THE KRESNA UPRISING

The political and territorial changes on the Balkan resulted in the Berlin Congress, which affected Macedonia very heavily. The Macedonian people did not get freedom with the San-Stefan peace treaty nor with the Berlin Congress. The situation worsened and this provoked the Macedonians to form new rebel groups.
The Macedonian people started an uprising against the Turk's, known as the Kresna Uprising (Kresnensko vostanie). The uprising got its name from the village of Kresna near the river Struma, where it first took place. However, this uprising is known under the name "Macedonian Uprising" (Makedonsko Vostanie) because the name was used by its leaders, and all the official documents stated this name. The main organiser of the uprising was Natanail Kuceviski, and the leaders of the uprising were Dimitar Pop Gorgiev-Berovski and Stojan Karastoilolv.
Kresna Uprising The Uprising started on the 17 October 1878, when the soldiers attacked the Turkish in the village of Kresna. After that, the rebels had a meeting where they chose Adam Kalmikov to be the leader of the uprising, and for a chief Dimitar Pop Georgiev-Berovski, the leader of the Razlog Uprising (Razlovecko Vostanie). The success from the start of the uprising increased the fighting spirit. The uprising quickly expanded and the soldiers freed more than 35 villages, including Melnik and Petric. This encouraged the uprising actions to increase in the Razlovci region, where the soldiers freed Razlog and Bansko. In the freed territory's a new army and a new government were formed.
The success of the Kresna Uprising achieved its aim to free the Macedonian people from the Turkish slavery. The succeeding forces of the uprising were stopped when Berovski and Stojan Karostoilov were overthrown, and later Karostoilov was killed. This resulted in a break-up of the whole uprising organisation. From this situation, on 6 June 1879, Natanail Kuceviski (who for the whole time during the uprising played the main character) ordered everyone to break up, and their weapons to be put in safe keeping in the village of Buranovo (now in Pirin Macedonia). This act showed the unsuccessful end of the Kresna Uprising and the hard eight month war.

| Back |