A loveless entanglement : Britain and Bulgar-Yugoslav relations 1924-1943

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Dimitris Livanios

Abstract

This article sets out to explore British policy towards Bulgar-Yugoslav
relations over a period of peace and war in the Balkans, and to assess the
basic assumptions and debates within the Foreign Office which shaped it.
Forced by necessity, not choice, the British took an active interest in the
Macedonian Question, although their only vital interest in the area was the
preservation of the status quo. No matter how imperfect it was, it afforded the
only hope for peace. Consequently, they tried to prevent a “hot” incident and
to keep the issue out of the League of Nations. However, political expediency
was assisted by “ethnography”. For the Foreign Office, the Macedonians had
no “national” consciousness and therefore they should remain under Serbian
rule, a convenient but sincerely held view. From the mid-1930s the prospect of
a Bulgar-Yugoslav federation was also discussed. After some debate, it was
concluded that such a scheme was dangerous and undesirable. Instead, the
British proposed an all-Balkan federation, a non-practical proposition which
collapsed under Russian hostility and Balkan indifference. Although they
never materialised, the British plans on Bulgar-Yugoslav relations enabled
them to reach firm conclusions, which dictated their actions in the winter of
1944-1945.

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