Alexander I Joseph von Battenberg

1857 - 1893  (36 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 2 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Alexander I Joseph von Battenberg
  Birth	5 Apr 1857	Verona
  Gender	Male
  Death	17 Nov 1893	Graz, Steiermark, Österreich
  Siblings	4 Siblings
  + 1. Gräfin Marie Caroline von Battenberg,   b. 15 Jul 1852, Genève, Confoederatio Helvetica d. 20 Jun 1923, Schloss Schönberg  (Age 70 years) ▻ Fürst Karl Albrecht Eberhard Kasimir zu Erbach-Schönberg + 2. Earl Ludwig Alexander Mountbatten,   b. 24 May 1854, Graz, Steiermark, Österreich d. 11 Sep 1921, London, Middlesex, England  (Age 67 years) ▻ Emily Charlotte le Breton;   Victoria Elisabeth Mathilde Alberta Maria Prinzessin von Hessen und bei Rhein,  m. 30 Apr 1884 + 3. Alexander I Joseph von Battenberg,   b. 5 Apr 1857, Verona d. 17 Nov 1893, Graz, Steiermark, Österreich  (Age 36 years) ▻ Gräfin Johanna Maria Louise Loisinger,  m. 6 Feb 1889 + 4. Prinz Henry Maurice von Battenberg,   b. 5 Oct 1858, Milano, Lombardia, Italia d. 20 Jan 1896, At sea on 'Blonde'  (Age 37 years) ▻ Beatrice Mary Victor von Sachsen-Coburg,  m. 23 Jul 1885   5. Prinz Franz Joseph von Battenberg,   b. 24 Sep 1861, Padova (Padua) d. 31 Jul 1924, Schaffhausen, Schaffhausen, Confoederatio Helvetica  (Age 62 years) ▻ Prinzessin Anna Petrowitsch Njegosch de Montenegro,  m. 1897
  Person ID	I78081	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	22 Apr 2002

  
  

  Father	Prinz Alexander Ludwig Georg Friedrich Emil von Hessen und bei Rhein,   b. 15 Jul 1823, Darmstadt, Hessen, Deutschland d. 15 Dec 1888, Darmstadt, Hessen, Deutschland (Age 65 years)
  Mother	Gräfin Julia Theresa Salomea von Hauke,   b. 12 Nov 1825, Warsaw d. 19 Sep 1895, Schloss Heiligenberg b.Jugenheim (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	28 Oct 1851	Breslau, Dolnoslaskie, Polska
  Family ID	F3317	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Gräfin Johanna Maria Louise Loisinger,   b. 18 Apr 1865, Pressburg, , Bratislavský, Slovakia d. 20 Jul 1951, Wien, Österreich (Age 86 years)
  Marriage	6 Feb 1889
  Children	1. Graf Assene Ludwig Alexander von Hartenau,   b. 16 Jan 1890, Graz, Steiermark, Österreich d. 15 Mar 1965, Wien, Österreich (Age 75 years)   2. Gräfin Maria Theresia Vera Zwetana von Hartenau,   b. 24 Oct 1893, Graz, Steiermark, Österreich d. 24 Nov 1935, Oberstdorf (Age 42 years)
  Family ID	F32267	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2000

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Birth - 5 Apr 1857 - Verona Death - 17 Nov 1893 - Graz, Steiermark, Österreich  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos

  Photos (Log in)

  
  

• Notes

  After the liberation, on 6 July 1879, the Bulgarians welcomed their first ruler on the pier of Varna with enthusiasm and hope. Born in Verona in 1857, handsome and stately, the German prince Alexander seemed to personify the people's ideal for a ruler. The young prince was the symbol of Bulgaria's revival. Prince Alexander I accepted the Bulgarian throne not only out of his ambition to become an honored monarch in Europe. The twenty-two-year-old dragoon lieutenant was making plans to turn Bulgaria into a powerful state under his firm control. No wonder the European aristocrat found the new constitution, adopted by the Constituent Assembly in Turnovo, unacceptable, and its democratic norms objectionable. They were in contrast to his concept of a strong royal power, by which he hoped to consolidate the new state and bring it closer to modern Europe. "With this law, Your Majesty, it will be impossible or at least very hard for you to rule," the lawyer of his father's court warned him. The German aristocrat was unsure whether his recently-liberated subjects were educated enough to distinguish freedom from its abuse and order from disorder. Prince Alexander I tenaciously sought to have the democratic Turnovo Constitution amended, as it allowed him only very limited power. For this purpose he sought the support of conservatives who, like him, preferred the state to be ruled by an autocrat. However, the politically more stable liberals, who believed in the power of the National Assembly, started to attack him. In this continual conflict the young and inexperienced but daring ruler gradually realized that being at the helm of a newly liberated country was an onerous task. "There is a bomb under my throne!", he once exclaimed in a moment of despair. The government changed ten times during the seven years of his rule. In that dizzying gyration he often made errors, mistaking his wishes for reality. All this explains his decision to stage a coup on 27 April 1881. "In the past two years I allowed every possible attempt to be made for the construction and the proper development of the state, but unfortunately my hopes were thwarted," reads his proclamation. He suspended the Turnovo Constitution and had himself invested with absolute powers for nearly three years. Indeed, during that period a number of valuable ideas for Bulgaria's advancement were born and implemented. European standards were applied to the development of administration, the economy, culture and the army. The liberals, however, rightly accused him of defying the will of the people and of underestimating Bulgarians' ability to maintain a free democratic rule, and Prince Alexander was forced to restore the constitution. He struggled in foreign relations, too. Having come to Bulgaria with the consent of the Great Powers, he was particularly sensitive to the slightest change in the political balance in Europe. He had ascended the throne with the blessing of his relative, the Russian Emperor Alexander II, but his successor Alexander III felt personal contempt for the Bulgarian prince. He demanded to have the small principality submitted to the interests of the mighty Slavic empire. Prince Alexander took the side of the Russophobes who sought independence for the country. Alexander I realized the significance of the task to restore the country's unity after it had been fragmented at the Berlin Congress in the summer of 1878. He was intelligent enough to foresee the possible consequences of unification both for the state and for himself. He became one of the first champions of Bulgarian national unity. He is credited for the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia in the autumn of 1885, and For its successful defending through diplomatic negotiations with the Great Powers and by the victory of his young army in the war with Serbia. The young monarch, however, was not strong enough to get the upper hand in the struggle with as great a power as Russia and with the ambitions of Russia's ardent Bulgarian supporters. On 9 August 1886 he was forced at gunpoint by the Russophiles, to sign a statement of abdication. The attempt of his supporters to restore him to the throne was foiled by the unyielding opposition of Emperor Alexander III. Deeply frustrated, the prince finished his statement of abdication with the words "God help Bulgaria!". His legacy was one of tragic disparity between hopes and reality.