carol i of romania, original name prince karl eitel friedrich zephyrinus ludwig of hohenzollern-sigmaringen, later simply of hohenzollern (20 april 1839 - ), german prince, was elected domnitor (prince) of romania on 20 april 1866, following the overthrow of alexandru ioan cuza. he reigned in 1881 in the aftermath of the russo-turkish war of 1877–1878 . he died in october 1914 during world war 1 just after austria-hungary and germany declared war on serbia , russia and france in august 1914