Aspects of the Bulgarian influence in the European regions belonging to the Ottoman Empire in the latter part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th century

The general characteristic of the Christian populations in the Macedonian area, regardless of whether we are talking about Slavs, Albanians, or Aromanians, in the middle of the 19th century, was the Greek influence exerted in various stages on the groups mentioned above. In fact, Bulgarian propaganda came to stop the Hellenizing fervour, offering Balkan Slavs tools for identity survival in the face of Greek assimilationist actions. For the Bulgarians, sustaining their influence in the European territories that belonged to the Ottoman Empire until the outbreak of the Balkan Wars was motivated by the historical legacy of the 10th century Bulgarian tsarate. One of the most powerful Bulgarian institutions was the Church, which once through the recognition of the Exarchate within the Ottoman Empire acquired a decisive role in the heart of the Bulgarian communities in the Balkans.