Kumanovo Uprising

The Kumanovo Uprising (Кумановски устанак/Kumanovski ustanak) was an uprising in early 1878 organized by an assembly of chiefs of the districts (Ottoman kaza) of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka and Kratovo in northern Macedonia, which sought to liberate the region from the hands of the Ottoman Empire and unify it with the Principality of Serbia, which was at war with the Ottomans at that time. With the Serbian Army's liberation of Niš (31 December 1877) and Vranje (31 January 1878), the rebellion had been activated during the latter event with guerilla fighting. The rebels received secret aid from the Serbian government, though the uprising only lasted 4 months, until its suppression by the Ottomans.

Prelude
The Herzegovina Uprising (1875–78), backed unofficially by the states of Serbia and Montenegro sparked a series of rebellions against the Ottoman Empire in Europe (such as the Bulgarian April Uprising, or that of Velika Begovica ). Serbia and Montenegro jointly declared war on the Ottoman Empire on 18 June 1876 (See Serbo-Turkish War (1876–78); Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78)). In July–August, the ill-prepared and poorly equipped Serbian army aided by Russian volunteers failed to achieve offensive objectives but did manage to repulse the Ottoman offensive into Serbia, and on August 26, Serbia pleaded European powers to mediate in ending the war. A joint ultimatum by the European powers forced the Porte to give Serbia an one–month–ceasefire and start peace negotiations. Turkish peace conditions however were refused by European powers as too harsh. In early October, after the truce expired, the Turkish army resumed its offensive and the Serbian position quickly became desperate. As a result, on October 31, 1876 Russia issued an ultimatum requiring the Ottoman Empire to stop the hostilities and sign a new truce with Serbia within 48 hours. This was supported by the partial mobilization of the Russian army (up to 20 divisions). The Sultan accepted the conditions of the ultimatum. The atrocities of the Ottoman Empire in suppressing unrest in the Balkan provinces eventually led to the Russo-Turkish War (April 24, 1877 – March 3, 1878). Serbia advanced into Old Serbia, and liberated Niš (December 3—29, 1877), and then Vranje (January 26—January 31, 1878).

The Serbian Army that had fought the Ottomans included a large number of volunteers from Macedonia. These volunteers had joined the ranks in order to later liberate and unite Macedonia with Serbia. The Serbian advance in Old Serbia (1877-1878) was followed with uprisings for the Serbian cause in Macedonia, with the most notable revolt being the one that broke out in the counties of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka and Kratovo. On January 19, 1878, 40 Albanian deserters from the Ottoman army which retreated raped four women in Bujanovac at the house of elder Taško, a serf. Serbs of the town retaliated and killed all of them.

History


The revolt was organized and led by the district chiefs of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka and Kratovo. The leading Kumanovo citizens swore oath in the local church to fight for the Serbian cause, until the end. The rebel movement appealed to Prince Milan IV of Serbia to aid the uprising, and they pledged their devotion and loyalty, and union with Serbia. They also appealed to the Serbian generals, asking them to secretly supply them with arms and ammunition. With the Treaty of San Stefano (3 March 1878), and announced implementation of Greater Bulgaria, the people of the counties of Kumanovo, Skopje, Palanka, Kratovo, Kyustendil, Kočani, Strumica, Štip, Veles, Debar, Kičevo, and Prilep, sent deputations and more appeals to the Serbian Prince Milan IV, to unite Macedonia with Serbia, and not to abandon Macedonia to Bulgaria.

The rebels of the districts of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka, Kratovo and Vranje managed to hold a liberated territory for four months, until their defeat at the hands of brigadier-general Hafuz Pasha (Hafuz-paša) by May 20, 1878. The Ottoman retaliation was tremendous, and atrocities were carried out, with around 900 houses burnt down, the captured rebels were killed in cruel manners, and captured women, girls and boys were raped by Ottoman soldiers. Some 150 captured rebels were taken towards Priština in chains, and on the way most of them died. The Ottoman government most notably prohibited the appellation "Serbian" to be used; the Serbian element in Macedonia was persecuted, while the Bulgarian element increased. Several of the leaders and their people succeeded in escaping to Serbia, where they were settled in the depopulated counties of the districts of Toplica and Vranje.

Aftermath
On June 15, 1878, an assembly was held at Zelenikovo, southeast from Skopje, where 5,000 villagers from the nahiye of Veles, Skopje and Tikveš, which requested from Prince Milan IV that these nahiye be unified with Serbia. The request came with 800 municipality-, church- and monastery seals, and 5,000 signatures, finger prints and crosses. Unfortunately, the carrier heading for Vranje, Rista Cvetković-Božinče, was intercepted on the Skopje-Kumanovo by Ottoman gendarmerie who had been tipped off by a Bulgarian teacher. There was a shootout, and when the carrier's bullets had ran out, he ripped and swallowed some of the papers before being shot. Most of the petition was destroyed, however, 600 signatures were identified, with 200 immediately killed, the rest died in prison with only 50 later being released from Ottoman casemates.

With the Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878), petitions were sent from all parts of Macedonia, reinforcing the statements that Macedonia should unite with Serbia, and that it did not belong to any other country — the official statement reads:

As Serbs of true and pure stock, of the purest and most intrinsically Serbian country... We for the last time implore on our knees... That we may in some manner and by some means be freed from the slavery of five centuries, and united with our country, the Principality of Serbia, and that the tears of blood of the Serbian martyrs may be stanched so that they, too, may become useful members of the European community of nations and of the Christian world; we do not desire to exchange the harsh Turkish slavery for the vastly harsher and darker Bulgarian slavery, which will be worse and more intolerable than that of the Turks which we are at present enduring, and will compel us in the end either to slay all our own people, or to abandon our country, to abandon our holy places, and graves, and all that we hold dear...

An assembly consisting of 65 individuals, again made up of the most notable people of the districts of Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka, Kočani, Štip, Veles, Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid, Kičevo and Skopje, addressed an appeal to the Serbian commander of the Macedonian volunteers in the Serbian-Ottoman Wars (1876-1878), M. S. Milojević, requesting the smuggle of arms and leading them in a revolt against the Ottoman Empire. The same year, the Brsjak Revolt broke out in the counties of Kičevo, Poreč, Bitola and Prilep, which would span over 6 months until it ultimately ended in failure. The Brsjak Revolt, and the preceding ones in Kumanovo, Kriva Palanka and Kratovo, had all a Serbian character, planned in the Serbian cause, thus, the unsuccessful outcome resulted in persecution of Serbs in the Macedonia region, with an increased Bulgarization of the region's Christian Slavic populace. Serbia secretly and carefully aided the Christians in the Ottoman areas; in the Brsjak revolt, however, by the end of 1881, the aid was stopped by the intervention of the Ottoman government. The Ottoman army succeeded in suppressing the rebellion in the winter of 1880/1881, and many of the leaders were exiled.

In late 1878 and early 1879 the pro-Bulgarian Kresna-Razlog Uprising took place in Pirin Macedonia (in modern Bulgaria).

Legacy
The uprising is commemorated in epic poetry from Macedonia.