The 1878 Macedonian rebellion ( el, Μακεδονική επανάσταση του 1878) 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 launched in opposition to the

Treaty of San Stefano The 1878 Treaty of San Stefano (russian: Сан-Стефанский мир; Peace of San-Stefano, ; Peace treaty of San-Stefano, or ) was a treaty between the Russian and Ottoman empires at the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-18 ...

, according to which the bulk of Macedonia would be annexed to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, and in favour of the union of Macedonia with the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

. This followed the brief Greco-Turkish war of 1878 in which Greece had declared war on 2 February against 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) ...

, only for the Greek forces to return to their bases shortly after crossing the border due to the intervention of the Great Powers and the signature of the Treaty of San Stefano. It is reported that revolutionary outbreaks in the same year, are located alongside Macedonia in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

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, The ...

and

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

, seeking union with the Greek state. In Macedonia there was greater willingness and enthusiasm than in Thessaly. The revolution had two main foci in Macedonia, one was on Olympus, and the other in Vourinos.

Events

The revolution of Olympus began in Litochoro on 19 February 1878 led by Kosmas Doumpiotis extended to the surrounding areas and drowned in blood by the Ottomans, with its tragic epilogue being the destruction of Litochoro on March 4 of that year. In the revolution of Litochoro, which was the forerunner to the uprisings across Macedonia, participated bodies from all the regions of Western and Central Macedonia, as well as Eastern Macedonia (mainly from Meleniko). The uprising began on Mount Vourinos led by Anastasios Picheon. On 18 February 1878, rebels from different parts of western Macedonia formed, in the Vourinos settlement, the "Provisional Government of Macedonian province of Elimeia" seeking the abolition of the

and the Association of Macedonia with Greece. In the summer of 1878, about 15,000 armed men escalated a guerrilla war in the mountains of Western Macedonia from

Kozani Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley. The city lies above sea ...

to Monastir. The revolutionaries of Western Macedonia had no help from the Greek state. In northern Macedonia, rebellions went as far as Veles, where the chieftain Katrakos was acting with 50 men. After the suppression of the uprising, many Velesians were forced to resort to

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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

.Georgios Modis, Struggles in Macedonia, Barmpounakis editions, Thessaloniki, 1975, p. 207 The revolt ended in the winter of that year due to bad weather and lack of organization.

Aftermath

The Macedonian Revolution of 1878 did not achieve its purpose, but the opposition of the Greek population of Macedonia to the annexation to a Greater Bulgaria was documented internationally, and also the diplomatic position of Greece and those countries opposed to the Treaty of San Stefano was strengthened. So at the Treaty of Berlin in June 1878, the Macedonian territories remained Ottoman and were not annexed to Bulgaria. In response to this development, the Bulgarian population of Macedonia rose similarly in the autumn of 1878 in regions of

Kresna Kresna ( bg, Кресна ) is a town and the seat of Kresna Municipality in Blagoevgrad Province in Bulgaria. It is located in the southwestern part of Bulgaria. Geography The town of Kresna lies in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the north en ...

and

Razlog Razlog ( bg, Разлог ) is a town and ski resort in Razlog Municipality, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria. It is situated in the Razlog Valley and was first mentioned during the reign of Byzantine emperor Basil II. The municipali ...

, but to no avail.

Notes

References

{{Great Eastern Crisis 1878 in the Ottoman Empire Macedonia 1878 Macedonia Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire Great Eastern Crisis Macedonian Question 1878 Greek Macedonian rebellion