The Unity Committee (Bulgarian: Единство Комитет, romanizedEdinstvo Komitet, Macedonian: Комитет Единство, romanizedKomitet Edinstvo)[1] was an organization supporting the Bulgarian population of Thrace and Macedonia,[2][3] remained within the Ottoman Empire after the division of the San Stefano Bulgaria and the decision of the Berlin Treaty. First Committee "Unity" was established on August 29, 1878, in Veliko Tarnovo. Its main objective was enshrined in the Constitutive protocol: Unity of all Bulgarians and their wellness today. The initiative for this belonged to Lyuben Karavelov, Stefan Stambolov and Hristo Ivanov - Golemia. The goal of this new committee was to create such committees around the country of Bulgaria. Soon after Edinstvo was formed in Tarnovo, steps were taken to spread it to all towns in Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia as well. People were also sent to Macedonia. As a consequence the Kresna-Razlog Uprising was organized.[4]

The first "Unity" Committee in Tarnovo.

References

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  1. ^ Манол Пандевски (1978) Македонија и Македонците во годините на Источната криза 1876-1878 г. Македонска академија на науките и уметностите, стр. 55-56.
  2. ^ Anna M. Mirkova, 2017, Muslim Land, Christian Labor Transforming Ottoman Imperial Subjects Into Bulgarian National Citizens, 1878-1939, Central European University Press ISBN 9789633861615, p. 37.
  3. ^ During the summer of 1878, a number of leading Bulgarians from Macedonia had gathered in Sofia to discuss how they might secure a revision of the Berlin Treaty, and they reached the conclusion that it was necessary to organize a massive armed uprising. The news of their deliberations inspired a group of patriots in Tŭrnovo to form a 'Unity Committee', with the aim of 'helping to improve the wretched condition of Bulgarians remaining outside the bounds of Danube Bulgaria. For more: Mercia MacDermott (1978) Freedom or Death. The Life of Gotsé Delchev; The Journeyman Press, London & West Nyack, pp. 52-53.
  4. ^ Doyno Doynov. Kresna-Razlog uprising 1878-1879: On its scope and results, internal and external political circumstances in which it starts, continues, and ends. Sofia. 1979. Published by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.