The representatives of the Great Powers in Sofia officially present their letters of credence to Prince Ferdinand I, recognizing him in the sense of the Treaty of Berlin.
Prince Ferdinand I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was a German prince, prince (1887 – 1908) and king (1908 – 1918) of Bulgaria.
He was born on February 26, 1861 in Vienna. He is the son of the Austrian gen. Prince Augustus and Princess Clementine, daughter of King Louis Philippe of France. Ferdinand I was a second lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army when a Bulgarian deputation sent around European countries to look for a Bulgarian prince stopped at him.
On June 25, 1887, his candidacy was approved by the III Supreme Court (1886 – 1887).
Initially his election was not recognized by Russia and the other Great Powers.
In 1893, the Tarnovo constitution was changed, which created conditions for the prince to marry Princess Maria Luisa of Bourbon-Parma. After the transition of heir to the throne Boris to the Eastern Orthodox faith and the restoration of diplomatic relations with Russia in 1896, Ferdinand I was recognized by the European countries as a Bulgarian prince.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the prince gradually strengthened his power and imposed the so-called personal regime. On September 22, 1908, Bulgaria's independence was proclaimed and Ferdinand I assumed the title of king.
Ferdinand I of Saxe-Coburg was responsible for declaring the War of the Allies in 1913
and Bulgaria's first national disaster.
Under his influence, Bulgaria joined the Triple Alliance during the First World War from 1914–1918
The second national catastrophe that followed forced Ferdinand I to abdicate the Bulgarian throne on October 3, 1918 in favor of his son Boris III.
After leaving the country, he returned to his ancestral estates in Coburg, Germany, where he died, recalls "Focus".