FERDINAND I, king of. Bulgaria: b. Vienna, 26 Feb. 1861. He is the youngest son of the late Prince Augustus of Saxe-Coburg and Princess Clementine of Bourbon-Orleans, a daughter of Louis Philippe. He received an excellent education and showed a marked apti tude for the study of natural history. The re sults of his botanical observations on a trip which he made to Brazil in 1879 were published at Vienna (1883-88). While serving in the Austrian army he was offered in 1886 the va cant throne of Bulgaria, and on 14 Aug. 1887 took the oath to the constitution and the title of prince. Although thoroughly acceptable to his subjects, he was not recognized by Turkey or the great powers until 1896. In 1893 he mar ried Marie Louise of Bourbon, eldest daughter of Duke Robert of Parma, and the next year the Bulgarian Sobranje confirmed the title of Royal Highness to the prince and his heir. Fer dinand has continued to adhere to the Roman Catholic faith, the constitution making an ex ception in his case only. In 1908 Prince Ferdi nand took as second wife, Eleanor, a princess of the house of Reuss, and in the same year, taking account of the increased prosperity of his country and the difficulties, foreign and domes tic, which beset Turkey, he proclaimed the full independence of Bulgaria and assumed the title of king (tsar). His royal title was recognized by Turkey and the Powers in 1909. Ferdinand
favored the formation of the Balkan League and the prosecution of the Balkan War of 1912— 13. In the first period of that struggle the prow ess of Bulgarian arms was such as to enhance the king's prestige, hut the lamentable quarrel of Bulgaria with her former allies and the piti able collapse of his country in the Second Bal kan War discredited Ferdinand, both at home and abroad. Although by the final settlements of 1913 his kingdom had been materially en larged by the incorporation of part of Thrace, including some 60 miles of seacoast on the 2Egean, Ferdinand was deeply chagrined that a relatively larger territory had not been se cured, and he even considered abdication. On 13 Oct. 1915 Bulgaria joined the Central em pires against the Entente Allies and invaded Serbia, which, with the aid of the Austro-Ger man armies, it reduced. In July 1916 Rumania entered the war and Russia was enabled to send armies through Rumania to attack the Bul garian armies, which were menaced also by the Anglo-French forces operating north from Salonica. After the surrender of Bulgaria to the Allies at the end of September 1918, Tsar Ferdinand abdicated on 3 October in favor of his son, Prince Boris, and left Bulgaria the following day. The first decree signed by the new monarch was one demobilizing the Bul garian army.