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, 14 kilometres north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing with Greece. The city stands at an important junction connecting the south of the Adriatic Sea region with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, and it is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as the "City of Consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola.
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, or simply the Ilinden Uprising, of August–October 1903, was organized revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was prepared and carried out by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization, with the support of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee, which included mostly Bulgarian military personnel. The name of the uprising refers to Ilinden, a name for Elijah's day, and to Preobrazhenie which means Feast of the Transfiguration. Some historians describe the rebellion in the Serres revolutionary district as a separate uprising, calling it the Krastovden Uprising, because on September 14 the revolutionaries there also rebelled. The revolt lasted from the beginning of August to the end of October and covered a vast territory from the western Black Sea coast in the east to the shores of Lake Ohrid in the west.
Georgi Nikolov Delchev, known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev, was an important Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary (komitadji), active in the Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Adrianople regions at the turn of the 20th century. He was the most prominent leader of what is known today as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a secret revolutionary society that was active in Ottoman territories in the Balkans at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Delchev was its representative in Sofia, the capital of the Principality of Bulgaria. As such, he was also a member of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC), participating in the work of its governing body. He was killed in a skirmish with an Ottoman unit on the eve of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising.
Damyan Yovanov Gruev was а Bulgarian teacher, revolutionary and insurgent leader in the Ottoman regions of Macedonia and Thrace. He was one of the six founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.
Smilevo is a village in North Macedonia, municipality of Demir Hisar.
Andon Dimitrov was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary. He was among the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO).
Ivan Garvanov was a Bulgarian revolutionary and leader of the revolutionary movement in Ottoman Macedonia and Southern Thrace.
Boris Petrov Sarafov was a Bulgarian Army officer and revolutionary, one of the leaders of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee (SMAC) and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). He is considered an ethnic Macedonian in North Macedonia, having identified occasionally as a Macedonian in his life.
Mijaks are an ethnographic group of Macedonians who live in the Lower Reka region which is also known as Mijačija, along the Radika river, in western North Macedonia, numbering 30,000–60,000 people. The Mijaks practise predominantly animal husbandry, and are known for their ecclesiastical architecture, woodworking, iconography, and other rich traditions, as well as their characteristic Galičnik dialect of Macedonian. The main settlement of the Mijaks is Galičnik.
Slaveyko Arsov Kikiritkov was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, leader of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) for the region of Resen. He is regarded an ethnic Macedonian in North Macedonia.
Petar Atsev was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, and a voyvoda of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) for the region of Prilep. He worked as a Bulgarian teacher.
Gligor Sokolović was one of the supreme commanders of the Serbian Chetnik Movement, that fought the Ottoman Empire, Bulgarian, and Albanian armed bands during the Macedonian Struggle. He was one of the most famous Chetniks, and the foremost in Western Povardarie. In Bulgaria he is considered a Bulgarian renegade who switched sides, i.e. (sic) Serboman.
Georgi Kostov Sugarev was a Bulgarian revolutionary, vojvoda of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. In North Macedonia, Sugarev is part of the country's historical heritage as an ethnic Macedonian.
The Serbian Revolutionary Organization or Serbian Chetnik Organization was a paramilitary revolutionary organization with the aim of liberation of Old Serbia from the Ottoman Empire. Its Central Committee was established in 1902, while the Serbian Committee was established in September 1903 in Belgrade, by the combined Central Boards of Belgrade, Vranje, Skopje and Bitola. Its armed wing was activated in 1904. Among the architects were members of the Saint Sava society, Army Staff and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It operated during the Struggle for Macedonia, a series of social, political, cultural and military conflicts in the region of Macedonia; its operations are known as Serb Action in Macedonia.
Petar (Pere) Naumov Toshev was a Bulgarian teacher and an activist of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization. In the historiography in North Macedonia he is considered an ethnic Macedonian revolutionary.
Rafael Moshe Kamhi was a Sephardic Jew from Monastir in Ottoman Macedonia. Besides being Jewish, Kamhi felt also strong attachment to Macedonia as his native homeland. Kamhi was elected as liaison officer of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (VMRO). He directly participated in the Miss Stone Affair and in the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising of August 1903.
Micko Krstić-Porečki, known as Vojvoda Micko, was a Serbian rebel and military leader active in the Poreče region.
The 1896–1897 Macedonian Rebellion was a Greek rebellion, launched in 1896, and a guerrilla movement that took place in Macedonia in order to preserve the conscience and ready-mindedness of the Macedonian Greek populations, to create a rivalrous awe against the Bulgarians the demarcation of the Greek territorial claims in the Ottoman area and the creation of a distraction for the events of Crete. The movement was of Macedonian character, as the regiments invading Macedonia from Thessaly consisted primarily of Macedonian chieftains and fighters, most of whom were from Northwestern Macedonia. The initial impetus was given by the Ethniki Etaireia (Greek National Company), but then several Macedonian chieftains spontaneously and without coordination were involved in the events, while in some regions of Macedonia the events took the form of massive uprisings. The main rebels of the Macedonian Revolution of 1896 were the areas of Sanjak of Monastir (Florina, Bitola, Prespes), Sanjak of Korytsa (Kastoria), Sanjak of Servia, Sanjak of Salonica (Thessaloniki, Pieria, Imathia, Pella, Tikveš) and Sanjak of Serres (Serres, Upper Nevrokopi, Lower Nevrokopi).
Todor Hristov, also known as "the Little officer" was a Bulgarian military officer and revolutionary, activist of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization.
