The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Dynasty of Bulgaria
The Reigns of King Ferdinand I, King Boris III, and King Simeon II
Aug 25, 2009
The Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty ruled Bulgaria when it was a kingdom. The Ottoman Empire had controlled the Bulgarian region from 1396, but the Turks were finally thrown out in 1878. When Bulgaria was united as a country in 1885 it decided to ask a foreign prince to rule it in hopes that an already established royal family would give the country prestige. Bulgaria first asked Prince Alexander of Battenberg, but he proved unpopular and was forced to abdicate a year later in 1886. Bulgaria then looked to the small but dynastically powerful Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty for a ruler.
King Ferdinand I—The Prince Who Made Bulgaria a Kingdom
As a member of the German princely family of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince Ferdinand (1861–1948) was related to the powerful royal families of Great Britain and Russia. But Europe still didn’t recognize him as ruler of Bulgaria until the Turks gave him the title of Royal Highness in 1896. In 1908 he finally felt his country was strong enough to declare complete independence from the Ottoman Empire, and he gave himself the title of King Ferdinand I, often using the title of Tsar as the Russian emperors did.
Wars had mixed results for Bulgaria under King Ferdinand I. After the First Balkan War, Bulgaria was able to help drive the Ottomans almost completely out of Europe, and gained some territory leading to the Aegean Sea. But in the Second Balkan War, Bulgaria attacked its neighbors and lost, losing some land to Romania and only getting a tiny area in Thrace.
When Bulgaria entered WWI in 1915, it was the only Balkan country to ally itself with the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. King Ferdinand I could soon see that Bulgaria was defeated, and right before the armistice in 1918 he abdicated and went to live out his days in Coburg in Germany.
King Boris III
King Boris III (1894–1943) was initially overpowered in his reign by the prime minister, Alexander Stambuliski. After the unpopular Stambuliski was assassinated, the Bulgarian Communists caused a civil war, after which Bulgaria suffered through a series of unsuccessful coalition governments. King Boris III finally decided to take control of Bulgaria and in 1935 gave himself dictatorial powers.
The Germans surrounded Bulgaria during WWII, so King Boris III decided to allow them to use his country as a base of operation during the war. Bulgaria joined the Axis against the Western powers and tried to take back some Macedonian and Thracian provinces. When King Boris III refused to deport the Jews or invade the Soviet Union, however, he was summoned to Austria to see Adolf Hitler. Three days after returning home he mysteriously died, the rumor being that he was poisoned.
King Simeon II—The Exiled King Who Returned as Prime Minister
The king’s young son became King Simeon II (b.1937) when he was only six years old. His mother Queen Ioanna, born Princess Giovanna of Italy, fled with her two young children to Turkey and later Syria. The royal family was able to return when Bulgaria started to fight the Nazis, and young King Simeon II was put under a regency led by his Uncle Kyril.
At the end of the war the Soviets invaded and the communists executed the regents and declared a People’s Republic. King Simeon II was never officially deposed or resigned, but he and his family fled to Egypt. In 1951 the Spanish ruler Francisco Franco invited the Bulgarian royal family to live in Spain, where they have resided ever since.
King Simeon II continued to campaign to return to Bulgaria. He was first allowed back in 1996, and was met with great support from the Bulgarian people. In 2001 he was elected Prime Minister, a post he held until 2005. As Prime Minister, Simeon took an oath to uphold the republican government, and has not made public statements about a desire to become king again. He and other members of the Bulgarian Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty continue to be interested in the people and welfare of Bulgaria.
Source:
Opfell, Olga S. Royalty Who Wait: The 21 Formerly Regnant Houses of Europe. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2001.
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