Boris III | |||||
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Boris III of Bulgaria
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Tsar of Bulgaria | |||||
Reign | 3 October 1918 – 28 August 1943 | ||||
Predecessor | Ferdinand I | ||||
Successor | Simeon II | ||||
Born |
Sofia, Principality of Bulgaria |
30 January 1894||||
Died | 28 August 1943 Sofia, Kingdom of Bulgaria |
(aged 49)||||
Burial | Rila Monastery | ||||
Consort | Giovanna of Italy | ||||
Issue |
Princess Marie Louise Simeon II of Bulgaria |
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House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry | ||||
Father | Ferdinand I of Bulgaria | ||||
Mother | Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma | ||||
Religion |
Eastern Orthodox prev. Roman Catholic |
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Signature |
Full name | |
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Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver |
Styles of King Boris III of Bulgaria |
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Reference style | His Majesty |
Spoken style | Your Majesty |
Alternative style | Sir |
Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Борѝс III Обединител; 30 January [O.S. 18 January] 1894 – 28 August 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver (Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier), son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following the defeat of the Kingdom of Bulgaria during World War I. This was the country's second major defeat in only five years, after the disastrous Second Balkan War (1913). Under the Treaty of Neuilly, Bulgaria was forced to cede new territories and pay crippling reparations to its neighbours, thereby threatening political and economic stability. Two political forces, the Agrarian Union and the Communist Party, were calling for the overthrowing of the monarchy and the change of the government. It was in these circumstances that Boris succeeded to the throne. He distinguished himself during the Second World War by opposing attempts by Adolf Hitler to deport the Jewish population of his country.
Boris was born on 30 January 1894 in Sofia. He was the first son of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria and his wife Princess Marie Louise.
In February 1896, his father paved the way for the reconciliation of Bulgaria and Russia with the conversion of the infant Prince Boris from Roman Catholicism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, a move that earned Ferdinand the frustration of his wife, the animosity of his Catholic Austrian relatives (particularly his uncle Franz Joseph I of Austria) and excommunication from the Catholic Church. In order to remedy this difficult situation, Ferdinand christened all his remaining children as Catholics. Nicholas II of Russia stood as godfather to Boris and met the young boy during Ferdinand's official visit to Saint Petersburg in July 1898.