Ferdinand

/ferr"dn and'/, n.

a male given name: from Germanic words meaning "bold" and "peace."

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I

born April 19, 1793, Vienna, Austria

died June 29, 1875, Prague, Bohemia

Emperor of Austria (1835–48).

He was the eldest son of Emperor Francis II, who sought to protect the principle of succession and insisted that Ferdinand be the heir, despite Ferdinand's feeblemindedness and epilepsy. Ferdinand was crowned king of Hungary in 1830 and became emperor of Austria in 1835. Government affairs were controlled by a body of counselors, led by the chancellor, Klemens, prince von Metternich. He was the last Habsburg king of Bohemia (1836), and in 1838 he was crowned king of Lombardy and Venetia. In the revolution of 1848 hostility was directed against his counselors, and Ferdinand abdicated in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph.

II

(as used in expressions)

Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor

Aron Raymond Claude Ferdinand

Charles Ferdinand de Bourbon

Berthoud Ferdinand

Beust Friedrich Ferdinand count von

Céline Louis Ferdinand

Louis Ferdinand Destouches

Cohn Ferdinand Julius

Delacroix Ferdinand Eugène Victor

Ferdinand Karl Leopold Maria

Ferdinand I

Ferdinand II

Ferdinand III

Ferdinand VI

Ferdinand VII

Foch Ferdinand

Francis Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand

Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer

Galland Adolf Joseph Ferdinand

Helmholtz Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von

Köchel Ludwig Alois Ferdinand von

Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von

Lassalle Ferdinand

Ferdinand Lasal

Lesseps Ferdinand Marie viscount de

Marcos Ferdinand Edralin

Möbius August Ferdinand

Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe

Perutz Max Ferdinand

Saussure Ferdinand de

Tönnies Ferdinand Julius

Ferdinand Julius Toennies

Ferdinand Heinrich Gustav Hilgard

Wagner Robert Ferdinand

Ferdinand the Catholic Spanish Fernando el Católico

Magellan Ferdinand

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▪ Prussian general

born Jan. 12, 1721, Wolfenbüttel, Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel [Germany]

died July 3, 1792, Vechelde, Brunswick

 duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Prussian general field marshal who defended western Germany for his brother-in-law Frederick II the Great in the Seven Years' War (1756–63), protecting the Prussian flank from French attack, while Frederick fought the Austrians.

      Entering the Prussian army in 1740, Ferdinand participated in the victorious engagements of Mollwitz (1741), Chotusitz (1742), and Sohr (1745) during the Silesian Wars against Austria. In the Seven Years' War, he campaigned with Frederick in Saxony and Bohemia until given an independent command as head of the allied (Prussian and English) armies in western Germany (1757). There, though nearly always outnumbered, he defeated the French at Krefeld (1758) and Minden (1759).

      Ferdinand became estranged from Frederick in 1766 and retired from the Prussian service, accepting a field marshal's rank in the Austrian army that same year but never actively serving the Habsburgs. At the outbreak of war between England and its North American colonies, Ferdinand was offered the post of commander in chief by the English, but he declined the appointment. After his retirement, relations with Frederick improved once again, and Ferdinand visited the Prussian king several times between 1772 and 1782.

▪ king of Bulgaria

in full  Ferdinand Karl Leopold Maria  

born Feb. 26, 1861, Vienna, Austria

died Sept. 10, 1948, Coburg, Ger.

      prince (1887–1908) and first king (1908–18) of modern Bulgaria.

      The youngest son of Prince Augustus (August) I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Ferdinand was elected prince of Bulgaria on July 7, 1887, as successor to the first ruler of that autonomous principality, Alexander I, who was forced by a pro-Russian coup d'état to abdicate the preceding year. Though dominated by his prime minister, Stefan Stambolov, during the early years of his reign, he became an important factor influencing national affairs after his minister's humiliating fall from power (1894). Ferdinand's dynastic position, which long suffered from lack of recognition by the Great Powers, was strengthened by his marriage to the Bourbon princess Maria Luisa of Parma (April 1893) and later by his infant son Boris's reception into the Orthodox church (February 1896). The assurance of an Orthodox successor to the Bulgarian throne, as well as the skillful performance of Konstantin Stoilov's government in maintaining national independence, eventually prompted Russia to seek a diplomatic rapprochement. In March 1896 Ferdinand finally received international confirmation of his rule.

      After Stoilov's resignation in 1899, Ferdinand maintained a tight hold on Bulgarian domestic politics. On Oct. 5, 1908, he used the occasion of the eve of the Austro-Hungarian annexation of Bosnia-Hercegovina to proclaim the full independence of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire and assumed the title of king, or tsar. Possessed of imperialistic ambition, he spearheaded the formation of the Balkan League (1912), consisting of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and Montenegro (associated informally), that pursued the partitioning of European Turkey (First Balkan War (Balkan Wars), October 1912–May 1913), a move prodded by Russia. Ferdinand's territorial ambitions proved doomed when the victorious allies failed to agree on the disposition of captured Turkish territory, and Serbia and Greece formed an alliance against Bulgaria. Joined by the Turks and Romanians, the alliance defeated the Bulgarians (Second Balkan War, June–July 1913). Ferdinand's resentments largely determined Bulgaria's participation (1915–18) in World War I on the side of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Following Bulgaria's military defeat in 1918, he was obliged to abdicate in favour of his son Boris III (Oct. 4, 1918). Thereafter he lived in Coburg.

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