Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization

Uncommon card · No. 117252

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация (ВМРО), romanized: Vatreshna Makedonska Revolyutsionna Organizatsiya (VMRO); Macedonian: Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација (ВМРО), romanized: Vnatrešna Makedonska Revolucionerna Organizacija (VMRO)) was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was founded in 1893 in Salonica and initially aimed to secure autonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople regions in the Ottoman Empire. However, it later became an agent serving Bulgarian interests in Balkan politics. IMRO modeled itself after the earlier Bulgarian Internal Revolutionary Organization of Vasil Levski and accepted its motto "Freedom or Death" (Свобода или смърть). According to the Organization's earliest statute from 1894, the membership was reserved exclusively for Bulgarians. This was later changed on the initiative...

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