Σλαβόφωνοι και πρόσφυγες : κοινωνικές, δημογραφικές και εθνολογικές πλευρές του μακεδονικού ζητήματος κατά τη μεσοπολεμική περίοδο.
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Abstract
The emigration of Slav-speakers from Macedonia in the 1920s was carried
out according to the Convention of Neuilly (14/27 November 1919). This paper
investigates the factors which caused or precipitated this emigration. In the first
part it attempts to provide an idea about the numbers involved along with a
review of the factors that determined emigration in the period between the
Balkan Wars and the influx of the refugees following the Asia Minor
Catastrophe and influenced the situation of the Slav-speakers inhabiting villages
in all parts of Macedonia.
The establishment of refugge agricultural communities in Macedonia and the
billeting of refugees in villages inhabited by Slav-speakers was determined -
besides other practical or economic considerations-by policies aimed at the
national homogeneity and the efficient assimilation of the non-Greek speaking
inhabitants of these areas still coveted by Greece’s neighbours, Bulgaria and
Serbia. Refugee resettlement in Muslim properties that had been encroached
and cultivated by Slav-speaking peasants foiled their expectations for better
living conditions throughout the land reforms. Slav-speakers decided to emigrate en masse to Bulgaria in late 1923 and 1924.
The situation created in rural Macedonia due to social pressure exercised on
the native Slav-speaking population through the establishment of the refugees
made conditions favourable for the Bulgarian and the Serbian governments to
advance their position in Greek Macedonia. In 1925 the refugee crisis inflamed
the already existing resentment among the Slav-speaking peasants. A number of
those who felt that their interests were threaten shifted their loyalties to
Greece’s neighbours. Some of the latter forwarded petitions to the League of
Nations, protested against the expropriation of part of their land and produce
by the government for the relief and settlement of refugees from Asia Minor
and asked to be granted rights as Serbs. The argument runs that the policies of the agents of the Refugee Settlement Commission and the social pressure they felt due the influx of refugees created or fortified a distinct ethnic consciousness
among a number of the Slav-speakers. The choice of a «nationality» for a
segment of those was not a matter of «sentiment» but rather a matter of social
well-being.
The last section discusses the statistics of the numbers of the Slav-speakers
of Greek Macedonia who migrated as well as of those who chose to remain in
Greece and attempts to clarify some misconceptions about this problem.
out according to the Convention of Neuilly (14/27 November 1919). This paper
investigates the factors which caused or precipitated this emigration. In the first
part it attempts to provide an idea about the numbers involved along with a
review of the factors that determined emigration in the period between the
Balkan Wars and the influx of the refugees following the Asia Minor
Catastrophe and influenced the situation of the Slav-speakers inhabiting villages
in all parts of Macedonia.
The establishment of refugge agricultural communities in Macedonia and the
billeting of refugees in villages inhabited by Slav-speakers was determined -
besides other practical or economic considerations-by policies aimed at the
national homogeneity and the efficient assimilation of the non-Greek speaking
inhabitants of these areas still coveted by Greece’s neighbours, Bulgaria and
Serbia. Refugee resettlement in Muslim properties that had been encroached
and cultivated by Slav-speaking peasants foiled their expectations for better
living conditions throughout the land reforms. Slav-speakers decided to emigrate en masse to Bulgaria in late 1923 and 1924.
The situation created in rural Macedonia due to social pressure exercised on
the native Slav-speaking population through the establishment of the refugees
made conditions favourable for the Bulgarian and the Serbian governments to
advance their position in Greek Macedonia. In 1925 the refugee crisis inflamed
the already existing resentment among the Slav-speaking peasants. A number of
those who felt that their interests were threaten shifted their loyalties to
Greece’s neighbours. Some of the latter forwarded petitions to the League of
Nations, protested against the expropriation of part of their land and produce
by the government for the relief and settlement of refugees from Asia Minor
and asked to be granted rights as Serbs. The argument runs that the policies of the agents of the Refugee Settlement Commission and the social pressure they felt due the influx of refugees created or fortified a distinct ethnic consciousness
among a number of the Slav-speakers. The choice of a «nationality» for a
segment of those was not a matter of «sentiment» but rather a matter of social
well-being.
The last section discusses the statistics of the numbers of the Slav-speakers
of Greek Macedonia who migrated as well as of those who chose to remain in
Greece and attempts to clarify some misconceptions about this problem.
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