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OF BULGARIA Ferdinand I
1861 - 1948

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• Birth	26 Feb 1861	Vienna, Austria
  Gender	Male
  Died	10 Sep 1948	Coburg, Germany
  Notes	In 1878, Russia forced Turkey to give Bulgaria its independence after the Russo-Turkish War (1877-78), but the European powers, fearing Russia's and Bulgaria's dominance in the Balkans, intervened at the Congress of Berlin (1878), limited Bulgaria's territory, and fashioned it into a small principality ruled by the nephew of the Russian czar, Alexander of Battenburg. Alexander was succeeded in 1887 by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who declared a kingdom independent of Russia on Oct. 5, 1908. In the First Balkan War (1912-13), Bulgaria and the other members of the Balkan League fought against Turkey to regain Balkan territory. Angered by the small portion of Macedonia it received after the battle-it considered Macedonia an integral part of Bulgaria-the country instigated the Second Balkan War (June-Aug. 1913) against Turkey as well as its former allies. Bulgaria lost the war and all the territory it had gained in the First Balkan War. Bulgaria joined Germany in World War I in the hope of again gaining Macedonia. After this second failure, Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his son in 1918. Boris III squandered Bulgaria's resources and assumed dictatorial powers in 1934-35. Bulgaria fought on the side of the Nazis in World War II, but after Russia declared war on Bulgaria on Sept. 5, 1944, Bulgaria switched sides. Three days later, on Sept. 9, 1944, a Communist coalition took control of the country and set up a government under Kimon Georgiev.
  Person ID	I4510	Royal Family of Europe
  Last Modified	15 Dec 2001

  
  

  Father	OF SAXE-COBURG Augustus,   b. 1818, Germany ,   d. 1881
  Mother	OF FRANCE Clementine,   b. 1817, France ,   d. 1907
  Married	1843
  Family ID	F1138	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	OF PARMA Mary Louise,   b. 1870, Parma, Italy ,   d. 1899
  Married	1893
  Children	> 1. BULGARIA Boris III of, King of Bulgaria,   b. 30 Jan 1894, Sofia, Bulgaria ,   d. 28 Aug 1943, Sofia, Bulgaria   2. OF BULGARIA Nadezhda,   b. 1899, , , Bulgaria ,   d. 1958
  Family ID	F1085	Group Sheet