THE BRSIAK UPRISING

THE BRSIAK UPRISING

The situation for the people in Macedonia became extremely difficult not only in northeastern but also in western Macedonia. They had to endure violent attacks from gangs that constantly assaulted them and looted their homes and properties. In many cases these attacks were perpetrated in cooperation with the local Ottoman authorities, leaving the people unprotected and without justice. Having no other alternative the people began to take care of themselves. Dissatisfied with they way they were treated the people began to resist and organize themselves into a movement called the Ohrid Conspiracy or the Brsiak Uprising. The Brsiak Uprising covered a large area with many villages and several towns. Several conspiratorial circles took part in it, among which the most active was the circle created in Krushevo, which started to operate at the end of 1878.

It was during this time that Dime Chakre, the leader of a number of volunteers who had participating in the Russian-Ottoman war, visited Krushevo. There he met with Pop Hristo, Itso Karev, Nikola Kovachot and others and among them they decided to do something about the unfortunate situation. To this end, they decided it was time to organize and spread their conspiracy in the villages where they could raise money, buy weapons, create armed detachments and punish those who abused the people. They allied themselves with the local haiduks and connected themselves to the notorious Ohrid circle. Gradually the conspiracy began to spread from Prilep and Bitola to Ohrid and Kichevo, covering a large part of western Macedonia.

They used the Demir Hisar Mountains as their centre of operation. One of the first things the conspirators did was contact Niaga, the Russian consul in Bitola, to try to get him to supply them with weapons and ammunition. Niaga had encouraging words so the conspirators began to spread the idea among the people that Russia and Serbia would help them prepare for a struggle.

The connection between Krushevo Region and Ohrid Region was finalized in 1897. The Ohrid Circle was managed by several merchants and teachers. Included among them were Zafir Belev,

Angel Sprostranov, Kosta Limonchev, K. Blazev, Dr. Konstantin Robev and K. Manolov. Members of these two circles held joint meetings during which they decided to continue their actions of expanding the conspiracy, procuring weapons, seeking help from the Russian consul and carrying out attacks on the Ottomans and on those who tormented and plundered the people. In the period from 1880 to 1881 most of the offending thugs were liquidated and crimes against the people began to fall, at least for a while.

Among other places, actions against those who tormented the Macedonian people were carried out in the upper reaches of the river Treska. The people from the village Lupshte, Kichevo Region, who suffered the most from the looters, asked for protection from the Ottoman authorities but they were ignored. As a result the villagers rebelled and formed their own armed detachments with brothers Stevan and Kuzman Petrevski in charge. In solidarity, many of the surrounding villages did the same. Armed with weapons, the rebellious villagers expelled the thugs and murderers from their hiding places and, to some extent, disassociated themselves from the Ottoman government and decided to govern themselves. They told the authorities not to come and collect the taxes, that they would collect them themselves and deliver them to Kichevo. The authorities initially accepted the new situation but gradually eliminated it by capturing Stevan and then poisoning him. About a year later the same gangs came back and burned the village down. They burned the houses with people in them.

Armed Macedonian detachments also operated in other areas of Macedonia. The conspirators managed to work quite successfully but the Ottoman authorities started to become wise to them and took stricter measures. In the spring of 1880 the Ottomans started a search and destroy campaign. In the centre of all this was the treacherous Greek abbot at the Slepche-Demir Hisar monastery, where the conspirators often met. Several dozen leaders and conspirators were arrested and thrown in jail. Also because of this treachery, in 1881 a detachment, led by the Chekrev brothers, was discovered in a house in Prilep and destroyed. But in spite of how this unsuccessful conspiracy ended, it was a step forward in organizing a general Macedonian revolutionary movement.

With regards to events taking place in western Macedonia, we should mention that the Macedonian people also cooperated with their Albanian neighbours, who at that time were also struggling for their freedom and national rights. Leading the Albanian struggle was the “Albanian League”. Isai Radev Mazovski, a Macedonian from Lazaropole, was the Macedonian representative in the “Albanian League”. Mazovski worked for a long time to establish Macedonian-Albanian relations and cooperation. He was also a supporter of an independent Macedonia and an independent Albania. Albanian-Macedonian cooperation was expressed in 1881 when the Albanians and Macedonians took joint actions to remove the kaimakam (deputy governor) in Debar. There were also other such actions but when the conspiracy in western Macedonia was destroyed the Ottomans also took down the “Albanian League”. Even though they were prematurely suppressed, Macedonian-Albanian relations were again renewed, especially after 1885 when the “Macedonian-Albanian Revolutionary League” was created.

In 1887, the “Macedonian-Albanian Revolutionary League” issued an appeal inviting Albanians to join its ranks for a joint liberation struggle. The “Macedonian-Albanian Revolutionary League” strived to unite Macedonians and Albanians in a common struggle in order to gain autonomy for both Macedonia and Albania. Among other things, the appeal read: “We don’t want Albania and Macedonia to fall under Bulgaria, Serbia, or Greece. We want Macedonia and Albania to be given autonomy...” This appeal, mentioned earlier, was circulated among the Albanians by Mazovski. The league envisioned a joint uprising but for various reasons its plans and efforts didn’t yield much.