When is the Day of the Macedonian Revolution?
The Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle is a national holiday in North Macedonia on October 23rd each year.
The holiday marks the establishment of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in 1893.
History of the Day of the Macedonian Revolution
October in North Macedonia brings two holidays that show the revolutionary verve that has existed in this country during times when it was occupied by foreign powers. On October 11th, the nation commemorates its uprising against the fascists during the second world war.
The Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle takes us back to the end of the 19th century. At this time, the region now known as North Macedonia had been part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries.
In 1878, Bulgaria had thrown off Ottoman rule and this inspired a growing tide of nationalism to take hold across the western parts of the Ottoman Empire.
In Macedonia, several resistance groups emerged. The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) was one such group. It was founded on October 23rd 1893 in Ottoman Thessaloniki by a small band of anti-Ottoman revolutionaries.
The IMRO began its armed resistance against the Ottomans using guerrilla tactics in 1896.
The main legacy of the IMRO was forged on August 2nd 1903, (Ilinden, a name for Elijah's Day) when they led an uprising against the Ottomans. The Ilinden uprising resulted in the liberation of the town of Krushevo, where the first republic in the Balkans was proclaimed. The republic was short-lived, lasting on 10 days before the Ottomans took back Krushevo. Republic Day is a public holiday in North Macedonia, celebrated on 2 August 2nd, to commemorate the Ilinden uprising.
Despite this failure, IMRO continued its armed struggle for many years, even beyond the fall of the Ottoman Empire, when the aims of the IMRO changed to establish a Macedonian state. It was only during the Socialist Yugoslavian period that IMRO faded away.
