Bulgarian Massacres 1876
Horrible massacres of Bulgarians took place in 1876. The prolonged Bosnian rebellion of 1875-1977 quickened the hopes of Christians other than the Serbs. The Bulgar leaders, operating largely from centers outside the Ottoman empire but maintaining underground connection with numerous agents on the spot, were convinced that no better opportunity to strike for freedom would ever arise and vigorously began preparations for a general insurrection. However, as their efforts were not well coordinated, the Turks managed without great difficulty to keep the movement under control.
Then in May 1876, on the northern slope of the Rhodope mountains, occurred one of those terrible incidents only too common when two peoples, long associated as masters and slaves, engage in civil conflict. In default of regular troops, wanted on the theater of war, Turkish militiamen, known as Bashi-Bazuks, a name sufficient in itself to strike terror to the heart, were dispatched into the disaffected area and, falling on a group of Christian villages, harried them with fire and sword. No less than ten thousand men, women, and children lost their lives as a result of these horrors perpetrated by the Turkish soldiers. When the news reached European immense wave of indignation swept the public press. Even in Turcophile England the popular sentiment, lashed to fury by a famous pamphlet from the hand of the Liberal statesman, Gladstone, loudly demanded the punishment of the malefactors, while the conservative government of Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) did not scruple to use very undiplomatic language in warning the Porte of the consequences of its acts. Undeniably, however, an immediate political advantage resulted for the Porte from the bloody orgies celebrated on the slopes of the Rhodope. The Bulgars, cowed, permitted the insurrection to collapse.
Hon. Eugene Schuyler, then American conaul-General, in his preliminary report to the Hon. Horace Maynard, the American minister, at Constantinople, wrote: "In reference to the atrocities and massacres committed by the Turks in Bulgaria, I have the honor to inform you that I have visited the towns of Adrianople, Philippopolis, and Tatar, Bazardjik, and villages in the surrounding districts. From what I have personally seen, and from the inquiries I have made, and the information I have received, I have ascertained the following facts:
"The insurgent villages made little or no resistance. In many instances they surrendered their arms upon the first demand. Nearly all the villages which were attacked by the Bashi-lazouks (irregulars) were burned and pillaged, as were also all those which had been abandoned by the terrified inhabitants. The inhabitants of some villages were massacred after exhibitions of the most ferocious cruelty, and the violation not only of women and girls, but even of persons of the other sex. Those crimes were committed by the regular troops as well as by the bashi-bazouks. The number of villages which were burned in whole or in part in the districts of Philippopolis, Eoptchus, and Tatar-Bazardjik is at least sixty-five.
"Particular attention was given by the troops to the churches and schools, which in some cases were destroyed with petroleum and gunpowder.
"It is difficult to estimate the number of Bulgarians who were killed during the few days that the disturbances lasted; but I am inclined to put fifteen thousand as the lowest for the districts I have named.
"... This village after a promise of safety without firing a shot surrendered to the bashi-bazouks, under command of Ahmed Aga, a chief of rural police. Despite his promise, the arms once surrendered, Ahmed Aga ordered the destruction of the village and the indiscriminate slaughter of the inhabitants, about a hundred young girls being reserved to satisfy the lust of the conqueror before they too should be killed. Not a house is now standing in this lovely valley. Of the eight thousand inhabitants not two thousand are known to survive.
"Ahmed Aga, who commanded the massacre, has since been decorated and promoted to the rank of yus bashi (centurion).
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