Yane Ivanov Sandanski (, ; Originally spelled in older Bulgarian orthography as (Yane Ivanov Sandanski);Движението отсамъ Вардара и борбата съ върховиститѣ, съобщава Л. Милетичъ (Издава „Македонскиятъ Наученъ Институтъ", София - Печатница П. Глушковъ - 1927), стр. 11. 18 May 1872 – 22 April 1915) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and leader of the left wing of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (IMARO).
In his youth Sandanski was involved in the anti-Ottoman struggle, joining initially the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC). As an activist of the Liberal Party (Radoslavists), at that time he became the head of the local prison in Dupnitsa. Later Sandanski switched to the IMARO by pledging his loyalty to Gotse Delchev. He was the mastermind behind the abduction of American Protestant missionary Ellen Stone in order to secure funds for IMARO. After the Ilinden Uprising, Sandanski became the leader of the Serres revolutionary district and of the socialist inspired left-wing ("federalist") faction of IMARO. With his superior leadership he managed to establish a "state within the state" in northeastern Ottoman Macedonia. The left-wing advocated for autonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople regions, and the subsequent creation of a Balkan Federation, attaining equality for all its subjects and nationalities. Sandanski and the left-wing also vigorously resisted the idea of unification of Macedonia with Bulgaria. During the Second Constitutional Era he became an Ottoman politician, collaborating with the Young Turks and founding the People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section). Sandanski took up arms on the side of Bulgaria during the Balkan Wars (1912–13). Afterwards, he became involved in Bulgarian public life again, supporting the Democratic Party,"Заслужава внимание още един факт, характерен за нравите на онова време. Преди 1912 г. Яне Сандански не крие симпатиите си към Либералната партия на д-р Васил Радославов. По-късно обаче в изборите за Народно събрание и окръжни съветници е подкрепена листата на Демократическата партия. Бившите серчани, вече свободни български граждани, се обявяват за демократи не защото искат да бъдат в опозиция. В политическата палитра много рязко личи разграничението между довчерашните организационни противници. Депутати в ХVІІ ОНС през 1914 г. са избраните от управляващата Либерална партия Хр. Чернопеев, член на ЦК на ВМРО, д-р Никола Генадиев, Георги Занков, Дончо Златков, Петър Пешев, Георги Голев и Иван Попов, а пък от опозиционната Демократическа партия пак в Струмишка избирателна околия е гласувано доверие на Димитър Арнаудов, Никола Наумов, Константин Николов, Васил Пасков, Крум Чапрашиков и Георги Поцков." For more see: Тюлеков, Д. (2001) Обречено родолюбие. ВМРО в Пиринско 1919-1934 г., Унив. изд. “Неофит Рилски”, Благоевград, , стр. 11. but began plotting to assassinate the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I and was assassinated by the rivalling IMARO right-wing faction activists on the order of Todor Aleksandrov.
He is recognised as a national hero in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia, but his identity is also disputed between both countries. While People's Republic of Bulgaria honoured him, after the fall of communism he has been described by Bulgarian nationalist historians as a betrayer of the Bulgarians and collaborator with the Turks. On the contrary, in North Macedonia, the positive connotation of him, created in the times of Communist Yugoslavia is still alive, and he has been portrayed there as a fighter against the "Bulgarian aspirations in Macedonia" and the "Turkish yoke."
Life Early life and activity
Sandanski was born on 18 May 1872 in the village of Vlahi near Kresna, then in the Ottoman Empire, now in Bulgaria. He was the third and last child of Ivan and Milka, after Todor and Sofia. His father Ivan participated in the Kresna-Razlog Uprising as a standard-bearer in a rebel detachment. In 1879, after the suppression of the uprising, his family moved to Dupnitsa, in the recently established Principality of Bulgaria, where Sandanski received his elementary education. He had to drop out of school after completing two years of post-elementary education due to poverty and became the apprentice of a shoemaker. From 1892 to 1894 he was subject to compulsory military service in the Bulgarian army, as part of the Thirteenth Regiment which was stationed in Kyustendil, and he was demobilized with the rank of corporal. He joined initially the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC) in 1895 during the Committee's incursion into the Pomak-inhabited regions of the Western Rhodopes. In 1897 in Dupnitsa, a new detachment of the Supreme Committee was formed, under the leadership of Krastyo Zahariev, where Sandanski joined too. After the detachment entered Pirin Mountains, it encountered Ottoman troops. In one of the battles Sandanski was wounded and his detachment returned him to Bulgaria for treatment. In February 1899, he was appointed head of the Dupnitsa prison as result of his active support of the Radoslavov's wing of the Liberal Party which came to power in January.According to Assoc. Prof. PhD. in history from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Georgi Georgiev, who is a native of Dupnitsa, Sandanski was an activist of Vasil Radoslavov's party there. Although today he is attributed with socialist views, Sandanski skillfully used ideological phraseology depending on the political situation. A typical Machiavellian principle applies to him: "The end justifies the means". Due to these qualities of his in a town like Dupnitsa, Sandanski made a remarkable political career. He became one of the leaders of the youth section of Vasil Radoslavov's Liberal Party in the town. When in 1899 the Radoslavists came to power in Bulgaria, he became the head of the prison in Dupnitsa. At that time, this was a kind of peak in the socio-political hierarchy of a party activist in such small provincial town. For more see: Деметра Андонова, интервю с д-р Георги Георгиев: Яне Сандански заслужава паметен знак в Дупница, но обществото ни не е готово за този дебат. 18.05.2019 г. Kamerton. Later that year he switched to the IMARO after he was recruited by Nikola Maleshevski and the IMARO leader Gotse Delchev, whom he swore his loyalty after being strongly impressed by him and learned about the aims of their struggle. Sandanski built the organisation's network of committees in the districts of Serres and Gorna Dzhumaya. Due to the organisation's bad financial situation, he had to ponder different ways to earn money. He settled on kidnapping an American Protestant missionary for ransom. On 3 September 1901, a Protestant missionary named Ellen Stone along with her companions set out on horseback across the mountainous hinterlands of Macedonia and were ambushed by his detachment led by him and his friend Hristo Chernopeev. She was kidnapped along with her Bulgarian companion Katerina Tsilka. It resulted in the Miss Stone Affair - America's first modern hostage crisis. SMAC attempted to acquire both women but the attempt was foiled by Sandanski. The affair ended after the organisation received the ransom money (which was used to purchase weapons) and the women were released.
Activity in IMARO
In 1902, Sandanski persuaded the Aromanians (Vlachs) in the sanjak of Serres from Melnik, mostly shepherds, to join his Serres committee, in exchange for his protection against soldiers and detachments. He came to be known as the "Tsar of Pirin." Sandanski was opposed to the Ilinden Uprising, considering it premature, although he did participate in the military actions in the regions of Serres and Pirin Macedonia. The failure of the uprising resulted in the split of the IMRO into a left-wing (federalist) faction in the Serres, Strumica and Salonica districts and a right-wing (centralist) faction in the Bitola and Skopje districts. The left-wing maintained the autonomist tradition of Delchev and was correlated with Sandanski's close supporters which were called the Serres group or Sandanists. They urged not just for a fight against Ottoman rule but also against the irredentist craves from the nationalist Balkan states. Accordingly, Bulgaria was seen as a foreign hostile force, Sandanski condemned what he called "Bulgarian imperialism." It was considered that relations with capitalist Bulgaria would lead to infiltration of Bulgarian political propaganda and nationalist ideology, and subsequently their dominion over IMARO. Sandanski contemplated that Macedonians had to emancipate themselves as "self-determinig people." Following the principles of political separatism and of federalism, the left-wing supported the idea of a future Balkan Federation in which Macedonia would become a member as a separate polity after it becomes completely independent, and ultimately this would assure freedom and equality to all the nationalities in it, as well as favouring the decentralisation of IMARO. Contrary, the right-wing faction of IMARO aimed for the unification of Macedonia with Bulgaria and advocated for centralisation to counter the incursions of Serb and Greek bands into Macedonia.
The conflict between the two factions became irreversible and deadly, with the most severe one ensuing amongst Sandanski and the right-wing leader Boris Sarafov, who accused each other as traitors to the cause. Per Bulgarian historian and former IMARO member Hristo Silyanov, Sandanski's faction sentenced Sarafov to death in 1904. In October 1905, at the Rila Monastery congress, the organisation adopted the main ideas of the left-wing faction led by Sandanski and changed its name to IMARO (Internal Macedono-Adrianopolitan Revolutionary Organisation). It re-asserted the principles set by Delchev previously, which allowed membership for people from European Turkey independently of sex, religion, nationality and conviction, as well as the struggle for elimination of the chauvinistic propaganda dividing the population. Thus the ideology of political separatism was confirmed. Furthermore, it was proclaimed as an aim to oppose Bulgarian Exarchate's activities which are in the tone of Bulgarian state nationalism. At the end of the congress, Sandanski confronted Sarafov, accusing him of having accepted money from the Serbs, having facilitated the transit of Serbian detachments into Macedonia and organising his own armed groups in order to weaken the organisation and take the leadership. As well as for leading a luxurious life and misappropriating part of the funds he raised as support for the organisation during his trips through Europe. On the other hand, Sarafov, although admitting that he breached the rules, accused Sandanski of being a traitor due to his refusal to participate in the battles of the Ilinden Uprising. The personal confrontation reached a point of a nearly physical altercation between them, so the session had to be suspended. Sandanski was ready to kill Sarafov after the meeting, but he was appeased by Gyorche Petrov and convinced that this would affect the unity of IMARO leaders and weaken the struggle against the numerous enemies. Therefore, the congress ended with the delegates deciding not to examine the cases of the leaders who could have violated the rules in order to preserve the organisation's unity, but it proved short-lived.