Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria (February 26, 1861 - September 10, 1948), born Prince Ferdinand Maximilan Karl Leopold Maria of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was the Prince Regnant and later King of Bulgaria as well as an author, botanist and philatelist.
Ferdinand was born in Vienna, a prince of the Kohary branch of the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The Kohary, descending from a Hungarian family of great magnates, was very wealthy, the Hungarian property also augmented by Clémentine of Orléans' remarkable dowry. The son of Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1818-81) and his wife Clémentine of Orléans (1817-1907), daughter of king Louis Philippe I of the French, Ferdinand was a grand-nephew of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and of Leopold I, first king of the Belgians. His father Augustus was a brother of the Prince Consort of Portugal, and also a first cousin of both Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Indeed, the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg-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.
Ferdinand was proclaimed Prince Regnant of autonomous Bulgaria on 7 July 1887 in the Gregorian calendar (the "New Style" used hereinafter), ten months after the abdication of his predecessor Prince Alexander.
Bulgaria's domestic political life was dominated during the early years of his reign by liberal party leader Stefan Stambolov, whose foreign policy saw a marked cooling in relations with Russia, formerly seen as Bulgaria's protector.
Marriage and family
Despite Ferdinand's evident preference for handsome young blond men, he took his responsibility to wed and father a dynasty with the utmost seriousness, marrying Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma, daughter of Roberto I of Parma on April 20, 1893 at the Villa Pianore in Luccia in Italy, producing four children:
- Boris III (1894-1943)
- Kyril (1895-1945)
- Eudoxia (1898-1985)
- Nadejda (1899-1958). Married Albrecht, Duke of Württemberg.
Following Maria Luisa's death (on 31 January 1899), Ferdinand married Eleonore Caroline Gasparine Louise, Princess Reuss-Köstritz, on 28 February 1908.
Ferdinand's bisexuality was both well-known and exploited throughout European diplomatic circles. His regular holidays on Capri, then a famous haunt for wealthy gay men, was common knowledge in royal courts throughout Europe. It became the custom for visiting dignitaries seeking favour from Ferdinand to be accompanied by a handsome young equerry. A much recounted tale of First World War vintage centred around the occasion the Bulgarian war minister arrived at Ferdinand's quarters to discuss an urgent military matter, only to discover that Ferdinand had left for a picnic with a young man he had just met.
Stambolov's fall (May 1894) and subsequent assassination (July 1895) paved the way for a reconciliation of Bulgaria with Russia, effected in February 1896 with the conversion of the infant Prince Boris from Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Independence and later years
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Ferdinand became Tsar of Bulgaria upon that country's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on 5 October 1908 (celebrated on 22 September). The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed at the Saint Forty Martyrs Church in Turnovo.
The two Balkan Wars of October 1912-July 1913 saw the partial reversal of initial Bulgarian territorial gains.
On October 11 1915, the Bulgarian army attacked Serbia after signing a treaty with Germany and Austria-Hungary which stated that Bulgaria would gain the territory she sought at the expense of Serbia. See Serbian Campaign (World_War_I) for details. At first the war went well, Serbia was defeated and Bulgaria took possession of the disputed land of Macedonia. For the next two years, the Bulgarian army fought a defensive war against the Allied army based in Greece. A small part of the Bulgarian army was involved in the conquest of Rumania in 1916.
Then, in the fall of 1918, the Bulgarian army was badly beaten by an attack from the Allied army in Greece. With his army shattered, King Ferdinand abdicated on October 3, 1918. Bulgaria surrendered to the Allies and once again, lost the territory it had fought for.
He died in Burglassschloßen on September 10, 1948 in Coburg, Germany. Ferdinand I is buried there in St. Augustin's Catholic Church.
References
- Foxy Ferdinand, Tsar of Bulgaria, Stephen Constant, 1979.