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TWO MACEDONIAN MANIFESTOS 1. Title: Манифест на Главниот штаб нa мaкeдoнcкaтa вojскa (Manifesto of the headquarters of the Macedonian army), announced on Mount Pirin, 29 June 1880 Originally published: At the time this manifesto was distributed throughout Macedonia as a type-written text; at least in such form it is to be found in the secret archive of Patriarch Cyril of Bulgaria in the Dragalevo monastery , volume 23, p. 101–103, under the title: ‘Bulgaro-Macedonian League.’ Language: Bulgarian Slavko Dimevski, Vlado Popovski, Svetomir Škarić, Mihajlo Apostolski, eds., Maкeдoнcкaтa Лигa и Уcтaвoт зa држaвнo уpeдувaњe нa Maкe- дoниja oд 1880 (Skopje: Mиcлa, 1985), pp. 326–328. 2. Title: Manifesto of the Temporary Government of Macedonia, 18/30 April 1881 (the source publication used does not contain the original French text) Author of the text: It is not clear who was the actual author of the text; the manifesto is signed by the president of the temporary government, a certain Vasilos Simos, and the secretary Nikolaos Trajkos. Originally published: The Manifesto was attached to a letter sent to the Russian diplomatic representative in Constantinople, General N. P. Ignatieff; it is now in the Central State Archive in Moscow (CGAOR, Moskva, f. 730, op. 1, No 79, l. 1). Language: French Дoкумeнти зa бopбaтa нa мaкeдoнcкиoт нapoд зa caмocтojнocт и нa- циoнaлнa дpжaвa, vol. 1, (Skopje: Унивepзитeт Kиpил и Meтoдиj, 1981), pp. 267–268; also in Slavko Dimevski, Vlado Popovski, Svetomir Škarić, Mihajlo Apostolski, eds., Maкeдoнcкaтa Лигa и Уcтaвoт зa држaвнo уpeдувaњe нa Maкeдoниja oд 1880 (Skopje: Mиcлa, 1985), pp. 356–357. In both editions the texts are translated into Macedonian. TWO MACEDONIAN MANIFESTOS 479 About the author Vasil Diamandiev [1839, Ohrid – 1912, Sofia]: politician. Finished primary school in Ohrid. At the age of sixteen he started teaching in his native town (1855– 57). He worked as a teacher in several places in Macedonia until 1867, when, accused of being a Russian agent (he had studied in Moscow and Kiev between 1858 and 1861) he was imprisoned by the Ottoman authorities. Afterwards he moved to Russia and lived in Bessarabia. During the Eastern Crisis (1875–1878) he was very active in promoting the cause of the liberation of the Balkan peoples. After the end of the Russo-Turkish war (1877–78) he moved to the newly created Bulgaria. He continued to send petitions and memoranda proposing solutions to the Macedonian question . In the summer of 1880 he participated in the formation of the ‘Macedonian League’ in Ruse (Bulgaria) and became its president. After its hasty dissolution he continued to work in different Macedonian émigré associations and committees until the end of his life in 1912. Vasil Diamandiev does not belong to the first rate historical figures in terms of canonization. Although he is the most probable author of the Manifesto, it is the text that has been emphasized, and the organization behind it: ‘The Macedonian League.’ Context In the nineteenth century the peoples in the Balkans realized that the situation within the Ottoman Empire would change substantially only after active intervention by the Great Powers. The international crisis connected with the Eastern Question brought hopes that the Russian armies after another victorious campaign would convince the sultan to grant autonomy to its Christian subjects—the first step towards full independence. The established pattern of (Christian) uprisings and (Turkish) retaliatory massacres leading to different forms of outside pressure, a probable war and an even more probable conference (or congress), always depended on many unpredictable factors in the mechanism of European decision-making. The dream of an eventually favorable geo-strategic decision by the cabinets of the Great Powers (the Russians being considered to be the most promising), was shared by virtually everybody in the Balkan region, from illiterate peasants through priests and traders to the various types of revolutionaries both at home and in émigré circles. The uprising in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1875 followed by the war that Serbia and Montenegro waged on Turkey (together with the bloody events in Bulgaria) provoked a series of diplomatic crises, culminating in a major international crisis which led to another Russo-Turkish war (1877–1878). During this resurgence of the Eastern Question, the first outburst since the Cri- [3.145...

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