| 1854 Macedonian Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dimitrios Karatasos in the year of the rebellion | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Greek RevolutionariesSupported By:  Greece |  Ottoman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Theodoros Ziakas Dimitrios Karatasos | Abdi Pasha | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2,500+ (peak)[1] | 12,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
TheMacedonian Rebellion of 1854 (Greek:Μακεδονική επανάσταση του 1854) was aGreek rebellion which took place in 1854 within the context of theCrimean War. The revolt is divided into two phases: the first phase took place inwestern and southernMacedonia and the second inChalkidiki. A combination of military defeats and diplomatic pressure from the United Kingdom and France on the government ofKing Otto resulted in the withdrawal of Greek rebel bands to independent Greece.
King Otto ofGreece saw the 1853 outbreak of theCrimean War between theRussian andOttoman Empires as an opportunity to expand Greek territory at the expense of the Ottomans. He therefore incited rebellions in Greek majority areas of the Ottoman Empire, includingThessaly,Epirus and to a lesser extentMacedonia.[2]
In southern Macedonia, the chieftains ofMount Olympos and fighters fromindependent Greece and Thessaly andMagnesia captured theVale of Tempe and some parts ofPieria.[3] In May 1854, Greek insurgents underTheodoros Ziakas inflicted a serious defeat on the Ottoman army atKarpero. InWestern Macedonia, Ziakas united with rebel bands fromKozani,Siatista and Samarina and took control of the westernPindus and attacked the area ofGrevena. After failing to unite with other rebel bands he entrenched his troops in the mountain village ofSpilaio. The Ottomans mobilized an army of approximately 12,000 soldiers under Abdi Pasha near Spilaio and another force commanded by Mehmet Tagu at Parorio. At the same time the Ottomans unleashed a wave of reprisals against the Greek civilian population and threatened to killMetropolite Agapios of Grevena. British and French attempted to convince Ziakas to cease hostilities and engage in talks with the Ottomans, but the latter refused. On 28 May, the Greeks repulsed the initial Ottoman offensive at Houn Havral but were forced to accept foreign diplomatic intervention after being overwhelmed by the numerical superiority of the Ottoman army. Under the terms of the armistice of 31 May, the rebel chieftains left for independent Greece in June 1854.[4][5]
The second phase took place inChalkidiki and it was led byTsamis Karatasos, former adjutant of King Otto.[6] Karatasos had disembarked inSithonia in April 1854 with 500 irregulars.[7] On 22 of April he launched attacks at an Ottoman encampment inOrmylia, but he faced a counter-attack by 300bashi-bazouks and his forces retreated. The Ottomans amassed an army of 3,000 men which left Ormylia and marched on the insurgents.[7] In mid-May he fled to Athos and he gathered some volunteers, but was defeated at 28 May and withdrew toDafni.[7] He also led an attack onThessaloniki,[8] in which there also was a brief rebellion.[6]
What other time are you awaiting, brother Macedonians? Are we to abide seeing our honour trampled upon, our property seized and our unblemished religion reviled? Is not the blood of our veins Macedonian? Are we not descendants of the gloriousking Philip, ofAlexander the Great and ofEmperor Basil? Let us then take up arms!
— Dimitrios Karatasos, 1854,[9]
After a brief capture of Karyes inMount Athos, whose monks hadn't supported the rebellion, Karatasos and the other Greek rebels had to return to Athens on the French naval shipSS Solon.[7]
The consuls of the United Kingdom and France took over the protection of both the combatants and the non-combatants who had supported Karatasos from a possible Ottoman invasion of Mount Athos.
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