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Ferdinand I von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen of Romania "the Unfortunate" was the second King of Romania, ruling from 1914 to 1927. In 1916, he joined the Weltkrieg on side of the Entente to prove his loyalty to the Romanian people, not to his German ancestry, which turned out to be a great mistake when Romania surrendered in 1917/1918 - Ferdinand would be plagued by feelings of guilt for the rest of his life and eventually died secluded from public life in 1927. The period of his rule is often considered to have been a very liberal, but also very disillusioning era for the Romanian nation.

History[]

Early Life[]

Ferdinand was born in Sigmaringen, an exclave of Prussia in Swabia, Southwestern Germany, as the son of Leopold von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen & Antónia of Portugal. In 1886, he became heir presumptive to the throne of his childless uncle, King Carol I of Romania, who would reign until his death in October 1914.

Ferdinand's mother's first cousin Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria sat on the throne of the neighbouring Bulgaria beginning in 1887, and was to become the greatest opponent of the Kingdom of his Romanian cousins. The neighboring Emperor Franz Joseph, monarch of Austria-Hungary and as such, ruler of Transylvania, was Ferdinand's grandmother's first cousin.

Ferdinand, a complete stranger in his new home, started to get close to one of the Queen's ladies in waiting, Elena Văcărescu. The romance was encouraged by the Queen herself, although she was perfectly aware of the fact that a marriage between the two was forbidden by the Romanian constitution (according to the 1866 Constitution of Romania, the heir-presumptive to the throne was not allowed to marry a Romanian).

The affair caused a sort of dynastic crisis in 1891. The result of this was the exile of both Elisabeth and Elena, as well as a trip by Ferdinand through Europe in search of a suitable bride, whom he eventually found in Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Marie of Edinburgh. They married on 10 January 1893.

King of Romania[]

On 10 October 1914, King Carol passed away aged & Ferdinand was crowned as the new King of Romania. Around the same time, dark clouds would arise over Europe and plunge the world into history's deadliest conflict, the Weltkrieg. Though a member of a cadet branch of Germany's ruling Hohenzollern imperial family, Ferdinand presided over his country's entry into the war on the side of the Triple Entente powers against the Central Powers on 27 August 1916. Thus he gained the nickname "The Loyal", respecting his oath when sworn in before the Romanian Parliament in 1914: "I will reign as a good Romanian." First and foremost, Ferdinand had of course declared war against the Central Powers in the hope of increasing his popularity among the Romanian population by presenting himself as a true Romanian and not as a German puppet; Additionally, he hoped to finally unite the three medieval Romanian Principalities by conquering Hungarian Transylvania.

The Weltkrieg[]

The war would start relatively successfully for Romania: An invasion of Transylvania and Banat and a naval raid on Austrian ships on the Danube proved to bear fruit soon, London and Paris were convinced that Romania's entry into the war would be the death blow for the struggling Central Powers, that simultanously had to fight the French at Verdun and the Russians in the midst of the Brusilov Offensive. However, Erich Ludendorff already had a plan in mind to deal with the Romanians: A multi-national force led by August von Mackensen composed of Bulgarians, Germans, Ottomans and Austrians pushed into Dobruja, soon capturing major cities like Constanta and Dobrich. Around the same time, another army under the command of Erich von Falkenhayn started a counteroffensive in Transylvania, slowly pushing the Romanians, so that by 25 October, the Romanian army was back to its initial positions. The Central Powers succeeded in taking the strategic initiative in Transylvania by concentrating significant military forces rapidly brought in from the other theatres of operations in Europe and exploiting a quick shift of Romanian units to the battlefront in Dobruja.

WIP

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