The Greek War of Independence in Macedonia - 1821

[Ptolemy]

George Finlay, "History of the Greek Revolution", London, 1971

The Greek War of Independence in Macedonia

"In no part of Greece were the facilities for commencing the Revolution, or for defending the national independence, greater than in the peninsula to
east of the Gulf of Thessalonica, called anciently Chalcidice. The population was almost entirely of the Greek race, and its villages enjoyed the title of Free Townships (Eleutherokhoria), on account of their many privileges."

"The submission of Mount Athos enabled Aboulabad to turn his attention to the Greek population in the mountains between the mouths of the Haliacmon and the Axius. Zaphiraki, the primate of Niaousta, was the most infuential Greek in this district. He was a man of considerable wealth; he had opposed Ali Pasha in intrigue, and held his ground...He now invited Gatsos and Karatassos, the captains of Armatoli at Vodhena and Verria, to meet him. These three chiefs proclaimed the Revolution....

[Ptolemy]

As early as September of 1828, count Ioannis Kapodistrias requested of the representatives of the European Powers at the conference of Poros that the frontiers of the Greek State (then in the process of being created) should extend from the Thermaic Gulf in Macedonia to Heimmara in modern-day Albania, and include the districts which had most visibly joined the revolt.

That this was not sanctioned reflects little more than military and diplomatic conditions at the time, and surely not Greekness and efforts on the side of the locals. Ignorance of such aspects of Macedonian history is a poor excuse for certain people's pronouncements that the Greek claims to Macedonia are a new invention, but in the last week or so we have witnessed this latest development.

Compare to George Finley's old history (mind you: written several decades prior to the Balkan Wars and the liberation of Macedonia), concerning the 1821 events in Macedonia:

"In no part of Greece were the facilities for commencing the Revolution, or for defending the national independence, great than in the peninsula to the east of the Gulf of Thessalonica, called anciently Chalcidice. The population was almost entirely of the Greek race, and its villages enjoyed the title of the Free Townships..."
<History of the Greek revolution, 1971 reprint, p.202>

In any case... append a simple and dry account of the revolutionary events in Macedonia as an introduction for the benefit of those who remake the past (sparing the reader most of the sickening bloody descriptions):

The revolt 'typically' started on March 1821; with Emmanuel Papas from Serres (one of the main figures, who -though- lacked a military background) making provisions and transporting them to Mt.Athos at the orders of prince Alexandros Ipsilantis (leader, at the time, of the Greek Revolution).
At Papas' request for naval support, Psara (an island of the N.Aegean) responded and provided the insurgents with sea-coverage. On the news of the Psarian landing, there were Turkish retaliations in Papas' hometown and Greek shops were sacked and Greek traders along with the metropolitan bishop were imprisoned. In Thessaloniki, too, governor Yusuf Bey, took hostages from the Greek community (civic and religious). Upon learning that Polygyros had joined the revolt, that Ottoman detachments were annihilated and the insurection was spreading in the Chalkidiki and villages of Langadas, he executed several of them.

Subsequently, he proceeded with a more massive slaughter of several thousands Thessalonian Greeks in the cathedral and market area. In his history D.Dankin (1972) says that it was to take over half a century for the Greeks of the city to recover from the blow.

Nevertheless, the revolt gained ground and was proclaimed at the 'protaton' of Karyes on May, in the district of Olympos, and was joined by Thasos.
Subsequently the insurgents cut communications between Thrace and the south, and attempted to prevent Hadji Mehmet Bayram Pasha from transferring forces from E.Macedonia to S.Greece: Although delaying him, were defeated.

On late October a general Ottoman offensive lead by the new Pasha of Thessaloniki, Mehmet Emin, scored another crashing Ottoman victory at Kassandra. Papas and the survivors escaped on board the Psarian fleet to join the Peloponnesians, though the protagonist died en route. Sithonia, mt.Athos and Thasos surrender on terms.

In the meanwhile, the insurrection west of the Thermaic Gulf mangaged to spread from Olympos to Bermion and Pieria. It was conducted by Anastasios Karatasos from the district of Beroia, Angelos Gatsos from the vicinity of Edessa, Zaferakis Logothetis from Naousa, and was also assisted by the Psarian naval force.

On March of 1822, the insurgents were joined by more boats from Psara and Gregory Salas, who had been appointed commander-in-chief of the campaign in Macedonia, and German philhellenes. These too, Mehmet Emin defeated at Kolindros (near Methoni); then another detachment under captain Diamantis at Kastania (inland, on the other end of the Pierian mountains) and after pushing them eastwards towards the sea, he finally dispersed them at Milia on Easter Sunday.

[Ptolemy]

Further north, in the vicinity of Naousa, the detachment of Karatasos, some 5,000 strong, recorded a victory, but was checked by the arrival of fresh Ottoman reinforcements, and then by Mehmet Emin himself who appeared with 20,000 regulars and irregulars. Failing to get the insurgents to surrender Mehmet Emin launched a number of attacks pushed them back and finally took their base of operations itself, the town of Naousa, on April. (The expeditionary force sent from south Greece by prince Demetrios Ipsilants arrived too late to assist Naousa and was subsequently defeated.)

Reprisals and executions ensued, and women are reported to have flung themselves over the Arapitsa waterfall to avoid dishonor and being sold in slavery. Those who broke through the siege fall back in Kozani, Siatista
and Aspropotamos, or were carried by the Psarian fleet to the N.Aegean islands. Nikolaos Kasomoulis from Serres, who was present, later wrote of
the events in his "Military Memoirs from the Revolution of the Hellenes 1821-1833" (Athens, 1839).

For all intents and purposes the revolt in Macedonia was over. It can be viewed to have produced a mix of advantages and disadvantages to the Greek side:

- Raising public opinion in Europe against the Turks through reports of atrocities; and distracting, delaying or pinning down Ottoman forces for months (and relieving the southerners who would otherwise have to withstand large-scale enemy offensives) early on.

- The human casualties during the revolt in Macedonia and the reprisals due to the continuation of the liberation struggle elsewhere for a number of years, adversely affected the Greek demographic presence in Macedonia. This was reinforced by the replacement of the groups that were forced to migrate, by other elements which were deemed as more reliable by the Ottomans.

Since the revolution had laid roots in S.Greece and the Aegean, surviving Macedonian warriors joined the Islanders, Rumeliots and Peloponnesians. The Olympian warriors for example, are found to put resistance to the Ottomans in the course of the liberation struggle, at Psara and also at Mesologgi. Those who had assembled in the islands of the northern Sporades became active in sea, and governor Ioannis Kapodistrias had them transferer to Eleusis and incorporated in the Greek army.

Other Macedonian refugees also settled in the new state and in one case Konstantinos Bellios from Western Macedonia organized the collection of funds and raised the necessary capital to establish a settlement named "Nea Pella", near Atalanti, on the northern border of the new state.

It was among these Macedonians that Tsamis Karatasos (son of the above mentioned veteran of the War of Independence) would play a leading role in organizing aiming to the liberation of their homeland.

[akritas]

I want also to add a quote from Fotakos Crysanthos (secretary of the Great Greek Leader Theodoros Kolokotronis) from his book Lifes:

The eminent kapetan Gatsos, in the arms from birth and companion of Olympus and their soldiers Macedonians fought to the Vasilika and Dervenakia bravely and Pelloponisians they were thanked a lot because they saw men of having zeal’s and big nationalism "

[Ptolemy]

Macedonia, while under the rule of the Ottoman empire, was mainly inhabited by Greeks, Turks and Bulgars. There was also a significant Jewish population in the city of Thessaloniki most of whom arrived there from Spain in the late 15th century.

Macedonians [to mean only the Greek-nationality population of Macedonia] expected to be liberated and join the then newly founded Greek state as a compensation for their sacrifices and contributions to the (Greek) War of Independence. They were led in this effort by the enthusiastic but inexperienced leadership of Emmanuel Pappas, a member of Phillike Etaereia.

The Macedonians of Chalcidice revolted in May 1821 and for a brief moment threatened to throw the Turks out of the city of Thessaloniki. Due to their inexperience they were easily suppressed by the Turks by November 1821. The countryside was ravaged and the Greek population of Thessaloniki was massacred and forced to move out of the city.

The second round of the revolt began in February 1822 when the kleftae and armatoloi of mountains Olympos and Vermion along with the inhabitants of the city of Naoussa declared that city free (of the Ottoman rule). The Turks deployed troops brought to Greece from Asia Minor, and by April the revolt was subdued. Naoussa was destroyed, the men were killed, and the women and children were taken as slaves. After this, many Macedonian fighters fled to Southern Greece to continue fighting the Turks alongside the Peloponnesians and the other Greeks.

The failure of the Macedonian revolt is mainly attributable to the inexperience of the rebels and the proximity of the area to Constantinople. Although the revolt failed, it provided great help to the rebels of Southern Greece because it tied a number of Turkish forces in Macedonia. The price paid by the Macedonians was heavy. The previously flourishing greek community of Thessaloniki was destroyed and the Greek population of the city was reduced by around 70%. The Jews took over the leading role among the communities residing in the city.


Once more in their long history, Macedonians sacrificed them- selves for the common good of all Greeks.

[akritas]

The Greek War of Independence in Macedonia
Map showing the battles of the Greek War of Independence in Macedonia, 1821-1822.

Although prominent armatoles and prelates from Macedonia (Yeorgakis Olympios; Ioannis Farmakis; Chrysanthos, the metropolitan of Serres) had been initiated prior to 1820 into the activities of the 'Philiki Etaireia', preparations for the revolution were nonetheless inadequate in the region, particularly in western Macedonia.

There, the regular passage of Turkish troops engaged in besieging Ali Pasha in Epirus and the absence in the spring of 1821 of most of the local leaders (they had grouped around Alexandros Ypsilantis in the Danubian principalities) limited the chances of success. The weight of the rebellion fell upon Emmanouil Pappas, an entrepreneur from Serres and a fervent patriot, who was, however, inexperienced in military matters.

The uprising, which finally erupted in May 1821 on Mount Athos, was quenched by a wave of butchery and pillage that same autumn, while harsh penalties were imposed on the towns, especially Thessaloniki.

A second rebellion on Olympos and Vermion in the spring of 1822 met with the same fate, despite the enlistment of several experienced clefts, armatoles and the local notables.

The failure of the Revolution of 1821-1822 in northern Greece was a milestone in the history of Macedonia. For more than 50 years social developments there were severed from those of southern Greece, where a new nation was being built, in theory and in reality.

The Greek political leadership considered Macedonia an indisputable part of their historic heritage. In practice, however, they gave priority to backing the burgeoning liberation movements in the Ottoman provinces of Thessaly and Epirus, which were closer to the Greek kingdom, and to Crete. Nevertheless, the Macedonian refugees and fighters who had sought sanctuary in Athens never ceased to exert pressure to change the fate of their own homeland.

In Macedonia itself, at least until the reforms of 1856 (Hatt-i-Humayun), society remained rooted in tradition, maintaining closer ties with the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople than with the new Greek state. But for the first time the economy was receptive to serious challenges to join the international market. And the rural population was becoming denser, as waves of refugees descended upon the hinterland from all directions.

source:

http://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/He...a/en/A3.2.html

[akritas]

Emmanuel Papas


The organized operations of the Greek revolutionaries in Halkidiki did not last more than one month. Emmanouil Pappas had the support of the monks of Athos and the inhabitants of Kassandra, Polygyros and the Mademohoria. The element of surprise, however, had definitely been lost, since the operations started in May, nearly two months after the outbreak of the revolution in the Peloponnese (25 March 1821).

Nevertheless, by early June the rebels had succeeded in reaching the outskirts of Thessaloniki. Their triumph was all too brief, however, for they had to contend with the army commanded by the able Bayram Pasha (and, later, the forces of the fearsome Mehmed Emin Pasha) with virtually no backing from the chieftains of Olympos and western Macedonia.

The advance quickly turned into a series of retreats and was effectively squashed with the Kassandra disaster (October 1821) and Emmanouil Pappas' flight to Hydra (November 1821). A large number of refugees escaped to the Northern Sporades islands at that time.

[akritas]

Tasos Karatasos

With the exception of the area around Mount Olympos, where the armed chieftains had a long experience in staging uprisings, western Macedonia did not possess the manpower and essential supplies that would have guaranteed a successful revolution.

The efforts of Nikolaos Kasomoulis, the local leader and a member of the 'Philiki Etaireia', to find help in southern Greece were of little consequence. The armatoles of Olympos, with no organization whatsoever, along with a token force which had finally arrived from southern Greece, fought for a mere few weeks (from late March to early April 1822). Shortly afterwards, they joined up with the Greek revolutionaries who had already mounted an uprising in Naousa, having taken up battle positions on 19 February.

Despite the town's reserves of arms and ammunition and despite the efforts of the Naousan notable Zafyrakis Theodosiou and the kapetans Tasos Karatasos and Angelis Gatsos, Naousa was captured on 13 April by Mehmed Emin Pasha. Two thousand Christians were slaughtered, while most of the surviving rebel leaders left to continue the fight in southern Greece.

source for the last two therads:
www.macedonia-heritage.gr

[Tsontos]

During the Greek war of independence uprisings occured in many territories which were not able to sustain the insurrections against Ottoman rule as the Greeks in the Peloponesse were able to who turned that part of Greece into a stronghold.

Uprisinings occured in Crete, Cyprus and Macedonia. Of course the Yugoslav and Skopjian historians would later clumsily attempt to portray these Greek rebels as "Macedonian" as well as their insurrection as "Macedonian" in the context of the national liberation movements of the Slavs for Macedonia.

Skopjian textbook portraying the insurrection as 'Macedonian'.

(Grade 9 History, general stream. Skopje 1992, page 88 and History VII, 2nd edition, Skopje 1993, page 76).




would Akritas care to add any sources? skops please

[akritas]

Skopjans can wrote anything that they want but nobody beleive them anymore. Either and the own people.
As about the rebelion in Vermion Naousas.