Legacies
Chapter VII as final chapter tells a story of legacies, that is, how it happened that in decade to follow, despite weakening of the paramilitary phenomenon, Balkan witnessed several revivals of the paramilitarism. Although in Yugoslavia it had slowly moved towards the commemorations, in Bulgaria ban of IMRO after the 1934 shattered its structures, and in Albania paramilitarism was neutralized through militarization, already during the Second World War it went through its first resurgence. Many paramilitary groups appeared claiming to rely on rich traditions of paramilitary organizing. After the war rich tradition and experience in guerrilla warfare made it possible for many anti-communist individuals and groups to try to resist rapid sovietisation of their respective countries. Finally, during the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia during 1990’s many paramilitary groups tried to appeal to senses of common people and evoke legacies of paramilitary organization of the past. Although they claimed to be heirs of paramilitaries from the time of Macedonian struggle 1903–1908, Balkan Wars and First World War, their ethos, behavioural patterns, and language made them very different. Their appearance was the only thing they had in common. Needless to say how majority of the perpetrators of war crimes during the Yugoslav wars were actually members of various paramilitary organizations.