TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Revolt · 1903
Under pressure from the Great Powers, reforms had been accepted for the three provinces of Salonica, Monastir and Kosovo, and from the end of 1902 the region was run by an inspector-general. These reforms, however, fell short of what the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization wanted. Seeking wider autonomy for Macedonia, the organisation launched the Ilinden uprising in the summer of 1903. Despite some local successes the uprising was crushed by Ottoman forces. The emperors of Russia and Austria-Hungary then drew up a new reform programme at Mürzsteg in September 1903, bringing European officers into the region.
| Date | Summer 1903 |
|---|---|
| Location | Macedonia (above all the province of Monastir) |
| Result | Suppressed by Ottoman forces; the Mürzsteg reform programme of Russia and Austria-Hungary (September 1903) placed Macedonia under European supervision |
| Belligerents | Ottoman Empire (Abdülhamid II) | Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization |
|---|
Took place during the reign of Abdulhamid II (1876–1909). Abdulhamid II
Open the reign of Abdulhamid II on the mapBy the atlas's calculation the Ottoman lands covered about 2,996,000 km² in 1903; at the start of Abdulhamid II's reign they measured 4,123,000 km², at its end 2,996,000 km².
During Abdulhamid II (1876–1909) the atlas records 0 regions gained and 19 regions lost.
Regions lost: Wallachia (1877), Moldavia (1877), Morava Serbia (Niš–Kruševac) (1877), Smederevo–Šumadija (1877), Belgrade–Šabac (1877), Northern Dobruja (Constanța–Tulcea) (1877), Kars–Ardahan–Artvin (1877), Montenegro (1878), and 11 more.
His thirty-three-year reign saw both the greatest territorial loss and the most intensive investment in schools, railways and the telegraph. Proclaiming and then suspending the constitution, rule through a centralised intelligence network and the cost of the 1877–78 war make him the most controversial sultan in Ottoman history.
Areas are land area computed from the atlas's region data; see Method and sources.
Source: TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, “Makedonya” (Turkish); text written for the atlas.