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| '''Georgi Nikolov Delchev''' (1872–1903) (]: Георги Николов Делчев, known as '''Gotse Delchev''', also spelled '''Goce Delčev''') was an important 19th century revolutionary figure in then ] ruled ]. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today as ] (IMRO), a ] organization active in the ] at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At his time the name of the organization was '' |
'''Georgi Nikolov Delchev''' (1872–1903) (]: Георги Николов Делчев, known as '''Gotse Delchev''', also spelled '''Goce Delčev''') was an important 19th century revolutionary figure in then ] ruled ]. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today as ] (IMRO), a ] organization active in the ] at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At his time the name of the organization was ''Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees'' (BMARC), in 1902 changed to ''Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization'' (SMARO). | ||
| == Biography == | == Biography == | ||
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| Gotse Delchev was born on January 23 (February 4, new style), 1872 in Kilkis, Aegean Macedonia (now northern Greece), first boy, the third row of numerous family piece which had nine children. Delchev comes from a wealthy family relative. His father was Nicholas Delchev and his mother Sultana Nurdzhieva originated from a nearby village Murarci. In 1879 - 1880, Goce (George) Delchev begins to attend school in Kilkis, then finished high school in Thessaloniki gymnasium "Ss. Cyril and Methodius". He enrolled at the Military Academy in Sofia in the 1891st Later, as a cadet in military school in Sofia secretly attended socialist circles, and spreading socialist literature, which is excluded from school. Delchev became a teacher in Stip in 1894 where he met Dame Gruev, one of the founders of the organization. As a result of the close friendship between the two, Delchev joined the organization in 1895, soon becoming its leader. | |||
| === Early life === | |||
| In the summer of 1896, held in Thessaloniki and the Macedonian Congress Odrin revolutionary forces. The congress attended by Goce Delchev. Goce Delchev and Gorce Petrov opolnomoshni to develop a constitution and law and constitution-made titled "Constitution of the Secret Macedonian-Odrin Revolutionary Organization." At the beginning of January 1898 year. Chetnik Institute is established, and Gotse Delchev was appointed chief of all bands in Macedonia. | |||
| He was born in a large family on February 4, 1872 in ] (Kukush), then in the Ottoman Empire (today in ])...„Македония и Одринско. Статистика на населението от 1873 г.“ Македонски научен институт, София, 1995 г., стр. 160-161.</ref> Since 1859 ] became one of the centers of the ],<ref></ref><ref>In one five-year period, there were 57 Catholic villages in the area, whilst the Bulgarian uniate schools in the ] reached 64. "National Claims, Conflicts and Developments in Macedonia, 1870-1912" by Basil C. Gounaris, p. 186.</ref> but after 1884, most of its population gradually joined the ].<ref>The Bulgarian movement for union with Rome initially won some 60,000 adherents, but as a result of the establishment in 1870 of the Bulgarian Exarchate, at least three quarters of these returned to Orthodoxy by the end of the century. The Archbishop of all Uniat Bulgarians Nil Izvorov went back in 1884 to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The clergy’s numerous shifts were symptomatic of the Great powers’ game that the clergy got involved after the 1878 Berlin Treaty, which left Macedonia and Thrace within the Ottoman Empire, after they had been given to Bulgaria with the March 1878 San Stefano Treaty.</ref><ref>A survey from 1905 established the presence of 9,712 ], 40 ], 592 ] and 16 Protestants. "La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne". D.M. Brancoff, Paris, 1905, р.98-99.</ref> As a student Delchev began first to study in the Bulgarian Uniate's primary school and then in the Bulgarian Exarchate's junior high school.<ref>Л. Чопова-Юрукова, Спомени за семейството на Гоце Делчев, сп. Септември, кн. 5, 1953, стр. 72; Ст. Стаматов, Спомени за Гоце Делчев и Борис Дрангов, София, 1935, стр. 15.</ref> He also read widely in the town's ], where he was impressed with revolutionary books, and especially Delchev was imbued with the ideas of ].<ref>People in World History: A-M, Susan K. Kinnell, ABC-CLIO, 1989, ISBN 0874365503, p. 157.</ref> In 1888 his family sent him to the ], where he organized and led a secret revolutionary brotherhood.<ref>Julian Allan Brooks, MA in History "Shoot the Teacher!" Education and the Roots of the Macedonian Struggle; December 2005. Thesis (M.A.) - Department of History - Simon Fraser University, pp. 133-134.</ref> Delchev also distributed revolutionary literature, which he acquired from the school’s graduates who studied in Bulgaria. Graduation from a Bulgarian school was faced with few career prospects and Delchev decided to follow the path of his former school-mate ], entering the military school in ] in 1891. He at first encountered the newly independent Bulgaria full of idealism and dedication, but he later became disappointed with the commercialized life of the society and with the authoritarian politics of the dictator ]. Gotsе spent his leaves in the company of emigrants from Macedonia. Most of them belonged to the ]. One of his friends was ], a leader of the Macedonian-Adrianople faction of the ]. Through Glavinov and his comrades, he came into contact with a different people, who offered a new forms of social struggle. In June 1892 Delchev and the journalist ], a chairman of the Young Macedonian Literary Society, met in Sofia with the bookseller from Salonica, ]. Hadzhinikolov disclosed on this meeting his plans to create a revolutionary organization in Ottoman Macedonia. They discussed together its basic principles and agreed fully on all scores. Delchev explained, he has no intention of remaining an officer and promised after graduating from the Military School, he will return to Macedonia to join the organization.<ref>„Илюстрация Илинден", София, 1936 г., кн. 1, стр. 4-5; (Magazine Ilustratsia Ilinden), Sofia, 1936, book I, pp. 4-5; the original is in Bulgarian.</ref> In 1894, only a month before graduation, he was expelled because his political activity as a member of illegal ] circle.<ref></ref> He was given a possibility to enter the Army again through re-applyng for commission, but he refused. Afterwards he returned to European Turkey to work there as a teacher, hoping to organize a national liberation movement through the ]'s educational net. | |||
| During his frequent tours around the country working to create a healthy organizational network and solid bases, committees and Komita bands of the Organization. The goal is autonomy or complete liberation of Macedonia and the Odrin Ottoman slavery and the creation of an independent Macedonian state. | |||
| === Teacher and revolutionist=== | |||
| Meanwhile in Ottoman ] a revolutionary organization was founded, by a small band of anti-Ottoman ] revolutionaries, including Hadzhinikolov. The organization developed quickly and had managed to begin establishing a network of local organizations across Macedonia and the ], usually centered around the schools of the Bulgarian Exarchate.<ref>Ivo Banac, The Macedoine (pp. 307–328 in of "The National Question in Yugoslavia. Origins, History, Politics", Cornell University Press, 1984)</ref> The same year Delchev became a teacher in an Еxarchate's school in ], where he met another teacher - ], who was also a leader of the newly established local committee of BMARC.<ref>MacDermott, Mercia. 1978. Freedom or Death: The Life of Delchev. Published by The Journeyman Press, London and West Nyack. 405 pp. ISBN 0-904526-32-1. Translated in Bulgarian: Макдермот, Мерсия. Свобода или смърт. Биография на Гоце Делчев, София 1979, с. 86-94.</ref> As a result of the close friendship between the two, Delchev joined the organization immediately, and gradually became one of its main leaders. After this, both Gruev and Delchev worked together in Štip and its environs. The expansion of the IMRO at the time was considerable, particularly after Gruev settled in ] during the years 1895-1897, in the quality of a Bulgarian school inspector. Under his direction, Delchev travelled during the vacations throughout Macedonia and established and organized committees in villages and cities. Delchev also established a contacts with some of the leaders of the ] (SMAC). Its official declaration was a struggle for autonomy of Macedonia and Thrace.<ref>Елдъров, Светлозар. „Върховният македоно-одрински комитет и Македоно-одринската организация в България (1895 - 1903)“, Иврай, София, 2003, ISBN 9549121062, стр. 6.</ref> However, as a rule, most of SMAC's leaders were officers with stronger connections with the governments, waging terrorist struggle against the Ottomans in the hope of provoking a war and thus Bulgarian annexation of both areas. He arrived illegally in Bulgaria's capital and tried to get support from the SMAC's leadership. Delchev had a number of meetings with ], ], ], ] and others, but he was often frustrated of their views. As a whole, Delchev had a negative attitude towards their activities. After spending the next school year (1895/1896) as a teacher in the town of ], he participated in the Thessaloniki Congress of BMARC in 1896. Afterwards Delchev gave his resignation as teacher and in 1897 he moved back to Bulgaria, where he, together with ], served as a foreign representatives of the organization in Sofia.<ref>Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977, стр. 30. {{bg icon}} In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography " Delchev", Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977, p. 30.</ref> | |||
| To avoid or at least neutralize the impact of Bulgarian court and his AGENTUR etc.. "Supreme Macedonian Committee", Goce, and emigrant agent, actively acting on their representatives to give up uncalled interference in internal affairs of the revolutionary organization, which represents the sole legitimate representative of the Macedonian liberation movement, and act only as an auxiliary force Material assistance to the Organization. Their removal, Goce led uncompromising struggle against the interference of the Bulgarian government and the leaders of Macedonian committees.Most remarkable echoes of his struggle to preserve the unity of external interference had opened his reply the President of the Supreme Committee, General Nikolaev, who warned him that,while his shoulder supports the gun he will not allow the presence of Bulgarian officers in Macedonia. The same goal was his directive in 1902 to ban the entry of bands from Bulgaria, and an official warning to Bulgaria for Macedonia do not think, but to keep Bulgaria, because the Macedonians will keep Macedonia. | |||
| ===Revolutionary activity as a part of the leadership of the Organization=== | |||
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| The regular counseling in December 1902, Goce Delchev, Dame Gruev, Jane Sandanski and other leaders of the organization decide not to lift frontal uprising in Macedonia, but to run a guerrilla war. Objective as stated Goce should be: "do we beat Turkey but it did not 'beat us." | |||
| Delchev's involvement in BMARC was an important moment in the history of the Macedonian-Adrianople liberation movement.<ref></ref> The years between the end of 1896, when he left the Exarchate's educational system and 1903 when he died, represented the final and most effective revolutionary phase of his short life. In this period he was a representative of the Foreign Committee of the BMARC in Sofia. Again in Sofia, negotiating with suspicious politicians and arms merchants, Delchev saw more of the unpleasant face of the Principality, and became even more disillusioned with its political system. In 1897 he, along with ], wrote the new organization's statute, which divided Macedonia and Adrianople areas into seven regions, each with a regional structure and secret police, following the ]'s example. Below the regional committees were districts.<ref></ref> The Central committee was placed in ]. In 1898 Delchev decided to be created a permanent acting armed bands (]s) in every district. His correspondence with other BMARC/SMARO members covers extensive data on supplies, transport and storage of weapons and ammunition in Macedonia. Delchev envisioned independent production of weapons, which resulted in the establishment of a bomb manufacturing plant in the village of Sabler near ] in Bulgaria. The bombs were later smuggled across the Ottoman border into Macedonia.<ref>Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977, стр. 32-33. {{bg icon}} In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography '' Delchev'', Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977, pp. 32-33.</ref> Gotse Delchev was the first to organize and lead a band into Macedonia with the purpose of robbing or kidnapping a rich Turks. His experiences demonstrate the weaknesses and difficulties which the Organization faced in its early years.<ref>Fires on the mountain: the Macedonian revolutionary movement and the kidnapping of Ellen Stone | |||
| Volume, Laura Beth Sherman, East European Monographs, 1980, ISBN 0914710559, p. 15.</ref> Later he was one of the organizers of the ]. He made two short visits to the Adrianople area of Thrace in 1896 and 1898.<ref>Memoirs of Georgi Vasilev. Prinosi kam istoriyata na Makedono-odrinskoto revolyutsionno dvizhenie. Vol IV, p. 8, 9. From the memoirs of Petar Kiprilov, priest in the village of Pirok. Opus cit. p. 157.</ref> In 1900 he inspected the BMARC's detachments in ] again, aiming better coordination between Macedonian and Thracian revolutionary organizations. He also led the congress of the Adrianople revolutionary district held in ] in April 1902. Afterwards Delchev inspected the BMARC's structures in the Central ]. The inclusion of the rural areas into the organizational districts contributed to the expansion of the organization and the increase in its membership, while providing the essential prerequisites for the formation of the military power of the organization, at the same time having Delchev as its military advisor (inspector) and chief of all internal revolutionary bands.<ref>Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977, стр. 39. {{bg icon}} In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography '' Delchev'', Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977, p. 39.</ref> Delchev aimed also better coordination between BMARC and the ]. For a short time in the late 1890s lieutenant ], who was former school-mate of Delchev became its leader. At that period the foreign representatives Delchev and Petrov became by rights members of the leadership of the Supreme Committee and so BMARC even managed to gain ''de facto'' control of the SMAC.<ref></ref> Nevertheless it soon split into two factions: one loyal to the BMARC and one led by some officers close to the Bulgarian prince. Delchev opposed this officers' insistent attempts to gain control over the activity of BMARC.<ref>For example in a speech, addressed to the VIII extraordinary congress of the Bulgarian promilitary Supreme Macedono-Adrianopolitan Organisation in Sofia on April 7, 1901: "Само ако тукашната организация одобрява духът на вътрешната организация и не се стреми да й дава импулс, въздействие, т. е. не й се бърка в нейните работи, само в такъв случай може да съществува връзка между тия две организации.", НБКМ — БИА, ф. 224, а. е. 8, л. 602, in English: "Only if the external organization approves the spirit of the internal organisation /''IMRO, editor's note''/ and doesn't aspire to give it impulse, influence, i.e., it doesn't meddle in its affairs, only in such case relation between these two organisations could exist."; the document is kept in the ], the Bulgarian Historical Archive department, fund 224, archive unit 8, page 602).</ref> Sometimes SMAC even clashed militarily with local SMARO bands as in the autumn of 1902. Then the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee organized a failed uprising in Pirin Macedonia (]), which merely served to provoke Ottoman repressions and hampered the work of the underground network of SMARO. The primary question regarding the timing of the uprising in Macedonia and Thrace implicated an apparent discordance not only among the SMAC and the SMARO, but also among the SMARO's leadership. At the Salonika Congress of January 1903, where Delchev did not participate, an early uprising was debated and it was decided to stage one in the Spring of 1903. This led to fiercing debates among the representatives at the Sofia SMARO's Conference in March 1903. By that time two strong tendecies had crystallized within the SMARO. The right-wing majority was convinced that if the Organization would unleash a ''general uprising'', Bulgaria would be provoced to declare war of the Ottomans and after the subsequent intervention of the ] the Еmpire would collapse.<ref>Socialism and nationalism in the Ottoman Empire, 1876-1923, Mete Tunçay, Erik Jan Zürcher, British Academic Press, Amsterdam, 1994, ISBN 1850437874, p. 36.</ref> The left-wing faction led by Delchev, on the other hand, warned against the risks of such unrealistic plans, opposing the uprising as inappropriate as tactics and premature by time.<ref>Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977, стр. 62-66. {{bg icon}} In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography '' Delchev'', Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977, pp. 62-66.</ref> Deltchev, who was under the influence of the leading Bulgarian anarchists as ] and ] personally supported the tactics of '']'' as the ].<ref></ref> Finally, he had no choice but agree to that course of action at least managing to delay its start from May to August. Delchev also convinced the IMRO leadership to transform its idea of an mass rising involving the civil population into a rising based on ]. Towards the end of March 1903 Gotse with his detachment destroyed the railway bridge over ] river, aiming to test the new guerrilla tactics. Following that in the late April he set out for Salonica to meet with ] and to discusse the situation. After his meeting Delchev headed for Mount ] where he was expected to meet with representatives from the ] Revolutionary District detachments. But he never made it. | |||
| In January, 1903. Goce Delchev expresses itself as the first openly against lifting the uprising in Macedonia that year, known then as "Ilinden Uprising" as an early step and unprepared. | |||
| On the evening of May 2, 1903, Goce Delchev arrived in the village. Banica, a small distance from Serres. To stay in Gotse Delchev Banica Turkish administration was informed by the unknown (s). At dawn on May 4, 1903 year Goce ordered to leave the house where they were located and to withdraw to save the village from oppression. During the day, on May 4, 1903 in fighting in the village of Banica out of Goce Delchev was hit in the left breast, fell on his gun, tried to rise and fell dead. | |||
| Goce's sacrifice,the work for freeing the people of Macedonia and Odrin,and creating an independent Macedonian state has adopted the halo of recognition and respect. His name became legend, woven into the consciousness of the Macedonian masses. His name has excited generations Macedonia, the Macedonian name by progressive forces fought in a completely new socio-political situation of the Macedonian people fight for national and social liberation. | |||
| His remains were first transferred to Bulgaria on October 11, 1946 be transferred to Skopje, in the church of St. Saviour. | |||
| As himself said,that he wants his remains to be buried in the capital of INDEPENDENT MACEDONIA! | |||
| === Dead and mortal remains === | === Dead and mortal remains === | ||
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| ] are shown with green frontiers.]] | ] are shown with green frontiers.]] | ||
| ].]] | ].]] | ||
| Gotse Delchev died on May 4, 1903 in a skirmish with the ] police near the village of ], probably after betrayal by local villagers, as rumours asserted, while preparing the ]. After being identified by the local authorities in ], the bodies of Delchev and his comrade, ], were buried in a common grave in Banitsa. Soon afterwards SMARO, aided by SMAC organized the uprising against the Ottomans, which after the initial successes, was crushed with much loss of life.<ref></ref> Two of his brothers, Mitso Delchev and Milan Delchev were also killed fighting against the Ottomans as militants in the IMRO ]s of the Bulgarian ]s ] and ] in 1901 and 1903, respectively. In 1914, with a royal decree of ], a pension for life was granted to their father Nikola Delchev, because of the merits of his sons to the freedom of Macedonia.<ref>Държавен вестник, бр. 282, 4.ХІІ.1914, стр. 1.</ref> | |||
| ==Delchev's views== | |||
| ] and Gotse Delchev. The Statute and Rules were probably largely Gyorche's work, based on guidelines agreed by the Congress. He attempted to draw members of the Supreme Macedonian Committee into the task of drafting the Statute by approaching ] and ]. When, however, Lyapchev produced a first article which would have made the Organization a branch of the Supreme Committee, Petrov gave up in despair and wrote the Statute himself, with Delchev's assistance.</ref>]] | |||
| ] with the help of ] in 1894, the second by Gyorche Petrov, with the help from Gotse Delchev and the third by Delchev himself in 1902 (this was an amended version of the second). Two of these Statutes have come down to us: one entitled 'Statute of the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Committees' (BMARC) and the other - 'Statute of the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization' (SMARO). The first hectographed Statute which was very brief is not preserved.</ref>]] | |||
| The international, ] views of Delchev could be summarized in his proverbial sentence: "''I understand the world solely as a field for cultural competition among the peoples''".<ref>Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977, стр. 13. {{bg icon}} In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography '' Delchev'', Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977, p. 13.</ref> In the late 19th century the ]s and socialists from Bulgaria linked their struggle closely with the revolutionary movements in Macedonia and Thrace.<ref></ref> Thus, as a young cadet in Sofia Delchev became a member of a left circle, where he was strongly influenced by the modern than ] and ]'s ideas.<ref></ref> His views were formed also under the influence of the ideas of earlier anti-Ottoman fighters as ], ] and ], who were among the founders of the pro-Bulgrarian ], the ] and the ], respectively.<ref></ref> Later he participated in the Internal organization's struggle and as well educated leader, became one of its theoreticians and co-author of the BMARC's statute from 1896.<ref name="petrov">"Спомени на Гьорчо Петров", поредица Материяли за историята на македонското освободително движение, книга VIII, София, 1927, глава VII, (in English: "Memoirs of Gyorcho Petrov", series Materials about history of the Macedonian revolutionary movement, book VIII, Sofia, 1927, chapter VII).</ref> Developing his ideas further in 1902 he took the step, together with other left functionaries, of changing its nationalistic character, which determined that members of the organization can be only Bulgarians. The new ] statute renamed it to Secret Macedono-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organization (SMARO),<ref>''...At first the revolutionary organization began to work among the Bulgarian population, even not among the whole of it, but only among this part, which participated in the Bulgarian Exarchate. IMRO treated suspiciously to the Bulgarians, which participated in other churches, as the Greek Patriarchate, the Eastern Catholic Church and the Protestant Church. As to the revolutionary activity among the other nationalities as Turks, Albanians, Greeks and Vlahs, such question did not exist for the founders of the organization. This other nationalities were for IMRO foreign people... Later, when the leaders of IMRO saw, that the idea for liberation of Macedonia can find followers among the Bulgarians non-Exarchists, as also among the other nationalities in Macedonia, and under the pressure from IMRO-members with left, socialist or anarchist convictions, they changed the staute of IMRO in sence, that member of IMRO can be any Macedonian and Adrianopolitan, regardless from his ethnicity or religious denomination...'' See: “Борбите на македонския народ за освобождение”. Димитър Влахов, Библиотека Балканска Федерация, № 1, Виена, 1925, стр. 11.</ref> which was to be an insurgent organization, open to all Macedonians and Thracians regardless of nationality, who wished to participate in the movement for their autonomy.<ref></ref> This scenario was partially facilitated by the ], according to which Macedonia and Adrianople areas were given back from Bulgaria to the Ottomans, but especially by its unrealized 23rd. article, which promised future autonomy for unspecified territories in ], settled with Christian population.<ref></ref> In general, an ''autonomous status'' was presumed to imply a special kind of constitution of the region, a reorganization of gendarmerie, broader representation of the local Christian population in it as well as in all the administration, similarly to what happened in the short-lived ]. However, there was not a clear political agenda behind IMRO's idea about autonomy.<ref></ref> Delcev, like other left-wing activists, vaguely determined the bonds in the future common Macedonian-Adrianopolitan autonomous region on the one hand,<ref></ref> and on the other between it, the Principality of Bulgaria, and ''de facto'' annexed Eastern Rumelia.<ref></ref> Even the possibility that Bulgaria could be absorbed into a future autonomous Macedonia, rather than the reverse, was discussed.<ref></ref> It is claimed that Delchev's personal view was much more likely to see incorporation into Bulgaria as a natural final outcome of this autonomy,<ref></ref><ref>''Идеята за автономия като тактика в програмите на национално-освободителното движение в Македония и Одринско (1893-1941), Димитър Гоцев, 1983, Изд. на Българска Академия на Науките, София, 1983, c. 34.; in English: The idea for autonomy as a tactics in the programs of the National Liberation movements in Macedonia and Adrianople regions 1893-1941", Sofia, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Dimitar v, 1983, p 34.'' Among others, there are used the memoirs of the IMRO revolutionary Kosta Tsipushev, where he cited Delchev, that the autonomy then was only tactics, aiming future unification with Bulgaria. (55. ЦПА, ф. 226); срв. К. Ципушев. 19 години в сръбските затвори, СУ Св. Климент Охридски, 2004, ISBN 954-91083-5-X стр. 31-32. in English: Kosta Tsipushev, 19 years in Serbian prisons, Sofia University publishing house, 2004, ISBN 954-91083-5-X, p. 31-32.</ref><ref> in Macedonian - Ете како ја објаснува целта на борбата Гоце Делчев во 1901 година: "...Треба да се бориме за автономноста на Македанија и Одринско, за да ги зачуваме во нивната целост, како еден етап за идното им присоединување кон општата Болгарска Татковина". In English - How Delchev explained the aim of the struggle against the Ottomans in 1901: "...We have to fight for autonomy of Macedonia and Adrianople regions as a stage for their future unification with our common fatherland, Bulgaria."</ref> or eventually inclusion in a future ] after the expected ].<ref>Гоце Делчев. Писма и други материали, Дино Кьосев, Биографичен очерк, стр. 33.</ref><ref></ref> The last idea was probably influenced by the ''League for the Balkan Confederation'', created in 1894 by Balkan socialists, which supported Macedonian autonomy inside a general federation of Southeast Europe.<ref>Balkan federation: a history of the movement toward Balkan unity in modern times, Smith College studies in history, Leften Stavros Stavrianos, Archon Books, 1964, p. 151.</ref> The idea of a separate Macedonian nation was as yet promoted only by small circles of intellectuals in Delchev's time,<ref></ref> and failed to gain wide popular support.<ref></ref> As a whole the idea of autonomy was strictly political and did not imply a secession from Bulgarian ethnicity.<ref>The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics, Cornell Paperbacks, Ivo Banac, Cornell University Press, 1988, ISBN 0801494931, p. 314.</ref> In fact, for militants such as the socialist Delchev and other leftists, that participated in the national movement retaining a political outlook, national liberation meant ''"radical political liberation through shaking off the social shackles"''.<ref></ref> There aren't any indications suggesting his doubt about the Bulgarian ethnic character of the Macedonians at that time.<ref>Perry, Duncan M. (1988). The Politics of Terror: The Macedonian Revolutionary Movements, 1893-1903, Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press.), p.23.</ref> The Bulgarian ethnic self-identification of Delchev has been recognized аs from leading international researchers of the Macedonian Question,<ref>Delchev, openly said that “We are Bulgarians”(Mac Dermott, 1978:192, 273, quoted in Danforth, 1995:64) and addressed “the Slavs of Macedonia as ‘Bulgarians’ in an offhanded manner without seeming to indicate that such a designation was a point of contention” (Perry, 1988:23, quoted in Danforth, 1995:64). See: </ref> as well as from the Macedonian historical scholarship, although reluctantly.<ref name="ivan">Академик Иван Катарџиев, "Верувам во националниот имунитет на македонецот", интервjу, "Форум": "форум - Дали навистина Делчев се изјаснувал како Бугарин и зошто? Катарџиев - Ваквите прашања стојат. Сите наши луѓе се именувале како „Бугари“..."; also (in Macedonian; in English: "Academician Ivan Katardzhiev. I believe in Macedonian national immunity", interview, "Forum" magazine: "Forum - Whether Delchev really defined himself as Bulgarian and why? Katardzhiev - Such questions exist. All our people named themselves as "Bulgarians"...")</ref><ref name="zoran">"Уште робуваме на старите поделби", Разговор со д-р Зоран Тодоровски, www.tribune.eu.com, 27. 06. 2005, also (in Macedonian; in English: "We are still in servitude to the old divisions", interview with Ph. D. Zoran Todorovski, published on www.tribune.eu.com, 27. 06. 2005.</ref><ref>], Utrinski Vesnik, issue 1760, 16.10.2006.]</ref> However, despite his Bulgarian loyalty, he was against any chauvinistic propaganda and nationalism.<ref></ref> | |||
| == Delchev's legacy == | |||
| ] | |||
| Delchev is today regarded both in Bulgaria and in the Republic of Macedonia as an important national hero, and both nations see him as part of their own national history.<ref></ref> His memory is honoured especially in the Bulgarian parts of Macedonia and among the descendants of Bulgarian refugees from other parts of the region, where he is regarded as the most important revolutionary from the second generation of freedom fighters.<ref></ref> His name appears also in the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia - ]. There are two towns named in his honour: ] in Bulgaria and ] in the Republic of Macedonia. There are also two peaks named after Delchev: ''Gotsev Vrah'', the summit of ], and ''Delchev Vrah'' or ] on ], ] in ]. ] on ] bears also his name. The ] in the Republic of Macedonia carries his name too. | |||
| == Memorials== | == Memorials== | ||
| Line 79: | Line 68: | ||
| == Notes == | == Notes == | ||
| {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | {{reflist|colwidth=30em}} | ||
| == References == | |||
| * Пандев, К. "Устави и правилници на ВМОРО преди Илинденско-Преображенското въстание", ''Исторически преглед'', 1969, кн. I, стр. 68—80. {{bg icon}} | |||
| * Пандев, К. "Устави и правилници на ВМОРО преди Илинденско-Преображенското въстание", ''Извeстия на Института за история'', т. 21, 1970, стр. 250-257. {{bg icon}} | |||
| * Битоски, Крсте, сп. "Македонско Време", Скопје - март 1997, quoting: Quoting: Public Record Office - Foreign Office 78/4951 Turkey (Bulgaria), From Elliot, 1898, ''Устав на ТМОРО''. S. 1. published in ''Документи за борбата на македонскиот народ за самостојност и за национална држава'', Скопје, Универзитет "Кирил и Методиј": Факултет за филозофско-историски науки, 1981, pp 331 – 333. {{mk icon}} | |||
| * Hugh Pouton ''Who Are the Macedonians?'' , C. Hurst & Co, 2000. p. 53. ISBN 1-85065-534-0 | |||
| * Fikret Adanir, ''Die Makedonische Frage: ihre entestehung und etwicklung bis 1908.'', Wiessbaden 1979, p. 112. | |||
| * Duncan Perry ''The Politics of Terror: The Macedonian Liberation Movements, 1893-1903 '', Durham, Duke University Press, 1988. pp. 40–41, 210 n. 10. | |||
| * Friedman, V. (1997) "One Grammar, Three Lexicons: Ideological Overtones and Underpinnings of the Balkan Sprachbund" in ''CLS 33 Papers from the 33rd Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society''. (Chicago : Chicago Linguistic Society) | |||
| * Димитър П. Евтимов, ''Делото на Гоце Делчев'', Варна, изд. на варненското Македонско културно-просветно дружество "Гоце Делчев", 1937. {{bg icon}} | |||
| * Пейо Яворов, "Събрани съчинения", Том втори, "Гоце Делчев", Издателство "Български писател", София, 1977. In English: ], "Complete Works", Volume 2, biography " Delchev", Publishing house "Bulgarian writer", Sofia, 1977.{{bg icon}} | |||
| * MacDermott, Mercia. 1978. Freedom or Death: The Life of Goce Delchev. Published by The Journeyman Press, London and West Nyack. ISBN 0-904526-32-1. | |||
| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. --> | {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. --> | ||
Revision as of 22:39, 2 August 2011
For the town in Bulgaria, see Gotse Delchev (town).| Georgi Nikolov "Gotse" Delchev Гоце Делчев | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Gotse Delchev | |
| Born | February 4, 1872 Kilkis, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Died | May 4, 1903(1903-05-04) (aged 31) Banitsa, Ottoman Empire (now Greece) |
| Organization(s) | leader of the Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees, (later SMORO, IMORO, IMRO) |
Georgi Nikolov Delchev (1872–1903) (Macedonian: Георги Николов Делчев, known as Gotse Delchev, also spelled Goce Delčev) was an important 19th century revolutionary figure in then Ottoman ruled Macedonia. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today as Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a paramilitary organization active in the Ottoman territories in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At his time the name of the organization was Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Committees (BMARC), in 1902 changed to Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (SMARO).
Biography
Gotse Delchev was born on January 23 (February 4, new style), 1872 in Kilkis, Aegean Macedonia (now northern Greece), first boy, the third row of numerous family piece which had nine children. Delchev comes from a wealthy family relative. His father was Nicholas Delchev and his mother Sultana Nurdzhieva originated from a nearby village Murarci. In 1879 - 1880, Goce (George) Delchev begins to attend school in Kilkis, then finished high school in Thessaloniki gymnasium "Ss. Cyril and Methodius". He enrolled at the Military Academy in Sofia in the 1891st Later, as a cadet in military school in Sofia secretly attended socialist circles, and spreading socialist literature, which is excluded from school. Delchev became a teacher in Stip in 1894 where he met Dame Gruev, one of the founders of the organization. As a result of the close friendship between the two, Delchev joined the organization in 1895, soon becoming its leader. In the summer of 1896, held in Thessaloniki and the Macedonian Congress Odrin revolutionary forces. The congress attended by Goce Delchev. Goce Delchev and Gorce Petrov opolnomoshni to develop a constitution and law and constitution-made titled "Constitution of the Secret Macedonian-Odrin Revolutionary Organization." At the beginning of January 1898 year. Chetnik Institute is established, and Gotse Delchev was appointed chief of all bands in Macedonia.
During his frequent tours around the country working to create a healthy organizational network and solid bases, committees and Komita bands of the Organization. The goal is autonomy or complete liberation of Macedonia and the Odrin Ottoman slavery and the creation of an independent Macedonian state.
To avoid or at least neutralize the impact of Bulgarian court and his AGENTUR etc.. "Supreme Macedonian Committee", Goce, and emigrant agent, actively acting on their representatives to give up uncalled interference in internal affairs of the revolutionary organization, which represents the sole legitimate representative of the Macedonian liberation movement, and act only as an auxiliary force Material assistance to the Organization. Their removal, Goce led uncompromising struggle against the interference of the Bulgarian government and the leaders of Macedonian committees.Most remarkable echoes of his struggle to preserve the unity of external interference had opened his reply the President of the Supreme Committee, General Nikolaev, who warned him that,while his shoulder supports the gun he will not allow the presence of Bulgarian officers in Macedonia. The same goal was his directive in 1902 to ban the entry of bands from Bulgaria, and an official warning to Bulgaria for Macedonia do not think, but to keep Bulgaria, because the Macedonians will keep Macedonia.
The regular counseling in December 1902, Goce Delchev, Dame Gruev, Jane Sandanski and other leaders of the organization decide not to lift frontal uprising in Macedonia, but to run a guerrilla war. Objective as stated Goce should be: "do we beat Turkey but it did not 'beat us."
In January, 1903. Goce Delchev expresses itself as the first openly against lifting the uprising in Macedonia that year, known then as "Ilinden Uprising" as an early step and unprepared.
On the evening of May 2, 1903, Goce Delchev arrived in the village. Banica, a small distance from Serres. To stay in Gotse Delchev Banica Turkish administration was informed by the unknown (s). At dawn on May 4, 1903 year Goce ordered to leave the house where they were located and to withdraw to save the village from oppression. During the day, on May 4, 1903 in fighting in the village of Banica out of Goce Delchev was hit in the left breast, fell on his gun, tried to rise and fell dead.
Goce's sacrifice,the work for freeing the people of Macedonia and Odrin,and creating an independent Macedonian state has adopted the halo of recognition and respect. His name became legend, woven into the consciousness of the Macedonian masses. His name has excited generations Macedonia, the Macedonian name by progressive forces fought in a completely new socio-political situation of the Macedonian people fight for national and social liberation.
His remains were first transferred to Bulgaria on October 11, 1946 be transferred to Skopje, in the church of St. Saviour. As himself said,that he wants his remains to be buried in the capital of INDEPENDENT MACEDONIA!
Dead and mortal remains
Memorials
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The tomb of Goce Delčev in the church Sv. Spas (Holy Savior) in Skopje, Macedonia
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Statues of Goce Delchev and Dame Gruev in Skopje, Macedonia.
- Bust of Delchev in Varna, Bulgaria. Bust of Delchev in Varna, Bulgaria.
- Monument of Delchev in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Monument of Delchev in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.
See also
Notes
- ..."It appears to have originally been called the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Committee (BMORK — the'O'standing for Odrin or Adrianopole). In 1902 it changed its name to the Secret Macedonian Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organisation"... Who are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1850655340, p. 53.