Ohrid-Debar Uprising

The Ohrid-Debar uprising ( _bg. Охридско-Дебърско въстание) was an uprising in Western Macedonia in September 1913. It was organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and by local Albanian leaders against the Serbian occupation of the regions of Ohrid, Debar and Struga.

The rebellion started only two months after the end of the Second Balkan War. Local Albanians and Bulgarians, led by Petar Chaulev, Milan Matov and Pavel Hristov expelled the Serbian army and officials, creating a front line 15 km. east of Ohrid. A local administration was set up in Ohrid under leadership of Lev Ognenov. [Гоцев, Димитър. Национално-освободителната борба в Македония 1912-1915, София 1981, с. 48 (Gotsev, Dimitar. The National Liberation Struggle in Macedonia, Sofia 1981, p. 124, [http://www.macedonia-science.org/virtualna_biblioteka/Hristo_Ognjanov_Makedonija_prezivjana_sudba.pdf Огнянов, Михаил. Македония-преживяна съдба, София 2002, с. 43] ]

After two-week fierce fighting, a 100,000 srong regular Serbian army brutally supressed the uprising. Thousands were killed, and tens of thousands local inhabitants fled for Bulgaria and Albania to save their lives. According to the Report by Interntional Commission of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace the number of Albanians who took refuge out of Macedonia was 25 000, many Bulgarian notables were imprisoned or shot, a number of villages were burned. [ [http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/carnegie/chapter4_2b.html Report of the International Commission to Inquire into the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars, published by the Endowment Washington, D.C. 1914, p. 182] ]

See Also

* Tikvesh Uprising
* First Balkan War
* Second Balkan War

External links

[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/3424/mak/ohr_debyr.html 85 Years from the Ohrid-Debar Uprising] , Yosif Razsukanov, 'Macedonia', issue 33, 16 Sept. 1998. (in Bulgarian).]

References