" What amounted to civil war began. Greek 'bands' adopted the methods of the Bulgarian 'bands'. Greek-speaking villages which had adopted the Bulgarian Church were obliged to renounce their religion and become Greeks proper, or have their houses burnt, or worse. The villagers, who would like to be left in peace, yielded, and instead of Bulgarians became Greeks. When the Greek 'band' withdrew, down came the Bulgarian 'band' to reconvert the village and make the inhabitants Bulgarian again. Thereupon the Greek 'band' cut a few throats and fired a few houses just to remind the peasants they must be Greeks or be killed... The bishops and priests of the Greek Church in particular not only countenanced but urged crime as a means of compelling Bulgarian Macedonians to proclaim themselves Greeks. "

― John Foster Fraser , Pictures from the Balkans