The British press on the Ilinden Uprising (1903): public pressure on the Sublime Porte for reforms in Macedonia

THE BRITISH PRESS ON THE ILINDEN UPRISING (1903): PUBLIC PRESSURE ON THE SUBLIME PORTE FOR REFORMS IN MACEDONIA 

Memli Sh. Krasniqi 

(Summary) 

Public opinion in Europe, consequently also in Great Britain, was worried about the news of the crimes committed by the Ottoman troops commanded by Hilmi Pasha against the population in the insurgent areas. Meanwhile, the sultan had promised amnesty for all the fled refugees as well as monetary aid for the returnees. On the other hand, the Bulgarian Committee (IMARO) was disappointed by the joint Austro-Hungarian and Russian position on the possibility of continuing direct Bulgarian (the Bulgarian negotiator was G. Natchevitch) – Ottoman talks, which in reality meant that the European Powers, including Tsarist Russia, were against the unlargment of Bulgaria within the borders from the Treaty of Saint Stephen (1878), which at that time had alarmed France and Great Britain. Consequently, the Ilinden uprising of 1903, in a way, marked the main turning point in European politics, with which the until then geographical notion “Macedonia” gradually begins to be associated, no longer with the majority population of Bulgarian origin and of big portion of the Albanians, but as territory inhabited by “Macedonian people”, which were steps toward the criation of new state and nation. 

Keywords: British press, Ilinden uprising, reforms in Macedonia, Ottoman Empire