Surpression of the April Uprising-Europe in shock

It was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876, the indirect result of which was the establishment of Bulgaria as an independent nation in 1878.

The 1876 uprising was the last and biggest in a string of Bulgarian revolts but spread only in parts of the Bulgarian territories. The emergence of Bulgarian national sentiments was tightly coupled with the re-establishment of the independent Bulgarian church in 1870. Together with notions of romantic nationalism the rise of national awareness became known as the Bulgarian National Revival.

The Bulgarian population was suppressed socially and politically for the past few centuries under Ottoman rule and the resentment towards it was historically high.Additionally, more immediate causes for the greater mobilisation compared to earlier revolts were the severe internal and external problems which the Ottoman Empire experienced in the middle of the 1870s. In 1875, taxes levied on non-Muslims were raised for fear of a state bankruptcy, which, in its turn, caused additional tension between Muslims and Christians and facilitated the breakout of the Herzegovinian rebellion and the Stara Zagora revolt in Bulgaria. The failure of the Ottomans to handle the Herzegovinian uprising successfully showed the weakness of the Ottoman state while the brutalities which ensued, discredited additionally the empire to the outside world.

In November 1875, activists of the Bulgarian Revolutionary Central Committee met in the Romanian town of Giurgiu and decided that the political situation was suitable for a general uprising. The uprising was scheduled for April or May 1876. The territory of the country was divided into five revolutionary districts with centres in Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo, Sliven, Plovdiv and Sofia.
In the progress of the preparation of the uprising, the organisers gave up the idea of a fifth revolutionary district in Sofia due to the deplorable situation of the local revolutionary committees and moved the centre of the fourth revolutionary district from Plovdiv to Panagyurishte. On 14 April 1876, a general meeting of the committees from the fourth revolutionary district was held in the Oborishte locality near Panagyurishte to discuss the proclamation of the insurrection. One of the delegates, however, disclosed the plot to the Ottoman authorities. On 20 April 1876, Ottoman police made an attempt to arrest the leader of the local revolutionary committee in Koprivshtitsa, Todor Kableshkov.

In conformity with the decisions taken at Oborishte, the local committee attacked the headquarters of the Ottoman police in the town and proclaimed the insurrection two weeks in advance. Within several days, the rebellion spread to the whole Sredna Gora and to a number of towns and villages in the northwestern Rhodopes. The insurrection broke out in the other revolutionary districts, as well, though on a much smaller scale. The areas of Gabrovo, Tryavna, and Pavlikeni also revolted in force, as well as several villages north and south of Sliven and near Berovo (in the present-day Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia).

The reaction of the Ottoman authorities was quick and ruthless. Detachments of regular and irregular Ottoman troops (bashi-bazouks) were mobilised and attacked the first insurgent towns as early as 25 April. By the middle of May, the insurrection was completely suppressed; one of the last sparks of resistance was poet Hristo Botev's attempt to come to the rebels' rescue with a detachment of Bulgarian political emigrees resident in Romania, ending with the unit's rout (and Botev's death). As no records were kept at the time, it is impossible to know exactly how many people were killed during and after the suppression of the uprising. The figure ranges from around 3,000 to at least 15,000, with the latter being the generally accepted figure. Some 80 villages and towns were burned and destroyed and 200 others were plundered.The atrocities which accompanied the suppression of the insurrection reached its peak in the northern Rhodopes. Nearly the whole population (9,000) of the town of Batak including women and children was slaughtered, beheaded or burned alive by Ottoman irregulars who left piles of dead bodies around the town square and church.

The organisers of the uprising did not realistically expect to overthrow the Ottoman oppression but had the goal of drawing attention to the plight of the Bulgarians and placing Bulgaria on the political agenda of the Great Powers.

According to Jelavich, "the April Uprising, which became the major event in later Bulgarian natiaonlist mythology, was a complete failure as a revolution". However, the swift and brutal suppression ordered by the Sultan � already engaged by a serious insurgency of Orthodox Christians in Bosnia � caused news of atrocities (the "Bulgarian Horrors" in the words of Gladstone) committed by Ottoman irregulars to spread and resulted in an enormous public outcry in Europe. The pictures of burned or slaughtered human bodies and the articles on the Ottoman atrocities went round all European newspapers and the atrocities were condemned by a number of leading European political and cultural figures, including William Gladstone, Charles Darwin, Oscar Wilde, Victor Hugo and Giuseppe Garibaldi.

The tumult caused by the uprising led to the Conference of Constantinople in 1876 and the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, which was concluded by the Treaty of San Stefano in March 1878, followed in July that year by the Treaty of Berlin.



Edited by Liudovik_Nemski - 25-Mar-2007 at 02:08

Words of Tsanko Diustabanov in the turkish court.He's a Bulgarian revolutionary which participated in the uprising:

"I know very well that your empire is huge,that the weapons and the soldiers are on your side.I know that we'll not defeat you with force.But i also know that you are barbarians and tyrants.I know that because of the uprising you will commit atrocities to innocents.Our aim wasn't to defeat you-it was to make you commit these atrocities so that the civilised world can see your true face.This is how we defeated you.

By burning so many villages and churches,by slaughtering so many grandparents,women and chlidren you shocked Europe and it will come to chase you from here.You betrayed the hatisherif,you betrayed the hatihumayun where you guaranteed the rights for the christians.You hoped to live with these lies.Europe has had enough of them and doesn't trust you anymore"

Originally posted by Anton Hadjiyski (I think) in his "Psychology of April Uprising" suggested that major idea of it was actually subsequent expected brutality of Ottoman authorities which would help to win the sympathies of the West and Russian Empire societies. Organizers realized clearly that Bulgarians are not ready yet for successfull revolt but started it anyway. Not that I like this idea of Hajiyski but there could be some part of the truth.

The words of Tsanko Diustabanov are a clear proof for that,i posted them above

The turks did everything as the Bulgarians expected:a pile of girls heads was built right next to the church in Batak.In some places(Batak,Perushtica,Bracigovo) when the turkish bashibozuks came the people fortified themselves with their women in the churches and when the turks set the churches on fire,the men alone killed their women and children because they would be set on a far crueler death to the fanaticised turks.

The governments and the monarchs of the Major Powers didn't react but the news were followed by a massive public outcry and anti-turkish sentiments.There were mass protests led by some of the most famous people then:russian writer Turgenev,William Gladstone-leader of the english liberal party,Victor Hugo,Jiuseppe Garibaldi and many more.Russia had to react since the anti-ottoman and anti-islam sentiments were most high there-the russians felt the Bulgarians closer since they were orthodox christians.


Edited by Liudovik_Nemski - 05-Apr-2007 at 00:52

Originally posted by Anton Hadjiyski (I think)�in his "Psychology of April Uprising"�suggested that major idea of it was actually subsequent expected brutality of Ottoman authorities which would help to win the sympathies of the West and Russian Empire societies. Organizers realized clearly that Bulgarians are not ready yet for successfull revolt but started it anyway. Not that I like this idea of Hajiyski but there could be some part of the truth.

I think you know what Georgi Benkovski said when he watche the burning villages from mount Lisets.A rude translation:
"My task is done.In the heart of the tyrant i have openned such a terrible wound,that he will never heal,and Russia,she is welcomed."

Originally posted by Liudovik_Nemski .I present facts

I don't see any Turkish forumer discussing the issue in this thread, either.

I don't see any Turkish forumer discussing the issue in this thread, either.

Originally posted by Anton But the  important thing here as Ludovik stated is that the way Ottomans treated the rebels was more than important reason for Russian Empire to start the war.

Originally posted by ataman Originally posted by Anton But the  important thing here as Ludovik stated is that the way Ottomans treated the rebels was more than important reason for Russian Empire to start the war.   My dear Bulgarian friend, if Russia had been worry so much about oppressed people, it wouldn't have suppressed Polish insurrections in 19th c.

Well, from one point of view, the Poles, although they're Slavs too, were not only a threat, but were also from another religion - Catholic Christianity. While the Bulgarians were far from a threat and were the same as the Russians - Eastern Orthodox.
From another point of view, although the common people in Russia would've been worried about the fate of their fellow Orthodox Slavs,  we can say that the Russian government was more worried not about the fate of the oppressed people, but how to make use of these oppressed people for its own goals. It's quite clear that, while the normal Russian volunteers have had sincere sympathy, the actual aim of the Russian authorities was to create a vassalized Bulgarian puppet-state, through which it would receive access to the warm waters of the Mediteranean Sea. And that's exactly the reason for the Berlin Congress, where all of the Great Powers divided the newly liberated Bulgaria, so that Russia would not receive a too big advantage in the status quo. The world of politics is simply politics and the Russian high figures found the April Uprising as a good casus belli to help them reach their goals...


Edited by NikeBG - 07-Apr-2007 at 05:19

Originally posted by NikeBG Well, from one point of view, the Poles, although they're Slavs too, were not only a threat, but were also from another religion - Catholic Christianity. While the Bulgarians were far from a threat and were the same as the Russians - Eastern Orthodox. From another point of view, although the common people in Russia would've been worried about the fate of their fellow Orthodox Slavs,  we can say that the Russian government was more worried not about the fate of the oppressed people, but how to make use of these oppressed people for its own goals. It's quite clear that, while the normal Russian volunteers have had sincere sympathy, the actual aim of the Russian authorities was to create a vassalized Bulgarian puppet-state, through which it would receive access to the warm waters of the Mediteranean Sea. And that's exactly the reason for the Berlin Congress, where all of the Great Powers divided the newly liberated Bulgaria, so that Russia would not receive a too big advantage in the status quo. The world of politics is simply politics and the Russian high figures found the April Uprising as a good casus belli to help them reach their goals...