History of BulgariaHistory of Bulgaria
Cut-out detail; background removed. Reconstruction of a cherry-wood cannon in Troyan; not a surviving battle gun
Cherry-wood cannon replica

April Uprising 1876 · Revival

The reports that reached Europe

What does MacGahan write about the uprising?

9 scenes · 4 min · Sources · 18

StartListen

From Kableshkov’s letter to MacGahan’s reports and Gladstone’s pamphlet. Three places, different kinds of evidence and figures that need care.

The First Shot Bridge in Koprivshtitsa today

Part 1 · Revival

A letter from Koprivshtitsa

A letter leaves Koprivshtitsa for Panagyurishte. Todor Kableshkov announces that the uprising has begun. It is known as the Bloody Letter. It urges readers to follow Koprivshtitsa’s example. The day is 20 April 1876 in the old calendar, or 2 May in today’s. Both dates name the same day.

The Bulgarian lands belong to the Ottoman Empire, a state ruled by a sultan. The organizers want to end its rule. The photograph shows the First Shot Bridge today, not the events.

Listen to scene · 1

Synthetic voice · 0:33
Sources · 4
  1. Регионален исторически музей – Сливен 145 години от Априлското въстание · 2021
  2. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  3. Пламен Павлов 100 неща, които трябва да знаем за историята на България, книга 2: вековете на османското робство PDF Издателство Световна библиотека, София · 2008 · 68–69
  4. Esther Westerveld from Haarlemmermeer, Nederland File:Brug van het eerste schot - Koprivshtitsa (4759742960).jpg Wikimedia Commons
Geographic context, without historical bordersGeographic context, without historical borders123
Geographic context, without historical borders

Part 2 · Revival

Three places on the map

Find Koprivshtitsa, then Panagyurishte. Both towns rise on the same day. Panagyurishte leads the Fourth Revolutionary District: an area organizing the uprising. Teacher Rayna Popgeorgieva sews and carries an uprising flag here. Her nickname is Rayna Knyaginya.

Look south towards Batak, in the Rhodope Mountains. It belongs to this district too. The museum’s account describes Petar Goranov’s election as voivode: leader of the armed men. It describes fighting too. The uprising does not happen everywhere at once or with equal strength.

Listen to scene · 2

Synthetic voice · 0:33
Sources · 3
  1. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  2. Исторически музей – Батак Хроника на една безсмъртна пролет
  3. Сабина Барзекова; Исторически музей Панагюрище 165 години от рождението на Райна Княгиня · 2021
Reconstruction of a cherry-wood cannon in Troyan; not a surviving battle gun

Part 3 · Revival

A gun made of wood

Look at the wooden barrel, metal hoops and wheels. The barrel is the gun’s tube. This is a reconstruction of a cherry-wood cannon in Troyan. It shows the kind of gun, not an object preserved from a battle in Panagyurishte. The insurgents did use wooden guns.

Regular Ottoman troops and bashi-bazouks move against the insurgents. Bashi-bazouks are armed groups outside the regular army. Defeat and heavy losses follow.

1 · Wooden barrel
The barrel is the gun’s tube. Here it is wooden. This cannon is a reconstruction.
2 · Metal hoops
Hoops encircle the wooden barrel of the reconstruction.
3 · Wheel
The wheel belongs to the wooden carriage. This is a reconstruction in Troyan, not a find from Panagyurishte.

Listen to scene · 3

Synthetic voice · 0:26
Sources · 3
  1. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  2. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  3. Dakovski File:Cherry cannon Troyan.JPG Wikimedia Commons
Entrance to St Nedelya church in Batak today

Part 4 · Revival

The church in Batak

Many civilians, including children, are killed in Batak. Today St Nedelya church is a place of remembrance. The photograph shows its entrance, without human remains.

The exact death toll has not been established. Different estimates survive. Accounts of the uprising also mention Muslims who were killed.

Listen to scene · 4

Synthetic voice · 0:19
Sources · 8
  1. Исторически музей – Батак Хроника на една безсмъртна пролет
  2. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  3. Walter Baring (report); Lyttelton Times (reprint) Mr Baring’s Report on the Bulgarian Atrocities Lyttelton Times; National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past · 1876 · XLVI · 3
  4. UK Parliament, House of Commons Turkey—The Reported Atrocities in Bulgaria.—Observations Hansard · 1876 · 231 · 721–746
  5. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  6. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  7. Спасимир File:Church StNedelya, Batak 2012 01.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  8. Исторически музей – Батак Зала 1
Title page of Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East, 1876

Part 5 · Revival

MacGahan speaks to survivors

In summer, American journalist Januarius MacGahan arrives. He writes reports for London’s Daily News: accounts of what he sees and learns. He visits damaged places and speaks to survivors. He did not witness Batak’s suppression.

American diplomat Schuyler, his country’s representative, also investigates and prepares a written report. The newspaper had reported violence in June. Historians argue that MacGahan’s reports intensify outrage in Britain. Shown is the title page of Gladstone’s 1876 pamphlet.

Listen to scene · 5

Synthetic voice · 0:35
Sources · 4
  1. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  2. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  3. Nazan Çiçek “Bulgarian Horrors” Revisited: the Many-Layered Manifestations of the Orientalist Discourse in Victorian Political Construction of the External, Intimate and Internal Other PDF Belleten · 2017 · 81 · 525–568
  4. Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898 File:Bulgarian horrors and the question of the East (IA bulgarianhorrors00gladrich).pdf PDF Wikimedia Commons
Title page of Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East, 1876

Part 6 · Revival

Gladstone’s pamphlet

The title page names British politician William Ewart Gladstone. In September 1876 he publishes this pamphlet: a short text demanding political change. He wants changed British policy and help for survivors. Historians argue that newspaper accounts encourage more people to demand change.

In Constantinople, today’s Istanbul, countries’ representatives discuss changes to government in 1876–1877. Talks fail to resolve the crisis. In 1877 Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire. Historical research suggests other causes too, including states’ interests.

1 · Title
Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East is a political pamphlet from 1876.
2 · Author
The title page names William Ewart Gladstone. MacGahan wrote the reports, not this pamphlet.
3 · Publisher and year
The bottom reads London, John Murray, 1876. This is the place of publication, not the location of the uprising.

Listen to scene · 6

Synthetic voice · 0:41
Sources · 5
  1. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64
  2. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  3. Nazan Çiçek “Bulgarian Horrors” Revisited: the Many-Layered Manifestations of the Orientalist Discourse in Victorian Political Construction of the External, Intimate and Internal Other PDF Belleten · 2017 · 81 · 525–568
  4. Исторически музей Перущица Априлското въстание — прелюдия към освобождението
  5. UK Parliament, House of Lords The Eastern Question—The Recent Negotiations. Question. Observations. Hansard · 1877

Part 7 · Revival

Activity: who does what

Which statement about MacGahan is correct?

  1. He writes reports for the Daily News.
  2. He watches the suppression in Batak happen.
  3. He writes Gladstone’s pamphlet.
Why is that?

MacGahan investigates the aftermath and writes for the newspaper. Gladstone publishes the political pamphlet.

Correct · He writes reports for the Daily News.

  1. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  2. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64

Listen to scene · 7

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 2
  1. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  2. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64

Part 8 · Revival

Activity: put events in order

Put these events in order, earliest first.

  1. The uprising begins
  2. MacGahan investigates
  3. Gladstone publishes his pamphlet
  4. War is declared
Why is that?

Spring comes before the summer investigation. The pamphlet appears in September 1876; war is declared the following year.

Correct order

  1. The uprising begins
  2. MacGahan investigates
  3. Gladstone publishes his pamphlet
  4. War is declared
  1. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  2. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  3. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  4. Исторически музей Перущица Априлското въстание — прелюдия към освобождението

Listen to scene · 8

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 4
  1. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  2. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  3. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  4. Исторически музей Перущица Априлското въстание — прелюдия към освобождението

Part 9 · Revival

Activity: match

Match each person with their action in the story.

  1. Todor Kableshkov · Letter from Koprivshtitsa to Panagyurishte
  2. Rayna Popgeorgieva · Sewing and carrying the flag
  3. MacGahan · Reports for the Daily News
  4. Gladstone · The political pamphlet in September
Why is that?

Kableshkov sends the letter; Rayna works on the flag; MacGahan writes reports; Gladstone publishes the pamphlet.

  1. Регионален исторически музей – Сливен 145 години от Априлското въстание · 2021
  2. Сабина Барзекова; Исторически музей Панагюрище 165 години от рождението на Райна Княгиня · 2021
  3. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  4. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64

Listen to scene · 9

Synthetic voice · 0:03
Sources · 4
  1. Регионален исторически музей – Сливен 145 години от Априлското въстание · 2021
  2. Сабина Барзекова; Исторически музей Панагюрище 165 години от рождението на Райна Княгиня · 2021
  3. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  4. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64

A new find for your collection

Historians argue that the reports strengthen pressure for change in Britain. They are part of the wider crisis before the war.

Ivan Vazov · Sopot and OdesaWhy did Vazov write Under the Yoke far from home?Compare how faith and books change society.Georgi Ivanov · BaikonurInto orbit, without dockingMadara Rider · MadaraThe rider above the path

People in this story

Todor KableshkovRayna PopgeorgievaPetar GoranovJanuarius MacGahanEugene SchuylerWilliam Ewart GladstoneIvan Evstratiev GeshovSaint KyriakeOttoman rule · Rulers

Sources

  1. Walter Baring (report); Lyttelton Times (reprint) Mr Baring’s Report on the Bulgarian Atrocities Lyttelton Times; National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past · 1876 · XLVI · 3
  2. Исторически музей – Батак Хроника на една безсмъртна пролет
  3. Исторически музей – Батак Зала 1
  4. Nazan Çiçek “Bulgarian Horrors” Revisited: the Many-Layered Manifestations of the Orientalist Discourse in Victorian Political Construction of the External, Intimate and Internal Other PDF Belleten · 2017 · 81 · 525–568
  5. William Ewart Gladstone Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East John Murray, London · 1876 · 1–64
  6. UK Parliament, House of Commons Turkey—The Reported Atrocities in Bulgaria.—Observations Hansard · 1876 · 231 · 721–746
  7. Спасимир File:Church StNedelya, Batak 2012 01.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  8. Esther Westerveld from Haarlemmermeer, Nederland File:Brug van het eerste schot - Koprivshtitsa (4759742960).jpg Wikimedia Commons
  9. Dakovski File:Cherry cannon Troyan.JPG Wikimedia Commons
  10. Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898 File:Bulgarian horrors and the question of the East (IA bulgarianhorrors00gladrich).pdf PDF Wikimedia Commons
  11. Januarius Aloysius MacGahan; Eugene Schuyler (appendix); anonymous introduction The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria: Letters of the Special Commissioner of the Daily News, J. A. MacGahan; with an Introduction and Mr. Schuyler’s Preliminary Report PDF Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London · 1876 · iii–vii, 1–94
  12. Slobodan G. Markovich Anglophiles in Balkan Christian States (1862–1920) Balcanica · 2009 · 40 · 95–145
  13. Национален военноисторически музей Април — Военен календар
  14. UK Parliament, House of Lords The Eastern Question—The Recent Negotiations. Question. Observations. Hansard · 1877
  15. Пламен Павлов 100 неща, които трябва да знаем за историята на България, книга 2: вековете на османското робство PDF Издателство Световна библиотека, София · 2008 · 68–69
  16. Исторически музей Перущица Априлското въстание — прелюдия към освобождението
  17. Сабина Барзекова; Исторически музей Панагюрище 165 години от рождението на Райна Княгиня · 2021
  18. Регионален исторически музей – Сливен 145 години от Априлското въстание · 2021

Images

Dakovski · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Open source

Full attribution

Dakovski / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Reconstruction of a cherry-wood cannon in Troyan; not a surviving battle gun. Cut-out detail; background removed.

Esther Westerveld from Haarlemmermeer, Nederland · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Full attribution

Esther Westerveld from Haarlemmermeer, Nederland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. The First Shot Bridge in Koprivshtitsa today. Processed image.

Dakovski · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Open source

Full attribution

Dakovski / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Reconstruction of a cherry-wood cannon in Troyan; not a surviving battle gun. Processed image.

Спасимир · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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Full attribution

Спасимир / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Entrance to St Nedelya church in Batak today. Processed image.

Gladstone, W. E. · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons / Internet Archive (UC Berkeley copy)

Open source

Full attribution

Gladstone, W. E. (William Ewart), 1809-1898 / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Title page of Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East, 1876. Processed image.

Geographic context, without historical borders

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso · Public domain · Natural Earth

Open source

Full attribution

Tom Patterson · Nathaniel Vaughn Kelso