TERROR PERPETRATED BY THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT

TERROR PERPETRATED BY THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT

The revolutionary movement’s growth and chaotic development, no matter how hard it tried, couldn’t remain a complete secret from the Ottoman authorities. The first discovery was made in 1895 (according to some in 1896) in Bitola. The Ottoman authorities accidentally discovered bombs inside bags filled with rice being transported by Done Stoianov (Doncho Shtipiancheto) from Shtip to Bitola. After he was caught, Doncho was locked up in a very small cell in which he could only stand and was exposed to terrible torment. Even so, he didn’t betray the Organization. His name, among members of the Organization and among the people, became a symbol of heroism. Admiration for his exemplary behaviour resulted in a beautiful song written about him. It was sung by the people during the Ilinden Uprising.

Doncho’s case passed without consequences for the Organization. However, starting from 1897 there were an increased number of searches conducted by the Ottoman authorities. This was cause for concern to the Organization because searches were detrimental to the liberation’s development. One of the first acts to inflict a heavy blow on the Organization was the Vinitsa affair, mentioned earlier, which was ignited in late 1897. While searching for a Bulgarian gang responsible for murdering a wealthy Ottoman in Vinitsa, the Ottoman police discovered a cache of weapons belonging to the Organization. Because of this, through terror and violence, the authorities began to unearth the Internal Organization’s networks in the Kochani, Shtip, Palanevo, Kumanovo, Maleshevo and Radovish Districts from the Skopje Revolutionary District. More than 500 people were arrested and about 300 fled to Bulgaria. Many of those arrested were severely tortured, of whom 5 were killed, 5 died of torture and 10 were sent to the Podrum Kale Prison in Asia Minor.

The Vinitsa affair was a major event in the history of the revolutionary movement. It revealed to the Ottoman ruling class and the European public that inside Macedonia a well-organized conspiratorial liberation movement existed. As a result the struggle was exposed. Under these conditions the Organization’s leadership and membership became well aware that it was going to face difficult times ahead and dangers in the forthcoming liberation struggle.

After the Vinitsa affair, the Ottoman authorities systematically worked to unearth the Organization’s entire network. And almost succeeded…

Every affair, more or less, opened more doors to the Ottoman dungeons to lock up more revolutionaries, slowly swallowing the Organization’s combat forces, disrupting its conspiratorial networks and so on.

There were many such affairs that took place but it isn’t our aim here to cover them all as well as the severe consequences that resulted from them. Instead we will only look at a small representation in the five years from Vinitsa to Ilinden. But for now, let us say that searches were conducted in every district. In Strumitsa District, for example, from 1897 to the end of 1902 there were five searches conducted with 740 arrested and 240 tortured. In Kostur District, from September 1899 to May 1903, 14 searches were conducted as a result of Ottomans being murdered, betrayals, detachment clashes, etc., during which about 230 people were tortured, about 220 arrested and several villages looted and burned down. The most negative consequences resulted from the so-called Ivanchov affair.

The frequent searches unfortunately dealt a severe blow to the Macedonian liberation movement, but it must also be acknowledged that, at the same time, they affirmed the Macedonian people’s struggle against the Ottomans before the world public and strengthened their revolutionary resistance.

ABDUCTING MISS STONE

More often than not, the Internal Organization was faced, among other things, with lack of finances. At first, the financial needs of the Organization were met by funds donated by its founders and from collecting membership fees. Voluntary contributions from wealthier citizens were also welcomed. In Kukush, for example, the citizens donated 320 Turkish liras to aid the Organization and handed over the money to the Central Committee. Funds were mainly raised from donations but they always seemed to be insufficient. Attempts were later made to extort funds through ransom by kidnapping wealthy Ottomans and prominent foreigners, but most of the time they failed to deliver; except in the case of American missionary Miss Stone.

Leading his detachment on August 21, 1901, dressed in a military uniform, Iane Sandanski seized Miss Stone with her friend Tsilka on the road between Bansko and Dzumaia. As a result the Organization achieved two objectives:

1) The world press was challenged to write about the situation in Macedonia and popularize the people’s struggle for freedom, and

2) A ransom of 14,000 Ottoman liras was paid for Miss Stone’s release, with which the Organization could buy a significant number of weapons.

Going through with the kidnapping and collecting the ransom wasn’t easy. First, the Ottoman authorities mobilized all possible forces to end the affair as soon as possible because it greatly compromised the Ottoman state in the eyes of the world. Second, supremacist Bulgarian agents sent troops to Macedonia to take Miss Stone from Sandanski. Being pursued by the Ottoman army and supremacist detachments, Sandanski’s small detachment was often forced to move from mountain to mountain in the Macedonian terrain to avoid capture. Despite all that, however, Sandanski got his ransom and the affair ended successfully.