The Pebble that Turned the Wheel (The Macedonian Issue in the Party and State Politics of Bulgaria in the 1960s – Early 1970s)

The article handles the period in the Bulgarian-Yugoslav-Macedonian relations, when Bulgaria tried to restore the good-neighborly connections with Yugoslavia, which were interrupted in 1948 after the expulsion of the Yugoslav Communist Party from the Cominform and the withdrawal of Yugoslavia from the “socialist camp”, and to resolve diplomatically the disputed Macedonian issue. Since the basis of the conflict between the two sides on the Macedonian issue is rooted in the decisions of the Comintern (1920–1943), in the position of the BCP and personally of G. Dimitrov, the article’s introduction (“The Beginning, Not Yet Completed”) presents the ideas and decisions of the Comintern on the solution of national issues in the Balkans, including the Macedonian issue, as well as the position of the BCP on it in the period from 1923 to the end of World War II and the personal attitude of G. Dimitrov towards the issue. Attention is paid to the negotiations between G. Dimitrov and J. B. Tito with the Soviet leadership headed by J. V. Stalin in 1944–1947 regarding the accession of Pirin Macedonia to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and of Bulgaria to the SFRY, and to the reasons why Tito and G. Dimitrov abandoned this idea. The political changes that began after Stalin’s death opened the possibility for a change of the political direction in regard to Yugoslavia. In 1955, the new leadership of the USSR restored diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia, leading to the same action by other socialist countries. The main task given to those other socialist countries by the new leadership was to use every opportunity to bring Yugoslavia back into the “socialist camp” and the communist movement. The Bulgarian leadership also accepted this task. In its initiatives to improve relations with Yugoslavia, the Central Committee of the Communist Party firmly adheres to this. But despite that it refused to heed USSR’s advice not to enter into disputes with the Yugoslavs over the Macedonian issue. The article presents and analyzes the actions of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Bulgarian government to establish, maintain and expand relations with Yugoslavia (political, economic and cultural) and specifically with SR Macedonia. The material used in the article is in accordance with the events timeline and is presented in three sections: “The Road to Rapprochement. 1948–1958”, “Restoring Relations. 1962–1970”, “Cooling Relations. 1970–1973”. They follow the negotiations between T. Jivkov and J. B. Tito to find a way out of the often complicated relations between the two countries, the unsuccessful results of the meetings organized with their assistance between Bulgarian, Yugoslav and Macedonian leaders to discuss controversial issues and to find an acceptable way out of the situation. Attention is also paid to the position of Soviet diplomacy on the role of the Macedonian issue in Bulgarian-Yugoslav relations.