Racho Petrov

Racho Petrov
Рачо Петров
12th Prime Minister of Bulgaria
In office
25 January 1901  5 March 1901
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Todor Ivanchov
Succeeded by Petko Karavelov
In office
19 May 1903  5 November 1906
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Stoyan Danev
Succeeded by Dimitar Petkov
Chief of the General Staff
In office
9 September 1885  29 April 1887
Monarch Alexander
Preceded by Office Established
Succeeded by Stefan Paprikov
In office
23 October 1887  15 April 1894
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Stefan Paprikov
Succeeded by Nikola Ivanov
War Minister
In office
10 July 1887  1 September 1887
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Danail Nikolaev
Succeeded by Sava Mutkurov
In office
27 April 1894  29 November 1896
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Mihail Savov
Succeeded by Nikola Ivanov
Minister of Interior
In office
10 December 1900  4 March 1901
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Vasil Radoslavov
Succeeded by Mihail Sarafov
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
21 January 1901  4 March 1901
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Dimitar Tonchev
Succeeded by Stoyan Danev
In office
18 May 1903  4 November 1906
Monarch Ferdinand
Preceded by Stoyan Danev
Succeeded by Dimitar Petkov
Personal details
Born 3 March 1861
Shumen, Ottoman Empire
Died 22 January 1942(1942-01-22) (aged 80)
Belovo, Bulgaria
Military service
Allegiance Bulgarian Army
Years of service 1878–1917
Rank General of the Infantry
Battles/wars Serbo-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]

Petrov was personally close to Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria[3] and in 1891 was promoted by Ferdinand to the rank of colonel, the first officer to hold that rank in Bulgaria.[4] Petrov also attended Ferdinand's wedding to Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma in Italy in 1893.[5] 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.[6]

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 organise the next election.[7] 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.[8] His government was particularly concerned with military matters and oversaw an armament programme and extensive modernisation of the Bulgarian army.[9]

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 Bulgarian victory.[10]

During the First World War he served as head of the newly established Macedonian Military Inspection Oblast from December 1915 until October 1916.[11]

Notes

  1.    Standart News - Archive | Wednesday, 3 May 2006 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. Duncan M. Perry, Stefan Stambolov and the Emergence of Modern Bulgaria, 1870-1895, Duke University Press, 1993, p. 151
  4. Perry, Stefan Stambolov, p. 183
  5. Perry, Stefan Stambolov, p. 194
  6. Perry, Stefan Stambolov, pp. 205-206
  7. 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
  8. R. J. Crampton, A Concise History of Bulgaria, Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 127-128
  9. Tsvetkov, A History of the Balkans, p. 85
  10. Richard C. Hall, The Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War, Routledge, 2002, pp. 110-112
  11. 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

See also

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