Editing Ferdinand I of Bulgaria (section)

==Tsar of Bulgaria==
[[File:5 leva Ferdinand I - 1894.png|thumb|250px|[[Silver coin]]: 5 leva, Ferdinand I, 1894]]
On 5 October 1908 (celebrated on 22 September), Ferdinand proclaimed Bulgaria's ''de jure'' independence from the [[Ottoman Empire]] (though the country had been ''de facto'' independent since 1878). He also proclaimed Bulgaria a kingdom, and assumed the title of ''tsar''—a deliberate nod to the rulers of the earlier Bulgarian states.<ref name="Louda297"/> However, while the title ''tsar'' was translated as "emperor" in the First and Second Bulgarian empires, it was translated as "[[king]]" under Ferdinand and his successors.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/tsar Tsar] at [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]</ref> The [[Bulgarian Declaration of Independence]] was proclaimed by him at the [[Holy Forty Martyrs Church, Veliko Tarnovo|Holy Forty Martyrs Church]] in [[Veliko Tarnovo|Tarnovo]], and was recognized by the Ottoman Empire and the other European powers.<ref name="Louda297"/> The [[Tarnovo Constitution]] was retained, with the word "prince" replaced by the word "''tsar''."

On a visit to [[List of German monarchs|German Emperor]] [[William II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], his second cousin once removed, in 1909, Ferdinand was leaning out of a window of the [[New Palace (Potsdam)|New Palace in Potsdam]] when the Emperor came up behind him and slapped him on the bottom. Ferdinand was affronted by the gesture, but the Kaiser refused to apologize. Ferdinand however exacted his revenge by awarding a valuable arms contract he had intended to give to the [[Krupp]]'s factory in [[Essen]] to French arms manufacturer [[Schneider-Creusot]].<ref name="Aronson8-9">[[#Aronson1986|Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'']], pp 8–9</ref> Another incident occurred on his journey to the funeral of his second cousin King [[Edward VII]] of the United Kingdom in 1910. A tussle broke out over where his private railway carriage would be positioned in relation to the [[heir presumptive]] to the Austro-Hungarian throne, [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand]]. The Archduke won out, having his carriage positioned directly behind the engine. Ferdinand's was placed directly behind his. Realising the dining car of the train was behind his own carriage, Ferdinand obtained his revenge on the Archduke by refusing him passage through his own carriage to the dining car.<ref name="Aronson7">[[#Aronson1986|Aronson, 1986, ''Crowns In Conflict'']], p 7</ref> On 15 July the same year during a visit to Belgium, Ferdinand also became the first head of state to fly in an airplane. He awarded the pilot of the plane with a medal when they landed.<ref>{{cite web|title=King up in Aeroplane: Ferdinand of Bulgaria First Monarch to Do It – Sons Fly Also|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/07/16/102043617.pdf|work=New York Times website|access-date=2010-07-17|page=1|format=Adobe Acrobat|date=16 July 1910}}</ref>