Balkan WarsThe Turkish yoke in the Strumica region lasted about 529 years. However, even after the Balkan
Wars and the First World War the Macedonian people did not experience the long-hoped-for freedom.
This time the Macedonian population was subdued to other yokes: Bulgarian, Greek, and Serbian,
which did not significantly differ from the Turkish one. During the Balkan Wars (1912-1913),
Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia partitioned the Macedonian ethnic territory in three parts, each
snatching one: Greece - the Aegean, Bulgaria - the Pirin, and Serbia - the Vardar.
On October 21, 1912, a Bulgarian detachment entered Strumica, while the following day, larger
Serbian and Bulgarian army units followed. The military authority was given to the commander of
the Serbian units stationed in the city. A couple of days later, 5,000 Turks were slain on the
right hand side of the road to Radovis and significant number of Turkish population was also
killed in the villages.
After the Second Balkan War (1913), according to the Bucharest Peace Treaty, the Strumica district
remained under Bulgarian rule, while the neighboring districts were held by Serbia.
In the summer of 1913, Strumica and its district experienced another, short-lived but vandal and
severe occupation by the Greek army. Only nine days after the outbreak of the Second Balkan War,
on June 25, the Greek army entered the city and on August 8 set it on fire, which raged until
August 15. Over 1,900 public buildings, churches, houses, cafes, warehouses, and practically all
cultural and historical monuments, were destroyed. Entirely or partially, the Greeks also
burnt down the villages Kosturino, Raborci, Popcevo, Dabile, Novo Selo, Zubovo, and Cam Ciflik.
The latter was never reconstructed. On their departure, August 17, they set on fire the Veljusa
Monastery, burning down the monastery overnight shelter and partially the church.
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World WarsIn 1919, according to the Versailles Peace Treaty, the Strumica district was included in the
newly established Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Hence, once a central Macedonian
region, Strumica, after the partition of Macedonia, became a border zone, which resulted in its
long years of stagnation.
Strumica made great contribution to the National Liberation Movement in the Second World War.
Under the banner of the Fourth Macedonian Action Brigade, then of the 14th and 20th, the Strumica
Partisan detachment and other units of the 50th and 51st Macedonian division, 3,800 fighters from
the Strumica region took part. One of these soldiers was proclaimed a national hero (Blagoj
Jankov - Muceto), 11 were awarded the 1941 Partisan Memorial Medal, 73 were killed in the battles,
while 62 were victims of the fascist terror.
The Strumica partisan detachment, headed by commander Boro Pockov, liberated Strumica from the
Bulgarian occupational authority, on September 11, 1944. On November 6, the same year, Strumica
was finally liberated from the German occupators.
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