Radko Ruskov Dimitriev (; ; 24 September 1859 – 18 October 1918) was a Bulgarian general who served as the head of the General Staff of the

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

from 1 January 1904 to 28 March 1907, as well as a general in the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (), also known as the Russian Army in English, are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Ground Forces are the protection of the state borders, combat on land, ...

during

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 ...

Biography

He was born in the village of Gradets ( Sliven Province) and was raised by his grandmother in Kotel. He later studied in the Aprilov Gymnasium in

Gabrovo Gabrovo ( ) is a city in central northern Bulgaria, the Local government, administrative centre of Gabrovo Province.It is situated at the foot of the central Balkan Mountains, in the valley of the Yantra River, and is known as an international ca ...

and participated in the organization of the

April Uprising The April Uprising () was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The rebellion was suppressed by irregular Ottoman bashi-bazouk units that engaged in indiscriminate slaughter of both rebels ...

(1876). During the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

of 1877–1878, he was a translator in the 2nd Guards Division of the

. In 1879, he graduated the Military School in

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 ...

; in 1881, Dimitriev was promoted to a Lieutenant and in 1884 he became Captain after graduating the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Academy. When only a captain he was one of the pro-Russian officers involved in the plot to kidnap Prince Alexander of Battenberg and force his abdication in 1886, for which he was exiled by Prime Minister

Stefan Stambolov Stefan Nikolov Stambolov (; 31 January 1854 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS – 19 July 1895 Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe, OS) was a Bulgarian politician, journalist, revoluti ...

. He then served for ten years in the Russian army, and only returned to Bulgaria after the fall of Stambolov. During the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885), Dimitriev was one of the commanders of the Western Corps and participated in the successful Battle of Pirot. After the war he took part in an unsuccessful coup d'état; emigrated to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and became a member of the club of the Emigrant Officers. Later he emigrated to Russia and served in the Russian Army. He returned to Bulgaria in 1898, and became a second in command in the 5th Danube Infantry Division. On 18 May 1900, he was promoted to Colonel and was the Head of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army from 1904 to 1907. On 2 August 1912, Radko Dimitriev was promoted to Lieutenant General. During the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and involved actions of the Balkan League (the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Greece, Greece and Kingdom of Montenegro, Montenegro) agai ...

(1912–1913), he was in command of the 3rd Army which decisively defeated the

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 ...

at Lozengrad and Lule Burgas in

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. During the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...

in 1913, he replaced general Mihail Savov as deputy commander-in-chief. Later that year after the end of the war he was sent as a

Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

to Saint Petersburg, Russia.

First World War

During the

First World War 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 ...

(1914–1918) he served in the Russian Army as a commander of a corps. At the beginning of spring 1915, Radko Dimitriev commanded the 3rd Army in Galicia facing the Austrians along the line of Gorlice-Tarnów. His role was to hold the line while the Russian 11th and 12th armies in

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

renewed the offensive through the Carpathians towards Hungary.
In April 1915 despite knowing that German troops had replaced those of Austro-Hungary in the area of

Gorlice Gorlice () is a town and an urban municipality ("gmina") in south-eastern Poland with around 29,500 inhabitants (2008). It is situated south east of Kraków and south of Tarnów between Jasło and Nowy Sącz in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (sinc ...

, Radko Dimitriev had made no preparations to counter a German offensive or fortify his positions. The trenches in his sector were crude and in many places there was no second line of defence. In the breakthrough area of Gorlice 5½ Russian divisions (60,000 men) of poorly trained conscripts faced the 10 German divisions of the 11th army under Mackensen with 700 guns including many of heavy caliber, while the Russians had only 140 light field guns. The concentrated bombardment which opened the Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive on 2 May 1915 tore the front open, but initially General Alexeev at

Stavka The ''Stavka'' ( Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка, ) is a name of the high command of the armed forces used formerly in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrat ...

refused to take the offensive seriously; Stavka remained convinced that main German attack would come in the north, and were focused on their own offensive in the south. A Russian counterattack was ordered by Stavka and took place at Dokra Pass on 7 May 1915 but this became a senseless massacre. Consequently, much of the 3rd Army was either cut off or destroyed by the time Stavka allowed Radko Dimitriev to order a retreat on 10 May 1915, and only 40,000 out of an army of 200,000 reached the River San. Radko Dimitriev claimed correctly that his army had been "bled white" but was removed from command 2 June 1915 and replaced by General Leonid Lesh. Sir Bernard Pares, who met Radko Dimitriev several times when he was covering the war on the Eastern Front, and knew him well, described him thus:

"General Radko Dimitriev is a short and sturdily built man with quick brown eyes and a profile reminiscent of Napoleon. He talks quickly and shortly, sometimes drums on the table with his fingers, and now and then makes a rapid dash for the matches. The daily visit of the Chief of the Staff is short, because, as the General says on his return, simple business is done quickly. Every piece of his incisive conversation holds together as part of a single and clear view of the whole military position, of which the watchword is 'Forward'."

After he was appointed to fight against the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

in the

Caucasus campaign The Caucasus campaign comprised armed conflicts between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, later including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, the German Empire, the Central Caspian Dict ...

out of favour, he was reappointed in late 1916 to command the 12th army on the Riga front, but in summer 1917 Alexeyev dismissed his commander-in-chief at the front, Ruszky, and the army commander Radko Dimitriev, for weakness and indulgence to the soldiers' committees that had sprung up everywhere after the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in 1917. Radko Dimitriev fled to the resort town of

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (; Circassian languages, Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody, which has an i ...

in the

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

. There in October 1918 he was executed by the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

References

Bibliography

* Недев, С., ''Командването на българската войска през войните за национално обединение'', София, 1993, Военноиздателски комплекс „Св. Георги Победоносец“, 57–58. * Димитров, И., ''Съединението 1885 – енциклопедичен справочник'', София, 1985, Държавно издателство „д-р Петър Берон“, 92–93. * Бутаков, Я.
''Как болгарский посол стал русским генералом''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimitriev, Radko 1859 births 1918 deaths People from Kotel, Bulgaria Bulgarian generals Bulgarian people of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) People of the Serbo-Bulgarian War Bulgarian military personnel killed in World War I Bulgarian military personnel of the Balkan Wars Recipients of the Order of Bravery Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Recipients of the Legion of Honour Ambassadors of Bulgaria to Russia Victims of the Red Terror in Soviet Russia Imperial Russian Army generals Bulgarian people executed abroad People executed by Russia by firearm Bulgarian people murdered abroad People from the Ottoman Empire Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni