He was a tall man with a long, foxy face, a pointed beard, and a nose that drooped on & on. He liked to grow flowers and watch birds. Germany's Wilhelm II detested and respected him: "I cannot stand Ferdinand but he beats us all for brains." Russia's peace-loving Leo Tolstoy came closer to the world's opinion when, as a curtain line in his play Plody Prosveshcheniya (The Fruits of Enlightenment), he had a valet pick up a newspaper with the remark: "Well well, let us see what our Ferdinand is up to now."
It was intrigue, inspired by a...
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