Racho Petrov
Рачо Петров
12th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
In office
25 January 1901 – 5 March 1901
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byTodor Ivanchov
Succeeded byPetko Karavelov
In office
19 May 1903 – 5 November 1906
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byStoyan Danev
Succeeded byDimitar Petkov
Chief of the General Staff
In office
9 September 1885 – 29 April 1887
MonarchAlexander
Preceded byOffice Established
Succeeded byStefan Paprikov
In office
23 October 1887 – 15 April 1894
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byStefan Paprikov
Succeeded byNikola Ivanov
War Minister
In office
10 July 1887 – 1 September 1887
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byDanail Nikolaev
Succeeded bySava Mutkurov
In office
27 April 1894 – 29 November 1896
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byMihail Savov
Succeeded byNikola Ivanov
Minister of Interior
In office
10 December 1900 – 4 March 1901
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byVasil Radoslavov
Succeeded byMihail Sarafov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
21 January 1901 – 4 March 1901
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byDimitar Tonchev
Succeeded byStoyan Danev
In office
18 May 1903 – 4 November 1906
MonarchFerdinand
Preceded byStoyan Danev
Succeeded byDimitar Petkov
Personal details
Born3 March 1861
Shumen, Ottoman Empire
Died22 January 1942(1942-01-22) (aged 80)
Belovo, Bulgaria
Military service
AllegianceBulgarian Army
Branch/serviceInfantry
Years of service1878–1917
RankGeneral of the Infantry
Battles/warsSerbo-Bulgarian War, First Balkan War, Second Balkan War, Balkans Campaign (World War I)

Racho Petrov Stoyanov (Bulgarian: Рачо Петров Стоянов) (3 March 1861 – 22 January 1942) was a leading Bulgarian general and politician.

Petrov was born in Shumen. A talented soldier, he was appointed Chief of General Staff at the age of 24 and was Minister of Defence at 27.[1] His stature was increased by the leading role he took in suppressing an army mutiny in 1887.[2] He married Sultana Pantaleeva Minchovich in 1887, with whom he had 3 children. After an unhappy marriage, they divorced in 1919.[3]

Both Petrov and his wife were personally close to Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria[4] and in 1891 he was promoted by Ferdinand to the rank of colonel, the first officer to hold that rank in Bulgaria.[5] Petrov also attended Ferdinand's wedding to Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma in Italy in 1893.[6] Ferdinand's decision in 1894 to place Petrov in charge of the army completely, and thus outside the command of Prime Minister Stefan Stambolov, precipitated the resignation of the latter.[7]

As a politician, he twice served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria, initially as the non-party head of an interim administration in 1901, the only task of which was to organize the next election.[8] He returned as Prime Minister for a longer period from 1903–1906, having been appointed for fear of war after a Bulgarian insurrection in Ottoman Macedonia.[9] His government was particularly concerned with military matters and oversaw an armament program and extensive modernization of the Bulgarian army.[10]

During the Second Balkan War Petrov, by then a Lieutenant General, took command of the 3rd Army, leading it at the Battle of Bregalnica, a Serbian victory.[11]

During the First World War he served as head of the newly established Macedonian Military Inspection Oblast from December 1915 until October 1916.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑    Standart News - Archive | Wednesday, 3 May 2006 Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine at www.standartnews.com
  2. ↑ Plamen S. Tsvetkov, A History of the Balkans: A Regional Overview from a Bulgarian Perspective, EM Text, 1993, p. 79
  3. ↑ Popov, Zheko. "Popular Vote in Bulgaria". PEOPLE'S LIBERAL PARTY IN BULGARIA 1903-1920. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Duncan M. Perry, Stefan Stambolov and the Emergence of Modern Bulgaria, 1870-1895, Duke University Press, 1993, p. 151
  5. ↑ Perry, Stefan Stambolov, p. 183
  6. ↑ Perry, Stefan Stambolov, p. 194
  7. ↑ Perry, Stefan Stambolov, pp. 205-206
  8. ↑ Ivan Ilčev, Valery Kolev, Veselin Yanchev, Bulgarian Parliament and Bulgarian Statehood: 125 Years National Assembly 1879-2005, St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2005, p. 71
  9. ↑ R. J. Crampton, A Concise History of Bulgaria, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 127-128
  10. ↑ Tsvetkov, A History of the Balkans, p. 85
  11. ↑ Richard C. Hall, The Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War, Routledge, 2002, pp. 110-112
  12. ↑ National-liberation movement of the Macedonian and Thracian Bulgarians 1878-1944. Macedonian Scientific Institute, Sofia, 1997, ISBN 954-8187-32-9. pp. 361-362, 396
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