Aftermath of the April Uprising, 1876
Following the suppression of the April Uprising, horrific massacres were carried out in Batak, Perushtitsa, and other places in southern Bulgaria. In northern Bulgaria, the uprising in the Tarnovo district was also suppressed and its principal leaders executed. All of this adversely affected the evangelical work of both missions north and south of the Balkan range. Evangelical preachers were forced to limit their movements and make do with greatly reduced gatherings. Despite this, Bishop Andrews concluded his report to the Board in New York with the following recommendation:
“As soon as a more favorable opportunity presents itself for the Bulgarian mission, brethren from America must be sent in accordance with the purpose adopted when the work received its new impetus. This must be done because, in the event of death, transfer of missionaries to America, or proven incapacity on the part of the brethren now here, their number will not be sufficient.”
The Year 1877: A dark cloud hung over the mission. Yet the missionaries maintained unwavering faith in God. As often happens, light began to appear in the darkness. In Svishtov, Pastor Challis noticed encouraging signs early in the year. Church members, almost without exception, attended the prayer and class meetings. Two were received into full membership, and six on trial, in one of the villages within the Svishtov circuit. The Sunday school was well attended, and Pastor Challis translated into Bulgarian the questions for the Sunday lessons. Pastor Lounsbury likewise began his work in Tarnovo under encouraging conditions. Initially the meetings were well attended, but threats soon caused a significant decline in participation. Gavrail Iliev spent most of his time outside Ruse, in towns and villages where the massacres had occurred. Aid was distributed to 1,620 families. The Bulgarian preachers did everything they could in the afflicted areas of northern Bulgaria.
Lovech, 1877: Pastor and Eight Members Killed
During the Russo–Turkish War of 1877, when Russian forces captured Lovech and later withdrew temporarily, bashi-bazouk bands re-entered the town and slaughtered many people. According to some accounts, a massacre occurred at the place where the evangelicals gathered. Eight people were killed, including the preacher Nikola Voynov. It is unclear why this is omitted in the manuscripts of Pastor St. Tomov, though the event is confirmed.
Yordan Ikonomov then completing his theological course at the seminary in Drew, USA, was sent that same year to work in Bulgaria. The superintendent appointed him to teach the young men preparing for the ministry.
The Death of Mrs. Challis: In April 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey with the aim of liberating Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. Mrs. Flocken fell ill, and Mrs. Challis was holding a small child in her arms. Pastor Flocken believed it best to take the women to Germany and then return to Bulgaria. Just as he was preparing to carry out this plan, Pastor Challis contracted smallpox, and his devoted wife refused to leave him. The disease spread to the child, making separation impossible. Flocken departed with his wife, but upon arriving in Budapest, Mrs. Flocken was unable to continue the journey. He placed her in a Christian hospital, where the next day she gave birth to a daughter. Eager to return to Ruse, he soon learned the sorrowful news of the death of Mrs. Challis, who had died of smallpox.
Meanwhile Russian troops were advancing toward Svishtov, and the superintendent advised Pastor Challis to take his child to the United States, as he would be unable to care for it in Bulgaria. Following this counsel, Pastor Challis left for America accompanied by Miss Siika Dimitrova, daughter of Grandfather Dimitar – one of the first evangelicals in Svishtov – who agreed to care for the child. They arrived in New York in June 1877. Upon the advice of the mission secretaries and the bishop, he took up work in his Annual Conference until the end of the war in Bulgaria. Flocken received word from Budapest that his wife and newborn child were not expected to live long. He summoned Lounsbury to Ruse and left for Budapest. The child died, but by God’s mercy his wife survived.
The Russians crossed the Danube, and the missionaries were forced to withdraw. The mission was divided by the warring armies. Under these circumstances the Board advised Flocken and Lounsbury to return to the United States, and they departed. Pastor Flocken arrived in New York on 1 February 1878, and Lounsbury several weeks earlier.
Dony K. Donev, D.Min., is a prominent researcher and author specializing in Bulgarian Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal history, with over three decades of study. His work, including 19th Century History of Protestantism in Bulgaria and The Unforgotten: Historical and Theological Roots of Pentecostalism in Bulgaria, documents the development of these movements, their suppression under Communism, and the subsequent post-1989 revival. Key aspects of Donev’s research on Bulgarian Protestant history include:
Origins (19th Century): Protestant work began in the 1800s, with denominations like Congregationalists (1856), Methodists (1857), and Baptists (1865) establishing missions, culminating in the first Bulgarian Protestant Church in 1871. Donev also highlights the 1871 publication of the Protestant Bulgarian Bible translation. His research, often in collaboration with the Institute of Bulgarian Protestant History, has focused on preserving, digitizing, and recovering documents, including church diaries, photographs, and, in some cases, saving records from destruction during the communist era.
Protestant Participation in the April Uprising (1876)
A considerable number of Protestants took part in the prematurely erupted April Uprising. Many of them were in the immediate circle of Benkovski, Vasil Volóv, and the other revolutionary apostles. Some Protestants joined during the uprising itself. According to Dimitar Strashimirov, about sixty men from the village of Tserovo, in the Pazardzhik region, joined Benkovski’s detachment under the leadership of Tsvyatko Brŭshkov. At that time Tserovo had 120 households, fifteen of which belonged to Bulgarian Protestants. Two roster protocols were compiled – one larger list for the Orthodox, and a smaller one for the Protestants. The leaders of the Protestant group were K. Teliyski and Nikola Kochov. From the same village came Ivan Cheshírov, one of the “tens-men” (leaders of groups of ten) in the Flying Column. Collective memory has preserved the names of two well-known Protestants from Panagyurishte as active participants in the uprising: Stefan Balabanov, who organized the sewing of clothing for the rebels, and Rad Minev, one of the most experienced arms-bearers of the insurgent town.
Protestants were also involved in the activities of nearly all revolutionary districts. Particularly dramatic was the fate of the evangelist Stoil Findzhikov, the master craftsman of the “cherry-wood cannons,” who became a symbol of the uprising. As a youth, Stoil had worked in a military workshop in Constantinople, where he learned details of firearms manufacture. On the eve of the uprising and during its course, prompted by Volov and Benkovski, he crafted and refined several of these primitive cannons. He fired his last “cherry-wood cannon” at the advancing Ottoman forces beneath Mount Kamenitsa. Under the pressure of the attacking bashi-bozouk irregulars, the defenders fled one by one, and some fell in battle.
The evangelist Petar Donchev from Panagyurishte also took an active part in the April Uprising. During the height of the revolt, he served as a trusted courier between the surrounding towns and villages, employed by both Benkovski and Volov. “Petraki,” as the insurgents called him, displayed remarkable resourcefulness, courage, and self-sacrifice. After the uprising he departed for the United States, where he studied theology, later returning to Bulgaria as pastor in Chirpan. Yet he remained throughout his life a passionate patriot and tireless public figure. He declined every offer of praise or reward after the Liberation with the simple words that “whatever he had done, he had done for God and for the Fatherland.”
In the early summer days of 1876, there existed a real danger that the bloody sacrifice of the Bulgarian people would be silenced. Had this occurred, the central idea of the revolutionary movement – and the sacrifice of tens of thousands – would have faded ingloriously into obscurity. At precisely this moment, Bulgarians from Pazardzhik and Plovdiv succeeded in secretly sending the first accurate and detailed descriptions of the events in the rebellious regions to the Protestant missionaries in Constantinople. A decisive man – Father Tilev of Pazardzhik – was the first to describe the massacres, the fires, the hangings, the mass slaughter of defenseless people, and the full horror experienced by the population in the affected districts. He entrusted the packet of writings to the Croat Ilitch, director of the Austrian post in Plovdiv, asking him to forward it to a friend in Constantinople who would deliver it personally to Dr. Albert Long. The first description was soon followed by a second and a third. Reports and accounts began to appear from other sources as well. Ivan Ev. Geshov of Plovdiv also sent a letter through Andrei Tsanov to Dr. Long, writing, among other things: “Many villages in the Pazardzhik region are in flames and the people are being exterminated. Is there no help or protection for them from somewhere?”
With the help of Andrei Tsanov, Dr. Long translated the letters into English and consulted Dr. George Washburn, director of Robert College. The two agreed that Dr. Long would systematize the shocking materials arriving in Constantinople, while Dr. Washburn would bring them to the attention of influential English and American figures in the Ottoman capital. Thus, the information reached Edwin Pears, an English barrister and correspondent for the Daily News, who sent the first alarming reports. The London editorial office initially refused to believe the atrocious descriptions and demanded telegraphic confirmation from Pears himself. Only then, on 23 June 1876, did the Daily News publish the first horrifying accounts of the tragedy of the Bulgarian people.
Dr. Long and Dr. Washburn presented the matter to the British ambassador Henry Elliot and the American minister Horace Maynard. Elliot stated that the matter had to be investigated and verified before being taken “seriously.” Undeterred, the two missionaries sent a second, even more detailed report to the Daily News, insisting that Britain intervene on behalf of the suffering Christian population. Gradually, the Disraeli–Beaconsfield government was cornered, and the prime minister attempted to deflect the issue by declaring in Parliament that “all this commotion is nothing but coffeehouse gossip.” This statement, however, marked the beginning of the crisis’ most intense phase.
More and more dispatches appeared in the Daily News and in a growing number of British and European newspapers. The Daily Mail sent the well-known American journalist Januarius MacGahan – then in London – to visit the sites of the atrocities and report his findings. Disraeli, for his part, ordered an “urgent inquiry” by the British Embassy in Constantinople. The ambassador entrusted the task to the youngest member of the mission, Walter Baring, along with his father-in-law, Fr. Gauracino, a Levantine, retired British consul, and significant debtor to the Ottoman state.
To the American missionaries it was clear that this move sought to obscure the truth about the massacre of an entire people. They immediately visited Minister Maynard again, insisting that the newly arrived first secretary and U.S. consul general in Constantinople, Eugene Schuyler, depart for the burned and blood-soaked regions of Bulgaria. This was also necessary because they feared that the Ottoman government would refuse permission for Baring to carry out his mission.
Minister Maynard expressed his profound sympathy for the Bulgarian people but explained that his duties in Constantinople did not include intervention in the political affairs of the empire, being limited exclusively to the promotion of “commercial relations.” In his view, only one Great Power – Britain – could exert real influence over Turkey. Dr. Washburn, exasperated, rose from his chair and firmly declared: “I am going directly to the telegraph office to inform the President of the United States that his representative in Turkey refuses to lift a finger to save an entire nation of suffering Christians. And I shall report the same to the American press.” The minister was compelled to ask Washburn to return to his office. With the assistance of Dr. Long, they devised a “skillful maneuver”: Eugene Schuyler would travel to Adrianople and the province “to identify and appoint a suitable correspondent for commercial matters.” Thus, the ground was prepared. Upon MacGahan’s arrival, the two Americans, both fluent in Russian, together with Petar Dimitrov, a graduate of Robert College and secretary of the newspaper Zornitsa, set out for the devastated regions of Bulgaria. They were later joined by the Russian consul in Adrianople, Prince Tsertelev.
Meanwhile, Dr. Jacob Clarke of Plovdiv was the first foreigner to visit Batak immediately after the massacre, accompanied by Pastor Nikola Boyadzhiev of Panagyurishte. Amid the ghastly scene and overwhelming stench, they placed in their suitcase several heads of children and women – still with their hair braided – and carried them back to Plovdiv. These were physical proofs intended to confront certain foreign skeptics, influenced by Ottoman officials, who claimed that the victims had been “rebels” whom the Turks were obliged to eliminate “to preserve order.” Dr. Clarke visited several consuls in Plovdiv and began taking out the severed heads one by one, asking: “Is this a rebel? And is this a rebel?” Britain, and soon all of Europe, recoiled in horror at the slaughter. One of the most renowned British war correspondents, Archibald Forbes, wrote:
“MacGahan accomplished brilliantly his mission of exposing the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria in 1876. I know of nothing in journalism that surpasses, in language, pathos, and flaming indignation, writing that passed so spontaneously from heart to heart. His call stirred William Gladstone to a convulsive paroxysm of revulsion at the barbarities. It stirred England to the depths of her national soul. You could see people traveling on the railways reading those reports with burning faces and tears in their eyes.”
Throughout this entire dramatic period Dr. Albert Long, though remaining in Constantinople, continued – literally day and night – his efforts on behalf of the Bulgarian people. Even when, at the end of 1876 and the beginning of 1877, certain forces sabotaged the work of the Constantinople Conference of the Great Powers, which had agreed on autonomy for Bulgaria across its full ethnic territory, Dr. Long did not lose composure. He continued to seek solutions by every means available. Washburn wrote of him:
“It is a fundamental fact that, although Dr. Long kept modestly in the background, he was the center of everything that was done in Constantinople for Bulgaria during the massacres and the severe trials endured by the Bulgarians in their struggle for freedom.”
Finally, in early May 1876, just days after the outbreak of the April Uprising, a Bulgarian girl in Thessaloniki – Stefana Lanskova – was rescued from abduction intended to force her conversion to Islam. She was hidden in the home of the American consul in Thessaloniki, Hadzhi Lazarov (a Bulgarian Evangelical Christian from Voden who had taken American citizenship and service). This provoked violent unrest among fanatical Turks around Robert College in Constantinople. On May 6, 1876, Muslim extremists murdered the French and German consuls in Thessaloniki (Moulin and Abbott). The American consul, who was their primary target, survived. As unrest at Robert College intensified, ambassador Maynard appealed to President Grant for assistance who did not hesitate to dispatch an American naval squadron led by the USS Trenton to the Sea of Marmara to deter both the fanatical mobs threatening Robert College and the British naval squadron positioned at the Bosporus. It was in precisely this atmosphere that the large-scale efforts of American missionaries, journalists, and diplomats unfolded during the summer of 1876.
In s similar fashion Januarius MacGahan received assignments from the London Daily News and others to report from war zones, particularly the 1876 Bulgarian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire, where his vivid reports on atrocities. With special attention to the Batak Massacre that had shocked Europe and galvanized support for Bulgarian independence, leading to his posthumous title, “Liberator of Bulgaria.” His “orders” were to report the truth, which he did fearlessly, even following Russian armies without permission. His dispatches became crucial historical records of the conflict and Ottoman brutality over Bulgarian civilian population.
Dony K. Donev, D.Min., is a prominent researcher and author specializing in Bulgarian Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal history, with over three decades of study. His work, including 19th Century History of Protestantism in Bulgaria and The Unforgotten: Historical and Theological Roots of Pentecostalism in Bulgaria, documents the development of these movements, their suppression under Communism, and the subsequent post-1989 revival. Key aspects of Donev’s research on Bulgarian Protestant history include:
Origins (19th Century): Protestant work began in the 1800s, with denominations like Congregationalists (1856), Methodists (1857), and Baptists (1865) establishing missions, culminating in the first Bulgarian Protestant Church in 1871. Donev also highlights the 1871 publication of the Protestant Bulgarian Bible translation. His research, often in collaboration with the Institute of Bulgarian Protestant History, has focused on preserving, digitizing, and recovering documents, including church diaries, photographs, and, in some cases, saving records from destruction during the communist era.
Zornitsa Newspaper and the Coverage of the April Uprising in 1876
In 1872, at the Second Annual Meeting of the Mission for European Turkey, the delegates entrusted Dr. Riggs with the task of supporting the further development of the newspaper. The printing of the Bulgarian Protestant translation of the Bible had been successfully completed, and Zornitsa now emerged as a primary objective in the missionaries’ publishing plans.
After the restoration of the publication in 1874, several changes were introduced – its format was enlarged from quarto to half-folio. The most significant change, however, was the transformation of the newspaper into a weekly. The weekly Zornitsa appeared for the first time in December 1875, while a monthly edition also continued to be issued, aimed specifically at younger readers. The editor-in-chief during this period was Theodore Byington, yet the recollections of contemporaries testify that Dr. Riggs played a key role – both in preparing many of the articles (Dr. Riggs is the author of numerous unsigned publications in Zornitsa) and in shaping editorial policy.
This shift in the publishing strategy of Zornitsa occurred immediately before one of the most dramatic events of the Bulgarian National Revival – the April Uprising. At the time of the uprising, Zornitsa was the most widely distributed Bulgarian newspaper, reaching virtually all territories inhabited by Bulgarians, and had gained considerable authority among the Bulgarian public. The stance of the newspaper during the tragic events of 1876 demonstrates that this was no coincidence; the people behind the publication had found an effective way both to proclaim the Gospel and to serve and support the Bulgarian nation.
Many objective researchers have unequivocally credited the Protestant missionaries and their publication with awakening international attention and public conscience regarding the Bulgarian question. On the one hand, the publishers of Zornitsa transmitted every piece of information they received about the atrocities committed during the suppression of the uprising directly to British and American governmental bodies and individuals, as well as to influential publications in those countries. On the other hand, the missionaries themselves traveled boldly and diligently throughout the devastated regions, serving as principal collaborators in the investigations initiated by British statesman Gladstone. Even more impressive is the courageous and empathetic reporting of the uprising in the newspaper’s own pages. Zornitsa became the sole written source of information for the Bulgarian people in many remote areas concerning the events in the rebel regions. Through Zornitsa, the Bulgarian nation shared in the horror and tragedy of the April Uprising – thus, although military operations were confined to limited territories, the entire Bulgarian people were informed about what was taking place. In this way, Zornitsa contributed significantly to transforming the events of April–June 1876 into a national drama and a collective experience for the whole Bulgarian nation.
From the earliest days of the uprising, Zornitsa reported the mobilization of Ottoman troops and their movement toward Plovdiv and Pazardzhik. In issue no. 18 of 30 April 1876, in an article entitled “Disturbances in Bulgaria,” readers received information about the rebellion in the Panagyurishte region. The following issue, dated 7 May, published a telegram from Hafiz Pasha concerning the destruction of Straltsa. The same issue contained a detailed account of the capture of Panagyurishte by Ottoman forces, as well as extensive reports on arrests in the Pazardzhik and Adrianople districts. Separate coverage was given to the arrest of Bulgarian priests, including a bishop from Plovdiv.
The issue of 14 May 1876 informed readers of Circassian raids in the Tryavna, Sofia, and Sevlievo regions. Extraordinary reporting covered the burning of 118 villages in the Plovdiv district. The publishers of Zornitsa suggested the tension within the Ottoman government by informing readers about the dispatch of official investigators. Zornitsa described the cherry-wood cannons of the rebels, standing against the “Krupp” artillery of the Ottoman army. In its 21 May issue, Zornitsa reported in detail on insurgent actions in the Turnovo region and on the harassment of Bulgarians in the Bitola region. The publishers showed remarkable knowledge by reporting on insurgent detachments in Zheravna and Medven, as well as on bashibozuk raids in the Samokov region. The authors grew increasingly bold, calling the actions of the bashibozuk in the Shumen region “terror.” Zornitsa encouraged Bulgarian readers by reporting the awakening of public opinion in the Western world. The first in a series of materials was published – the speech of Lord Stratford calling for a “radical reform in the Ottoman Empire.”
Zornitsa informed its readers about the arrival of Hristo Botev’s detachment, noting its 175 members and its landing on the Bulgarian shore from the steamer Radetzky. A notice about the death of rebel leader Georgi Benkovski was also published.
In its 11 June issue, Zornitsa printed the full text of the “Proclamation of the Bulgarian Insurgents to the Muslims,” clearly showing that the actions of the rebels were directed against the despotic Ottoman regime, while the Muslim population was collectively addressed as “brothers.” In this way, Zornitsa testified to the tolerance of the Bulgarian rebels and reinforced the moral character of their cause. The publishers were fully aware that, alongside the battles on the ground, a decisive struggle for world public opinion was taking place – and they did everything possible to support the Bulgarian cause on the international stage. At the same time, the newspaper encouraged Bulgarians by showing that their efforts and sacrifices were bearing fruit abroad: in July it published a reprint from the British Economist with the findings of Dr. Washburn’s investigation into the uprising and sharp criticism of Prime Minister Disraeli’s pro-Turkish policy. In issue no. 30, the British consul in Constantinople, F. Fransin, was called “a friend of the Bulgarians,” and his successful intervention leading to the release of 212 imprisoned Bulgarian rebels from the Adrianople jail was recounted. On 3 September, information was published about Gladstone’s newly issued pamphlet, The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. The following issue contained information about a subsequent appeal by Gladstone and Stratford to “the conscience of the English people.” Further reports were printed about the numerous relief committees established in English cities and about the donations of individuals such as Lady Strangford and Lord Mayor, who had turned their hearts toward the Bulgarian nation.
Meanwhile, the newspaper closely monitored events in the rebel regions – readers were informed about the arrests of committee activists in Macedonia and about the atrocities committed by the bashibozuk band led by Hadji Murad, who, together with fourteen members of his band, was later convicted by an Ottoman military court. Issue no. 39 printed Baring’s report on “the Turkish brutalities,” followed by the full texts of “The Bulgarian Memorandum to Lord Derby” and the petition of Balabanov and Tsankov to “the Queen of England.”
This brief survey of the coverage of the 1876 events in Zornitsa demonstrates the real benefit of the newspaper’s existence for the Bulgarian cause. It must be remembered that these publications appeared under strict censorship and even during the suspension of Bulgarian publications within the Ottoman Empire. Despite this, the Protestant missionaries succeeded in practically serving the people whose eternal salvation they sought, and in the dramatic months of 1876 they established a model of public behavior that remains exemplary even today. The preserved letters of the missionaries testify that their conduct was motivated by deep sincerity and genuine concern for the fate of the nation to which they felt called to minister.
Dony K. Donev, D.Min., is a prominent researcher and author specializing in Bulgarian Protestant, Evangelical, and Pentecostal history, with over three decades of study. His work, including 19th Century History of Protestantism in Bulgaria and The Unforgotten: Historical and Theological Roots of Pentecostalism in Bulgaria, documents the development of these movements, their suppression under Communism, and the subsequent post-1989 revival.
Key aspects of Donev’s research on Bulgarian Protestant history include:
Origins (19th Century): Protestant work began in the 1800s, with denominations like Congregationalists (1856), Methodists (1857), and Baptists (1865) establishing missions, culminating in the first Bulgarian Protestant Church in 1871. Donev also highlights the 1871 publication of the Protestant Bulgarian Bible translation. His research, often in collaboration with the Institute of Bulgarian Protestant History, has focused on preserving, digitizing, and recovering documents, including church diaries, photographs, and, in some cases, saving records from destruction during the communist era.
Pentecostalism and Growth: The Unforgotten documents the arrival of the Pentecostal movement in Bulgaria, particularly through the influence of the Azusa Street Revival, tracing the roots of early Bulgarian Pentecostal families.
Post-Communist Revival: Donev has documented the rapid growth of the Protestant movement after 1989, noting a significant increase in membership from approximately 13,000 to over 100,000. Dr. Donev has published his dissertation on on Bulgarian Churches in North America.
