Levski established a vast network of secret revolutionary committees across Bulgaria. His goal was to organize a national uprising from within, rather than relying solely on external aid.

Captured by Ottoman authorities in late 1872 at the Kakrina inn, he was tried in Sofia and executed by hanging on February 18, 1873. Today, he is considered the "greatest Bulgarian of all time".

He envisioned a "holy and sacred republic" based on democratic principles, legal equality, and ethnic and religious tolerance. These progressive ideas later influenced the first Bulgarian constitution.