[3] As Ottoman rule in the Balkans crumbled in the late 19th century, competition arose between Greeks and Bulgarians (and to a lesser extent also other ethnic groups such as Serbs, Aromanians and Albanians) over the multi-ethnic region of Macedonia.

The defeat of Greece in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 was a loss that appalled Greeks[9] which led to the dissolution of the Ethniki Eteria, by Prime Minister Georgios Theotokis.

[17] One major event representing the culmination of these actions is the assassination of the Serbian King of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes during the inter-war period by an IMRO sniper.

In practice, most of the followers of the IMRO were native Macedonian Bulgarians, though they also had some Aromanian allies,[18][19][20] like Pitu Guli, Mitre The Vlach, Ioryi Mucitano and Alexandru Coshca.

One of Komitadjis' first activities was the capture of the predominantly Greek town of Meleniko (today Melnik, Bulgaria), but they couldn't hold it for more than a few hours.

In August 1903, the IMRO organised the Ilinden Uprising in Macedonia and the Adrianople Vilayet which led to the formation of the short-lived Kruševo Republic.

The uprising was ultimately suppressed by the Ottoman Army with the subsequent destruction of many villages and the devastation of large areas in Western Macedonia and around Kırk Kilise near Adrianople.

In order to strengthen Greek efforts for Macedonia, the Hellenic Macedonian Committee was founded in 1903 by Stefanos Dragoumis and functioned under the leadership of wealthy publisher Dimitrios Kalapothakis.

[29] Under these conditions, in 1904 a vicious guerrilla war broke as response of IMRO activities between Bulgarian and Greek bands within Ottoman Macedonia.

While Dragoumis concerned himself with the financial organisation of the efforts, the central figure in the military struggle was the very capable Cretan officer Georgios Katechakis.

Additionally, officers of the Hellenic Army were encouraged to join the struggle to provide experienced leadership, as many had served in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.

The Greek state became concerned, not only because of Bulgarian penetration in Macedonia but also due to Serbian interests, which were concentrated mainly in Üsküp and Monastir area.

During 1905, guerrilla activity increased and the Makedonomachoi gained significant advantage within 10 months, extending their control towards the areas of Mariovo and East Macedonia, Kastanohoria (near Kastoria), the plains north and south of Florina and the routes around Monastir.

This unit, being small and somewhat isolated, had been operating without definite objectives, but it proved to be very important for the Greek cause as it helped in fights against local Turkish chiefs, pro-Romanian Aromanians, and Bulgarian komitadjis.

As the Bulgarians had managed to introduce their language in church services and education in the Ottoman Empire, so did the pro-Romanian Aromanians start demanding the same rights.

The Greek Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople reacted strongly to this however amid increased rivalry in the region and eight Aromanian churches were closed by his personal order in 1875.

Given this, some pro-Romanian Aromanian fighters referred to as armatoles (armatoli, armatol in singular) began to take up arms, the first ones being Mihail Handuri from Livadia (Giumala de Jos or Livãdz) and Hali Joga from Ano Grammatiko [bg; el; mk] (Grãmãticuva), who having been joined by various young pro-Romanian Aromanian fighters, began to attack Greek bands in the area of Edessa and Veria.

[52] Greeks and pro-Greek Aromanians suffered attacks from Turkish troops and bashibazouks who killed 41 of them and destroyed 366 and 203 of their houses and shops respectively.

However, they were discovered and in July Idriz fought and killed Dragoljub Nikolić and Rade Radivojević, both high ranking Serbian Chetniks, along with their entire Četa in Pasjane and Gjylekar.

Following this battle, Albanian rebels from the Karadak Mountains (Skopska Crna Gora), under Idriz Seferi, marched on Kumanova and Preševo, liberating both of them.

[62][64] Nevertheless, the Young Turk movement resulted in a few instances of collaboration between Greek and Bulgarian bands, while this time the official policy in both countries continue to support the penetration of armed fighters into Ottoman Macedonia, but without having fully ensured that there would be no attacks on each other.