The Terror

The Terror is the name given to the five-month reign of terror that the Bulgarian population of the town of Karlovo suffered at the hands of the Ottoman authorities from 22 July 1877 to 28 December 1877, during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). The name refers both to the massacre of 288 Bulgarian civilians by regular Ottoman army and Circassian paramilitaries (bashi-bazouk) on and to the capture and imprisonment of more than 500 town notables in the subsequent months, many of whom were hanged or exiled to Asia Minor. Events Conduct of the Russian army On two occasions (] and ), Russian advance reconnaissance units "liberated" the town but then immediately withdrew. This led to the dispatch of regular Ottoman army of approx. 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 irregular bashi-bazouk from Plovdiv. Bulgarian historian Plamen Mitev has heavily criticised this demonstrative behaviour of the Russian army, which he holds partially accountable for the wave of Ottoman violence against the civilian Christian Bulgarian population in a number of Sub-Balkan Bulgarian towns and villages in the summer of 1877, including Karlovo, Sopot, Kalofer and Stara Zagora.