After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914. under the influence of Tsar Ferdinand I, Bulgarian foreign policy oriented towards the Central Powers - the Austro-German bloc.
Despite the military successes at the front - the defeat of Serbia (November-December 1915), the victory over Romania (September-October 1916) and over Russia (March 3, 1918), Bulgaria suffered a national catastrophe at the end of the war. Soon after the breakthrough at Dobro Pole in southern Macedonia, the Armistice of Thessaloniki and the capitulation of Bulgaria on September 30, forced by circumstances, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated on October 3, 1918 in favor of his son - Prince Boris Turnovski (Tsar Boris III), and left the country.
After not being allowed by his cousin, the Austrian emperor Charles I, to stay in his estates in western Hungary (today Burgenland, Austria), Ferdinand I headed to the city of Coburg in Germany, where he lived since October 7, 1918. until his death. In the 20s of the 20th century, he undertook long research trips around South America, where he was solemnly received in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay (December 1927 - April 1928), as well as in East Africa and Egypt. Participates in international scientific congresses on botany and ornithology.
The old tsar was never allowed to visit Bulgaria again, despite his repeated insistences, especially in 1937 at the birth of his grandson - Crown Prince Simeon Turnovski.
He died at the age of 87 in his home in the center of Coburg on September 10, 1948, having survived the death of his two sons and the end of the dynasty in Bulgaria. His coffin was placed in the crypt of the Catholic church “St. Augustine“ in Coburg, in front of the sarcophagi of his mother and father. It remains there to this day.
Source: marica.bg