Bulgarophiles

Nikola Gulev (born Lakia Guli), an IMRO revolutionary of Aromanian descent and son of Pitu Guli

Bulgarophiles^[1] (Bulgarian: българофили, romanized: bălgarofili; Serbian and Macedonian: бугарофили, romanized: bugarofili; Greek: βουλγαρόφιλοι, romanized: boulgarófiloi; Romanian: bulgarofilii) or Bugaraši (Serbian and Macedonian: бугараши),^[2][3][4] is a pejorative term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje^[5][6][7] who identify as ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulgaria, the term Bulgaromans; (Bulgarian: българомани, romanized: bălgaromani; Romanian: bulgaromani) refers to non-Slavic people such as Aromanians^[8] with a Bulgarian self-awareness.^[9]

It was only after the Serbian revolution and subsequent Serbian independence when the Serbian national idea gained finally momentum in what is today Southern and Eastern Serbia.^[10] According to different authors ca. 1850 the delineation between Serbs and Bulgarians ran north of Niš.^[11][12] On the other hand, according to historian Apostolos Vacalopoulos, from the beginning of the 18th century, the Bulgarians in Macedonia formed the largest Slavic community and had gradually absorbed the sparse Serbs in the area. As a result, after the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire, the Slavic-speakers there, already Bulgarian by name, began to acquire mainly a Bulgarian national identity.^[13] During the 19th and early 20th century the Bulgarian national identification arose as a result of an educational campaign and the affiliation with the Bulgarian millet and Bulgarian Exarchate.^[14][15] In the 20th century, Bulgarophiles in neighboring Yugoslavia and Greece were considered enemies of the state harboring irredentist tendencies.^[16][17]

Plaque on the grave of priest Konstantin Minovic (Konstantin Minov) in Skopje. He swiched from the Bulgarian to the Serbian side and was killed on the order of the IMRO. The plaque was placed after the area was ceded to Serbia in 1913 and states that he was killed by Bugaraši. ^[18]

Adherents of the view that the Macedonian nation is a 20th century phenomenon and that it has close relation with the Bulgarian nation get accused of being Bulgarophiles in North Macedonia.^[19] In the context of North Macedonia, the term also means feeling a close ethnic relation with Bulgarians or being of Bulgarian origin.^[20]

See also

• Serbomans
• Grecomans
• Macedonian Bulgarians
• Bulgarians in Serbia

References

1. Bomb-throwers and Cookie-pushers: American Diplomats, the Macedonian Question and Perceptions of Violence, 1919-1941, Publication: Balkan Studies (4/2003), Frusetta, James; Subject: History, Issue: 4/2003
2. Ulf Brunnbauer, ed. (2009). Transnational Societies, Transterritorial Politics: Migrations in the (post-) Yugoslav Region, 19th-21st Century. Oldenbourg. p. 110. ISBN 9783486591637.
3. Aleksandar R. Miletić (2012). Journey Under Surveillance: The Overseas Emigration Policy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in Global Context, 1918-1928. Lit Verlag. p. 100. ISBN 9783643902238.
4. Boškovska, Nada (2017). Yugoslavia and Macedonia Before Tito: Between Repression and Integration. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 281. ISBN 9781786730732.
5. Филип Панайотов, Иванка Николова, България 20-ти век: Алманах, TRUD Publishers, 1999, ISBN 9545281464, p. 1013.
6. Стела Дерменджиева, Димитър Димитров, България, българите и Европа - мит, история, съвремие, том 2 от научна конференция на Великотърновския университет Св. св. Кирил и Методий, 2007, p. 155.
7. Milić F. Petrović, Dokumenta o Raškoj oblasti: 1890-1899, Istorijski muzej Srbije, 1997, p. 277.
8. "Scrisoare din București" (PDF). Unirea (in Romanian). Vol. 22, no. 113. Blaj. 1912. pp. 3–4.
9. Тодор Балкански, Даниела Андрей, Големите власи сред българите, Знак 94; ISBN 9548709082, 1996.
10. Stevan K. Pavlowitch, Serbia: the history behind the name, 2002, Hurst & Company, ISBN 9781850654773, p. 68.
11. Light, Andrew; Smith, Jonathan M. (1998). Philosophy and Geography II: The Production of Public Space. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 240, 241. ISBN 9780847688104.
12. Mark Pinson, Ottoman Bulgaria in the First Tanzimat Period — The Revolts in Nish (1841) and Vidin (1850) (Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 11, No 2 (May, 1975), pp. 103-146.
13. Apostolos Vakalopoulos (1973). History of Macedonia, 1354-1833. Salonica: Institute of Balkan Studies. p. 266.
14. Ivo Banac (1984). The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics,. Cornell University Press. p. 313. ISBN 0801494931.
15. Vermeulen, Hans (1984). "Greek cultural dominance among the Orthodox population of Macedonia during the last period of Ottoman rule". In Blok, Anton; Driessen, Henk (eds.). Cultural Dominance in the Mediterranean Area. Nijmegen: Katholieke Universiteit. pp. 225–255.
16. Станислав Станев, Български уроци по история на Македония, 21.01.2019, сп. Култура.
17. Цочо Билярски, Гръцките жестокости и варваризъм над българите (1912 - 1923г.) Анико, София, ISBN 9789548247207. 2012.
18. "Here lie the remains of priest Konstantin Minović, who was killed by the Bugaraši in November 1905, at the age of 37." (on the right)
19. Ulf Brunnbauer (2003). "Serving the Nation: Historiography in the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) After Socialism". Historein. 4: 172. doi:10.12681/historein.86.
20. Simeon Mitropolitski (2014). "Balkan politicians, mostly immune to the influence of EU integration". Studia Politica: Romanian Political Science Review: 511.