Mikołaj II wobec pierwszej oficjalnej wizyty Ferdynanda Koburga jako cara bułgarskiego
Nicolas II in the face of Ferdinand Coburg’s first official visit as the Bulgarian tsar

Summary/Abstract: The article entitled Nicolas II in the face of Ferdinand Coburg’s first official visit as the Bulgarian tsar depicts Ferdinand Coburg’s first official visit as the sovereign of Bulgaria. It also describes the attitude of the tsar Nicolas II to Ferdinand’s visit in Russia. To facilitate the understanding of the situation the short history of the creation of Bulgaria in 1878 and the contribution of Russia to this process were depicted. Later on, the attention of the readers is drawn to the period of Ferdinand’s ruling after August 14, 1887, especially the moment of striving for Nicolas II’s favour after 1896 and the trials to improve the relations with Russia. The relations deteriorated in 1908 when Ferdinand, encouraged by Austria- Hungary, announced the full independence of Bulgaria and called himself the tsar. In Russian society the events were welcomed positively but the Russian government members and the tsar Nicolas II accepted the changes unwillingly as they had been introduced without the agreement of Russia. In this atmosphere the first official visit of the sovereign of Bulgaria took place in 1909 in Russia. The issues connected with the ceremonial of the welcome greeting appeared problematic at that time. The skillful behaviour of Ferdinand created the situation in which he was welcomed as the sovereign equal to Nicolas II. The visit became the foundation for the next meeting between Russia and Bulgaria.

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