Nikola Ivanov Ivanov was born on 2 March 1861 in
Kalofer. He studied in the
Aprilov National High School in
Gabrovo and then in the Imperial lyceum Galasaray in
Istanbul (1875–1877). He participated in the
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) as a volunteer. After the war he stayed for a short time in
Plovdiv before going to the Military School in
Sofia in 1878 which he graduated in the next year. On 22 May 1879 he was promoted to
lieutenant. In the same year he was appointed in the
Eastern Rumelia militia as a junior officer and served in 1st and 2nd Plovdiv Company. On 9 February 1881 he was promoted to
first lieutenant. He participated in the
Unification of Bulgaria. On 9 September 1885 he was promoted to
captain and with Order No. 4 was appointed for commander of the Tarnovo-Seymen Detachment on the same day.
Serbo-Bulgarian War During the
Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885 he worked for the chief of the Central Column of the Western Detachment. He participated in the
Battle of Pirot on 14–15 November. After the war in 1886 he was appointed as
Fligel Adjutant of
Knyaz Alexander Batenberg and after that as Chief of the Building-Inspection department on the Ministry of Defense. On 1 April 1887 he was promoted to
major. In 1888 he was commander of the 10th Infantry Regiment, in 1889 he was
chief of staff of the 4th Brigade and in 1890 of the 4th Cavalry Regiment. On 2 August he was promoted to
lieutenant colonel. After that he was assistant to the Chief of the Headquarters of the Army (1891–1894) and then Chief of the Headquarters (1894–1896). On 2 August 1895 he was promoted to
colonel. Between 17 November and 29 November 1896 he was temporarily in charge of the Ministry of Defense. Nikola Ivanov was a Minister of Defense in the Government of
Konstantin Stoilov (1896–1899), commanded the
4th Preslav Infantry Division (1899–1903) and the
2nd Thracian Infantry Division (1903–1907). On 15 November 1900 he was promoted to
major general. From 1907 he was appointed as head of the 2nd Military inspection region. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his arrival in Bulgaria,
Tsar Ferdinand promoted six major generals to
lieutenant general on 2 August 1912, and Ivanov was one of them. This was the first time in the
Third Bulgarian Kingdom when that rank was given to active officers.
Balkan Wars During the
First Balkan War, Nikola Ivanov commanded the
2nd Army between September 1912 and July 1913. He was in charge of the siege and
capture of Adrianople. During the
Second Balkan War in 1913, the outnumbered 2nd Army led fierce battles against the whole Greek army and had to retreat after the
Battle of Kilkis-Lahanas and later stopped and surrounded the Greeks in the
Battle of Kresna Gorge. Ivanov was substituted in the command of the 2nd Army in July 1913 and on 7 August after the cease-fire he resigned from the army. During the
First World War, he remained in the reserve. At that time he acted as a public figure and publicist. He was elected for chairman of the club of the reserve officers in Sofia. On 6 May 1936 he was promoted to General of the Infantry. General Nikola Ivanov died on 10 September 1940 in Sofia. ==Bibliography==