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Kruševo Republic
Rebel state in the Ottoman Empire (1903) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Kruševo Republic (Bulgarian and Macedonian: Крушевска Република, Kruševska Republika; Aromanian: Republica di Crushuva)[2] was a short-lived political entity, proclaimed in 1903 by rebels from the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in Kruševo during the anti-Ottoman Ilinden Uprising.[3] According to Bulgarian and Macedonian historical narratives, in the town, which was inhabited by different Christian populations, an ephemeral "republic" with a temporary revolutionary government was proclaimed.[4] It is viewed as a historical predecessor in North Macedonia.[5][6][7][8]
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History
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In the early 20th century, Kruševo was mainly inhabited by Slavic Macedonian, Aromanian and Orthodox Albanian population.[7] As a result of the national and religious propaganda the population was ethnoreligiously split on Bulgarian Exarchists and Greek Patriarchists, the latter constituted the largest ethno-religious community.[9][10]
On 3 August 1903, IMRO insurgents captured the town of Kruševo in the Manastir Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day North Macedonia), After the General Staff of the Uprising headed by Dame Gruev and Boris Sarafov entered the city on 4 August, the Krusevo Republic was proclaimed in a speech by Nikola Karev who was elected as president.[7][11][12][13][14] He was a strong socialist and member of the Macedonian-Adrianople Social Democratic Group, favouring alliances with ordinary Muslims against the Sultanate, as well as supporting the idea of a Macedonian republic inside a Balkan Federation and opposing the territorial aspirations of the neighbouring Balkan countries over the region.[15][16]
Amongst the various ethnoreligious groups (millets) in Kruševo, a Republican Council was elected with 60 members – 20 representatives from three groups: Aromanians, Macedono-Bulgarians and Greek self-identifying (Grecoman) Slavic Macedonians, Aromanians and Albanians.[7][17][18][19][20] The Council also elected an executive body – the Provisional Government – with six members (2 from each mentioned group),[21] 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.[22][23] Written by Nikola Kirov, it outlined the goals of the uprising, calling upon the Muslim population and the Christians alike to join forces with the provisional government in the struggle against Ottoman tyranny, to attain freedom and independence for Macedonia.[24][25][26][27] Kirov was also a leftist like Karev and a member of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party.[28] However, Karev allegedly 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.[29][30][31] Greek sources witness that the insurgents were aggressive or provocative towards the Patriarchist population.[32] Karev attempted to reduce attacks over the Muslim population and prevent the plundering from insurgents and their supporters.[33] He also attended a Greek church service in a gesture of tolerance and unity.[34] However, except for Exarchist Aromanians,[35] who were Bulgarophiles,[36][37] (as Pitu Guli and his family), most members of the other ethnoreligious communities dismissed the IMRO as pro-Bulgarian.[38][39]
Initially surprised by the uprising, the Ottoman government took extraordinary military measures to suppress it. Heading from Prilep, led by Bahtiyar Paşa, a force of 15,000 infantry, cavalry and artillery, aided by bashi-bazouks, surrounded the city on 12 August. Pitu Guli's band (cheta) tried to defend the town and republic from the Ottoman troops, after a fierce battle near Mečkin Kamen most of the band and their leader (voivode) perished.[7] Another one called battle of Sliva took place at the same time, ending in defeat as well. On 13 August the Ottomans managed to destroy the Kruševo Republic, committing atrocities against the Aromanian and Patriarchist population.[12] As a result of the gunnery, the town was set partially ablaze.[40] After the plundering of the town by the Turkish troops and the Albanian bashi-bazouks, the Ottoman authorities circulated a declaration for the inhabitants of Kruševo to sign, stating that the Bulgarian komitadjis had committed the atrocities and looted the town. A few citizens did sign it under administrative pressure.[41]
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Legacy
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The celebration of the events in Kruševo began during the First World War, when the area, then called Southern Serbia, was occupied by Bulgaria. Naum Tomalevski, who was appointed a mayor of Kruševo, organized the nationwide celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Ilinden uprising.[44] 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. The tradition of celebrating these events was restored during World War II in the region, when it was occupied by Bulgaria again.[45]
On the other hand, during World War II, the Macedonian communist partisans developed the idea of historical continuity between their struggle and that of the insurgents of the Ilinden Uprising and Kruševo Republic. The partisan leaders and detachments chose names of heroes from IMRO, one such was Kuzman Josifovski Pitu, named after Pitu Guli.[46] The Kruševo Republic was referred to in the lyrics of the partisan song "Today over Macedonia", later to become the Macedonian anthem. After the war, the idea of socialist continuity proceeded in the newly established Socialist Republic of Macedonia, where the Kruševo Republic was considered as its antecedent.[47] Furthermore, Macedonian historians often compared it to the Paris Commune, the classic symbol of revolutionary socialism. It was emphasized how the Council and commissionerships were evenly split between the nationalities, in a style bound to serve as an example to the Balkans in a similar manner how the Paris Commune served for the world.[48] Another instance firmly praised was the last stand of Pitu Guli and his man in the battle of Meckin Kamen, which achieved an iconic status in the Macedonian national history.[49] The "Ilinden Uprising Museum" was founded in 1953 on the 50th anniversary of the Kruševo Republic in the former house of the Tomalevski family where the Republic was proclaimed. In 1974 an enormous monument, known as Makedonium, 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 commemorating the battle that took place there.[50]
During the Informbiro period, the name of insurgents' leader Nikola Karev was scrapped from the Macedonian national anthem.[51] He and his brothers were suspected of being Bulgarophiles.[52] Nikola Kirov's writings, which are among the most known primary sources on the rebellion, mention Bulgarians, Vlachs (Aromanians), and Greeks (sic: Grecomans), who participated in the events in Kruševo.[53] Although post-World War II Macedonian historians objected to Kirov's classification of Kruševo's Slavic population as Bulgarian, they quickly adopted everything else in his narrative of the events in 1903 as definitive.[54] As a result of the Greek and Bulgarian challenges against the Macedonian identity, Macedonian historians enforced their efforts to prove that IMRO activists had been exclusively Macedonian in identity.[55] The entity is seen as a prelude to its statehood by North Macedonia.[56] Some modern Macedonian historians such as Blaže Ristovski 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".[57][58] The legacy of the republic is disputed between Bulgaria and North Macedonia.[59] When the anthropologist Keith Brown visited Kruševo on the eve of the 21st century, he discovered that the local Aromanian language still has no way to distinguish "Macedonian" and "Bulgarian", and uses the designation Vrgari, i.e. "Bulgarians", for both ethnic groups.[53] The same has been confirmed by the Greek researcher Asterios Koukoudis.[60] Some authors maintain it was an independent socialist republic, the first in the Balkans.[7][61][need quotation to verify]
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Gallery
The Tomalevski family house where the Republic was proclaimed. The family later emigrated to Bulgaria. In modern day the "Museum of History Kruševo" is located in the house.
The Kruševo headquarters in August 1903.
The cheta of Pitu Guli near the village of Birino, close to Kruševo, 1903
The events in Kruševo as seen by the American New York Times; 14 August 1903.
Bulgarian postcard representing an insurgent with the flag of Kruševo cheta
The monument of the Battle of Mečkin Kamen built by the Bulgarian authorities during the First World War.
Celebration of the 15th anniversary of the events in Krushevo in 1918 during the Bulgarian occupation of then Southern Serbia.
Old comitadji, celebrating Ilinden Uprising in Kruševo in 1943, during the Bulgarian annexation.
Monument dedicated to the Mečkin Kamen battle at the location on which Pitu Guli and his men made their last stand
The monument of the Battle of Sliva, near Kruševo.
Ilinden memorial complex, opened on the 71st anniversary of the uprising in 1974.
Celebration of Ilinden on 2 August 2011 on Mečkin Kamen, Republic of Macedonia.
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