Unrest in Eastern Rumelia had led the European powers to insist on the union of that province with Bulgaria in 1885.

Meanwhile, Greek and Bulgarian partisans are carrying on a running battle with Ottoman forces in Macedonia.

In addition, the repression of revolutionary activities in Armenia during 1894-96 costs about three hundred thousand lives and arouses European public opinion against the Ottoman regime.

Outside support for a rebellion on Crete also causes the Porte to declare war on Greece in 1897.

Although the Ottoman army defeats the Greeks decisively in Thrace, the European powers force a compromise peace that keeps Crete under Ottoman suzerainty while installing the son of the Greek king as its governor.

The Bulgarian-Greek-Serbian rivalry for Macedonia escalates in the 1890s, and nationalistic secret societies proliferate.

Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria found the Supreme Committee for Liberation of Macedonia, which favors Bulgarian annexation and recruits its own military force to confront Turkish units and rival nationalist groups in Macedonia.

In 1896 Macedonians found the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), whose two main factions divide the region into military districts, collects taxes, drafts recruits, and uses tactics of propaganda and terrorism.

The Ottomans suppress revolts in Crete and defeat Greece when it intervenes in 1897 in support of the Cretans.

The European powers, however, force Sultan Abdülhamid to concede autonomy to Crete.

He is more successful in obstructing European efforts to force the introduction of substantial reforms in Macedonia, for which the Bulgarian-Greek-Serbian rivalry continues to escalate.

All non-Muslim Macedonians desire the liberation of Macedonia from the Turks, and to this end the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) is founded in November 1893 at Resna (Resen), near Ohrid, under the leadership of Damyan Gruev, Gotse Delchev, and Yane Sandanski.

This is  partly in response to the intensity of the campaigns of pressure and even terror waged against Macedonia by Serbia, Greece, and Bulgaria, all of which states seek to benefit territorially from the approaching carve-up by the European Great Powers of Ottoman-ruled Macedonia.

MRO adopts the slogan “Macedonia for the Macedonians” and a program aimed at winning autonomy for Macedonia from its Ottoman Turkish rulers and at creating a Balkan federation, in which Macedonia will be an equal partner with all other Balkan states.

Stefan Stambolov is gunned down on the streets of Sofia on July 3, 1895; the assassins appear to be some of the Macedonian radicals earlier persecuted by Stambolov.

The new administration is mainly conservative, and Prince Ferdinand becomes the dominant force in Bulgarian policy making.

The two main factions of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization divide the region into military districts in 1896, collect taxes, draft recruits, and use tactics of propaganda and terrorism.

Macedonian unrest has continued.

The new Bulgarian government headed by Konstantin Stoilov has between 1894 and 1896 has reversed the late Stambolov's policy of controlling Macedonian extremists.

The Bulgarian-Greek-Serbian rivalry for Macedonia has escalated in the 1890s, and nationalistic secret societies have proliferated.

Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria establish the Supreme Committee for Liberation of Macedonia, which favors Bulgarian annexation and recruits its own military force to confront Turkish units and rival nationalist groups in Macedonia.