The Serbian consulate in Bitola ( sr-cyr, Српски конзулат у Битољу) was established in 1889 after diplomatic conferences between the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

and the Ottoman Empire. Serbian consulates opened in the seats of the vilayets of Kosovo (Pristina), Manastir (Bitola) and Salonica (Thessaloniki). The Bitola council officially opened on May 9, 1889 with the mission to protect the interests of Serbs in the area, working on opening Serbian schools, etc. A new Serbian consulate was inaugurated in Bitola on 4 December 2007.

Background

Serbian national work in

Old Serbia Old Serbia ( sr, Стара Србија, Stara Srbija) is a Serbian historiographical term that is used to describe the territory that according to the dominant school of Serbian historiography in the late 19th century formed the core of the S ...

and

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

reached better results at the end of the 1860s and beginning of 1870s, increasing after the

Great Eastern Crisis The Great Eastern Crisis of 1875–78 began in the Ottoman Empire's territories on the Balkan peninsula in 1875, with the outbreak of several uprisings and wars that resulted in the intervention of international powers, and was ended with the T ...

with the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and troop deployment in the Sanjak of Novi Pazar. The

Society of St. Sava The Society of Saint Sava or Saint Sava Society ( sr, Друштво „Свети Сава“/Društvo „Sveti Sava“) was a Serbian non-governmental association with the aim of maintaining and protecting the Serb people in the Ottoman Empire, ...

(est. 1886) and an educational department (est. March 1887) would handle the greater part of educational-cultural work, while Stojan Novaković, the Serbian Minister in Constantinople (1886–91), led the educational-cultural work, in effect, through the consulates of Skopje (1887), Thessaloniki (1887), Pristina (1889) and Bitola (1889). The main tasks of the consulates were to open schools, establish church-educational municipalities, Serbian bookshops and spreading Serbian literature, and educating Macedonians. Novaković prepared the opening of schools and church-educational municipalities within the

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( el, Οἰκουμενικὸν Πατριαρχεῖον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, translit=Oikoumenikón Patriarkhíon Konstantinoupóleos, ; la, Patriarchatus Oecumenicus Constanti ...

in spring 1887. It was stressed that the Greek metropolitans were to help the Serbian consulates and overall Serbian activity in the Ottoman Empire. The establishment of the

Bulgarian Exarchate The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...

in 1870 had led to a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in the Patriarchate and a boost to Bulgarian national aspirations in the Balkans. The return of Bulgarian bishops to the eparchies of Skopje, Ohrid and Veles at the end of the 1880s alarmed the Serbian and Greek diplomacy. Bulgarian politicians had a goal of implementing the borders drafted in the Treaty of San Stefano (1878). Novaković met with Ottoman representatives to whom he opposed placing the Bulgarian bishops, however, two Bulgarian bishops arrived at Ohrid and Skopje in 1890, which nevertheless prompted pursuing Serbian national interests in Macedonia. When asked by an Austro-Hungarian minister on the "ethnographic situation" he described the Macedonians as a transitional link between Serbs and Bulgarians, similar to Little Russia and Provence. Novaković started negotiations over the determination of spheres of interest in Macedonia with the arrival of Greek minister

Nikolaos Mavrocordatos Nikolaos ( el, Νικόλαος, ') is a common Greek given name which means "Victor of People", a compound of νίκη '' nikē'' 'victory' and λαός laos' 'people'. The connotation is "people's champion" or "conqueror of people". The Englis ...

in Constantinople (1889).

History

Consuls

Dimitrije Bodi Dimitrije Bodi ( sr-cyr, Димитрије Боди; 1850–1942) was a Serbian journalist and diplomat. Born into an affluent family in Belgrade of Aromanian descent, he studied law at the Belgrade Great School and at the universities of Leipzi ...

(1889–1895) *

Milivoje Vasiljević Milivoje ( sr, Миливоје) is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Milivoje Blaznavac (1824–1873), Serbian soldier and politician * Milivoje Božović (born 1985), Serbian professional basketball player *Milivoje ...

(1895–1896) * Milojko Veselinović (1897–1899) *

Mihailo Ristić Mihailo Ristić may refer to: * Mihailo Ristić-Džervinac (1854–1916), Serbian officer and conspirator of the ''May Coup'' * Mihailo Ristić (diplomat) (1864–1925), Serbian diplomat and counsel * Mihailo Ristić (footballer) Mihailo Ristić ...

(1899–1903) *

Svetislav Stanojević Svetislav ( sr, Светислав) is a Serbian masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: * Svetislav Basara (born 1953), Serbian writer * Svetislav Glišović (1913–1988), Serbian football player and manager * Svetislav Goncić ...

(1903–1907) *

Živojin Balugdžić Živojin ( Cyrillic script: Живојин) is a Serbian masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: *Živojin Bumbaširević (1920–2008), orthopaedic surgeon and traumatologist *Živojin Juškić (born 1969), footballer *Živojin Mil ...

(1907) *

Ljubomir Mihailović Lubomir, Lyubomir, Lyubomyr, Lubomír, Ľubomír, or Ljubomir is a Slavic given name meaning lub (love) and mir (peace, world). Feminine forms are: Lubomira and Ljubica. Nicknames Lubor, Luboš, Luborek, Lubošek, Borek, Lubo, Ľubo, Ljubo, L ...

(1907–1912)

References

Sources

* * {{Bitola Serbs from the Ottoman Empire Ottoman period in the history of North Macedonia Serb organizations History of Bitola 1889 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 2007 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia Serbian nationalism in North Macedonia

Background

History

Consuls

See also

References

Sources