Ferdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand I ruled Romania from 1914 to 1927 and doubled the size of the country by declaring war on his own family's empire. Born in Sigmaringen in 1865, he was a Catholic German prince of the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen line, and was brought to Romania as heir to his childless uncle Carol I, learning the language and converting his children to Orthodoxy. He married Marie of Edinburgh, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and of Tsar Alexander II, in 1893. She became a considerable political figure in her own right and was a forceful advocate of the Entente. He succeeded in October 1914, weeks after the war began. Romania was bound to the Central Powers by a secret treaty Carol had signed, and Carol had wanted to honour it; the crown council refused, and Romania stayed neutral for two years while both sides bid for it. In August 1916 Ferdinand took Romania into the war on the Entente side, on the promise of Transylvania — territory held by Austria-Hungary and populated largely by Romanians. His cousin the Kaiser struck his name from the Hohenzollern family register, and he is called Loyal for choosing the country over the dynasty. The campaign was a disaster. Bucharest fell within four months and two thirds of the country was occupied; the government and army withdrew to Moldavia, where they held the line at Mărășești in 1917 before the Russian collapse forced a separate peace. Romania re-entered on the last day and gained everything: Transylvania, Bessarabia, Bukovina and part of the Banat. He was crowned at Alba Iulia in 1922 and enacted land reform and universal male suffrage. He died in 1927.
- Lived: 1865 CE – 1927 CE
- Nationality: Romanian
- Roles: king
