He also prepared the first programme of the organisation (promulgated in Geneva on 1 August 1870), which envisaged the liberation of Bulgaria through a nationwide revolution and the establishment of a democratic republic.

The committee network of the organisation in Bulgaria expanded considerably after the general meeting and the preparation of the uprising was well advanced, when a faction in BRCK led and initiated by Dimitar Obshti attacked a convoy of the Ottoman postal service near Sofia in order to procure money for ammunition.

The robbery caused the exposure of a number of committee activists in the region of Sofia and eventually resulted in the capture and hanging of Vasil Levski on 18 February 1873.

The attempt to find a successor to Levski was unsuccessful, the Svoboda newspaper was banned by the Romanian authorities and Karavelov was forced to flee Romania for fear of being extradited to the Ottoman Empire.

The time for preparation of the insurrection was, however, insufficient and only the regional committee in Stara Zagora managed to organise a small-scale rebellion, quickly crushed by the Ottoman police.