 Ilinden and the Macedonian National Identity - Andrew Rossos,
 Univeristy of Toronto
1903 - The Illinden Uprising and Its Legacy - Duncan Perry,
University of Scranton
1903 seen through the eyes of Europe - Nadine Akhund,
Columbia University
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The Ilinden Uprising did not mark either the beginning or the completion of the long process in the formation of the Macedonian national identity. However, the events of 1903 played a significant role in the shaping of that identity from then on. In this short commentary, I will touch briefly first on the Macedonian national movement before Ilinden, second , on the agonizing impact that Ilinden had on the major camps and orientation in the Macedonian national movement; and I will conclude with some brief remarks on the short term and long term consequences of Ilinden on the Macedonian movement and te shaping of the Macedonian national identity.
I
The Macedonian awakening began in the second quarter of the nineteenth century as an organized Slav reaction against the patriarchist church and the total domination of the Greek language in the local churches and schools. In the 1980s, the substantial inroads made by the Bulgarian national movement in Macedonia provoked a similar Macedonian reaction. Some educated Macedonians called derisively Makedonsti by the Bulgarian press, embraced the name Macedonian - and voiced and defended Macedonian interests. This clash between Bulgarianism and Macedonianism, which began in the decade preceding the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate (1870), produced a clear distinction between the interests of the well-established Bulgarian movement and the Macedonians, and contributed to the shaping of the national identity of the latter.
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Summary
The Ilinden Uprising was the result of complex events involving the
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in Ottoman
Macedonia and its rival, the Supreme Macedonian Committee, based in
Bulgaria.
My presentation provides an outline of the history of IMRO and the
events leading up to and including the Ilinden Uprising. Briefly, IMRO
leaders sought to create an autonomous and just Macedonia within the
Ottoman Empire, while the Supremists favored a revolt. Both
organizations argued that they were fighting for the rights of all who
opposed the Sultan and his corrupt empire, no matter what their faith or
national identity. In the end, the Ilinden revolt, which began on August
2, 1903, failed. Nevertheless, it became the symbol of Macedonians
seeking to form their own independent state, an event that occurred in 1991.
Macedonia had been the focus of the irredentist aspirations of
neighboring countries for more than a century and Macedonian national
consciousness was suppressed in the 19th century and for roughly the
first half of the 20thcentury. It was only with the creation of the
second Yugoslavia that Macedonians could claim their history, language,
and culture. When this occurred, IMRO and Ilinden stood out as rallying
points for Macedonians seeking to affirm their national identity.
With the creation of the multi-ethnic, independent Republic of
Macedonia, IMRO and Ilinden continued to serve as beacons for
Macedonians. Mr. Kiro Gligorov, upon assuming the presidency of the
independent state of Macedonia, however, sought to promote, in effect, a
broader value for these icons, a value that would be inclusive of all
citizens of the Republic. He and others like him, across the ethnic
spectrum, have attempted to make the spirit of Ilinden and of the
Krushevo Republic - the spirit of inter-ethnic harmony, justice and
equality - a reality in Macedonia.
May that spirit prevail in the coming years so that the 200th
anniversary of Ilinden is a celebration of national unity in its
broadest sense, shared and valued by all citizens of Macedonia.
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"In the name of freedom and humanity, without distinction of races or even religion, we are taking up guns to fight tyranny and inhumanity…We consider as our brothers, all those who are suffering in the dark Empire of the sultan, Bulgarians, Greeks, Serbs, Rumanians, and even Muslims and Turkish peasants."
With those words reported by a French journalist, Gaston Routier, on August 2, 1903, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) started a general uprising in Macedonia. This insurrection was expected and dreaded by the diplomats as well as announced for several weeks by the European press. In Paris, these events made the front page in L'illustration. Also in Paris, Le Temps, in Vienna, Neue Freie Presse, in London, The Times, The Daily News, covered those dramatic events that took place at two days trains from Paris.
In 1903, within the Ottoman framework, Macedonia as a political entity did not exist. The region was comprised of 3 of the 7 administrative districts or vilayets that formed the European part of the Ottoman Empire. These were the vilayets of Salonika, Monastir and Kosovo[2].
The Macedonian uprising belongs to the process, the general struggle for liberation from the ottoman rule that characterized the Balkan Peninsula during the XIX century. The process started in 1804, with the Serbian insurrection, followed by the Greek war of independence (1821-1830) and achieved in 1878 with the proclamation of the independence of Serbia, Romania and Montenegro while Bulgaria obtained a status of autonomy. But in Macedonia the situation was particular as the period around 1903 is probably the most complex in the History of modern Macedonia. It involves three level of analysis:
-National level: It implies the question of the building process of the national Macedonian Identity.
-Regional level: As the competing Balkans states, the "neighbors", Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and even Romania claimed to include the 3 vilayets within their borders.
-International level: For the Great Powers (Aut-H, Rus, Fr, Ger, Italy) as who ever controls Macedonia, controls the Balkans, which were viewed as a crossroads, a bridge between Danubian Europe and the Ottoman world.
The Macedonian uprising against the Ottoman government of the Sultan Abdul Hamid II lasted 3 months and covered most of Macedonian territory. In the end IMRO's forces were defeated by the sultan soldiers and followed by a brutal repression.
The purpose of this paper is to explain the impact, the influence on European foreign policy and the perception abroad of the Ilinden uprising based not on Macedonian sources but on international sources, primarily diplomatic reports and articles of the European press around 1903.
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[1] Routier (G): La Question macedonienne Paris 1903 p50-51
[2] Albania (Scutari, Ianina=north Epire), Thrace and the islands.
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