Western Outlands
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The Western Outlands (Bulgarian: Западни покрайнини, Zapadni pokraynini; Serbian Cyrillic: Западне покрајине; Zapadne pokrajine) or the Western Bulgarian Outlands is a term used in Bulgaria which refers to several territorially separate regions in southeastern Serbia and in the southeast of the Republic of Macedonia. It refers to the territory which Bulgaria ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (future Yugoslavia) after the World War I. The region is traditionally considered terra irredenta by Bulgarian nationalists, and usage of the name "Western Outlands" may be found offensive by Serbs.
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[edit] The Treaty of Neuilly
The Western Outlands were part of Bulgaria from the liberation of the country in 1878 until 1919 when they were ceded to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes under the Treaty of Neuilly. The cession of the region was partly a compensation for the occupation of the southern and eastern part of Serbia by Bulgarian troops in the period between 1915 and 1918 and partly served strategic grounds. The old political boundary between Bulgaria and Serbia followed a chain of high mountain ridges, whereas the new one gave significant military and strategic advantages to the Serbs exposing dangerously the Bulgarian capital of Sofia and thus reducing significantly the military threat for eastern Serbia in case of a new war between the two countries (see also Balkan Wars and World War I).
The Treaty of Neuilly was one in the series of treaties after the World War I (like the Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of Saint-Germain, Treaty of Trianon, Treaty of Sèvres) which were meant to diminish the militar and political stength of the countries members of the Central Powers which lost the war. As a result of this, some ethnically completely Bulgarian areas (like Bosilegrad or part of Dimitrovgrad municipality) were ceded to Serbia, while some areas with Serbian population (around the town of Trn) remained in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian sources claim[citation needed] that treaty was to last for 20 years and that territories should be returned to Bulgaria in 1939 but that is not specified in the treaty.
[edit] Region and population
Territories ceded by the treaty cover an area of 1,545 km² in Serbia and 1,028 km² in Republic of Macedonia.
In Serbia, to which the term generally applies in Bulgaria, area is split between the modern Serbian District of Pirot (municipality of Dimitrovgrad and smaller parts of the municipalities of Pirot and Babušnica) and District of Pčinja (municipality of Bosilegrad and small part of the municipality of Surdulica). It also includes a small section along the Timok River in the municipality and District of Zaječar.
In 1919 the area corresponded to the following parts of the Bulgarian okrugs: Kyustendil, 661 km², Tzaribrod 418 km², Trn 278 km², Kula 172 km² and Vidin 17 km².
Bulgarian sources claim that Bulgarian population made 95% of the population in Bosilegrad and 75% of the population in Tzaribrod at the time. In the Yugoslav Census of 1931 all South Slavs were simply counted as Yugoslavs (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Bulgarians) so a comparison can't be made. According to the last Census in Serbia from 2002, Bulgarians make 50% and 71% of population in Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad respectively.
[edit] Controversy
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Please see the discussion on the talk page. |
The term itself is exaggerated and highly controversial. Several small, fractioned and sparsely populated areas have been named Western Outlands as respresenting one entity, even though they are not connected in any geographical, political, historical or ethnic sense. Calling part of one country western part of another is a clear example of territorial claim. As when Germany would refer to Alsace in France as its western outland (or Russia for Poland, United Kingdom for Ireland, etc).
Presumably for that reason, in official contacts of Sofia and Belgrade the term was never used. It was mentioned once, in the Bled Accords in 1948 by Josip Broz Tito and Georgi Dimitrov, but that was in the period of Joseph Stalin's insisting of Communist super-state in the Balkans, the Balkan Federation, comprised of Yugoslavia (with annexed Albania) and Bulgaria. After the Informbiro Resolution in 1948 when Tito and Stalin split, the idea was off too, so as the term itself. Despite not being used internationally (until 1990s when it was revived), it is very widely used in internal social and political commuication in Bulgaria.
The Internal Western Outland Revolutionary Organisation (Bulgarian: Вътрешна Западно-Покрайненска Революционна Организация), countering Yugoslav rule in the region, was engaged in repeated attacks against the Yugoslav police and army in the 1920-1941 period. As a part of World War II Bulgaria re-occupied the territory 1941-1944.
With the wake of nationalism in the Balkans in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bulgarian nationalists began internationalizing the issue. With Serbia and Yugoslavia being under severe sanctions from the international community and in succession of wars, it was an easy target. Serbia has been accused of:
- not allowing the Bulgarian population to get educated in their mother tongue, even though it was available and out of all minorities in Serbia granted such education, Bulgarians excersized it the least, even today.[citation needed] Also, the rate of people declaring themselves Yugoslavs and not by their ethniciity in Serbia was among the highest in these two municipalities.
- for not allowing Bulgarians to return the old, historical name of Tzaribrod to Dimitrovgrad, which Tito changed in 1950 after Georgi Dimitrov's death. On a referendum of 2004 57% of the voters voted to keep the name Dimitrovgrad. Serbs even completely dropped their own name of Bosiljgrad in favor of Bulgarian Bosilegrad.
- for settling thousands of Serbian refugees in the area in the 1990s to diminish the number of Bulgarians, which Censuses of population from 1991 and 2002 proved to be totally untrue, not to mention the poor economic status of the area which could not support such an influx of population.
- for Slobodan Milošević's regime and his oppression against Bulgarians, even though municipalities in these areas were some of the strongholds of his and his wife Mirjana Marković's parties with the most ardent supporters, which was a source of many jokes in Serbia.
- for decades long deliberate neglection of the area which caused economic fall behind and depopulation of Bulgarians. As much as this is true, it can be said for the entire southern Serbia which has been totally left without any attention from the central government, which did cause these areas to be the least developed in Serbia, but all of them, regardless of the ethnic structure. Serbian municipalities from this area, like Trgovište, Surdulica or Crna Trava are among the poorest in Serbia. Also, Crna Trava is a record breaker in depopulation as it plunged from 13,748 in 1953 to 2,563 in 2002.
