Armenians fleeing the appalling massacres of the 1890s find safety in Bulgaria, where the change of course in Sofia and the death of Tsar Alexander III in 1894 facilitates a reconciliation between Bulgaria and Russia.

Moreover, the new Turkish massacres signal a collapse of the Ottoman Empire that will threaten Russian and Bulgarian interests alike.

Ferdinand finally gains international recognition as rightful prince of Bulgaria, and in 1896, Tsar Nicholas II stands godfather to Ferdinand's first son when he is baptized into the Orthodox faith, Prince Boris’s conversion from Catholicism being the price for Russian recognition.