The revival of Bulgarian statehood after five centuries of Ottoman rule is connected with the April Uprising of 1876 and the Internal Revolutionary Organization previously created by Vasil Levski. After the Treaty of Berlin of 1878, the Bulgarians lived divided in the Principality of Bulgaria which was in a vassal dependence on Turkey, in the autonomous region of Eastern Rumelia, and under full sultanic rule in Macedonia and Edirne Thrace.

The scholar considers the partial reforms undertaken by Austria-Hungary and Russia in Macedonia as an undisputed success of the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising.

"Not only was the issue internationalized, but literally in the physical sense of the word, representatives of the Great Powers, and military representatives through the Mürzsteg reforms, began to observe the situation of the Christian population in the three provinces of Macedonia."

122 years ago, despite the sacrifice of the rebels, the unequal battle was ended. The remaining unresolved Macedonian question would lead to the Balkan Wars and the final division of the region after 1919. In addition to the few representatives of other nationalities in Macedonia who participated in the uprising, the majority of participants in the drama of 1902-1903 explicitly declared their Bulgarian nationality. But in North Macedonia the same heroes are today declared "Macedonians". In Skopje, they categorically refuse joint celebrations of the common history of the two countries, even though this is explicitly stated in the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia from 2017.