Altin Iliriani
European Research and Information Center
Eastern Mediterranean University
Famagusta - Northern Cyprus
The history of Moldova has often been shaped by foreigners,
them being Ottoman Turks, the Russian Empire, Austro-Hungary or
the Soviet Union. All of them have had their own influences on
the struggle of the Moldavian people for independence and integration
in a unified Romanian state. In this essay the author tries to
explain in a historical perspective the efforts for integration
of the Moldavian people with their ethnic kin in Romania, from
the early 19th century when the Ottoman Empire's control on the
provinces of Bessarabia and Wallachia became only nominal, till
the end of WW II, when Soviet Russia established the Moldavian
Socialist Soviet Republic, which emerged in 1992 as the independent
state of the Republic of Moldova. Although nowadays, the nationalist
movements for the union of Moldova with Romania are very weak,
the study of the these efforts in the 19th and first half of 20th
century is important to understand many aspects of the history
of the modern independent Republic of Moldova.
The Ottoman Empire had lost the control of the provinces of Moldova
and Walachia as early as 1812, when at the end of the Russo-Turkish
war of 1806-12, it handed over the control of these territories
to Tsarist Russia. The period starting with this year is known
in the Moldavian history as the period of Russian Administration,
although the contest for the control of these lands between Ottomans
and Russians was fierce during all the 19th century, and often
passed from one power at the end of wars or international treaties.
So, they were occupied by Russia in 1825, reoccupied in 1848,
evacuated in 1851, reoccupied in 1853 and re-evacuated at the
end of Crimean War in 1856 only to come soon again under Russian
control. This contest over the control of Moldavian lands, as
well as the rise of the Austrian claims on the territories, made
the independence and integration of these provinces in a unified
Romanian state very difficult. The nationalist and integrative
movements had to face the chauvinistic claims of all these three
Great Powers. However, the Moldavian and Romanian history of the
19th and early 20th centuries speaks also for the struggle of
the population of Moldavia and Wallachia for independence and
integration. The rise of the nationalistic and revolutionary movements
in Europe in the first part of the 19th and early 20th centuries
had also a great influence on these territories. As it was the
case in many other countries in the Balkans and Eastern Europe
the nationalist and integrative movements in Moldavia, Wallachia
and Transylvania where inspired by ideas from the revolutionary
movements in France, Germany or Italy. This was the situation
in 1848, and again in the 1870s or in the first part of the 20th
century.
1848 was the year of revolutions and unrest throughout Europe.
Especially the revolutionary movements and the unrest in the neighboring
Habsburg territories inspired revolutionary movements in the provinces
of Moldavia and Walachia, as well as Transylvania. As we mentioned
above, Russia had formally annexed these provinces in 1829 by
the Treaty of Adrianople, and before that had got control over
them by the Treaty of Bucharest of 1812. During her rule, Russia
had established representative assemblies of Boyars, and during
the 1840s she introduced some economic and social reforms. Thus
schools were set up, and customs between the two provinces were
abolished. As it was the case with other countries, starting with
the 1830s, a strong desire grew in both provinces for unification,
not only between themselves, but also with Transylvania, then
under the Habsburg rule. This movement, whose strength was not
drawn from the largely Russified Boyars but from the school teachers
and parish priest, marks also the birth of the organized Romanian
nationalist movement. What happened in Moldavia and other Romanian
lands in 1848 is also considered a repetition en miniature of
the 1848 revolutions in other parts of Europe.
At the beginning, resistance against Hungarians in Transylvania
inspired insurrection in Moldavia and Walachia. A common provisional
government was set up, only to be dissolved very soon by the Russian
and Turkish troops which reoccupied the provinces. Russian and
Turkish policies, and those of Austria, in the aftermath of this
event succeeded in cooling off the Romanian nationalist hopes
in both provinces. However, it is interesting for our subject
of discussion to mention that in March 1848 the Society of Romanian
Students in Paris sent a delegation to the French Provisional
Government, which voiced the claim that inspired the revival of
Romanian nationalist movement in Moldavia and Walachia in 1848.
The delegation declared that "the Wallachians, the Moldavians
and the Transylvanians all declare that they are Romanians, and
that their land, which has so long been witness of their distress
is called Romania”. Perhaps we can not find a better
expression of the ideal of nationalist movements of that time.
The beginning of the Crimean War gave another serious blow to
the Romanian nationalist movements and the lands of Bessarabia
and Wallachia became again subject of the deals and confrontations
between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. They were occupied and
re-occupied several times by the warring sides. It was only in
1859 that these provinces were united again under a single government.
Until 1866 the united Kingdom was ruled by Alexander Ioan Cuza,
a Romanian noble. King Alexander carried out several reforms,
characteristic for those years, like abolishing the serfdom, dissolving
monasteries and promoting education. In 1869 Prince Alexander
Cuza was deposed, and the territories of Bessarabia were once
again under the control of Russia, which in 1869 introduced the
system of the zemstvo, which provided for some degree of
local autonomy for these provinces.
The Congress of Berlin (1878) is considered as the third episode
in the Eastern Question. The concern of the Great European Powers
of the time, Germany , Russia, Austro-Hungary and France was the
distribution of the Ottoman territories in such a way that it
would preserve the balance of power in Europe, not the fulfillment
of idealistic aspirations for independence and unification of
the nations under the Ottoman rule. At the end, the Congress of
Berlin did not satisfy any of the Great Powers, and its decisions
would lead to other conflicts and confrontations in the years
to follow. The Treaty of Berlin, though, reaffirmed the independence
of Romania, along with that of Serbia and Montenegro, and rendered
Bessarabia to Russia. Romania was given the Dobrudja as a compensation.
This was another blow for the nationalist aspirations in Moldavia.
The founding of the Kingdom of Romania (1881) formed a center
of attraction for Moldavian nationalism, but no lively movement
developed until the early 20th century. With the Bolshevik revolution
in Russia, and with the beginning of WW I a new period starts
in the Moldavian history and the efforts for integration with
Romania.
During WW I, Romania despite the treaty of 1883 with the Triple
Alliance, sided with Russia, which promised to restore Bessarabia.
Thus by 1916, Romania was fighting on the side of Russia. The
rise of nationalist and revolutionary sentiments in Russia were
also spread to Bessarabia. In April 1917, Bessarabia was declared
the Democratic Moldavian Republic federated with Russia. The National
Committee of Moldova demanded land reforms and the use of the
Romanian language. The movement for independence was strengthened
further by the proclamation of Bessarabia as republic of the Federation
of Russian Republics by the Moldavian National Council (established
in 1917 and known as Sfatul Tarii). Following the military intervention
of Romania in January 1918, the Sfat, following the example of
Kiev, proclaimed Bessarabia an independent Moldavian Republic
and renounced all the ties with Russia. Recognizing the economic
impossibility of isolation and alarmed by the pretensions of the
Ukrainian Government, the Sfat voted for union with Romania in
April, 1918. The Paris Peace Treaty of October 1920 formally recognized
the union of Bessarabia with Romania. Only the Soviet Union and
Japan never recognized this Union. The period to follow after
WW I until the beginning of WW II (1918-1940) is known in the
Moldavian history as the period of Romanian Administration.
With the proposal of the Sfatul Tarii, the Romanian government
introduced a land reform. However, because of the blockade from
the Soviet Union, this measure and other ones introduced in those
years could not achieve many positive results or develop the agricultural
economy of Bessarabia which was tied to that of Russia. The same
was the case with the transportation system which was designed
to take the agricultural products of Bessarabia to the Russian
market, and not to Romania, which had little need for these goods
from Bessarabia. The deterioration of the economic situation encouraged
the disintegration forces which by the end of 1930s were attempting
to break up the historical union of Moldavia with the rest of
the Romanian lands. This was the situation at the start of WW
II which significantly changed the course of the history of Moldavia.
In August 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the German-Soviet
Pact of Non-Aggression. Together with the Pact a secret agreement
was reached between them which recognized Soviet claims on Bessarabia.
In June 1940, the Soviet Union through an ultimatum to Romania
demanded the cession of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. In those
conditions Romanian government surrendered. In July of that year
the Moldavian Socialist Soviet Republic with its capital in Chisinau
was established. Population exchanges, so common for the Stalinist
policies of those year, changed significantly the demographic
composition of the region. The Romanian government, having entered
the war as Germany's ally, re-occupied Bessarabia in the year
1941, but the Soviet Union reclaimed it in 1944, and the Moldavian
Soviet Socialist Republic was re-proclaimed at the end of WW II.
That marks also the end of the efforts for integration of these
lands into a Greater Romanian state. The independent Republic
of Moldova, which emerged in 1991 after the dissolution of the
USSR, is determined to continue as an independent state. The establishment
of autonomous republics of Gagauz and Dniester have further cooled
off the Romanian nationalist feeling in Moldavia. The membership
of the Republic of Moldova in the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) has had a similar effect
References
Dawisha, Karen and Parrott, Bruce, Russia and the New States
of Eurasia. The Politics of Upheaval, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 1994.
Thompson, David, Europe Since Napoleon, Penguin Books,
London, 1966.
Merrit, Gilles, Eastern Europe and the USSR. The Challenge
of Freedom, Eur-Op, London, 1991.
Reports and Analytical Briefs of RFE/RL from http://www.rferl.org/
REUTERS Database
The 1995 GROLIER Multimedia Encyclopedia.
Appendix:
Chronology of Important Events in Moldavia's History until
WW II
| ca. 105 - 270 | Rome occupies territory of future Romanian lands |
| 1349 | Prince Bogdan establishes Bogdania, later to be renamed Moldavia, stretching from Carpathian Mountains to Nistru river. |
| 1512 | Moldova becomes tributary province of the Osman Empire despite the significant victories of Stephen the Great (1457-1504). |
| 1600-1650 (?) | First Moldavian books are published. |
| 1792 | Osman Empire cedes all its holdings in Transnistria to Russian Empire under the Treaty of Iasi. |
| 1812 | Bessarabia is incorporated into Russian Empire under the Treaty of Bucharest after the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-12. |
| 1848 | Insurrection in Moldavia. Efforts to create a unified Romanian state are crushed by Russia and Ottoman Empire. |
| 1858 | Moldavian territory west of Prut river is united with Wallachia. Alexandru Ioan Cuza is elected prince of the two regions in 1859. |
| 1917 | Bolshevik Revolution brings down the Russian Empire. Bessarabia is declared the independent Democratic Moldavian Republic, federated with Russia. |
| 1918 | Bessarabia declares complete independence from Russia and decides to unite with Romania. |
| 1924 | Soviet Russia creates Moldavian Autonomous Oblast on the east bank of Nistru river. Seven months later the Oblast becomes the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Moldavian ASSR). |
| June 1940 | Bessarabia is occupied by Soviet forces as a result of a secret protocol attached to the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact of Non-aggression. |
| August 1940 | USSR creates Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic from most of Bessarabia and a portion of the Moldavian ASSR. |
| 1941 | Germany and Romania attack Moldavian SSR and Ukrainian SSR. Germany gives Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and Transnistria to Romania. |
| 1944 | Soviet forces retake Bessarabia and Transnistria. |
| 1947 | Bessarabia, northern Bukovina and Transnistria are formally returned to USSR by treaty. |
