The
IMRO developed along predictable lines into an authoritarian and
secretive organization - a necessity if it were to fight the Turks
effectively. It had its own tribunals which exercised - often fatal
- authority over civilians who were deemed collaborators with the
Turkish enemy. It must be emphasized that this was NOT unusual or
unique at that time. This was the modus operandi of all military-
organized ideological and political groups. And, taking everything
into account, the IMRO was fighting a just war against an abhorrent
enemy.
Moreover, to some extent, its war was effective and resulted in
reforms imposed on the Sublime Port (the Turkish authorities) by the
Great Powers of the day. We mentioned the peacekeeping force which
replaced the local gendarmerie. But reforms were also enacted in
education, religious rights and tolerance, construction, farm policy
and other areas. The intractable and resource-consuming Macedonian
question led directly to the reform of Turkey itself by the
Macedonia-born officer Ataturk. And it facilitated the
disintegration of the Ottoman empire - thus, ironically, leading to
the independence of almost everyone except its originators.
The radicalization of IMRO and its transformation into the infamous
organization it has come to be known as, started after the Second
Balkan war (1913) and, more so, after the First World War (1918).
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