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Ohio has an impressive list of people
well known nationally and internationally, such as the
Wright Brothers and Ulysses S. Grant. Even so, one Ohioan who is
less famous but who achieved much is Januarius A. MacGahan, sometimes called
the Liberator of Bulgaria. A statue in New Lexington, Ohio commemorates
MacGahan's heroic role in the Balkans. His vivid accounts of atrocities committed
by Turkish forces against Bulgarians got international attention and
led the British government, a key supporter of the Ottoman Turks, to
rethink its position. The reporting of MacGahan is thus seen as
contributing to
the
emergence of Bulgaria as an independent nation.
MacGahan also had other impressive accomplishments including a book titled
Campaigning on the Oxus, and the Fall of Khiva, a first-hand account
of a Russian campaign in the region known today
as Uzbekistan, a country
unknown to many Americans until recently (Uzbek airbases have been
used in U.S. airstrikes
on terrorist
camps in Afghanistan). Though he was
not the only American to pay attention to Russian advances in the
so-called Great Game in Central Asia, he was one of the
few to witness developments first-hand.
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