The Macedonian Question ? 
he Second World War provided Bulgaria with an opportunity to annex the Macedonian territories of Yugoslavia and Greece, as well as Western Thrace. The Filov government, with the approval of King Boris, allied itself with Hitler's Germany, and thus when the Nazi armed forces stabbed in the back the Greek Army, which was fighting against Italy, the Bulgarians were given their reward.
By virtue of the Hilter -Filov accords, Bulgaria occupied almost the whole of Yugoslavian Macedonia- with the exception of the western provinces, which fell within the Italian zone of occupation- and, initially at least, only the eastem part of Greek Macedonia. The Germans kept Central Macedonia under their own command, turning the westem prefectures over to the Italians. Later, however, in 1943, after Italy capitulated, the Bulgarians gained German permission to extend their zone of occupation to include the prefectures of Chalkidiki and Kilkis, while in Western Macedonia they exploited their contacts in the local German Kommandaturs to set up security battalions of pro-Bulgarian Slav-speakers, known as "Ohrana".
Throughout the occupation the Bulgarian authorities implemented a policy of forcible 'Bulgarisation'. The mass expulsion of that part of the population which was of refugee origin and the financial, moral and even physical annihilation of the remainder of the Greek population was combined with the implanting of colonists from Bulgaria itself.
However, the complete incorporation into the Kingdom of Bulgaria of eastern Macedonia (and western Thrace) was averted, thanks to massive demonstrations in Athens and in other cities in occupied Greece. The German authorities calculated the risk to their own security interests and forbade their Bulgarian allies to proceed with annexation proceedings.
During this period some of the Slav-speakers underwent a crisis of consciousness. Although most of them remained firmly devoted to the Greek idea -and many took part in the Greek resistance movementthere were quite a number who swallowed Bulgarian propaganda. Either deliberately or out of opportunism, they became tools in the hands of the Bulgarian occupying forces and persecuted their Greek compatriots.
