A presentation created during the Youth Exchange Dawn of Modern Slavery: Dusk of Human Rights, financed by Erasmus+ through European Union. More information about the international mobility programs here:https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/opportunities/opportunities-for-individuals/youth-exchanges

1. Slavery and forced labour
during the rule of Ottoman
empire in Macedonia

2. Macedonia, the area that now makes
up North Macedonia, was part of
the Ottoman Empire for over five hundred
years, from the mid-14th century to 1912.
However, the Ottomans themselves did not
keep any "Macedonia" as an administrative
unit. Instead Vardar Macedonia was part of
the Ottoman province or Eyalet of Rumelia.
The name Rumelia means "Land of the
Romans" in Turkish, referring to the lands
conquered by the Ottoman Turks from
the Byzantine Empire.

3. The beginning of falling of
Macedonia under the Ottoman
Empire started in the Battle of
Maritsa of 1371, the King
of Lordship of Prilep Vukašin
Mrnjavčević and his
brother Jovan Uglješa led
70,000 men against
the Ottomans. Despite having
smaller numbers, the
Ottomans managed to kill
Vukašin and his brother and
win the Battle of Maritsa.

4. Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO)-
revolutionary-national liberation organization of
the Macedonian people Thessaloniki 1893 - 1908.
It was founded by six revolutionary intellectuals:
Dame Gruev, Dr. Hristo Tatarchev, Petar Pop Arsov,
Ivan Hadzi Nikolov, Hristo Batandziev and Andon
Dimitrov, in order to gain political autonomy of
Macedonia and the Edirne region through armed
struggle . At the founding meeting, they adopted
an action plan. The Constitution of the
Organization was adopted (in the beginning of
1894)and the Central Committee was constituted
(President Dr. Hristo Tatarchev, Secretary Dame
Gruev). A network of the Organization was built in
the larger centers in Macedonia (until the middle
of 1894). It marked a particularly strong rise after
the membership and leadership of Goce Delchev,
Pere Toshev, Gjorce Petrov, Jane Sandanski and
other Macedonian revolutionaries.
MRO

5. 1903
Macedonia is part of the Ottoman
Empire. In August 1903,
Macedonian fighters seize control
of the town of Krushevo and
proclaim it an independent,
socialist republic. The Ottoman
army regain control of Krushevo
ten days later.The president of
Krusevo Republic was Nikola
Karev.
The Young Turk
Revolution (July 1908)
While the Young Turk Revolution had
promised organizational improvement,
(The slogans of the Young Turks were
Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood
which showed the influence of the
French Revolution) once instituted, the
governmentended slavery. There were no
more “peasants” working for free and in
constant fear of some kind of tax.
Although these working-class citizens had
little knowledge of how to control a
government, they imposed their ideas on
the Ottoman Empire.

6. Young Turk
Revolution

7. Five hundred years of
Ottoman rule
During the Ottoman rule of Macedonia,
cities experienced many changes with re
gards to the demographic makeup of the
ir population and the look of their citysc
apes. With laws that prohibited Christian
buildings from being higher than Islamic
ones, the skylines of cities like Skopje
and Bitola were dominated by minarets.

9. Blood tax
The blood tax or devshirme in the Ottoman Empire
consisted of the gathering of the healthiest
children, of the Christian paradise, who were led to
Constantinople, introduced to Islam, and subjected
to a special regime of upbringing.
The most intelligent children were selected and
trained in one of the imperial palaces, in order to
become the sultan's personal entourage. Most of
the other children became members of the
Janissary Corps. They enjoyed a number of
privileges, which allowed them to occupy high
positions in the state hierarchy. During the war they
served as infantry, occupying a central position in
the military formation and protecting the sultan.
It is estimated that by the middle of the 18th
century, when this institution existed, a total of
about 200,000 Christian children had been
converted and converted to Islam.

10. In the first centuries of Ottoman slavery, unlike the Christian population of other parts of Macedonia,
the population of Mariovo was free and behaved in this way when visiting larger cities, such as Prilep
and Bitola.Exactly during such a visit, when the people from Mariovo were in a larger group to shop in
Prilep, the boys who were in the group were abducted and sent to be janissaries. One of those boys was
five-year-old Angele, Angja's twin brother from the Sirmevci family in the village of Staravina.
Angele was taken somewhere far away in the Ottoman Empire, and Angja in her native Staravina grew
up to be a beautiful black-haired girl, in love with her peer Stojan, with whom they grew up together.
During a visit to the village of Vitolishte, the beautiful Angja caught the eye of the kadija, who grabbed
her and took her to her Sarai in Prilep. But neither the tempting promises of wealth and luxury, nor the
intimidation and threats to her life, persuaded Angja to change her faith and become a caddy
woman.The hatred for those who abducted her brother, the love for Stojan and the strong faith, gave
her the strength to endure to the end and to preserve her honor.
In the meantime, her relatives found out in which house Angja is kept and managed to save her, and
then withdrew to Mariovo.
Kales Angja
According to the legend, this is an introduction to the so-called Mariovo revolt (1564-1565), in
which Angja and Stojan are one of the leaders. However, despite the brave resistance in the fortress
of Pest, the rebels were eventually defeated and taken in chains to Constantinople.

13. Thank you for your attention!