Reflections on the Uprising in Other Parts of Macedonia and among the Macedonian Emigrants

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Reflections on the Uprising in Other Parts of Macedonia and among the Macedonian Emigrants

The consequences of the uprising's disintegration were not all negative. Indeed, the people in the region of the uprising suffered greatly. Scores of villages were set afire. About 25,000 people were forced to abandon the family hearth and escape through the border into Bulgaria. There was devastation, hunger, and misery accompanied by the incessant terror of the Turks. Nevertheless, the Macedonian uprising of 1878 left a great legacy.

During the course of the conflict, there was a great response from the whole country. Members of the Russian diplomatic service often made mention of the fighting spirit that swept through all of Macedonia during that time. They cited the swelling of the number of detachments, the frequent acts of valor in the field, and the immediate support of the peasantry. In November, 1878, for example, the people rushed to the aid of two unarmed detachments, one consisting of 70 men, the other 110. Not only did the ex-volunteers from the Serbian and Russian armies join the rebels, but also people from the country, people who abandoned their work and their place and risked their lives to support the rebels all along the Struma River. And indeed throughout the country there were eruptions of greater or lesser magnitude.

The French too noted the mood of the country. Just after the Kresna Uprising, while the rebels were enjoying their greatest victories, the military attaché of the French government in Constantinople, De Torse, emphasized the number of Macedonian detachments that existed. In a letter dated 9 November, 1878, De Torse noted that the number of detachments are growing, that they are self-supporting, that they have the means for further activity, and that they are "in a position to play a definite political role." He divided the forces that existed into four groups:

- 1st group in the east, in the Malesh and Melnik territory;

- 2nd group in the north in the region of the Kozyak Mountains among the towns of Vranye, Skopje, and Kyustendil;

- 3rd group in the west, in the Karadak and Verechka Mountains, among Bitola, Korcha, Kostur, and Lerin;

- 4th group to the southwest, near the Olympus massif and the surrounding region, among Kochani, Ber, Katerini, and Voden.

The rebel activity began in the southwestern region of Macedonian before the attack on Kresna was reinforced during the Kresna Uprising, and continued after the battles along the Struma River. This occurred in the Karshieka and Malesh regions. Voivodes who took part in the Kresna Uprising, such as the priest, Kostadin Bufski, also took part in the action to the southwest.

In April, 1880, as a result of the struggles that developed to the southwest, Kostadin's detachments and the detachments of the renown revolutionary, Leonidas Vulgaris, met in Ostrovsko. They considered Macedonia's situation with respect to the decisions of the Congress of Berlin and also concluded that Macedonia's future lay in the creation of an independent Macedonian state. Following in the path of the familiar program aims of the "Provisional Law" set down after the Kresna Uprising, the two revolutionaries discussed making the policies concrete. As a result, from 21 May to 2 June, 1880, a national assembly was held in Germen, a town that is today in Aegean Macedonia. They drew up a Declaration:

1. First, the Sublime Porte is to be informed by the head governor (the vali) of Macedonia that the just demands of the Macedonian people should be executed quickly through the application of Article 23 of the Berlin Treaty;

2. This decision is to be hand carried to the Consulate representatives of the Great Powers, the signatories of the Berlin Treaty, and will be accompanied by a petition to the Great Powers to support Article 23 of the Berlin Treaty before the Sublime Porte;

In the event the Sublime Porte refuses to act, the Provisional Government of Macedonia will call the Macedonian people to arms with the slogan: "Macedonia to the Macedonians, to raise up ancient Macedonia."

From its ranks the National Assembly chose a provisional government of Macedonia, "Unity," in which were represented all the nationalities residing in Macedonia.

Vasil Simon was chosen to be president of the government.

As can be seen, the Kresna Uprising set in motion the mechanisms by which the Macedonian people could and would unify against Turkish enslavement.

The response to the Kresna Uprising was especially fervent among the Macedonian workers living abroad in Serbia and in Rumania. Capturing the gist of the passion are two letters: one dated 7 November, 1878 from the district officer in Vranye to the president of the Serbian government, Jovan Ristich; and the other from the Badzhovich brothers, Kuzman and Despot, to the bishop Natanail. The following is an excerpt from the letter to Ristich:

"The uprising in Macedonia created a great impression on the people from Old Serbia (Macedonia) who find themselves in Vranye. The Serbs in Turkey are also aware. They come up to me quite often asking me what to do, whether or not they should join the rebels who joined the Russo-Bulgarian committees."

Ristich's response advised them not to join. Trying to persuade the Macedonians in Serbia to avoid the conflict, he wrote that the uprising appeared to be failing and that increased participation would result in more unnecessary bloodshed and destruction.

The following is an excerpt from Kuzman Badzhovich's letter to the bishop Natanail, dated 26 November, 1878.

"When I heard that you had begun the God sanctified work to save the people, I immediately left my service and set myself to the work of the people. I sent out letters to all liberated areas of Serbia and I received immediate word by telegraph. I was told in what town to gather and where to send money.

"But when I heard the second embittered and poisoned voices, I stood paralyzed. Then I, in the presence of my company, said through tears, '0 God's will! You still haven't broken the chains of five centuries that have shackled our people! Do the Macedonian people still bear the curse of Adam?' All that comforts me now, Inspired Priest, is that God is good and that He will one day show us mercy.

"The Macedonians have tasted freedom, so each has decided to die for virtue and freedom rather than endure slavery and Asian tyranny.

"From God and from the people, our task, sainted Priest, is: 1) love; 2) accord; 3) unity.

"Please send me word of the events as soon as possible and in greater detail. You will see the … Macedonian son."

Dated 5 February, 1879, Despot Badzhovich's letter to Natanail perhaps better characterizes the mood among the Macedonian emigrants in Serbia. The following is an excerpt from that letter:

"I am myself a volunteer and have commanded volunteers for two years through more than fifty of the fiercest battles. I am decorated with gold and silver and with the "Takovo Cross." I cannot wait to hurl myself into another bloody battle with the Turks. So, Sir, if you are certain that we can move further south into Macedonia, please let me know. I can bring 1000 to 2000 volunteers, and I can unite my detachments with yours. United, I can serve under your command. And, if God permits, we can head toward Prilep, Ohrid, Bitola, and beyond. Above all, my brother, tell me frankly your intentions. Will you move into Macedonia or Thrace? If it be Macedonia as a Macedonian I will come. Should it be elsewhere, I won't come.

"As for the Pchinya region, without a doubt, I would not only be able to lead 1000 to 2000 volunteers, but also be able to call to arms all those from Babina, Polyana, Radovnitsa Stoyovtsi, Germen, Tsrven Grad, and a hundred other villages in the Pchinya region. I know the people from these villages. I could gather 10,000 to 20,000 rebels and we could clean Pchinya of Turks and capture Kozyak. Of that you can be sure. We could take the entire region, and perhaps Kumanovo. But, Sir, in order to achieve that, you would have to provide weapons and ammunition for all those I could gather. Otherwise, it would be impossible. In other words, you supply the guns, I'll supply the people. I can provide for them while in Serbia. But outside of Serbia, we cannot be identified with Serbian interests, and I cannot appeal to the Serbs for aid."

Macedonian emigrants in Rumania were also anxious for the uprising. Dated 26 January, 1879, a detailed letter from the Macedonian workers abroad to Natanail included a contribution of 2100 francs from their meager earnings. The following is an excerpt from that letter:

"… Today we see that we remain the last of the Slav peoples to be liberated. We see that we have been excluded from the Congress of Berlin... So now there is nothing left for us Macedonians but to rise up in arms against the enemy and to shed our blood for our liberation. Let Europe and the rest of the world see that we are able to administer our own affairs and that we are worthy of the freedom we seek. Indeed, now with weapons in our hands we must openly declare: freedom or death."

To a great extent, the Kresna Uprising was a protest against the decision of the Congress of Berlin to return Macedonia to Turkish rule. But it was not a reaction provoked by the wish to join another foreign country, to join Bulgaria.

The strife of that time was a movement that emerged from deep within the people. It was supported by and based on the previous struggles of the Macedonian people, struggles for cultural, educational, and ecclesiastical emancipation, for national identity. It was a struggle for independence not only from the Constantinople Patriarchy, but also from the efforts of the Bulgarian bourgeoisie to appropriate the Macedonian movement as a means to achieve a Greater Bulgarian state on the Balkans.

The Kresna Uprising was also a manifestation of an antifeudalism movement. It represented the Macedonian peasants' struggle to destroy the feudal system of the Ottoman Empire. It was an attempt to change he economic relations, to transfer the ownership of the land into the hands of those who work the land.

The origins of the Kresna Uprising are to be found in the Macedonian haiduk movement whose activity had been on the rise since the early part of the 19th century. So the movement evolved from unbridled, fragmented activity toward a reasoned revolutionary act.

The Kresna Uprising was also a continuation of the uprising in Razlog in 1876. That too was an expression of the great national revolutionary movements on the Balkans.

Judging by its political and social program, judging by the breadth and mass of the movement, regardless of the strength of the cohesion among the rebels, the Kresna Uprising above all represents a high point in the development of the struggle of the Macedonian people for cultural, political, and social emancipation. It is one of the key events that laid the foundation for the Macedonian revolutionary movement and for the armed struggle for the Macedonian people. And it fixed the idea of Macedonian origins and independence.