Unfortunately, the hopes placed in the Young Turks soon proved delusive. The state of Macedonia grew worse than ever. Indeed, an additional complication was introduced in the shape of an Albanian national movement. This had been impossible under the earlier Turkish regime, and even now the Albanian Muslims, who had more to fear from their Christian neighbours than from their Turkish co-religionists, were inclined to side with the latter in the frequent conflicts; a fact which resulted in their national aspirations afterwards receiving less than justice.
The Balkan Wars and the World War 1912-18.—The treaties drawn up between Bulgaria and Serbia in 1912 provided for the partition of Macedonia, assigning to Bulgaria "the territory east of the Rhodope mountains and the river Struma" and to Serbia that "north and west of the Sar mountains." In the first and second Balkan Wars of 1912-13, Macedonia was the theatre of heavy fighting. The result of them was that Bulgaria, now at variance with her former allies, received only a small rectification of her frontier in the north-east of Macedonia. The Greek frontier stretched from the Mesta, thus including the rich tobacco planta tions of Kavalla, to Kenali near Monastir, which became Serbian. In the west a new State of Albania was created.
The result of the disappearance of the Turk from Macedonia was thus to turn the animosity of the Christian Balkan States (to include Albania) against each other—an animosity enhanced by the savagery committed by all parties during the fighting and even behind the battle fronts. The task of reorganizing and repair ing the work of Turkish neglect, which had extended over five centuries, was also an extremely difficult one for nations hamp ered, as the Serbs and Greeks were, by lack of experience and financial stringency. Little progress had been made either towards restoring the economic prosperity of the country, or to assuaging the discontent of the large sections of the population which felt themselves Bulgarian or Albanian, when the World War broke out in 1914. On Oct. 14, 1915, Bulgaria entered the war on the side of the Central Powers in the hope of gaining a large part of Mace donia. She speedily captured Stip, Radovi§te, Veles and Skoplje, and compelled the evacuation of Monastir. Allied troops which had landed at Salonika on Oct. 5 made small initial progress, and in May 1916 Bulgaria occupied all eastern Macedonia. After wards, the Allies, later assisted by Greek troops, were able to advance, and in 1918 to carry through a successful offensive, an armistice being signed on Sept. 29, 1918.
The peace settlement of 1919 left the Graeco-Serb frontier of 1913 unchanged, but gave both of these States, especially Greece, considerable accessions of territory at the expense of Bulgaria, while Greece also secured western Thrace. Provisions were made for the protection of racial minorities, but no active measures taken to ensure their enforcement.
were settled in western Thrace and Macedonia with amazingly good results. A large stable peasant population was established, new villages founded, agriculture improved, waste areas drained and made fertile, and in spite of initial difficulties it seemed likely that Greek Macedonia would soon be raised to a pitch of pros perity such as it had, perhaps, never known. Treaties for the exchange of population were arranged with the neighbouring States, with the result that after a short time the racial question almost disappeared, over 90% of the population being Greek.
A number of Turks and Bulgars also left Yugoslav Macedonia. (now known as South Serbia) ; but no general exchange was ar ranged for the Slavonic population, which was claimed by the Yugoslays as Serb. While here, too, material prosperity increased, the efforts made by the Yugoslav officials to Serbize the popula tion, their severe repression of Bulgar national feeling and their refusal to allow Bulgar schools, soon led to tension. The old Internal Organization was revived under Todor Alexandrov (q.v.), after an attempt at legal agitation, which proved fruitless, and was not prolonged beyond 192o. This body became more formidable than ever, its leaders conducting a campaign of ter rorism in Macedonia from their fastnesses in the mountains round Petritch in Bulgaria. It was so formidable a force in Bulgaria itself, where it enjoyed general sympathy, that the Bulgar Govern ments were generally powerless against it ; thus after Stambolisky (q.v.) had attempted to make terms with Yugoslavia, Alexandrov declared "irrevocable hostility" against his Government, which was soon after overthrown and Stambolisky murdered (1923).
A long series of incidents took place on the Yugoslav and Greek frontiers, keeping the Balkans in perpetual unrest. In 1924, how ever, the organization split over the question whether Russian help should be accepted. Alexandrov was murdered on Aug. 31, 1924, and an internecine feud commenced, in which many of the leaders lost their lives. Although the Revolutionary Organization gradually lost a good deal of sympathy, even in Bulgaria, its activities, of ter a period of quiescence, revived, band warfare being replaced, in 1927, by bomb outrages and the state of Mace donia, the most disturbing factor in the Balkans, seemed as far off peace as ever. A single perturbing factor had been largely eliminated; the nomad Vlachs, whose livelihood was threatened by the new and more stable order, were received in large numbers by the Rumanian Government and settled in the Dobruja and elsewhere.