False Starts and Failed Hopes: The Rise and Fall of Royal Sofia 1878–1946

Abstract

Primitive Sofia was an unlikely location for the creation of one of Europe’s new courts at the end of the nineteenth century. The monarchs who ruled from it, most notably Tsar Ferdinand, devoted great energy to establishing a capital worthy of their dignity. But history dealt Bulgaria’s monarchs poor cards, and they played them badly. Russian sabotage, an ungrateful populace and unresolved local conflicts undid the monarchy, just as the city was becoming civilised.