Battle of Sliva

The Battle of Sliva occurred in an area known as Sliva in the city of Kruševo, in Ottoman Macedonia on the August 12, 1903. It was an important episode of Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising which occurred 10 days after the Kruševo Republic was proclaimed back on August 2, 1903, and eventually lead to the fall of the Republic and to the suppression of the uprising.

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation was unorganised for this battle. Many 16- and 17-year-old men were also involved in this battle even though men were drafted at the age of 18 to join the army. This battle happened above a mountain with a height of 1,357 metres (4,452 ft) above sea level that was densely forested and was only a few kilometres from a popular area known as Mechkin Kamen.

The belligerents of the battle were the Ottoman Army up against the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (IMRO). The IMRO had a force of 500 to 600 revolutionaries, while the Turkish Ottoman Army had a total of 3,000 to 3,100 soldiers. The commander for the IMRO was Todor Hristov. The Turkish army saw a victory and some of the Macedonian rebels were captured.

References

Sources

• MI-AN Publishing, Skopje 1998, Macedonia Yesterday And Today