, image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg
, caption = Ferdinand in 1912
, reign = 5 October 1908 –
, coronation =
, succession =
Tsar of Bulgaria
, predecessor = Himself as Prince
, successor =
Boris III
, reign2 = 7 July 1887 – 5 October 1908
, succession2 =
Prince of Bulgaria
The monarchs of Bulgaria ruled the country during three periods of Bulgaria's history as an independent country: from the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 to the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018; from the Uprising of Asen ...
, predecessor2 =
Alexander
, successor2 = Himself as Tsar
, spouse =
, issue =
, house =
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry
, father =
Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
, mother =
Princess Clémentine of Orléans
, birth_date = 26 February 1861
, birth_place =
Vienna,
Austrian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place =
Coburg,
Allied-occupied Germany
, burial_place =
St. Augustin, Coburg
St. Augustine's Church (german: St. Augustin) is a parish church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg located in the Bavarian town of Coburg, Germany. It was built between 1856 and 1860. Originally designed in the Gothic Revival style, t ...
, religion =
Roman Catholic
, signature = BASA-600К-1-1860-1-Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, signature, 1889.jpg
Ferdinand ( bg, Фердинанд I; 26 February 1861 – 10 September 1948),
[ Louda, 1981, ''Lines of Succession'', Table 149] born Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Фердинанд Максимилиан Карл Леополд Мария Сакс-Кобург и Гота), was the second monarch of the
Third Bulgarian State
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hig ...
, firstly as
ruling prince (''
knyaz
, or ( Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...
'') from 1887 to 1908, and later as king (''
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
'') from 1908 until his abdication in 1918. Under his rule
Bulgaria entered the First World War on the side of the
Central Powers in 1915.
Family background
Ferdinand was born on 26 February 1861 in
Vienna, a German prince of the
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. He was the son of
Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and his wife
Clémentine of Orléans, daughter of King
Louis Philippe I of the French.
Princess Maria Antonia Koháry was a Hungarian Noble and heiress who married Ferdinand’s grandfather,
Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Ferdinand was raised in his parents’ Catholic faith and baptised in
St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna on 27 February, having as godparents
Archduke Maximilian of Austria and his wife
Princess Charlotte of Belgium. He grew up in the cosmopolitan environment of
Austro-Hungarian
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
high nobility and also in their ancestral lands in
Hungary and in Germany. The
House of Koháry descended from an immensely wealthy Upper Hungarian noble family, who held the princely lands of
Čabraď and Sitno in present-day
Slovakia, among others. The family's property was augmented by
Clémentine of Orléans' remarkable dowry.
[Constant, ''Foxy Ferdinand, 1861-1948, Tsar of Bulgaria'' (1979).]
Ferdinand was a grandnephew of
Ernest I, Duke of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and of
Leopold I, first king of the Belgians. His father August was a brother of King
Ferdinand II of Portugal, and also a first cousin to
Queen Victoria, her husband
Albert,
Empress Carlota of Mexico and her brother
Leopold II of Belgium. These last two, Leopold and Carlota, were also first cousins of Ferdinand I's through his mother, a princess of Orléans. This made the Belgian siblings his first cousins, as well as his first cousins once removed. Indeed, the House of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha had contrived to occupy, either by marriage or by direct election, several European thrones in the course of the 19th century. Following the family trend, Ferdinand was himself to found the royal dynasty of Bulgaria.
Prince of Bulgaria
The previous ruling prince of Bulgaria,
Alexander of Battenberg, had abdicated in 1886 after a
pro-Russian coup, only seven years after he had been elected.
[ Finestone, 1981, ''The Last Courts of Europe'', p 227] Ferdinand, who was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army, was elected Prince of autonomous
Bulgaria by its Grand National Assembly on 7 July 1887 in the
Gregorian calendar (the "New Style" used hereinafter).
The throne had been previously offered, before Ferdinand's acceptance, to princes from Denmark to the Caucasus and even to the King of Romania.
[ Louda, 1981, ''Lines of Succession'', p 297] The Russian tsar himself had nominated his aide,
Nichols Dadian of Mingrelia, but his candidacy was rejected by the Bulgarians. Ferdinand's accession was greeted with disbelief in many of the royal houses of Europe;
Queen Victoria, his father's first cousin, stated to her Prime Minister, "He is totally unfit ... delicate, eccentric and effeminate ... Should be stopped at once."
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 83] To the amazement of his initial detractors, Ferdinand generally made a good account of himself during the first two decades of his reign.
Bulgaria's domestic political life was dominated during the early years of Ferdinand's reign by liberal party leader
Stefan Stambolov, whose foreign policy saw a marked cooling in relations with Russia, formerly seen as Bulgaria's protector.
Stambolov's fall (May 1894) and subsequent assassination (July 1895) - likely planned by Ferdinand - paved the way for a reconciliation of Bulgaria with Russia, effected in February 1896 with Ferdinand's decision to convert his infant son, Prince Boris, from
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
to
Eastern Orthodox Christianity. However, this move earned him the animosity of his Catholic Austrian relatives, particularly that of his uncle, Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria, as well as being excommunicated by
Pope Leo XIII.
Tsar of Bulgaria
On 5 October 1908 (celebrated on 22 September), Ferdinand proclaimed Bulgaria's ''de jure'' independence from the Ottoman Empire (though the country had been ''de facto'' independent since 1878). He also proclaimed Bulgaria a kingdom, and assumed the title of ''tsar''—a deliberate nod to the rulers of the earlier Bulgarian states.
However, while the title ''tsar'' was translated as "emperor" in the First and Second Bulgarian empires, it was translated as "
king" under Ferdinand and his successors. The
Bulgarian Declaration of Independence
The ''de jure'' independence of Bulgaria ( bg, Независимост на България, ''Nezavisimost na Bǎlgariya'') from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed on in the old capital of Tarnovo by Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria, who afte ...
was proclaimed by him at the
Holy Forty Martyrs Church in
Tarnovo, and was recognized by the Ottoman Empire and the other European powers.
The
Tarnovo Constitution was retained, with the word "prince" replaced by the word "tsar."
Ferdinand was known for being quite a character. On a visit to
German Emperor Wilhelm II, his second cousin once removed, in 1909, Ferdinand was leaning out of a window of the
New Palace in Potsdam when the Emperor came up behind him and slapped him on the bottom. Ferdinand was affronted by the gesture but the Kaiser refused to apologize. Ferdinand however exacted his revenge by awarding a valuable arms contract he had intended to give to the
Krupp
The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
's factory in
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
to French arms manufacturer
Schneider-Creusot.
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', pp 8–9] Another incident occurred on his journey to the funeral of his second cousin King
Edward VII of the United Kingdom in 1910. A tussle broke out over where his private railway carriage would be positioned in relation to the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne,
Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Archduke won out, having his carriage positioned directly behind the engine. Ferdinand's was placed directly behind. Realising the dining car of the train was behind his own carriage, Ferdinand obtained his revenge on the Archduke by refusing him entry through his own carriage to the dining car.
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 7] On 15 July the same year during a visit to Belgium, Ferdinand also became the first head of state to fly in an airplane. He awarded the pilot of the plane with a medal when they landed.
Balkan Wars 1912-1913
Like many other rulers before him, Ferdinand desired the creation of a "new
Byzantium
Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...
", a desire that has to be interpreted as wanting to create a significant, essentially Christian, Balkan power, given that Bulgaria and Bulgarians had neither cultural, ethnic, historical nor linguistic affinity with the old
Byzantine Empire, which was quintessentially
Roman and, evolving through the centuries,
Greek.
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 86] In 1912, Ferdinand joined the other Balkan states in an assault on the Ottoman Empire to free occupied territories. He saw this war as a new crusade declaring it, "a just, great and sacred struggle of the Cross against the Crescent."
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 87] Bulgaria contributed the most and also lost the greatest number of soldiers. The
Great Powers
A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...
insisted on the creation of an
independent Albania.
Though the
Balkan League allies had fought together against the common enemy in the
First Balkan War, that was not enough to overcome their mutual rivalries. In the original documents for the Balkan League, Serbia had been pressured by Bulgaria to hand over most of
Vardar Macedonia after it had conquered it from the Ottoman Empire. However Serbia, in response to the new Albanian state receiving territory in the north that it had expected to gain for itself, said that it would keep possession of the areas that its forces had occupied. Soon after, Bulgaria began the
Second Balkan War when it invaded its recent allies Serbia and Greece to seize disputed areas, before being attacked itself by Romania and the Ottoman Empire. Although Bulgaria was defeated, the 1913
Treaty of Bucharest granted the Kingdom some territorial gains. The region of
Western Thrace
Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...
, giving access to the
Aegean Sea was secured.
First World War and abdication 1915-1918
On 11 October 1915, the Bulgarian army
attacked Serbia after signing a treaty with
Austria-Hungary and Germany stating that Bulgaria would gain the territory it sought at the expense of Serbia. While he was not an admirer of German Emperor Wilhelm II or
Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I—whom he described as "that idiot, that old dotard of a Francis Joseph".
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 126]—Ferdinand wanted additional territorial gains after the humiliation of the Balkan Wars. This also entailed forming an alliance with his former enemy, the
Ottoman Empire. This ranging of his country with the Central Powers made him a de facto supporter of Germany’s war aims and was not well received by the Allies.
Edmund Gosse wrote:
“In this war, where the ranks of the enemy present to us so many formidable, sinister, and shocking figures, there is one, and perhaps but one, which is purely ridiculous. If we had the heart to relieve our strained feelings by laughter, it would be at the gross Coburg traitor, with his bodyguard of assassins and his hidden coat-of-mail, his shaking hands and his painted face. The world has never seen a meaner scoundrel, and we may almost bring ourselves to pity the Kaiser, whom circumstances have forced to accept on equal terms a potentate so verminous.”
During the initial phase of World War I, the Tsardom of Bulgaria achieved several decisive victories over its enemies and laid claim to the disputed territories of Macedonia after Serbia's defeat. For the next two years, the Bulgarian army shifted its focus towards repelling Allied advances from nearby Greece. They were also partially involved in the 1916 conquest of neighboring Romania, now ruled by another
Ferdinand I Ferdinand I or Fernando I may refer to:
People
* Ferdinand I of León, ''the Great'' (ca. 1000–1065, king from 1037)
* Ferdinand I of Portugal and the Algarve, ''the Handsome'' (1345–1383, king from 1367)
* Ferdinand I of Aragon and Sicily, '' ...
, who was also Ferdinand's second cousin once removed.
To save the Bulgarian monarchy after multiple military setbacks in 1918, Tsar Ferdinand
abdicated in favour of his eldest son, who became Tsar
Boris III on 3 October 1918.
[ Palmer, 1978, ''The Kaiser'', p 206] Under new leadership, Bulgaria surrendered to the Entente and, as a consequence, lost not only the additional territory it had fought for in the major conflict, but also the territory it had won after the Balkan Wars giving access to the Aegean Sea.
Personal life
Ferdinand married Princess
Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma
, house = Bourbon-Parma
, father = Robert I of Parma
, mother = Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
, spouse = Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria
, consort = yes
, reign = 20 April 1893 – 31 January 1899
, issue = Boris IIIKiril, ...
, daughter of
Robert I, Duke of Parma and
Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, on 20 April 1893 at the Villa Pianore in
Lucca. Steven Constant describes this as a "marriage of convenience". The marriage produced four children:
*
Boris III (1894–1943)
*
Kyril
The given name Kyril or Kyrill is male name, deriving from the Greek name Κύριλλος (Kýrillos) which in turn derives from Greek κύριος (kýrios) " lord". There are many variant forms of the name: Cyril, Cyrill, Cy, Kiril, Kiril ...
(1895–1945)
*
Eudoxia (1898–1985)
*
Nadezhda (1899–1958).
Marie Louise died on 31 January 1899 after giving birth to her youngest daughter. Ferdinand did not think about remarriage until his mother, Princess Clémentine died in 1907. To satisfy dynastic obligations and to provide his children with a mother figure, Ferdinand married
Princess Eleonore Reuss of Köstritz
Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince.
Princess as a subst ...
, on 28 February 1908. Neither romantic love or physical attraction played any role, and Ferdinand treated her as no more than a member of the household, and showed scant regard.
[Stéphane Groueff, ‘’Crown of Thorns: The Reign of King Boris III of Bulgaria, 1918-1943’’, Madison Books, 1998.]
In his private relations, Ferdinand was a somewhat hedonistic individual.
Bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
throughout his life, up until early middle age his inclination was more towards women.
[Constant, Stephen ''Foxy Ferdinand, 1861–1948, Tsar of Bulgaria'', Sidgwick and Jackson, 1979, pp. 96, 266.] He enjoyed affairs with a number of women of humble position, siring a number of illegitimate children whom he then supported financially.
In his later life, rumours abounded of Ferdinand's trysts with lieutenants and valets. His regular holidays on
Capri
Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...
, then a popular holiday destination with wealthy
epicenes, were common knowledge in royal courts throughout Europe.
In 1895 an interview given by the embittered former Prime Minister,
Stefan Stambolov to the ''Frankfurter Zeitung'' created a nine-day scandal across Europe, when he focused strongly on his personal witness of Ferdinand's homosexual interests.
Exile and death 1918-1948
After his abdication, Ferdinand returned to live in
Coburg, Germany. He had managed to salvage much of his fortune and was able to live in some style.
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 201] He saw his being in exile simply as one of the hazards of kingship.
He commented, "Kings in exile are more philosophic under reverses than ordinary individuals; but our philosophy is primarily the result of tradition and breeding, and do not forget that pride is an important item in the making of a monarch. We are disciplined from the day of our birth and taught the avoidance of all outward signs of emotion. The skeleton sits forever with us at the feast. It may mean murder, it may mean abdication, but it serves always to remind us of the unexpected. Therefore we are prepared and nothing comes in the nature of a catastrophe. The main thing in life is to support any condition of bodily or spiritual exile with dignity. If one sups with sorrow, one need not invite the world to see you eat."
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 175] He was pleased that the throne could pass to his son. Ferdinand was not displeased with exile and spent much of his time devoted to artistic endeavors, gardening, travel and natural history.
However, he would live to see the collapse of everything he had held to be precious in life.
His eldest son and successor,
Boris III, died under mysterious circumstances after returning from a visit to Hitler in Germany in 1943. Boris' son,
Simeon II, succeeded him only to be deposed in 1946, ending the Bulgarian monarchy. The Kingdom of Bulgaria was succeeded by the
People's Republic of Bulgaria, under which Ferdinand's other son,
Kyril
The given name Kyril or Kyrill is male name, deriving from the Greek name Κύριλλος (Kýrillos) which in turn derives from Greek κύριος (kýrios) " lord". There are many variant forms of the name: Cyril, Cyrill, Cy, Kiril, Kiril ...
, was executed. On hearing of Kyril's death he said, "Everything is collapsing around me."
[ Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'', p 202]
In 1947 Ferdinand (then 86 years old) secretly married his 26-year-old assistant Alžbeta Brezáková in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
, Germany, much to the displeasure of the members of his family. After his death, she returned to her homeland
Czechoslovakia, where she remarried and had a daughter. Being afraid of what the communist regime might do to her, she only told her daughter about her marriage to Ferdinand two years before her death. She survived her husband by 67 years and died in
Bratislava
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...
, Slovakia in 2015.
Ferdinand died in Bürglass-Schlösschen on 10 September 1948 in
Coburg, Germany, cradle of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty. He was the last surviving grandchild of
Louis-Philippe of France. His final wish was to be buried in Bulgaria. However, the Communist authorities in Bulgaria would not allow it, so he was buried in the family crypt in
St. Augustin, Coburg
St. Augustine's Church (german: St. Augustin) is a parish church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg located in the Bavarian town of Coburg, Germany. It was built between 1856 and 1860. Originally designed in the Gothic Revival style, t ...
.
Honours
Bulgarian
*
Grand Cross of St. Alexander, in Diamonds, ''27 May 1883''
[The Grand Master of the Bulgarian Orders](_blank)
- official website of H.M. Simeon II
* Founder and Grand Master of the
Civil Merit Order
The Civil Order of Saxony, also known as the Saxon Order of Merit, was established on 7 June 1815 by King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony. It was a general order of merit for the royal subjects of the Kingdom of Saxony for distinguished civic servi ...
, ''1891''
* Founder and Grand Master of the
Military Merit Order, ''19 May 1900''
* Founder and Grand Master of the
Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius, ''18 May 1909''
Foreign
Honorary military appointments
* : Colonel of the 54th Minsk Regiment, ''1902''
Ancestors
See also
*
Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius
References
Books
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Historical photographs of the royal palace in Sofia''Encyclopædia Britannica''*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferdinand 01 Of Bulgaria
1861 births
1948 deaths
19th-century Bulgarian monarchs
19th-century LGBT people
20th-century Bulgarian monarchs
Bisexual men
Bisexual military personnel
Bulgarian people of the Balkan Wars
Bulgarian people of World War I
Eastern Orthodox monarchs
Field marshals of Germany
Governors-General of Eastern Rumelia
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Bulgaria)
LGBT royalty
LGBT people from Bulgaria
Monarchs who abdicated
Nobility from Vienna
Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Grand Master of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)
Recipients of the Order of Bravery
Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Grand Crosses of the Military Order of Max Joseph
2
2
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
Annulled Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
Annulled Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class
Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Italy)
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia)
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles
20th-century LGBT people