Damyan Velchev

From 1925 to 1935 he was the leader of the Military League (Bulgaria) (1919–1947), an organization of Bulgarian officers which carried the 1923, 1934 and 1944 coup d'etats.

In 1934 he led the pro-Zveno coup, but did not become a minister and stayed in the background.

[1] After King Boris III's counter-coup of 1935 Velchev fled abroad, but later slipped back into the country wanting to make another coup d'état and was arrested.

In 1944 the Fatherland Front seized power and Velchev became Minister of Defence with the rank of colonel general.

Later he became ambassador to Switzerland as an act by the communists to keep him away from Bulgarian matters, but in 1947 he resigned and asked for political asylum.