Petar Chaulev (; ; 1882 – December 23, 1924) was a Bulgarian revolutionary in Ottoman

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 former administr ...

. He was a local leader of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

(IMRO).

Biography

He was born into an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

family in Ohrid. His father was a

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

fisherman from southern Albania. Chaulev was fluent in Albanian, and spent several years living in Albania where he got the nickname 'Petrush'. Cultural closeness was expressed by such Orthodox Albanians from the mixed Albanian-Bulgarian area in western Macedonia and some gradually became

Bulgarianized Bulgarisation (), also known as Bulgarianisation () is the spread of Bulgarian culture beyond the Bulgarian ethnic space. Historically, unsuccessful assimilation efforts in Bulgaria were primarily directed at Muslims, most notably Bulgarian Turks ...

. He graduated from the Ohrid Bulgarian Class School and then from the Bulgarian High School in

Bitola Bitola (; ) 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 border crossing ...

, moving in revolutionary circles. He participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising and later became a Bulgarian teacher and secretary within the local revolutionary organization. After the

Young Turks The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, ...

Revolution in 1908 he associated with the left wing of IMRO -

People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) The People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) () or just People's Federative Party (PFP) () was a Bulgarian political party in the Ottoman Empire, created after the Young Turk Revolution, by members of the left-wing of the Internal Macedon ...

. During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

Chaulev supported the

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

. After the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

he led the Ohrid-Debar Uprising in 1913 against the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

. During the First World War he served as a sergeant in the

11th Macedonian Infantry Division The 11th Macedonian Infantry Division was a Bulgarian military unit formed by Macedonian Bulgarians that operated in the First World War. The division is the successor of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps. History The division was e ...

of the Bulgarian army and later was appointed as governor of

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Chaulev rejoined in Sofia to the re-established there IMRO. Petar Chaulev together with Aleksandar Protogerov and Todor Aleksandrov formed the new Central Committee of the IMRO. Since 1922, as the head of the Bitola Revolutionary District and in charge of maintaining contacts with the Albanian and Italian authorities, Chaulev often resided in Albania and in Italy. In 1924 IMRO forged connections with the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

. As result Chaulev signed the so-called "

May Manifesto The "May Manifesto" of May 6, 1924 was a manifesto in which the objectives of the unified Macedonian liberation movement were presented: independence and unification of partitioned region of Macedonia, fighting all the neighbouring Balkan monarchi ...

" in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

along with Alexandar Protogerov concerning the formation of a

Balkan Communist Federation In late 19th and throughout the 20th century, the establishment of a Balkan Federation had been a recurrent suggestion of various political factions in the Balkans. The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century among left-w ...

and cooperation with the Soviet Union. They did this after being authorized from the absent IMRO leader

Todor Alexandrov Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Тодор Александров Попорушов; 4 March 1881 – 31 August 1924), anglicised as Todor Alexandrov, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, Bulgarian army officer, pol ...

, signing the document from his name too. The revelation that the patriotic IMRO officially sanctioned such a separatist document with the communists caused uproar in its ranks. Aleksandrov and Protogerov promptly denied that they have ever signed any agreements, claiming that the May Manifesto was a communist forgery. Shortly after, Alexandrov was assassinated by unclear circumstances. Chaulev who sticked to the Manifesto and was suspected as involved in Aleksandrov's murder, was assassinated in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in December 1924. Chaulev was also a writer, publishing the book Skipia (Albania) in 1924 in Istanbul.

References

1882 births 1924 deaths People from Ohrid People from Manastir vilayet Bulgarian people of Albanian descent Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization Bulgarian revolutionaries Bulgarian educators Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Assassinated Bulgarian people Bulgarian people murdered abroad People murdered in Lombardy Deaths by firearm in Italy 20th-century Albanian military personnel Rebels from the Ottoman Empire Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire People assassinated in the 20th century {{Macedonia-bio-stub