Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 252, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 October 1912 — RISE OF FERDINAND, TSAR OF BULGARIA [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RISE OF FERDINAND, TSAR OF BULGARIA

King Ferdinand arrived at Sofia at a moment when the future of the

country seemed far from certain. At that time the departure of Prince Alexander of Battenberg was stlH fresh In the memory of every Bulgarian. The abdication of this popular hero had been followed by a regency, in which Stambuloff —p erh ap s the most powerful man in modern

Bulgarian history—played the allimportant part. It was to the national assembly, which met under the auspices of this regency, and which aeted in strict contravention of the wishes of the Tsar Alexander HI. of Russia, that King Ferdinand owes his crown. Thus, when the yonng prince—then only twenty-six years of age—accepted the rulership of Bulgaria, it seemed as if he was to be encountered by difficulties which only one of the cleverest among men could have surmounted; Throughout the twenty-five years of his reign the qualities which were deficient in Prince Alexander, and which caused his downfall, have consolidated the position of King Ferdinand. His majesty, by his tact, ambition, able statesmanship and diplomatic knowledge, has carried everything before him. Internally and Internationally the reign of King Ferdinand has Tieen what might be compared with a series of stepping-stones from difficulty to success. If his majesty has made use of the various political parties in Bulgaria in order to further his own ends, he has newer lost sight of the ultimate interests of his subjects in so doing. King Ferdinand may occasionally have appointed or procured the retirement of cabinets by somewhat unorthodox means, but while he has always been his own foreign minister, he has at all times placed his entire confidence for all internal affairs In the government actually in power. Perhaps the secret of his success has been that from the first he grasped the fact that the Bulgarians must be ably led by clever diplomacy in order that they should be secured the position of importance among the European nationalities which they so well deserve. During the first period of his reign, which may be said to have lasted from 1887 to 1891 or 1892, the prince, who for the moment wisely contented himself with consolidating his internal position under the guidance of Stambuloff, was practically a figure-head, who merely sanctioned the decisions of the government, led by his all-im-portant adviser. Subsequently, by cleverly and secretly identifying himself with the rising discontent against Stam buloff, the prince was able not only to rid himself of the paramount power of his first prime minister, bat also to secure the goodwill of the population by bringing about the resignation of a man whose regime had grown to be considered as almost tyrannical by Bulgarian public opinion. Thence followed what may be called the second successful period of the reign, during which Ferdinand’s International position was secured.