Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (Bulgarian) Внатрешна Македонска Револуционерна Организација (Macedonian) | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the IMRO | |
| Abbreviation | IMRO BMPO VMRO |
| Leader | Gotse Delchev Dame Gruev Todor Aleksandrov Ivan Mihailov |
| Founded | 1893 |
| Dissolved | 1934 |
| Preceded by | Internal Revolutionary Organization |
| Succeeded by | Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) Balkan Communist Federation Bulgarian Action Committees League of Communists of Yugoslavia Bulgarian Communist Party Ohrana Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – People's Party IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement National Ideal for Unity |
| Political orientation | Macedonian nationalism Bulgarian nationalism Bulgarian irredentism Terrorism Communism (some factions) Fascism (some factions) |
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), also known by many other names throughout its existence, was a secret revolutionary society that - at its height - existed as a Macedonian nationalist terrorist organization from 1893-1934. While the IMRO was never a communist party or communist organization, many communists operated within the IMRO and several IMRO splinter groups later joined communist organizations. Several communist parties in the Balkans also supported IMRO activites.[1] Despite communist support for the original IMRO, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE) - a liberal bourgeois party in North Macedonia - claims to be the successor to the IMRO.[2]
History
Ottoman era (1893-1912)
Founded in Thessaloniki in 1893 during the days of the Sublime Ottoman State,[1] the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization fought against Ottoman rule in Macedonia in a "democratic revolution". These early IMRO activities against imperialist rule had the backing of Bulgarian communists.[3] This marked the beginning of a larger conflict between Ottoman, Serbian, Greek, and Bulgarian paramilitary violence in the Macedonian region known as the Macedonian Struggle. Greek communists described that IMRO as the "most important national liberation organization of the Slavic population in Macedonia against the Turks".[4]