Ivan Valkov (; 31 January 1875, in

Kazanlak Kazanlak ( , known as Seuthopolis () in ancient times, is a List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, town in Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria. It is located in the middle of the plain of the same name, at the foot of the Balkan Mountains, Balkan mo ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

– 20 April 1962, in

Stara Zagora Stara Zagora (, ) is a city in Bulgaria, and the administrative capital of Stara Zagora Province. It is located in the Upper Thracian Plain, near the cities of Kazanlak, Plovdiv, and Sliven. Its population is 121,582 making it the sixth largest c ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) was a Bulgarian

General of Infantry General of the infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to: * General of the Infantry (Austria) * General of the Infantry (Bulgaria) * General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...

who fought in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later held the post of

Minister of War A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(1923–1929).

Early life

Ivan Valkov was born in

, in what was the

at the time, where he finished school. He later graduated from the

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Military School (1896), and later the Nikolayev Academy of General Staff (1909) in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Valkov also graduated from an artillery academy and at the beginning of the 20th century was the only Bulgarian

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer who attended two higher education institutions.

Military career

*1896—1906: Staff officer in the 6th Artillery Regiment. *1911: Military school instructor. *1912—1913: During the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, served on the 2nd Army staff, and chief of staff of the eastern sector of the siege of Odrin. *1913—1915: Military school instructor. *1915—1916: With Bulgaria's entry into

, chief of the operations department of the 2nd Army staff. *From 1916: Commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment. *1917—1918: Chief of staff of the 7th and later 10th Infantry Divisions. *1919—1923: Director of the Cartographic Institute. *From 1919: Military academy professor, taught geography at Sofia University. *1922—1928: At the same time, editor of the "Yearbook of the Geographic Institute of the Ministry of War."

Bulgarian War Minister

In 1919 he was one of the founders, and in 1920—1928 was the chairman of the Military Union, an officers' organization. As its head, Valkov took part in the Bulgarian coup d'état of 9 June 1923, in which they overthrew

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Aleksandar Stamboliyski Aleksandar Stoimenov Stamboliyski (; 1 March 1879 – 14 June 1923) was a Bulgarian politician who served as the List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria from 1919 until 1923. Stamboliyski was a memb ...

. From 10 June 1923 until 11 January 1929, Valkov was the Minister of War in the governments of prime ministers

Aleksandar Tsankov Aleksandar Tsolov Tsankov (; 29 June 1879 – 27 July 1959) was a leading Bulgarian politician during the Interwar period, period between the two World Wars. Biography A professor of political economy at Sofia University from 1910 onwards,Phili ...

and Andrey Lyapchev. He oversaw the repression of

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

organizations after the September Rebellion in 1923 and the assassination attempt on Tsar

Boris III of Bulgaria Boris III (; 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier), was the Tsar of the Kingdom of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death in 1943. The eldest son ...

two years later. Valkov was also one of the founders of a military factor in Kazanlak. In October 1925, at the time of the Greco-Bulgarian conflict in the Petrich district, General Valkov used diplomatic rather than military means to restore the status-quo. He gave the order to not open fire and appealed to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

for support. As a result,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

was recognized as the aggressor and was forced to pay Bulgaria compensation for casualties and damage. The results of the conflict are regarded as a success of Bulgarian diplomacy. In the second half of the 1920s, Valkov was accused of backing Ivan Mihailov and his faction of the internal conflict within the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

. His actions were criticized by former Prime Minister Aleksandar Tsankov and the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, Atanas Burov, but Valkov received support from Boris III at the time. It was because of this that the general remained in the government. In 1928 Valkov declared the dissolution of the Military Union due to it being divided as a result of internal bickering and political differences. At a time when negotiations were underway regarding Bulgaria's representation in international organizations, the government demanded the Valkov resign because of his reputation of being an opponent of democracy. Prime Minister Lyapchev agreed to this, and Valkov was removed from his post as war minister.

Later career

In 1929–1934, he was the plenipotentiary minister of Bulgaria in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Valkov played a key role at this time during negotiations to conclude a marriage between Boris III and the Princess Giovanna of Italy, daughter of King

Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

. From 19 May 1934, he remained in the army reserve and was no longer involved in political activities. In 1943 Valkov became the editor of the publication "Bulgarian Military Idea." After pro-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and communist forces rose to power as a result of the

Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944 Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

, he was arrested on 17 June 1946. He remained in prison for years before being sentenced to death in 1954 for his use of terror against the far left opposition in April 1925. However, Valkov's sentence was changed to 20 years in prison due to his old age (life imprisonment, according to other sources). He died in prison in 1962.

Rank history

Awards

;

Order of Bravery (2nd class)

Order of Saint Alexander (3rd and 4th class with swords, 1st class)
Order of Military Merit (1st and 2nd class) ;

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

(3rd class) ; D-PRU EK 1914 2 Klasse BAR

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1st and 2nd class) ;

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown () was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombard ...

(3rd class)
AUT KuK Kriegsbande BAR

Cross for Military Merit (3rd class) ; Order of the Iron Crescent

Sources

* Bulgarian Wikipedia *

Russian Wikipedia The Russian Wikipedia () is the Russian language, Russian-language edition of Wikipedia. As of , it has :ru:Special:Statistics, articles. It was started on 11 May 2001. In October 2015, it became the sixth-largest Wikipedia by the number of ar ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkov, Ivan 1875 births 1962 deaths Ambassadors of Bulgaria to Italy Bulgarian anti-communists Bulgarian generals Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Bulgarian people who died in prison custody Bulgarian prisoners sentenced to death Government ministers of Bulgaria Recipients of the Order of Bravery Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) Defence ministers of Bulgaria Politicide perpetrators Prisoners sentenced to death by Bulgaria Prisoners who died in Bulgarian detention