Bulgarian April uprising
The Bulgarian April Uprising was a period of civil unrest in April 1876 when Bulgarians rose against Turkish occupation.
The organizers started preparation in the beginning of 1876 splitting into four groups, centred around the towns of Sliven, Vratsa, Veliko Turnovo, and Plovdiv.
Most successful preparation was done around the southern city of Plovdiv by Georgy Benkovski and Panayot Volov. However they were forced to rise before the arranged date due to a betrayal.
The uprising started on April 19, 1876, in the town of Koprivshtitsa. A squad lead by Todor Kableshkov attacked a Turkish police unit which was supposed to arrest the organizers. Some of the Turks were killed and others fled. After the incident Kableshkov wrote a letter to Benkovski asking him to rise immediately. This letter was signed with the blood of one of the killed Turkish officers and was thereby called "The Bloody Letter". Activists started attempts to spread the uprising to other areas. Two Turkish bashi-bazouk units were sent to fight the rebels. On April 26, the Turks defeated the defenders at Klisura and burned the village. On April 30 Panagiurishte fell, and soon after that all resistance in the mountain of Sredna Gora was finished.
However, there was another area of risen population in the northern part of the Rodopi mountain range. The rebels in Bratsigovo repelled the attacks of an outnumbering Turkish bashi-bazouk units and regular army for more than a week. Finally the leaders of the rebels were betrayed and captured by the Turks, and severely tortured.
On May 2, 1876 Turkish bashi-bazouk units attacked the town of Batak. After a 3 day battle the resistance was crashed and more than 3000 civilians slaughtered.
The revolt in Sliven was hindered by numerous arrests. Nevertheless Bulgarians formed several armed units and fled to the nearby mountain where they waged a week long resistance.
The revolt in Veliko Turnovo also formed several armed units. They retreated to the mountain in the Monastery of Drian where they resisted for over a week to a numerous regular Turkish Army. Some squads travelled around the villages in the area and succeeded in inciting them to arms, which followed the pattern of Bratsigovo.
The preparations in Vratsa were a complete failure, and there was no revolt there.
Word of atrocities during the revolt spread far beyond the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. A lot of famous men expressed their sympathy and support for the independence aspirations of the Bulgarian people. Among them were Victor Hugo, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and William Gladstone.
