The "heart of Bulgaria" is the center of its medieval kingdom, which is in Macedonia. This is the same basis the Serbs give about why Kosovo-Metohija is the "heart of Serbia" (throw in key monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church as well).
The Bulgarians held parts of Macedonia after 1878 until the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 when Serbia got control of it. Albania and Greece also claimed parts of it. During World War II Bulgaria again had control of much of it and during WW II in Moscow the future Bulgarian leader Zhivkov asked Milovan Djilas, "which language do the Macedonians speak, Bulgarian or Serbo-Croatian?" He obviously thought what they spoke was closer to Bulgarian, a widely held belief even today, although now we identify "Macedonian" as a distinct language, thanks to Tito. But that may be more a matter of politics than linguistic reality. Barkley Rosser -----Original Message----- From: Michael Pollak <mpollak at panix.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Date: Saturday, April 24, 1999 7:34 AM Subject: Re: Jane's Defense Weekly on Balkans
>
>On Thu, 22 Apr 1999, J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. wrote:
>
>> 3) With respect to the latter I would note that the
>> historic "heart of Bulgaria" is in what is now Macedonia.
>> The attitude of the Bulgarians is a sharp contrast with that
>> of the Serbians, despite the vague plottings by the Bulgarians.
>
>Fascinating. What is the heart of Bulgaria and what's its story?
>
>Michael
>
>__________________________________________________________________________
>Michael Pollak................New York City..............mpollak at panix.com
>
>