Racho Petrov Stoyanov ( bg, Рачо Петров Стоянов) (3 March 1861 – 22 January 1942) was a leading

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n general and politician. Petrov was born in

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

. A talented soldier, he was appointed Chief of General Staff at the age of 24 and was Minister of Defence at 27. His stature was increased by the leading role he took in suppressing an army mutiny in 1887. He married Sultana Pantaleeva Minchovich in 1887, with whom he had 3 children. After an unhappy marriage, they divorced in 1919. Both Petrov and his wife were personally close to Tsar

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria , image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg , caption = Ferdinand in 1912 , reign = 5 October 1908 – , coronation = , succession = Tsar of Bulgaria , predecessor = Himself as Prince , successor = Boris III , reig ...

and in 1891 he was promoted by Ferdinand to the rank of colonel, the first officer to hold that rank in Bulgaria. Petrov also attended Ferdinand's wedding to

Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma , house = Bourbon-Parma , father = Robert I of Parma , mother = Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies , spouse = Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria , consort = yes , reign = 20 April 1893 – 31 January 1899 , issue = Boris IIIKiril, ...

in Italy in 1893. Ferdinand's decision in 1894 to place Petrov in charge of the army completely, and thus outside the command of Prime Minister

Stefan Stambolov Stefan Nikolov Stambolov ( bg, Стефан Николов Стамболов) (31 January 1854 OS– 19 July 1895 OS) was a Bulgarian politician, journalist, revolutionary, and poet who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is consider ...

, precipitated the resignation of the latter. As a politician, he twice served as

Prime Minister of Bulgaria The prime minister of Bulgaria ( bg, Министър-председател, Ministar-predsedatel) is the head of government of Bulgaria. They are the leader of a political coalition in the Bulgarian parliament – known as the National Assemb ...

, initially as the non-party head of an interim administration in 1901, the only task of which was to organize the next election. 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. His government was particularly concerned with military matters and oversaw an armament program and extensive modernization of the Bulgarian army. During the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

Petrov, by then a Lieutenant General, took command of the 3rd Army, leading it at the

Battle of Bregalnica The Battle of Bregalnica was fought between the Kingdom of Bulgaria army and the Kingdom of Serbia during the Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of th ...

, a Serbian victory. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served as head of the newly established Macedonian Military Inspection Oblast from December 1915 until October 1916.''National-liberation movement of the Macedonian and Thracian Bulgarians 1878-1944''. Macedonian Scientific Institute, Sofia, 1997, . pp. 361-362, 396

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Racho 1861 births 1942 deaths People from Shumen Bulgarian generals Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Government ministers of Bulgaria Members of the National Assembly (Bulgaria) Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian military personnel of World War I People of the Serbo-Bulgarian War Bulgarian cartographers Recipients of the Order of Bravery Recipients of the Order of the Medjidie, 1st class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo Topographers 19th-century Bulgarian military personnel 20th-century Bulgarian military personnel Defence ministers of Bulgaria Foreign ministers of Bulgaria

See also

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