Kiril Stanchev
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kiril Nikolov Stanchev (; 14 December 1895 – 11 April 1968) was a
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 ...
n general, commander of the
Bulgarian Second Army The Bulgarian Second Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II. History After 1907, during times of peace, the territory of Bulgaria was divided in three army inspectorates, each one comprising three ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Biography

Kiril Stanchev was born on 14 December 1895 in
Kyustendil Kyustendil ( ) is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of the Kyustendil Province, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see. The town is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, near the borders of ...
. He graduated from the Sofia Military School in 1916 with the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
and participated 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 ...
with the 13th Regiment on the
Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germa ...
, where he was promoted on 14 October 1917 to Senior Lieutenant. He was further promoted on 30 January 1923 to
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
and on 1 January 1933 to
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
. After the end of the First World War Kiril Stanchev was variously an active officer, serving in the border troops and in the 22nd Regiment and the 2nd Infantry Division, as well as an instructor in the Bulgarian military academy. He was a member of the Military Union, an influential organization of Bulgarian officers which carried out the
1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...
and
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
coup d'états. He was also a founder of the illegal pro-Republican "Movement of the Captains" within the Military Union. After the Bulgarian King
Boris III 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 ...
took de facto supreme power in 1935, Stanchev's participation in this organization along with his role in the 1934 coup led to him being accused of planning an anti-Monarchist coup. He was discharged from the army and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1940 he was pardoned, regained his military rank and on 5 October 1940 promoted to
colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
. From 1941 to 1944 Stanchev studied law in
Sofia University Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" () is a public university, public research university in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria. Founded on 1 October 1888, the edifice of the university was constr ...
. He joined the Fatherland Front, an alliance between several anti-Fascist parties, of which the strongest was the
Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...
He participated in the preparation of the 1944 coup d'état and after the coup, he was part of the Bulgarian delegation that contacted the
3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front () was a Front of the Soviet Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwestern Front. It included 1st Guards Army, 8th Gua ...
to arrange a ceasefire with the
Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...
. On 14 September 1944 he was promoted to major general and was given the command of the
Bulgarian Second Army The Bulgarian Second Army was a Bulgarian field army during the Balkan Wars, World War I, and World War II. History After 1907, during times of peace, the territory of Bulgaria was divided in three army inspectorates, each one comprising three ...
. Under his leadership, the 2nd Army participated in the defeat of the German forces in Yugoslavia. He commanded the Bulgarian forces in the
Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...
and
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
operations. In recognition of his successful command Kiril Stanchev was promoted to
lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...
on 18 November 1944. However, in 1946, he was arrested and accused of participating in the so-called "Military Union" and plotting a military coup. Modern historians consider the "plot" to have been an invention of the
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
Bulgarian security service, with the intention of getting rid of officers who were not considered sufficiently loyal to the new regime, as well as fabricating a link between the Bulgarian army and the opposition Agrarian party.''To the Shore of Freedom or Nikola Petkov and his Time''; Georgi Gunev; 1992; pp.116-117 Stanchev refused to confess either to having participated in an illegal organization or of plotting a coup and he also refused to implicate anyone else. He was still sentenced to life imprisonment, from which was released in 1959. He was rehabilitated in 1960. Kiril Stanchev died on 11 April 1968 in Sofia.


Awards

*
Order of Bravery The Order of Bravery () is a Bulgarian order which existed during the Kingdom of Bulgaria and currently exists in the Republic of Bulgaria. It was the second highest in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and is the fourth highest in the Republic of Bulgaria ...
, III grade, 1st class * Order of Military Merit, II grade


References


Sources

*Tashev, T., ''The Bulgarian Army 1941-1945 - an encyclopedic reference'', Sofia, 2008, "Military publishing" , p. 133
Stanchev, Kiril Nikolov
Biography at Forum of Slavic culture


External links



from "The Generals of WWII"
Kiril Stanchev
from "The Bulgarian Generals" {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanchev, Kiril 1895 births 1968 deaths Bulgarian generals Bulgarian military personnel of World War I Bulgarian military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Bravery Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) People from Kyustendil Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bulgaria