of Turkey came to
God for gifts. The Turks came first and received the boon of sovereignty.
The Greeks, hearing what had happened, hurried to heaven and complained, "O
God! What is this intrigue of yours against us? Give us also power." And
God answered, "Sovereignty is already allotted. But you shall have the gift
of intrigue." Then came the Bulgars with the same petition, "O God! What is
this work of yours? Give us also power." But God gave them the gift of
work.
...

p. 167
...
  The more one learned to know the Bulgarians of Macedonia, the more one
came to respect their patriotism and courage. These are no flamboyant or
picturesque virtues; they have grown up in a soil of serfdom among a
reserved and unimaginative race. They are consistent with compromise and
with prudence. There is something almost furtive in their manifestations.
And yet when the Bulgarian seems most opportunist and a time-server, he
still cherishes his faith in the future of his people, and still works for
its realisation. He has no great past to boast of, no glorious present to
give him courage. He does not flaunt his nationality like the Greek, or
claim an imagined superiority.
...

pp. 168-69

...
  Without this steadfast and resolute capacity for suffering, this
plodding, if furtive, patriotism, this somewhat passive courage, the
Bulgarians could never have made their Committee. Yet another quality was
necessary - loyalty - and this, too, they possess. They have no highly
developed sense of personal honour, as the Albanians have - for that a race
must have carried arms and know no master. They neither love truth for its
own sake nor scorn a meanness from self-respect. But some fellow-feeling,
some sense of brotherhood, keeps them true. There are few secrets in the
intimate common life of the village. Every one knows who is the Committee's
agent, who harbours the wandering outlaws, who has a store of dynamite or
of rifles buried in his yard. Most amazing of all is the ease with which
the leaders of the revolution can travel unscathered from end to end of
Macedonia. The villager who has grasped Sarafoff's hand will tell
afterwards of his great experience, as a Scottish clansman might have
boasted that he had seen Prince Charlie. All through the winter that
followed the insurrection, Damian Groueff, the President of the Supreme
Macedonian Committee, the real chief of the movement, and the organiser of
the campaign, liberated in a village not many miles from Monastir. The
secret must have been the common property of thousands, and not one of them
seems to have thought of selling it. In the spring M. Groueff actually
entered Monastir itself, lodged in a Bulgarian house, and moved freely
about in streets that swarm with soldiers, police, and spies. His presence
was generally known to the Bulgarians of the place; but, despite the fact
that a price had been placed on his head, not a man among them was found to
prefer riches to loyalty. Nor was this an isolated occurrence. The
insurgent chiefs constantly venture not only into Monastir but even into
Salonica, yet no single instance of treason has ever been known to occur.
When one compares this uniform immunity from treason with the history of
Irish conspiracies, from the days of Wolfe Tone to the Phoenix Park
murders, one is forced to admit that somewhere beneath the awkwards reserve
of the Bulgarian character there lies a fund of loyalty and steadfast faith
more reliable than any picturesque of feudal chivalry."


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

Best regards

Luben


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"Let us not allow splits and splintering to frighten us. It is, indeed, a
pity, but what can we do, since we are Bulgarians and all suffer from one
common disease"
				Gotse Delchev
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.bulgaria