The Demir Hisar Conspiracy

The Demir Hisar Conspiracy, or Brsjak Revolt, was an attempted rebellion by the Bulgarian population of south-western Macedonia in 1880–1881. It was organised after the Congress of Berlin decided that Macedonia would remain under Turkish rule.
This attempt by Macedonia's local population to resist Turkish authority formed part of the wider social and political tensions in the region following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 and the subsequent changes to the political map of the Balkans.

The rebels encountered strong opposition from the Turkish administration, and the uprising was suppressed after six months of fighting. Following the discovery of the conspiracy, the Turkish authorities subjected its participants to reprisals, mass arrests and trials.

During the trials, more than eighty people received prison sentences, while around seven hundred people suffered. Some of the uprising's leaders were therefore imprisoned, and the rebellion failed to achieve its aim of liberating the region from Ottoman rule.