The Kruševo Republic (
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
and
Macedonian: Крушевска Република, ''Kruševska Republika''; rup, Republica di Crushuva) was a short-lived political entity proclaimed in 1903 by rebels from the
Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in
Kruševo
Kruševo ( mk, Крушево ; rup, Crushuva "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an alti ...
during the anti-Ottoman
Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August–October 1903 ( bg, Илинденско-Преображенско въстание, Ilindensko-Preobrazhensko vastanie; mk, Илинденско востание, ...
. According to subsequent Bulgarian and followed later Macedonian narratives, it was one of the first modern-day republics in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
.
History
![Krushevo 1903](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Krushevo_1903.jpg)
On 3 August 1903, rebels captured the town of Kruševo in the
Manastir Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
(present-day
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
) and established a revolutionary government. The entity existed only for 10 days: from 3 to 13 August, and was headed by
Nikola Karev
Nikola Janakiev Karev (Bulgarian: Никола Янакиев Карев and Macedonian: Никола Јанакиев Карев; November 23, 1877 – April 27, 1905) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionaryPer Julian Allan Brooks' thesis ...
. He was a strong leftist, rejecting the nationalism of the ethnic minorities and favouring alliances with ordinary Muslims against the Sultanate, as well as supporting the idea of a
Balkan Federation
The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
.
Amongst the various
ethnoreligious group
An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background.
Furthermore, the term ethno-religious group, along with ethno-regional and ethno-linguistic groups, is a s ...
s (
millets
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets a ...
) in Kruševo, a Republican Council was elected with 60 members – 20 representatives from three groups:
Aromanians
The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
,
Bulgarian Exarchists
Bulgarian Millet ( tr, Bulgar Milleti) was an ethno-religious and linguistic community within the Ottoman Empire from the mid-19th to early 20th century. The semi-official term ''Bulgarian millet'', was used by the Sultan for the first time in ...
and
Greek Patriarchists. The Council also elected an executive body—the Provisional Government—with six members (2 from each mentioned group), whose duty was to promote law and order and manage supplies, finances, and medical care. The presumable "
Kruševo Manifesto" was published in the first days after the proclamation. Written by
Nikola Kirov, it outlined the goals of the uprising, calling upon the Muslim population to join forces with the provisional government in the struggle against Ottoman tyranny, to attain freedom and independence. Both Nikola Kirov and Nikola Karev were members of the
Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party, from where they derived these leftist ideas.
![Macedonians Take Towns - New York Times August 14 1903](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Macedonians_Take_Towns_-_New_York_Times_August_14_1903.jpg)
However, an ethnic identification problem arose. Karev called all the members of the local Council "''brother Bulgarians''", while the IMRO insurgents flew Bulgarian flags, killed five Greek Patriarchists, accused of being Ottoman spies, and subsequently assaulted the local Turk and Albanian Muslims. As long as the town was controlled by the Bulgarian
komitadji
Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee mem ...
s, the Patriarchist majority was suspected and terrorized. Except for
Exarchist Aromanians, who were
Bulgarophiles
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulgari ...
, (as
Pitu Guli
Pitu Guli (; 1865–1903) was an Aromanian revolutionary in Ottoman Macedonia, a local leader of what is commonly referred to as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).Brown, K. (2003) ''The Past in Question: Modern Mace ...
and his family), most members of the other
ethnoreligious communities dismissed the IMRO as pro-Bulgarian.
Initially surprised by the uprising, the Ottoman government took extraordinary military measures to suppress it.
Pitu Guli
Pitu Guli (; 1865–1903) was an Aromanian revolutionary in Ottoman Macedonia, a local leader of what is commonly referred to as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).Brown, K. (2003) ''The Past in Question: Modern Mace ...
's band (cheta) tried to defend the town from Ottoman troops coming from
Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
. The whole band and their leader (
voivode
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...
) perished. After fierce battles near
Mečkin Kamen, the Ottomans managed to destroy the Kruševo Republic, committing atrocities against the rebel forces and the local population. As a result of the gunnery, the town was set partially ablaze. After the plundering of the town by the Turkish troops and the Albanian
bashi-bazouk
A bashi-bazouk ( ota, باشی بوزوق , , , roughly "leaderless" or "disorderly") was an irregular soldier of the Ottoman army, raised in times of war. The army chiefly recruited Albanians and Circassians as bashi-bazouks, but recruits ...
s, the Ottoman authorities circulated a declaration for the inhabitants of Kruševo to sign, stating that the Bulgarian
komitadjis
Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee mem ...
had committed the atrocities and looted the town. A few citizens did sign it under administrative pressure.
Celebration
The celebration of the events in Kruševo began during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when the area, then called
Southern Serbia, was
occupied by Bulgaria.
Naum Tomalevski
Naum Hristov Tomalevski (April 14, 1882 - December 2, 1930) was a Bulgarians, Bulgarian revolutionary, participant in the Macedonian revolutionary movement, member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).
Biography
Tomalevs ...
, who was appointed a mayor of Kruševo, organized the nationwide celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Ilinden uprising. On the place of the
Battle of Mečkin Kamen, a monument and a memorial-fountain were built. After the war, they were destroyed by the Serbian authorities, which continued implementing a policy of forcible
Serbianization
Serbianisation American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or Serbianization, also known as Serbification, and Serbisation American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or ...
. The tradition of celebrating these events was restored during
World War II in the region when it was called already
Vardarska Banovina
The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( mk, Вардарска бановина, Vardarska banovina; sr, Вардарска бановина, translit=Vardarska Banovina; al, Banovina e Vardarit, italics=no), was a province (banate) of the King ...
and was officially annexed by Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, the newly organized
pro-Yugoslav Macedonian communist partisans developed the idea of some kind of socialist continuity between their struggle and the struggle of the insurgents in Kruševo. Moreover, they exhorted the population to struggle for "''free Macedonia''" and against the "''fascist Bulgarian occupiers''". After the war, the story continued in the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
, where the Kruševo Republic was included in its historical narrative. The new Communist authorities successfully wiped out the remaining
Bulgarophile
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...
sentiments. As part of the efforts to prove the continuity of the new Macedonian nation and the former insurgents, they claimed the IMRO-activists had been consciously Macedonian in identity. The establishment of the short-lived entity is seen today in North Macedonia as a prelude to the independence of the modern Macedonian state.
The "Ilinden Uprising Museum" was founded in 1953 on the 50th anniversary of the Krusevo Republic. It was located in the empty house of the ''Tomalevski'' family, where the Republic was proclaimed, though the family had long since emigrated to Bulgaria. In 1974 an
enormous monument was built on the hill above Kruševo, which marked the feat of the revolutionaries and the
ASNOM. In the area, there is another monument called Mečkin Kamen.
Modern references
Nikola Kirov's writings, which are among the most known primary sources on the rebellion, mention Bulgarians, Vlachs (Aromanians), and Greeks (
sic
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; "thus", "just as"; in full: , "thus was it written") inserted after a quoted word or passage indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated exactly as found in the source text, complete with any e ...
:
Grecomans
Grecoman or Graecoman (Greek: Γραικομάνοι, ''Grekománoi'', Bulgarian: Гъркомани, ''Garkomani'', Macedonian: Гркомани, ''Grkomani'', Romanian: ''Grecomani'', Albanian: ''Grekomanë'', Aromanian: ''Gricumanji'') is a ...
), who participated in the events in Krushevo. Although post-World War II
Yugoslav Communist
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
historians objected to Kirov's classification of Krusevo's Slavic population as Bulgarian, they quickly adopted everything else in his narrative of the events in 1903 as definitive. However, during the
Informbiro period
The Informbiro period was an era of Yugoslavia's history following the Tito–Stalin split in mid-1948 that lasted until the country's partial rapprochement with the Soviet Union in 1955 with the signing of the Belgrade declaration. After Wor ...
, the name of insurgents leader
Nikola Karev
Nikola Janakiev Karev (Bulgarian: Никола Янакиев Карев and Macedonian: Никола Јанакиев Карев; November 23, 1877 – April 27, 1905) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionaryPer Julian Allan Brooks' thesis ...
was scrapped from the
Macedonian anthem, as he and his brothers were suspected of being ''
bulgarophile
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...
elements''. Some modern
Macedonian historians
Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the German historian it has preserve ...
such as
Blaže Ristovski Blaže Ristovski (March 21, 1931, Garnikovo, Kavadarci, Kingdom of Yugoslavia – November 28, 2018, Skopje, Macedonia, both in present-day North Macedonia) was a Macedonian linguist, folklorist and historian.
He graduated from Faculty of Philolog ...
have recognized, that the entity, nowadays a symbol of the Macedonian statehood, was composed of people who identified themselves as "Greeks", "Vlachs" (Aromanians), and "Bulgarians". In the early 20th century, Kruševo was populated by a
Slavic population, Aromanians and Orthodox
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
with town inhabitants being ethnoreligiously split among various Ottoman millets, with Greek Patriarchists being the largest community, followed by Bulgarian Exarchists and the
Ullah Millet
The Ullah Millet (or "Vlach Millet") was a separate Millet (Ottoman Empire), millet (that is, a recognized ethno-religious and linguistic community) within the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Ottoman authorities for the Aromanians (also ...
for the Aromanians.
[ "Населението на Крушево во време на востанието гб сочинуваат Македонци, Власи и Албанци. Први се доселиле во него Власите кон втората половина од XVIII век, односно по познатите грчки востанија од 1769 година..."] According to the ethnographer
Vasil Kanchov
Vasil Kanchov ( bg, Васил Кънчов, Vasil Kanchov) (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a Bulgarian geographer, ethnographer and politician.
Biography
Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school in Lom, ...
's statistics based on linguistic affinity, at that time the town's inhabitants counted: 4,950
Bulgarians
Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe.
Etymology
Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...
, 4,000 Vlachs (Aromanians) and 400 Orthodox
Albanians
The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...
. When the anthropologist
Keith Brown visited Kruševo on the eve of the 21st century, he discovered that the local
Aromanian language
The Aromanian language (, , , or ), also known as Macedo-Romanian or Vlach, is an Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian and Romania ...
still has no way to distinguish "Macedonian" and "Bulgarian", and uses the designation ''Vrgari'', i.e. "Bulgarians", for both ethnic groups. This upsets the younger generations of Macedonians in the town, since being Bulgarian has remained a stigma since Yugoslav times.
[''In Macedonia, post-WWII generations grew up "overdosed" with strong anti-Bulgarian sentiment, leading to the creation of mainly negative stereotypes for Bulgaria and its nation. The anti-Bulgariansim (or Bulgarophobia) increased almost to the level of state ideology during the ideological monopoly of the League of Communists of Macedonia, and still continues to do so today, although with less ferocity... However, it is more important to say openly that a great deal of these anti-Bulgarian sentiments result from the need to distinguish between the Bulgarian and the Macedonian nations. Macedonia could confirm itself as a state with its own past, present and future only through differentiating itself from Bulgaria.'' For more see: Mirjana Maleska. With the eyes of the "other"(about Macedonian-Bulgarian relations and the Macedonian national identity). In New Balkan Politics, Issue 6, pp. 9–11. Peace and Democracy Center: "Ian Collins", Skopje, Macedonia, 2003. .]
Gallery
File:M_KAMEN.jpg, The monument of the Battle of Mečkin Kamen built by the Bulgarian authorities during the First World War.
File:Krushevo 1918.jpg, Celebration of the 15th anniversary of the events in Krushevo in 1918 during the Bulgarian occupation of then Southern Serbia.
File:Old komitadji Krushevo 1943.jpg, Old comitadji, celebrating Ilinden Uprising in Krusevo in 1943, during the Bulgarian annexation.
File:Sliva Monument, Krusevo.jpg, The monument of the Battle of Sliva, near Krusevo.
File:Makedonium_09.JPG, Ilinden (memorial) built by the Yugoslav authorities in 1974.
File:Ilinden 2011, Meckin kamen.jpg, Celebration of Ilinden on August 2, 2011, on Mechkin Kamen, Republic of Macedonia.
See also
*
Strandzha Commune
The Strandzha Commune or Strandzha Republic was a short-lived anarchist commune. It was proclaimed during the Preobrazhenie Uprising in 1903 by Internal Macedonian Adrianople Revolutionary Organization rebels in Strandzha, in the Adrianople Vila ...
*
Ilinden (memorial)
Ilinden, also known as Makedonium ( mk, Споменик „Илинден“ or ), is a monument in Kruševo, North Macedonia. It was officially opened on August 2 of 1974, on the 30th anniversary of the Second Session of the Anti-fascist Assembl ...
*
Militsiya of the Kruševo Republic
References
Sources
Силянов, Христо. Освободителните борби на Македония, т. I, София 1933, гл. VI.1
*
ttp://macedonia-history.blogspot.com/2008/07/republic-of-krushevo-and-ilinden.html The Republic of Krushevo and the Ilinden uprising
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krusevo Republic
States and territories established in 1903
States and territories disestablished in 1903
Conflicts in 1903
Former republics
Former Slavic countries
Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire
Manastir vilayet
Ottoman Kruševo
Rebellions against the Ottoman Empire
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
Bulgarian rebellions
History of the Aromanians