Friday, August 03, 2007

0 THE ILINDEN-PREOBRAZHENIE UPRISING (ILINDEN UPRISING) OF AUGUST 1903

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THE MOVEMENTS FOR THE LIBERATION OF MACEDONIA AND ADRIANOPLE. THE ILINDEN-PREOBRAZHENIE UPRISING (ILINDEN UPRISING) OF AUGUST 1903


The Berlin Treaty of 1878 parceled out Bulgaria. This tampered with the national and political fate of the Bulgarian people and sentenced the Bulgarian population in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace to endless suffering. From that moment onwards the free and enslaved Bulgarians in the Bulgarian Principality, in Eastern Rumelia, Macedonia and Adrianople
cherished fervently the idea that it was a matter of national duty for every Bulgarian to fight for the total national liberation and reunification of all the parts into which the Berlin treaty had parceled out their fatherland.
In the name of this ideal in August and September 1878 revolutionary committees "Unity" were set up in the Principality and Eastern Rumelia. In October the Kresnensko-Razlozhko Uprising broke out. A series of cabals, riots, actions and demonstrations followed which led to the Reunification of Northern and Southern Bulgaria. Under foreign rule remained the Bulgarians irr Macedonia and Thrace. The attempts for their liberation were extremely difficult because at that moment the kingdom of Serbia and the kingdom of Greece officially declared themselves against the liberation of those Bulgarians. They carried out unscrupulous anti-Bulgarian political and cultural propaganda.

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The Greek and Serbian propaganda evoked the most outspoken reaction amongst the young Bulgarian intelligentsia of students graduating from the high schools of Thessaloniki, Skopje, Bitola, Adrianople and other cities. Brought up with the ideals of the Bulgarian national-democratic revolution of the time of the Bulgarian Revival, a group of young revolutionaries headed by Damyan Gruev, Petar Poparsov, Atanas Dimitorv, Dr. Hristo Tatarchev and others set up the Bulgarian Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation in Thessaloniki on 23 October 1893. The program of the organization, improved by gtze Delchev, defines as the main aim of the organization the total political autonomy of Macedonia and Andrianople.
The leaders of the Uprising, including Gotze Delchev, put a lot of effort for the creation of a strong and efficient revolutionary army, the so called "band institute". A significant role in these preparations played the regional, district and village bands, the legal militia in which all men fit for duty were enrolled.
The appearance of bands throughout Macedonia and Adrianople changed the way and character of the revolutionary movement. From a revolutionary propaganda it grew into an armed battle. The clashes between Bulgarian bands and the Turkish posse became frequent. The "affairs" in which the revolutionary movement suffered severe blows became a common event. These events and the constant tortures, killings, and other atrocities to which the Turkish authorities subjected the Bulgarian population aggravated the situation and set an edge to the revolutionary movement. The Uprising of General Ivan Tsonchev along the Strouma valley in 1902 did away with all possibilities of the IMARO activists to maneuver and postpone the time for the outbreak of the Uprising.
High Command of the uprising was appointed, headed by Damyan Gruev and members Boris Saratov and Anastas Lozantchev. On 2 august Headquarters came up with an appeal to the Bulgarians in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace which read, "Brothers! The day of reckoning has come, the time has come for vengeance against the oppressor. We have to pay off our enemy for the innocent blood of our brethren spilt by the oppressor. The violated honour of our mothers and sisters has to be restored! No more suffering and disgrace! Freedom or death!" Such was the beginning of the fierce battle lasting a few months in whose flames more than 26,000 revolutionaries fought in unequal battles against the Turkish army of 350,000 men.
A congress of the Adrianople Revolutionary District was held on 11 July at Petrova Niva in Strandja Planina. The revolutionaries appointed a leading body. Among its members were Mihail Gerdzhikov, Lazar Madzharov, and Capitain Stamat Ikonomov. On 19 August (Preobrazhenie - Transfiguration) when the uprising in Bitola was approaching its culmination, the whole Bulgarian population in Strandzha took to arms in the name of the same ideals for which their brothers in Macedonia were fighting.
A congress of the Seres Revolutionary Distric was held on 3 September near the village of Pirin. Fourteenth of September, Krustovden (The Elevation of the Cross), was set as the day for the beginning of the activities of the bands. Bands for the Supreme committee came to give help. At the General Assembly held there Yane Sandanski and General Ivan Tsonchev joined hands in the name of the movement for the liberation of Macedonia and Adrianople. A revolutionary governing body was set up in Seres (nowadays part of Greece) headed by Dimitar Stefanov and General Tsonchev. On 14 September the revolutionaries attacked the Turkish guards near Melnik, round the consecrated ground "Sveta Troitsa" (The Holy Trinity). They attacked also the enemy at Garvanitsa, at the village of Pirin, at peak Kuklite (The Dolls), near Predela, in Razlog, in Belitsa, near the villages of Obidim and Gradevo, etc.
Local bands operated in the remaining districts of the revolutionary organization following orders from High Command. More significant battles were the ones in the districts of Skopje, Shtip, Maleshevo, Doyran, Kukush, Solun (present Thessaloniki), and Kostur (now part of Greece and the Republic of Macedonia).
Only in Macedonia more than 1 200 revolutionaries lost their lives. More than 4,000 old men, women and children were killed. 3,000 women were raped. More than 70,000 were left homeless. 20,000 were taken prisoners. More than 30,000 banished Bulgarians went to the free parts of Bulgaria to seek refuge.
The drowning of the Uprising in blood evoked a series of protests in Europe and North America. The democratic powers in the world expressed their indignation at the barbarian acts of the Turkish oppressor agaisnt the revolutionaries and the peaceful Bulgarian population in Macedonia and Thrace.
When the powers of the revolutionaries weakened and Macedonia and Adrinaople were covered in blood and set on fire, on 29 September 4603 the headquarters of the uprising turned to the-Bulgarian government in an appeal for immediate help in armed forces, "Having in mind the critical and disastrous situation of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia after the atrocities of the Turkish troops and Bashi-bazouks and having in mind that there is real danger for everything Bulgarian to perish here... High command considers it their duty to draw the attention of the honourable Bulgarian government to the dire consequences for the Bulgarian nation if the Bulgarian government fails to perform its duty to its brothers hare. The Bulgarian government should intervene vigorously and imposingly, in a way that matches the danger facing the fatherland of all Bulgarians - the only way is war."
On 5 November High Command ordered for the Uprising to end. Bulgaria could not possibly support the revolutionaries. Serbia, Greece and Romania delivered ultimatums to Bulgaria threatening to join Turkey in case Bulgaria provided support to the revolutionaries in Macedonia. The Great Powers, including Russia, also warned of their intentions to leave Bulgaria parceled out in the territories of its neighburs if Bulgaria supported the uprising of the revolutionaries.
Hundreds of articles, messages and various documents of the Internal Organization and the Supreme Committee were published in the foreign printed media - in Russia, France, Italy, Austro-Hungary, Germany, Great Britain and others. The European publications emphasized that during the Uprising Greece acted as an actual ally to Turkey since its interest coincided with those of the Porte, namely the suppression of the Bulgarian element and the widening of Greek influence. Greece sent parties which organized attacks on Bulgarian villages. These parties coordinated their activities with the Turkish authorities and carried out a libelous campaign against the revolutionaries in the European press. The official public opinion and attitude towards the Uprising in Serbia were defined as dubious, demagogic and contradictory.

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