Bulgaria Marks Anniversary of April Uprising against Ottoman Rule

Local people took part in the traditional reenactment of the events on April 20, 1876, when Bulgaria's April Uprising against the Ottoman Empire was declared. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria marks over the weekend the 134th anniversary since the start of the so-called April Uprising against the Ottoman Empire.

On Saturday, the ceremonies began with a solemn church mass in the town of Klisura to honor the memory of the Bulgarian heroes, who on April 20 (May 3 according to the Gregorian calendar), 1876, started Bulgaria's largest rebellion in the fight for freedom from the Ottoman Empire.

Later during the day, thousands of people watched the traditional reenactment of the historical events at the time of the declaration of the April Uprising. The first day of remembrance ended with spectacular fireworks in the town of Panagyurishte Saturday evening in the presence of the Speaker of the Parliament, Tsetska Tsacheva.

Panagyurishte was the main town of the Fourth Revolutionary District of the Bulgarian Secret Revolutionary Committee in 1876.

As the organizers in the other three districts were unsuccessful at spurring large-scale actions, Panagyurishte became the capital of the April Uprising in which several thousand badly armed rebels defended the Provisional Government for ten days before Ottoman Turkish forces crushed them suppressing the rebellion with extreme violence.

The violent suppression of the April Uprising led Russia to declare war on the Ottoman Empire, and liberate Bulgaria. The international outrage was triggered by the American journalist, writing for the British press, Januarius MacGahan, and the US consul in Constantinople, Eugene Schyuler, who made the atrocities known all around Europe and the world.

On Sunday, the anniversary is marked at the historical site “Oborishte,” symbol of Bulgaria’s Parliamentary tradition. The ceremonies include another Church mass and a keynote address from Tsacheva.

The traditional national “Oborishte” award for contributions to the country’s national identity will be bestowed to writer and researcher Todor Tashev for his study of Zachari Stoyanov, known as the chronicler of the April Uprising. The 2010 celebrations are also dedicated to the 160th anniversary of Stoyanov’s birth.

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