tonomy for Macedonia. In 1908, when King Ferdinand proclaimed
Bulgaria completely independent, memories of the medieval Bulgarian
empire, which included Macedonia, were rekindled.

The Balkan Wars

The tumultuous history of Macedonia set the stage for the two Balkan
wars. In 1912, at the onset of the First Balkan War, Serbia, Bulgaria,
Montenegro, and Greece formed an alliance to drive the Turks from
Europe. Turkey, who was at war with Italy at the time, was weak and
disunited. Macedonia and Thrace were hotbeds of internal disorder. In
October 1912 Turkey declared war on Serbia and Bulgaria, a move that was
countered by a Greek declaration of war on Turkey. In 1913 the
Bulgarians succeeded in capturing Adrianople, and the Greeks captured
Salonica, Crete, and Samos. Eventually, the Turks were badly defeated.
But the question of Macedonia remained. Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria all
laid claim to the land at the end of the first Balkan War. Eventually a
compromise was reached: the northern section went to Serbia and the
eastern section, to Bulgaria.

Despite this compromise, the Serbs and Greeks remained wary of the
Bulgarians. In 1913 the Second Balkan War began, the Greeks,
Montenegrins, Serbs, and Romanians joining forces with their previous
enemy, the Turks, against their former ally, the Bulgarians. This
rivalry had been fostered by both Austria and Russia. Eventually, the
Bulgarians turned to the Russians for arbitration and finally signed a
mutual defense treaty with Russia. When the Romanians crossed into
Bulgaria, the Bulgarians--who were simultaneously fighting in Macedonia
and were therefore weakened by fighting on two fronts--were forced to
surrender. As a result of this loss, when the peace treaty of Bucharest
was signed in August 1913 and Macedonia was partitioned between Greece
and Serbia, Bulgaria managed to retain only a tiny fragment in the
eastern sector.

Macedonia, however, remained an issue for Bulgaria. In World War I
Bulgaria succeeded in invading Macedonia. During the interwar period
Macedonia was divided between Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia,
Yugoslavia retaining the largest portion of the land. In the 1923-34
period Macedonian terrorism plagued the country and wreaked havoc on
Bulgarian political and social life. During World War II the Bulgarians
invaded both Greek Macedonia and Yugoslav Macedonia once again. Although
the Macedonians themselves were divided in their sentiments between
l