Todor Dimitrov Kantardzhiev (10 February 1861 – 4 January 1945) 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 ...

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 ...

and doctor.

Biography

Todor Kantardzhiev was born on 10 February 1861 in

Samokov Samokov ( ) List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, is a town in Sofia Province in the southwest of Bulgaria. It is situated in Samokov Valley between the mountain ranges of Rila, Vitosha and Sredna Gora, 55 kilometres from the capital Sofia. Due ...

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 ...

(Now modern

) and died on 4 January 1945. On 20 June 1878, he enlisted in military service. In 1884, he graduated from

Vasil Levski National Military University The Vasil Levski National Military University () is Bulgaria's national military academy. History Founded in 1878 as a military school in Plovdiv, it was moved to Sofia the same year. On 19 April 1924, it was promoted to university status; in ...

in Sofia on 30 August and was promoted to leytenant. Afterwards he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Battalion Sofia.

War career

The Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885)

Kandardzhiev commanded the 14th company of the 1st Infantry Battalion Sofia throughout the

Serbo-Bulgarian War The Serbo-Bulgarian War or the Serbian–Bulgarian War (, ''Srăbsko-bălgarska voyna'', , ''Srpsko-bugarski rat''), a war between the Kingdom of Serbia and the Principality of Bulgaria, erupted on and lasted until . Despite Bulgaria's statu ...

. With his regiment he participated in the defense of Slivnitsa and the Battle of Pirot. After the war ended he was awarded the Order of Courage IV Grade 2 class. On 30 August 1886, he was promoted to Starshy leytenant. He later commanded the 16th Infantry Regiment the same year. In 1889 he was promoted to

Kapitan Capitan and Kapitan are equivalents of the English Captain in other European languages. Capitan, Capitano, and Kapitan may also refer to: Places in the United States * Capitan, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Capitan, New Mexico, a villa ...

. In 1893 he graduated from a military academy in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. After his return to Bulgaria he was promoted to

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

in 1894 then to the rank of

Podpolkovnik ''Podpolkovnik'' () is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. In different languages the exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spelling ...

in 1899. In 1901 he became the former Chief of Staff in the 1st Infantry Division and then became a teacher in military school. Though Todor Kantardzhiev's military career continued - on 2 August 1903 he was promoted to

Polkovnik (; ) is a military rank used mostly in Slavic-speaking countries which corresponds to a colonel in English-speaking states, ''coronel'' in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking states and ''oberst'' in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countr ...

. In 1904, he commanded the 1st Brigade and the 9th Infantry Division in

Pleven Pleven ( ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in ...

, and from 1909 he commanded the 2nd Brigade and the 2nd Infantry Division in

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

for a little while.

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 ...
(1912-13)

During the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defeated it, in the ...

Kantardzhiev commanded the 1st brigade of the 6th " Bdin" Infantry Division ( bg) and participated in the battles of Kirk Kilisse, Lule Burgas and

Çatalca Çatalca () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 1142 km2, making it the largest district in Istanbul Province by area. Its population is 77,468 (2022). It is in Eas ...

. 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 ...

, it fought at the

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

n Military Theater - at

Strumica Strumica (, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedonian (PDF) in so ...

, Pechchevo, and Mount

Ruen Ruen (, ; ) is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of Burgas Province. It is the administrative centre of Ruen municipality, which lies in the northern part of Burgas Province. Municipality Ruen municipality includes the following 41 place ...

. After the war, Colonel Kantardzhiev commanded the 5th Infantry Division from 1913 to 1914, then on 14 February 1914 he was promoted to General-mayor.

World War I

At the beginning of the First World War Kantardzhiev was re-mobilized and in September 1915 and was appointed Chief of the rear management of the Third Bulgarian Army. In 1916 he became head of the Varna Fortress. On August 27, 1916, Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary, for its part, Bulgaria, as an ally, declares war on Romania on September 1, 1916. With the units it collected, Kantardzhiev formed the right wing of the 3rd Army which later became the basis of the newly formed Combined Division. Under his command, the division conducted multiple military operations at the mouth of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. It became famous for the release of Dobrich from

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 ...

n occupation.Telegram text on the successes in Dobrich: "Telegram. (Dobrich, September 7, 1916) Our valiant troops subsequently destroyed the Romanian infantry and the Russian cavalry that day, and yesterday the Russian infantry broke down. The chief of Varna, eneral Major Kantardzhiev fortified the point." Following the surrender of

in 1917, him and his unit were stationed on the Macedonian Front.

Military Promotion History

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

(1878) *

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

(1878) * NCO (1879) * Feldfebel (1879) * Second Lieutenant (30 August 1884) *

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 ...

(August 30, 1886) *

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 ...

(1889) *

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 ...

(1894) * Lieutenant Colonel (1899) *

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 ...

(2 August 1903) * Major General (February 14, 1914) *

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 ...

(15 August 1917)

Awards

* Military Order "For Bravery" IV grade 2 nd grade * Military Order of Courage Grade III Grade 1 (World War I) * Iron Cross II class (World War I) * Iron Cross 1st Class (World War I) * Military Merit Order, Class II, with military decoration, Austro-Hungary (World War I) * Likat Order, Ottoman Empire (World War I) * Iron Crescent Order, Ottoman Empire (World War I) * The Order of St. Alexander “Grade III with swords and Grade IV without swords * People's Order " For Military Merit " Grade III with Military Distinction * People's Order of Military Merit I degree with military honors * Medal of Merit , Ottoman Empire (May 11, 1917)

Notes

Sources

* Kantardzhiev, T., The Dobrich Epic, Sofia, 1926. 224 p., 1 k. * Nedev, S., The Command of the Bulgarian Army during the National Unity Wars, Sofia, 1993, Military Publishing Complex "St. Georgi Pobedonosets", pp. 173 - 174 * Stefan Stefanov. "From Slivnitsa to Serret, from sergeant to commander" * Rumenin, Rumen. Officers Corps in Bulgaria 1878 - 1944 Vol. 3 and 4. Sofia, Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense "St. George the Winner", 1996. * Yotov, Petko, Dobrev, Angel, Milenov, Blagoy. The Bulgarian Army in the First World War (1915 - 1918): A brief encyclopedic reference book. Sofia, St. George the Winner, 1995.