Nikola Karev (1877-1905) was the leader of the revolutionary committee in Krushevo, among the organizers of the Ilinden Uprising, and President of the short-lived Krushevo Republic, the first independent republic in modern Macedonia. With his fervor, enthusiasm and assertive spirit, he inspired Macedonians to fight for a free country.
Karev came from a poor family of coal miners. Financial difficulties forced him to leave school and start work as an apprentice in a carpenter’s workshop. Later on, he decided to immigrate to Bulgaria in search of a better living. At first he worked as a construction hand, and later as a carpenter in the workshop of Vasil Glavinov, the founder of the Macedonia-Adrianople Social Democratic Group in Sofia. This undoubtedly played a role leading to his involvement in the revolutionary movement in Macedonia.
Four years later, in 1899, he returned to Krushevo to finish his education. Despite missing the first socialist conference there due to his final exams, he accepted its decisions, first and foremost to merge the Macedonian socialists into the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organisation (TMORO), which later became the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation. After finishing high school he became a teacher first in Bitola and then in a Krushevo village, Gorno Divjaci.
Apart from his teaching occupation, Karev’s innate leadership ability put him in charge of the local revolutionary committee. At the Smilevo Congress in May 1903 the revolutionaries approved plans for an uprising during the upcoming summer. Karev was personally against it because he thought they were not sufficiently prepared for a successful fight against the Turks. Despite these misgivings, however, he did everything in his power to prepare the people to fight.
On 2 August 1903 The revolutionary committee and its followers liberated Krushevo and proclaimed a republic. Karev became President. Among his most important acts was the decision to issue the Krushevo Manifesto, which urged the Muslim population to join forces with their Macedonian brothers against the Turks.
When, after just 10 days of freedom, the rebellion was crushed and the young Krushevo Republic fell back into the hands of the Turks, Karev escaped into the surrounding mountains with his supporters. Later he continued his activities from Bulgaria where he joined the Bulgarian Workers Social Democratic Party, a forerunner of the Bulgarian Communist Party.
Karev died tragically in 1905 in a fierce fight with the Turks while attempting an illegal entry into Macedonia. He was buried in his home town of Krushevo. On 11 April 1990 his remains were transferred to the Makedonium, an impressive monument set on the heights overlooking the town.
Today Nikola Karev is remembered for his great contribution to raising the hope of freedom among Macedonians and for achieving the dream, even if just fleeting, of a free Macedonian state. The Krushevo uprising and Republic proved that Turkish oppression could be, and would be, overcome.
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