The Macedonian People's League (MPL) was a leftist organization, founded in the USA.

History

The foundations of the MPL were set by Smile Vojdanov in Pontiac, Michigan in 1929. In 1930, the first conference of the League was held in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, with Smile Vojdanov being elected as a chairman of the Central Committee and Georgi Pirinski Sr. as a secretary. The first regular congress of MPL was held in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the sou ...

in 1931, and since then the Macedonian People's League has been formed. Immediately after its formation, the MPL was associated with various left-wing organizations in the United States and Europe, as well as with the Comintern. It established relations with the Comintern's leader Georgi Dimitrov. Dimitrov praised the work of Georgi Pirinski publicized in

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

in August 1935. Pirinski appealed to

Bulgarian Americans Bulgarian Americans ( bg, Американски българи) are Americans of Bulgarian descent. For the 2000 United States Census, 55,489 Americans indicated Bulgarian as their first ancestry, while 92,841 persons declared to have Bulgaria ...

to heed the call for action by their countryman Dimitrov.George J. Prpic, John Carroll University, South South immigration in America, Twayne Publishers, 1971, G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, p. 236. In 1938, the MPL was renamed the Macedonian-American People's League, and its branch - the Macedonian-Canadian People's League was founded in the Canada. The League published in Bulgarian language the Weekly "People's Will" (Narodna Volja). The organization supported the creation of an independent Macedonia within a

Balkan Federation The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century ...

. It was the first organization in the United States to support the idea that

Macedonian Slavs Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...

constitute a separate nationality. MPL acted aggressively against the

Macedonian Patriotic Organization Macedonian Patriotic Organization (MPO) is the oldest organization of Americans and Canadians of Macedonian descent in North America. It was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, in 1922, by Macedonian Bulgarian immigrants originating mainly fro ...

, that it believed, was a Bulgarian agent. During 1940s MPL supported the creation of the

People's Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...

within

Communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

and favored the establishment of Communist regimes throughout

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. Finally, because of its pro-Communist stance, the League was disbanded in 1948. The leaders of MPL either chose to leave the country or were deported. Some of them went back to Socialist Bulgaria and became highly placed officials there.

References

{{Bulgarian diaspora Macedonian-American culture in Michigan Macedonian American history Bulgarian-American history Organizations based in Indiana Patriotic societies Organizations established in 1931 1931 establishments in Indiana Communist organizations in the United States 1948 disestablishments in the United States

History

See also

References