Nikola Genev

During the preparation of the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) he enlisted in the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps as a Volunteer from the III Volunteer Company. He took part in the Battle of Shipka Pass.[1] For his personal bravery he was awarded the military Order of St. George, IV degree. At the end of the war he was promoted to the rank of junior non-commissioned officer.

After the Liberation he entered the Military School in Sofia. He graduated from the first class in 1879. On May 10 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant . At his own request he was assigned to the III Radomir Infantry Company (inherited the III Company from the Bulgarian Volley). In 1883 he graduated from the Rifle Officer School in St. Petersburg .

Nikola Genev's crosses and awards in the National Museum of Military History

During the Serbo-Bulgarian War, Captain Genev was commander of the III Company of the II Struma Infantry Regiment from September 27, 1885, as well as commander of the Trun detachment. Despite its small composition, it was given the task of slowing down the Moravian Division, which was moving towards the Slivnitsa position. The detachment gained valuable time needed to further strengthen and replenish the army's fighting force.[2] For his participation in the war he was awarded the Order of Bravery, IV st.

From August 13, 1887, he was a senior officer with the rank of major, and in 1892 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1893 to 1900 Nikola Genev was successively commander of the II Infantry Regiment, the XIX Shumen Infantry Regiment and the VII Preslav Infantry Regiment. From 1900 to 1904 he was commander of the 1st Brigade in the VI Bdina Infantry Division . On March 4, 1904, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. He voluntarily went to the reserves.

Memorial plaque of Nikola Genev's home on Hristo Botev Boulevard in Sofia.

During the First Balkan War, Major General Genev returned to the Bulgarian Land Forces. He was appointed commander of the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps, and from October 11, 1912, of the Kardzhali detachment . He took part in the fighting in Aegean Thrace, which ended with the capture of the corps of Yaver Pasha in November of that year. At the beginning of 1913, the militiamen under his command took part in the Battle of Şarköy, where they repulsed a large Turkish landing party.

During the Second Balkan War in 1913, the militia waged military operations against the Serbs near Kochani and Tsarevo Selo. After the end of the war, Lieutenant General Nikola Genev again went into the reserves of the Bulgarian Land Forces.

Nikola Genev was one of the officers who signed the protest letter to Tsar Ferdinand I against Bulgaria's participation in the First World War on the side of the Central Powers and thus, resigned from military service.

Lieutenant General Nikola Genev died on April 12, 1934, in Sofia.

•  Russian Empire: Order of St. George, IV degree