Vassil Levsky - "The Apostle of Freedom"
"The Apostle of Freedom", and also adjudged "the greatest
Bulgarian who ever lived", are titles which take some living up
to - but rest assured, the reputation of Vassil Ivanov Kunchev
Levsky is secure for all time. Universally revered in his
homeland as the founder of the Bulgarian nation, this handsome
young patriot gave his life for his people - and in so doing
established himself as the archetypal romantic hero.
Ottoman Oppression
When Vassil Levsky was born in the prosperous manufacturing town
of Karlovo in the year 1837, Bulgaria was a subject province of
the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and had been so for half a
millennium. Indeed, the whole of the Balkans was a region in
thrall to the harsh Ottomans. Turkey-in-Europe, as the area was
then known, bitterly resented being dominated by the
non-European. Muslim Turks, but felt powerless to throw off the
Ottoman tyranny.
As Vassil grew up, he formed strong views about freedom and
Bulgaria's right to be a nation. He took one of the very few
courses open to a Bulgarian patriot of the time - he took holy
orders in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In 1862, at the age of
25, he heard of a "Bulgarian Legion", a military unit of
volunteers which was conducting a guerilla war against the Turks
in nearby Serbia. And so the young priest ran away to enlist in
the Legion.
Warrior-Patriot
Throughout the 1860's, Levsky fought in campaign after campaign
on Serbian soil, striving to cast off Turkish oppression. Brave
military action by a small band of dedicated patriots was
admirable, but Vassil could see that it was never, on its own,
going to achieve his cherished goal of driving the Turks back
across the Bosphorus and out of Europe.
A new approach was needed. But what? Pondering hard, Vassil came
to the conclusion that only a mass rising of the whole Bulgarian
people would bring freedom. Somehow, he would have to educate
and radicalise an entire society, instilling in the people a
clear idea of their national identity, and convincing them that
independence was an achievable aspiration. Vassil had proved
himself a Bulgarian hero on the battlefield, and his personal
standing was high - but how to galvanise the peasants and
town-dwellers? How should he set about the seemingly insuperable
task of building a popular revolution from scratch?
Visionary
The form of nation which Levsky envisaged for his people, after
throwing out the Ottomans, was an enlightened democracy,
embodying the principles of the French Revolution. There would
be a Charter guaranteeing the citizens' rights. Freedom of
expression and association were, for him, principles which went
hand in hand with the idea of the new Bulgaria.
We must remember that he was building this political creed at
precisely the moment in history when Italy and Germany were
forging their own nationhood, and Karl Marx was sitting in the
British Museum, writing "Das Kapital". There can be no doubt
that Levsky was at the cutting edge of European political
thought. His method of spreading the new creed was simple. He
toured his homeland, visiting each and every town and village.
He preached the message of pride in the nation, and the dream of
independence - the right of the Bulgarian people to forge their
own destiny. All he asked of the local community was that the
people form a revolutionary committee, and make contact with
other local villages.
Between 1869 and 1872 he crossed and re-crossed Bulgaria,
building this network of revolutionary nerve centres. He then
set up a secret "Bulgarian Government" in the town of Lovech, in
order to co-ordinate the burgeoning nationalist movement, a
popular phenomenon which he had created single-handedly.
A Glorious Death
Vassil Levsky was 36 years old in February 1873, the month he
went to the gallows. It came about, ironically, because he was
trying to delay the revolution, that very eventuality to which
he had dedicated his life's work. One of the Bulgarian "action
groups" (today we would term them terrorist cells) bungled a
raid on a Turkish post office. A military strike which had been
intended as a money-raiser for the Bulgarian cause had the
effect of provoking a security clampdown by the Turkish
authorities.
Levsky's companions all wanted to launch the revolution
immediately, to take advantage of the crisis, but Levsky knew
that the Bulgarian people were not quite ready for wholesale
armed struggle: to challenge the Ottomans openly, now, would
bring down on Bulgaria a pointless bloodbath. He did everything
in his considerable power to forestall the rising. Taking
possession of the secret papers of the "Bulgarian Government",
lest they fall into the hands of the Turks, Vassil had the
misfortune to be stopped and searched by a contingent of Ottoman
police. There could be only one outcome. He would be executed.
And so the Apostle of Freedom gave his life for the cause.
The revolution for which he strove so hard, and liberation from
the Turks, came a mere five years after his death.