Οι Έλληνες της Ανατολικής Ρωμυλίας (μέσα 19ου - αρχές 20ού αι.) : σωματειακή οργάνωση και κοινωνικός βίος

Abstract

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Greeks of Eastern Rumelia (Southern
Bulgaria) were faced with a rising tide of Bulgarian nationalism. It gradually developped
from an informal ecclesiastical and educational rivalry (both before and after the
establishment of the Exarchate in 1870) into an undeclared struggle for supremacy
(with the establishment of the Autonomous Province of Eastern Rumelia in 1879),
and was consolidated by a national policy of forcible assimilation (in the framework
of the independent Principality of Bulgaria, from 1885 onwards). The Greeks devised
various means of resisting assimilation, including joining forces in incorporations
and associations of a broadly social nature, but with a very specific aim: to proserve
and consolidate their national activity. The forty-eight Greek (literary, philanthropic,
educational, and musical) associations and societies that were established in Eastern
Rumelia over a period of some forty years went a long way towards achieving their
aim. They laid particular emphasis on education, and the means they used were: i) to set up and maintain schools; ii) to open libraries and reading-rooms and keep them
supplied with material; iii) to supply needy schoolchildren in the Greek communities
with clothing and books; iv) to provide scholarships for students wishing to continue
their studies: v) to organise lectures on national, scientific, and religious subjects; vi)
to run night schools; vii) to collect antiquities and open amateur museums; and viii)
to organise musical evenings and theatrical performances for philanthropic and educational purposes.