-- 19 CENTURY --

-- 19 CENTURY --

1821 - Morean (Greek) revolution begins

After almost a decade since it had ignited, the Morean rebellion refused to die down which prompted Great Power diplomats to intervene but without success, that is until the Ottoman fleet was sunk in Navarino on October 8th, 1827. After that on September 14th, 1829 the Ottomans were forced to accept the June 24th, 1827 Treaty of London proposed earlier and to recognize the newly created Greek State. After forcing the Ottomans to accept the June 24th, 1827 Treaty of London, on September 14th, 1829 the newly created Greek State was recognized by the Ottomans which gave birth to the Kingdom of Greece. When the war in Morea ended there was relative peace in the lower Balkans for several decades but that did not mean that the people were content with their situation. With the creation of the Greek State seeds of discontentment were planted everywhere which would sprout in the future causing more revolts and calls for freedom.

1822 - The Negush Uprising

In early March 1822, under the leadership of Atanas Karatase and Angel Gacho, a revolt broke out in the town Negush. In no time the rebels put down the Turks and declared Negush liberated. The revolt quickly spread towards Voden engulfing a large number of villages. Unfortunately, effort and determination alone were not enough to stop the numerically superior Ottoman army. Isolated and besieged from all sides the rebels were suppressed and dispersed. After a fierce battle the Turks recaptured the town Negush and persecutions and pillaging followed. To avoid further problems, the population of Negush was either enslaved or resettled in other parts of Macedonia.

1851 - Macedonian writing with Greek letters

In addition to the gospels, apostles and other existing materials that were written in the Macedonian language with Greek letters, we also have the Ottoman law printed on July 25, 1851 for the Bitola Chiflik villages. These laws were printed by Kiriak Drzhilovets, a Macedonian reformer and patriot from Solun.

1870 - The notorious Pavlos Melas is born

Pavlos Melas (his real name was Mikis Zezas) was born in Messalina on March 29, 1870. He was originally from Epirus. For his exploits and the role he played in fighting against the Macedonian rebels, he was appointed, in 1904, leader of the Greek struggle in western Macedonia with Kostur as its centre.

Many of the older villagers remembered the dark days of the Andartes; the slaughter, the looting, the frightening things that happened when the Greek Andartes, headed by Pavlos Melas and Germanos Karavangelis, came here in 1904 and began to torment the people. There were some really angry people amongst the Andartes, especially the Cretans. They tormented the people something awful even though they had done nothing to them and were still under Ottoman rule.

Melas’s obituary read: ‘He heroically died on October 18, 1904 in the village Statitsa, Kostur Region’. His last words were: ‘No Bulgarian shall be left alive!’ Unlike Karavitas who said: ‘We don’t need the Macedonians, we need Macedonia!”

1872 - Gotse Delchev (1872-1903) is born

February 4, 1872 Gotse Delchev (1872-1903) is born. Son of Macedonian patriots Nikola and Sultana Delchev, Gotse was born on February 4th, 1872 in Kukush, a town 35 km north of Solun. His parents had been instrumental in raising rebellions directed against the Patriarchate and had been active in the Razlog and Kresna uprisings in 1878.

Gotse completed his elementary education in Kukush, then attended high school in Solun where he studied literature and social studies. He then entered the Sofia Military Academy in July 1891 where he furthered his knowledge in military and scientific discipline. He was expelled from the Academy for his social tendencies and returned to Macedonia in 1894.

He was always keen to learn and kept up with Macedonian national affairs. He played an active role in the political clubs of Solun and Sofia and kept in close contact with others like himself, especially the socialists. They greatly contributed to Gotse's involvement in IMRO and helped shape the course of the Macedonian national liberation movement. The years 1894 to 1903 represented the final revolutionary stage of Gotse’s short life. His career as a teacher took him to Novo Selo (near Shtip) and Bansko from 1894 to 1896. Later he became involved with the revolutionary cause, preparing the Macedonian people for the armed uprising. While teaching in Novo

Selo he met Damian Gruev the leader of the IMRO central committee. The two men shared similar ideals and became close friends. In 1895 Gruev convinced Delchev to join IMRO. It wasn’t too long afterwards that Delchev became IMRO’s undisputed leader.

Gotse was a realist as well as an idealist who loved people, hated tyranny and saw the world as a place of many cultures living together in peace. The international and cosmopolitan views of Delchev were far ahead of his time and could be summarized in his proverbial sentence: "I understand the world solely as a field for cultural competition among nations".

As a realist Gotse knew that in order for a revolution to be successful it had to be a “moral revolution” of the mind, heart and soul of an enslaved people. They needed to feel like people with rights and freedoms, not like slaves. With that in mind Gotse set out to build a revolutionary conscience in the Macedonian population, thus setting the revolutionary wheels in motion.

The inclusion of rural areas into the organizational districts contributed to the expansion of the organization and the increase in its membership, while providing the essential prerequisites for the formation of the military power of the organization, and had Gotse Delchev as its military advisor.

The primary question regarding the timing of the uprising in Macedonia implicated an apparent discordance among the representatives at the Solun Conference in 1903, with Delchev opposing the uprising as premature. Since then he tried to oppose an early uprising. He met with Gruev in Solun and convinced him to delay at least long enough to get organized and prepare for it. He would have had a chance to speak to the entire leadership during the Smilevo Conference, scheduled to start on May 3rd, 1903, but he never made it.

1873 - Macedonian language documented

The villagers from Boboshchitsa and Drenovo were remnants of the southern Albanian population, located about two hours away, on foot, from the city Korcha. Even though these two villages were like

islands in a sea of Albanian villages, until recently they spoke a dialect of the Macedonian language and followed their Macedonian customs. They were also familiar with the Macedonian people’s movement and their struggle for spiritual rights. A testimony of this can be found in their letter of appeal, dated October 26, 1873, sent to the Exarch Athim I in Istanbul (Tsari Grad) via one of their villagers.

1876 - The Razlovtsi Uprising begins

The Razlovtsi uprising was planned for May 8th, 1876, right after Gjurgievden, so on May 7th, the day before the uprising, the Secret Revolutionary Circle of Razlovtsi held its third congress, again in Kaladzherdzhevo, to discuss the final plan before putting it into action. Unfortunately the congress was disrupted by the arrival of the Ottoman tax collector. Even though the taxes had already been voluntarily paid early that year, so as to avoid the tax collector’s visit, the tax collector showed up anyway un-announced and called on all the villagers to assemble under the threat that if they didn’t he would burn their village down. It was obvious to everyone that something was not right. The Ottomans must have found out about their plans but it was too late to do anything. The guns and ammunition were stored and hidden far from village so the Razlovtsi residents decided to assemble as ordered. People who did not belong in Razlovtsi were immediately arrested and taken to prison. Among those arrested were brothers Nako and Stoilo from Istevnik, relatives of priest Sojan Razlovki. But when the Ottomans, not satisfied with just apprehending the visitors, came back to apprehend the most beautiful girls in the village with intent to make them Turkish brides, the villagers became very angry and began the uprising right there and then. Unable to control the angry crowd the Ottomans hid indoors. As news of the disturbance spread to the neighbouring villages more people armed with axes and pitchforks joined the mob. Exploiting the explosive situation, Berovski called for the uprising to begin immediately starting with the eviction of the Ottomans from Razlovtsi. Thirty new insurgents joined Berovski’s rebels. A Cheta of 20 insurgents were dispatched to Razlovtsi. Six insurgents surrounded the inn where the Ottomans were hiding. Another small group went to intercept the Ottomans who had just left the village with the prisoners. The rebels caught up to the

Ottomans and managed to free ten people. Unfortunately Nako Pop Atanasov, was accidentally killed by a stray bullet. He was the first casualty of the Razlovtsi Uprising.

Having no time to arm themselves, most villages stormed the inn where the Ottomans were hiding and with sticks, hatchets, pitchforks and knives and demanded that the Ottomans surrender. Unaccustomed to this kind of behaviour from the Macedonians the Ottomans refused to come out thus prompting the villagers to set fire to the inn. As the fire grew, heavy rain began to fall giving the Ottomans cover and a chance to move to other buildings. To be sure there would be no place for them to hide more and more people started burning their own houses. Many Ottomans were burned alive as the buildings were torched, those who attempted to escape, including the tax collector the infamous Sapil Aliman, were run down by the mob and killed. Only two Ottomans escaped.

By ousting the Ottomans from Razlovtsi, the village was liberated and the start of the uprising was deemed a success. The fervour and enthusiasm created by this incident prompted more people to join the insurgency and gave it the impetus it needed to spread outwards. While Berovski took his Cheta and departed for Maleshevo, a group of insurgents remained in Razlovtsi to defend the village from retaliations, especially from the Bashibuzuks (armed Muslim civilian population).

On their way to Maleshevo, Berovski and Smilevski were greeted with cheers by the villagers especially when the new flag was unveiled. The men threw their hats up in the air and the crowds roared in patriotic songs. It was a glorious moment, a moment to remember, a moment of liberty and freedom. News about the uprising spread far and wide and encouragements to fight on came from everywhere.

1878 - Kumanovo-Kriva Palanka Uprisings 1878 - Pianets and Kreshna Uprisings

On January 19th, 1878 units of the Serbian army had penetrated Macedonia as far south as the north borders of Kumanovo and Kriva Palanka. At the sight of the arriving Serbian army the Ottomans

withdrew their forces to Komanovo. They also evacuated the Muslim civilian population and its armed wing the Bashibazuks. During their withdrawal the Bashibazuks wreaked havoc on the Macedonian villages; robbing and killing people. Having being assaulted yet again and in view of the impending arrival of the Serbian army, the villagers began to fight back. They soon were met by the Macedonian volunteer fighters in the Serbian army. Combined the locals and the new arrivals joined forces, elected new leaders and began a new uprising termed "the Kumanovo-kriva Palanka Uprising". The leaders selected to lead this uprising were Jakim Chelopechki, Nikola Algunjski, and Bogdan Ristich who along with 500 well-armed fighters organized themselves for an uprising on German and Kozhjak Mountains. When the insurgents were ready to fight they came down to the valley along the Pchinja River approaching Kumanovo. As the insurgents approached the villages in the region they were greeted with great enthusiasm by the local population. Here too more Macedonians joined the insurgency including Dimitrija Pop Paunov and Veljan Tsvetkov. In no time at all the insurgent force had swollen to more than a thousand. Unfortunately as usual most of the men joining the insurgency were without arms or ammunition and the entire world's training could not help them if they had no weapons to fight with. For that reason a delegation was sent to the Serbian command in Vranje to discuss the issue of arms and from what we know from alternate sources the Serbians did give the Macedonians 3,000 rifles with 2,000 more to be delivered later to Prohor Pchinski Monastery. The well-armed Macedonian force soon swelled to 4,000 insurgents who fought gallantly and liberated a large Macedonian territory south of the Serbian border. Unfortunately with the signing of the San Stefano agreement by Russia and the Ottomans all insurgencies ceased. Then after the Berlin Congress all Macedonian territories were given back to the Ottomans.

Not wanting to use violence, considering that the Western Powers were about to honour the Ottomans by giving them Macedonia back, the insurgents were offered complete amnesty in return for their weapons. An Ottoman delegation arrived in Zabel on April 12, 1878 to negotiate the disarming but the insurgents refused to disarm. Furious, the Ottomans dispatched a large Bashibazuk force to attack them but failed to destroy them. Realizing that the Western Powers

were now on their side, the Ottomans mustered a larger force and in May 1878 attacked the insurgents. Great battles ensued and much of the rebel force was destroyed. Some of the more stubborn villages however refused to surrender and remained active and fought fiercely but by September of the same year that uprising too ended in failure.

As for the Macedonians who joined the Russian army they too became involved in the conflict as Russia declared war on the Ottomans on April 24, 1877. At the start of the mobilization all Balkan armies, including the Macedonian volunteers, were organized and trained as part of the permanent state armies. But later the Macedonian units were given special duties which included intelligence, reconnaissance, combat and surveillance in the front lines. The initial numbers that joined were in the 800's but soon increased to over a 1,000 as the war intensified. When the Russian army penetrated into Macedonia, the Macedonian volunteers became its guide helping the Russians infiltrate remote enemy positions, navigate through unknown territories and act as interpreters. All Macedonian Chetas showed great courage but that of Iljo Maleshevski, Gjorgi Pulevski and Gjorgi Antonov showed exceptional courage. In addition to the Macedonian volunteers fighting in the front lines, Dimitar Berovski and his Cheta fought behind enemy lines carrying out hit and run and terrorist actions. Consisting mainly of veterans from the Razlovtsi Uprising, Berovki's Cheta operated in the Osogovski Mountain region and during the summer of 1877 expanded its control to the Pijanets, Maleshevo, Kjustendil and surrounding regions. By December 1877 the number of insurgents had tripled and the area of operation was expanded to include the entire Tsarevo Selo territory and the Bregalnitsa and Strumitsa valleys encompassing 47 villages.

As the Russian army penetrated further south into the Balkans, Iljo Maleshevski and his Cheta broke off from the Russian army and in December 1877 descended to Kjustendil and Tsarevo Selo with aims of liberating his native Maleshevo and Pijanets.

By January 17, 1878 Kjustendil was liberated with help from the Macedonians and occupied by the Russian army. Unfortunately the Russian-Ottoman War ended abruptly with a signing of a truce on

January 31st, 1878 leaving Maleshevo and Pijanets outside the demarcation line and still in the hands of the Ottomans. Being so close to liberating his native territory Maleshevski, without Russian approval, broke the truce and on January 20th, 1878 launched an attack on Pijanets. Upon receiving news of the attack more Macedonians joined in and began what became known as the Pijanets Uprising.

Unfortunately all that effort went for nothing because after the Ottoman-Serbian-Russian protocol of February 13th, 1878 was signed, the currently liberated territories including Pijanets were given back to the Ottomans.

I just want to mention here that besides participating in the Serbian and Russian war against the Ottomans there were also preparations for liberating Macedonia made by the Macedonian émigrés in Athens, Greece. It is estimated that about 10,000 Macedonian immigrants lived in Athens at the time; many eager to get back to Macedonia and fight for its liberation. For that purpose a revolutionary committee was created in Athens and lead by Leonidas Vulgaris originally from Pijanets.

The Russian-Ottoman War was an absolute disaster for the Macedonian people especially for those who sacrificed their lives and died helping Russia. Instead of being grateful for the help they received and allowing the Macedonians to create a Macedonian state, the Russians sold them out to the Bulgarians. By signing the San Stefano treaty Russia agreed to the creation of a large Bulgarian State which was to include Macedonian lands and people. Then as the Western Power intervened in the Berlin Congress instead of sorting things out and giving Macedonia autonomy as they did to Bulgaria, they gave Macedonia back to the Ottomans.

1880 - Provisional Government of Macedonia

The Provisional Government of Macedonia sent a letter with a copy of the Macedonian Constitution to the six Great Power ministries of the European Commission requesting their approval. Expecting no reply, the General Headquarters then went ahead and created a Manifesto calling on all the Macedonian people to organize a united

national uprising. Among the signatories of the Manifesto were Ilio Maleshevski, Vasil Diamandiev and eight other leaders.

1881 - P. G. of Macedonia approves Manifesto

March 23, 1881 - The Provisional Government of Macedonia approved a Manifesto and submitted it to the various diplomatic missions in the Ottoman territories.

1881 - P.G. of Macedonia takes Manifesto to Kiustandil

April 11, 1881- The Provisional Government of Macedonia Manifesto was taken to Kiustandil where the transcript was translated to Russian and French and distributed to various foreign and domestic diplomatic representatives in Istanbul.