Editing Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising (section)

==Suppression==
[[File:Letter No. 534 from the General Staff of the Second Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Region.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Letter from the General Staff of the Second Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Region to the Bulgarian Government, requesting military intervention for the salvation of the local Bulgarians.<ref name="lt">{{cite book |publisher=Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of History, Bulgarian Language Institute |title=Macedonia: Documents and Materials |location=Sofia |date=1978 |page=531 |isbn=9789531472838 |quote=Letter No. 534 from the General Staff of the Second Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Region to the Bulgarian Government on the position of the insurgent Bulgarian population, requesting military intervention from Bulgaria, September 9, 1903; No.92: To the Esteemed Government of the Principality of Bulgaria. In view of the critical and terrible situation of the Bulgarian population of the [[Monastir Vilayet]] following the devastations and cruelties perpetrated by the Turkish troops and bashibazouks, in view of the fact that these devastations and cruelties continue systematically, and that one cannot foresee how far they will reach; in view, furthermore, of the fact that here everything Bulgarian is running the risk of perishing and being obliterated without a trace by violence, hunger and by approaching poverty, the General Staff considers it its duty to draw the attention of the Esteemed Bulgarian Government to the fatal consequences for the Bulgarian nation, if it fails to discharge its duty to its own brothers here in an impressive and energetic manner, made imperative by force of circumstances and by the danger threatening the common Bulgarian homeland at the present moment&nbsp;...}}</ref>]]
In mid-August, the Anatolian forces, from the vilayet of Kosovo, along with Albanian militia units as supporting forces,<ref name="iky"<ref name="va" /> were sent to Macedonia to suppress the uprising. Around 40 battalions came to reinforce the troops. On August 24, Omer Ruschi Pasha was replaced by Nasir Pasha, who launched a massive offensive on the same day. He divided his army into five detachments. His soldiers surrounded every zone controlled by the insurgents. The soldiers systematically burned and destroyed Christian villages.<ref name="nla" /> The villages were usually burned by Albanian irregulars. They were burnt on [[Hilmi Pasha]]'s order.<ref name="va" /> At the end of August, two columns of troops recaptured Smilevo and Kleisoura.<ref name="nla" />

In Sofia, Athens, and Belgrade, meetings were organized by writers, academics, and various Macedonian associations. These meetings condemned the "massacres of Christians" by Ottoman soldiers and the "timidity of European diplomacy", which was called to intervene against the Ottoman Empire.<ref name="nla" /> Some chetas crossed into Bulgaria, others surrendered to the Ottoman forces.<ref name="va" /> On September 9, the General Staff of the Uprising sent a letter to the [[Bulgarian government]], appealing for immediate armed intervention: <blockquote>"The General staff considers its duty to turn the attention of the respectable Bulgarian government to the disastrous consequences for the Bulgarian nation, if it does not carry out its duty towards its birth brothers here, in an impressive and active manner, as imposed by the power of the circumstances and the danger, which threatens the all-Bulgarian fatherland&nbsp;– through war."<ref name="ah" /><ref name="lt" /></blockquote> In the beginning of October, SMAC sent bands into the northern parts of the [[sanjak of Serres]] to relieve the insurgents, but failed. Many of the locals were hostile to these chetas.<ref name="va" /> Bulgaria was unable to send troops to the rescue of the rebelling fellow Bulgarians in Macedonia and Adrianople (Thrace). When IMARO representatives met the Bulgarian Prime-Minister [[Racho Petrov]], he showed them the ultimatums by Serbia, Greece and [[Romania]], which he had just received and which informed him of those countries' support for the Ottoman Empire, in case Bulgaria intervened to support the rebels.<ref>The Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903, Dedicated to the 105th. anniversary from the events, Professor Dimitar Gotsev&nbsp;– Macedonian Scientific Institute.</ref> The Great Powers also pressured Bulgaria to not intervene.<ref name="rch" /> At a meeting in early October, the general staff of the rebel forces decided to cease all revolutionary activities, and declared the forces, with the exception of regular militias, as disbanded.<ref name="Khadzhiev1992"/> The peasants began to return home. Many surrendered to Ottoman authorities. During the first week of October, 1,700 rifles were returned to the [[Wali (administrative title)#Ottoman Empire term|vali]] of Manastir.<ref name="nla" /> The uprising was suppressed by the end of October.<ref name="va" />