Nikola Yanakiev Karev ( and ; November 23, 1877 – April 27, 1905) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary. He was born in Kırşova (now Kruševo) and died in the village of Rayçani (Rajčani), both today in North Macedonia. Karev was a local leader of what later became known as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). He was also a teacher in the Bulgarian school system in his native area, and a member of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party. Today he is considered a hero in Bulgaria and in North Macedonia.
Biography
Early years
Karev completed his early education at the Bulgarian school in Kruševo and in 1893 moved to Sofia, the capital of Principality of Bulgaria, where he worked as a carpenter for the socialist Vasil Glavinov. Karev joined the Socialist group led by Glavinov, and through him, made acquaintance of Dimitar Blagoev and other socialists, and became a member of the Bulgarian Workers' Social Democratic Party. In 1896 he participated in the Macedonian-Adrianople Social Democratic Group, created as part of the Bulgarian Workers' Social-Democrat Party. In 1898 Karev went back to Ottoman Macedonia and graduated from the Bulgarian Exarchate's gymnasium in Bitola. From 1900 he worked as a schoolmaster in the Bulgarian schools in the village of Gorno Divjaci and in his native Kruševo.
Political and revolutionary activity
The first Conference of Macedonian Socialists was held on June 3, 1900, near Kruševo, where they defined the core aspects of the potential creation of a separate Macedonian Republic, as a cantonized state, part of a future Balkan Socialist Federation, as a multinational polity offering equal rights to all its citizens. They maintained the slogan "Macedonia for the Macedonians", using Macedonian people as an umbrella term covering Bulgarians, Turks, Greeks, Aromanians, Albanians, Jews, etc., living in harmony in an independent state. In this period Karev joined the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization and became a leader of a regional armed band (cheta).
On the eve of the Ilinden uprising, in May 1903, he was interviewed in Bitola by the correspondent of the Greek daily Akropolis Stamatis Stamatiou. In the interview, Karev expresses his position of a radical leftist. Stamatiou described him as a Bulgarized Macedonian. Per Stamatiou, Karev presented himself as a voulgarofron, (i.e. Bulgarophile), and replied he was a Macedonian. In response to an ironic question by Stamatiou, Karev also claimed to be a "direct descendant of Alexander the Great", but added that "history says he was a Greek". When asked what the revolutionaries wanted for Macedonia, Karev explained their plans to create a republic in the model of Switzerland, providing autonomy and democracy for its different "races". He added that Bulgaria's expectations to annex the region were miscalculated and that the revolutionaries would accept anyone's help in order to attain their goal.
During the Ilinden uprising of August 1903, when Kruševo was captured by the rebels, Karev allegedly authored the so-called Kruševo Manifesto, which called upon the local Muslim population to join forces with the Christians, and became the head of its provisional government. Amongst the various ethno-religious groups (millets) in Kruševo a Republican Council was elected with 60 members – 20 representatives from each one: Macedonian Bulgarians (Exarchists), Vlachs and Slav-speaking, Aromanian-speaking and Albanian-speaking Greek Patriarchists. The Council also elected an executive body – the Provisional Government, with six members (2 from each mentioned group). Though, an ethnic identification problem arose, because Karev called all the members of the local Council "brother Bulgarians", while the IMRO insurgents flew Bulgarian flags, killed several Greek Patriarchists, accused of being Ottoman spies, and subsequently assaulted the local Turk and Albanian Muslims. Karev himself tried to minimize the attacks on the Muslims and prevent the insurgents from looting indiscriminately. Before the encirclement of Kruševo, he escaped. Lasting only ten days, the Kruševo Republic was destroyed by Ottoman forces after intense fighting.