Alexander the Great", but added that "history says he was a Greek". When asked what the revolutionaries wanted for Macedonia, Karev explained their plans to create a republic in the model of Switzerland, providing autonomy and democracy for its different "races". He added that Bulgaria's expectations to annex the region were miscalculated and that the revolutionaries would accept anyone's help in order to attain their goal. During the Ilinden uprising of August 1903, when Kruševo was captured by the rebels, Karev allegedly authored the so-called Kruševo Manifesto, which called upon the local Muslim population to join forces with the Christians, and became the head of its provisional government. Amongst the various ethno-religious groups (millets) in Kruševo a Republican Council was elected with 60 members – 20 representatives from each one: Macedonian Bulgarians (Exarchists), Vlachs and Slav-speaking, Aromanian-speaking and Albanian-speaking Greek Patriarchists. The Council also elected an executive body – the Provisional Government, with six members (2 from each mentioned group). Though, an ethnic identification problem arose, because Karev called all the members of the local Council "brother Bulgarians", while the IMRO insurgents flew Bulgarian flags, killed several Greek Patriarchists, accused of being Ottoman spies, and subsequently assaulted the local Turk and Albanian Muslims. Lasting only ten days, the Kruševo Republic was destroyed by Ottoman forces after intense fighting. After Ilinden After the uprising Karev went back to Bulgaria and became a political activist of the newly founded Marxist Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists). However, the Narrows denounced the Ilinden uprising as an adventure inspired by the Bulgarian government, that played into the hands of the Great Powers. In 1904, Karev made a legal attempt to return to Macedonia, taking advantage of the Bulgarian-Ottoman Amnesty Agreement for the participants in the Ilinden Uprising. He sent several applications for amnesty to Istanbul through the cabinet of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Racho Petrov. The applications were received by the Ottoman Amnesty Commission but remained unanswered, despite the intercession of the Bulgarian diplomatic agent in Istanbul, Grigor Nachovich. On March 16, 1905, the chetas of Nikola Karev and Petar Acev passed through the Kyustendil checkpoint of the IMARO and entered Ottoman territory. There were five more people in Karev's squad. Soon after, Karev's detachment was discovered by a Turkish soldiers, and in the ensuing battle the voivode was killed near the village of Rajčani, together with his comrades Dimitar Gyurchev and Krastyo