THE EPOCH OF TSAR FERDINAND 1

The exhibition "The Epoch of Tsar Ferdinand I" is accompanied by a publication including scientific articles by, among others, Professor Andrey Pantev and Dr Alexi Popov. The project is implemented through the Republic of Bulgaria’s EU Communication Strategy programme. The organizers are the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Archives State Agency. The project is implemented in co-operation with the National History Museum, National Military History Museum, National Museum of Natural History , the National Polytechnic Museum, and the “Old Sofia” programme at the Sofia Museum of History .

Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I (1887 -1918) in the historical balance *

Prof. Andrey Pantev PhD

“This article is built on the premise that there can be no assessment without comparisons. In the chronological, regional, socio- political and cultural regard, a significant historical event, process and especially personality cannot be understood if positioned outside their particular cultural and historical environment. If Tsar Ferdinand had left the world before 1912, probably his busts would decorate the streets of most Bulgarian towns and perhaps school corridors, and in spite of the “personal rule” and all the other condemnations, accusations and verdicts, although most historical judgments are not eternal. But it is not so in this case the conditional tense reaffirms its misleading nonsense.
Years ago I introduced a definition that already has been adopted, the “necessary sinner”, for the second monarch of modern Bulgaria. In my belief, the epithet should inform our opinion, but not our understanding of the reasons for the sudden Bulgarian recklessness manifested through 1913 and 1915 and then, after so bright and promising a beginning, neither some variations in the basic pattern of psychological explanations for our historical irreparable misfortune that are not easy to digest.
Why did we lose in the 20th century, which had begun so successfully for us? How is it possible that the largest possible ethnic entity in the Balkans, finally achieved at the end of the XIX century, so important a country, to remain with such constricted borders, to fall into a state of war with four neighbouring countries and to be declared an aggressor? Is there another reason that we have not yet discovered? Should we shift the explanation of this defeat solely on to some “other” side, would the supporting side “witches” help us in our future thoughts and decisions? With them we get rid of all that is oppressive in the crucial failures in our recent history. It is hard to find a historian who has not mentioned it as a reason for our national woes. Good words about him are few and in most cases are inconclusive. But our own responsibility for what has happened to him is not diminished.”
* Excerpt