The Macedonian Rebellion of 1854 ( el, Μακεδονική επανάσταση του 1854) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

rebellion which took place in 1854 and is divided into two phases: the first phase took place in

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Southern Macedonia and the second in

Chalkidiki Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

. However, after pressure from the United Kingdom and France on the government of King Otto of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, he was forced to recall the chieftains taking part in the rebellions throughout the Greek-inhabited regions of the Ottoman Empire, including Macedonia. The governments of the United Kingdom and France had assumed that the rebellions were related to the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

(1853–1856). In Southern Macedonia, the chieftains of

Mount Olympos Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...

and fighters from independent Greece and

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

and Magnesia captured the

Vale of Tempe The Vale of Tempe ( el, Κοιλάδα των Τεμπών) is a gorge in the Tempi municipality of northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south, and between the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. The ...

and some parts of Pieria. In

Western Macedonia Western Macedonia ( el, Δυτική Μακεδονία, translit=Ditikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen Modern regions of Greece, regions of Greece, consisting of the western part of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia. Located in north-western ...

, the revolutionaries led by

Theodoros Ziakas Theodoros Ziakas ( el, Θεόδωρος Ζιάκας; Mavronoros, Grevena, 1798 – Atalanti, 1882) was a chieftain in Macedonia during the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Biography His family were Armatoloi in Western Macedonia. When the Gre ...

took control of the western

Pindus The Pindus (also Pindos or Pindhos; el, Πίνδος, Píndos; sq, Pindet; rup, Pindu) is a mountain range located in Northern Greece and Southern Albania. It is roughly 160 km (100 miles) long, with a maximum elevation of 2,637 metres ...

and attacked the area of

Grevena Grevena ( el, Γρεβενά, ''Grevená'', , rup, Grebini) is a town and municipality in Western Macedonia, northern Greece, capital of the Grevena regional unit. The town's current population is 13,374 citizens (2011). It lies about from Athe ...

, but the numerical superiority of the Ottoman army and the hostile stance of the United Kingdom and France resulted in the signing of an armistice and the return of the chieftains to Greece on June 1854. The second phase took place in Chalkidiki and it was led by Tsamis Karatasos, former adjutant of King Otto. Karatasos had disembarked in

Sithonia Sithonia ( el, Σιθωνία), also known as Longos, is a peninsula of Chalkidiki, which itself is located on a larger peninsula within Greece. The Kassandra Peninsula lies to the west of Sithonia and the Mount Athos peninsula to the east. Sithon ...

in April 1854, but he confronted the French forces which continuously fired on him, as they were afraid of his possible entrance into

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. After a brief capture of Karyes in

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...

, whose monks hadn't supported the rebellion, Karatasos had to return to Greece on a French naval ship. The consuls of the United Kingdom and France took over the protection of the non-combatants and of the fighters who had supported Karatasos from a possible Ottoman invasion of Mount Athos.

Sources

The revolutionary movement of 1854
Institute of the Museum of Macedonian Struggle

Foundation of the Hellenic World {{Rebellions in the Ottoman Empire History of Macedonia (Greece) Conflicts in 1854 19th-century rebellions Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire Greece–Ottoman Empire relations Macedonia 1854 1854 in Greece History of Greece (1832–1862) 1854 in the Ottoman Empire Crimean War