Battle of Smilevo
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Smilevo occurred on 5 August 1903, during the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman Empire
, in the village of Smilevo
, in what is today the south-west of the Republic of Macedonia
.
Smilevo has a mountainous terrain and a number of forests. The Ottoman forces were unfamiliar with the area and because of the layout or surroundings of the village this went in favour of the local resistance detachments. With the help of a revolutionary leader by the name of Dame Gruev
, one of the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO), the people of the village decided to go ahead with the revolutionary ideas of Dame's work. The Smilevo Congress was also in the process of forming, with the assistance of a number of revolutionary leaders that worked together with Dame Gruev. Boris Sarafov
and Atanas Lozanchev had decided to also join the Smilevo Congress to assist with the process of maintaining the set up of the Congress associated with Dame Gruev's workings. The battle saw a Turkish force, withdraw from the village after great losses on the Ottoman side. The rebells achieved a victory. Because of the number of battles lost near the area of Smilevo
and Demir Hisar
, the Turkish forces had named the area "the iron fortress".
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, in the village of Smilevo
Smilevo
Smilevo is a village in the Republic of Macedonia, municipality of Demir Hisar.It is famous for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising which started in the village in the morning of August 2, 1903...
, in what is today the south-west of the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
Smilevo has a mountainous terrain and a number of forests. The Ottoman forces were unfamiliar with the area and because of the layout or surroundings of the village this went in favour of the local resistance detachments. With the help of a revolutionary leader by the name of Dame Gruev
Dame Gruev
Damyan Yovanov Gruev or Damjan Jovanov Gruev, often known by his short name Dame Gruev, was an insurgent leader in Ottoman Macedonia and Thrace...
, one of the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO), the people of the village decided to go ahead with the revolutionary ideas of Dame's work. The Smilevo Congress was also in the process of forming, with the assistance of a number of revolutionary leaders that worked together with Dame Gruev. Boris Sarafov
Boris Sarafov
Boris Petrov Sarafov was a revolutionary from the region of Macedonia, one of the leaders of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization...
and Atanas Lozanchev had decided to also join the Smilevo Congress to assist with the process of maintaining the set up of the Congress associated with Dame Gruev's workings. The battle saw a Turkish force, withdraw from the village after great losses on the Ottoman side. The rebells achieved a victory. Because of the number of battles lost near the area of Smilevo
Smilevo
Smilevo is a village in the Republic of Macedonia, municipality of Demir Hisar.It is famous for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising which started in the village in the morning of August 2, 1903...
and Demir Hisar
Demir Hisar
Demir Hisar , or in Slavic translation known as Železnec , is an area spreading on the South West part of Macedonia to the North West of the Pelagonian plain, around the river flow of the Black River with her inflows...
, the Turkish forces had named the area "the iron fortress".