The Kruševo Republic was a short-lived political entity proclaimed in 1903 by rebels from the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization in Kruševo during the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising. On 3 August 1903, the rebels captured the town of Krushevo and established a revolutionary government, proclaiming the Krushevo Republic, which was one of the first modern day republic in the Balkans. The Republic existed only for 10 days - August 3 to August 13, and was headed by president Nikola Karev. Amongst the various ethno-religious groups (millets) in Kruševo a Republican Council was elected with 60 members - 20 representatives from each one: Bulgarians (Bulgarian Exarhists), Aromanians (Vlachs) and Slav-speaking, Vlach-speaking and Albanian-speaking Patriarchists (Greeks).[2][3] The Council also elected an executive body - the Provisional Government, with six members (2 from each group), whose duty was to promote law and order and manage supplies, finances, and medical care. The "Krushevo Manifesto" was published. Written by Nikola Karev himself, it outlined the goals of the uprising, calling upon the population to join forces with the provisional government in the struggle against Ottoman tyranny, in order to attain freedom and independence.
Initially surprised by the uprising, the Ottoman government took extraordinary military measures to suppress it. After fierce battles near Mečkin Kamen, the Ottomans managed to destroy the Kruševo Republic, committing atrocities against the rebel forces and the local population. Today an enormous monument on the hill above Kruševo marks the elusive dream of the Ilinden revolutionaries. In the area there is another monument called Mečkin Kamen. This was the place where Pitu Guli's band (cheta) tried to defend the town of Kruševo from Ottoman troops coming from Bitola. The whole band and their leader (voivode) perished. Kruševo and many nearby villages were set ablaze by the Ottomans.