Historical Dictionary of MoldovaHistorical Second Series: Andrei
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The Republic of Moldova claims a European lineage reaching back
in time long before its 14th century accession to statehood. In the
15th century, it managed against all odds to avoid being conquered
by Islam andalbeit an intermittent vassal after 1485it maintained
its autonomy and was never turned into a province of the Ottoman
Empire. After this period, however, Moldova would not be so
fortunate, as it altered between Russian, Romanian, and Soviet
control until it finally gained its independence in 1991 from the
Soviet Union.
The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Moldova,
through its chronology, introduction, appendixes, maps,
bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on
important persons, places, events, and institutions and significant
political, economic, social, and cultural aspects, traces the
history of this small, but densely populated About country,
providing a compass the for the direction it is heading.
Authors
Andrei Brezianu is a specialist in European intellectual history
and has taught at the Free University of Moldova, the Catholic
University of America, and the University of Bucharest. Vlad Spnu
is the president of the Moldova Foundation in Washington, DC. He
served as a senior Moldovan diplomat both in Chisinau and abroad
between 1992 and 2001. Read Table Editor's Preface Acknowledgments
Reader's Acronyms Maps Chronology Introduction THE Appendix
Appendix A: DICTIONARY Chairpersons B: of Presidents over 600
Moldova's Legislative of entries Bodies Moldova and Note
Abbreviations a related of article by Jon for Woronoff, Historical
by Scarecrow Press' of Series Editor
Contents Foreword
Dictionary Jon
Moldova: Woronoff
Appendix Bibliography About the Authors
C:
Prime
Ministers
of
Moldova
Preface
Introduction Entries
Entries
Entries
The Scarecrow Press, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written
permission Reviews: Newly Released Book: Historical Dictionary of
Moldova. By Jon Woronoff, Scarecrow Press' Series Editor (USA) of
the publisher.
A New Historical Dictionary of Moldova. By Paul E. Michelson,
Huntington University (USA) The Historical Dictionary of Moldova -
an exceptionally useful book. By John Todd Stewart, American
Ambassador to Moldova from 1995 to 1998
From Abaclia to Zubcu-Codreanu. By Alex van Oss, Foreign Service
Institute (USA)
http://foundation.moldova.org/pages/eng/137/
Movement for the unification of Romania and MoldovaFrom
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Left image: A potential union of Romania and Moldova, including
Transnistria, as demanded by the unionists. Right image: A
potential union excluding Transnistria, also called the "Belkovsky
plan".
A movement for the reunification of Romaniaand Moldova
(Romanian: Unirea Republicii Moldova cu Romnia) began in both
countries after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and the beginning
of glasnost policy in the Soviet Union. The question of
reunification is recurrent in the public sphere of the two
countries, often as a speculation, both as a goal and a danger.
Individuals who advocate the unification are usually called
"unionists" (unioniti). Some support it as a peaceful process based
on consent in the two countries, others in the name of a "Romanian
historical right over Bessarabia". The supporters of the union
refer to the opponents as "Moldovenists"
(moldoveniti).Contents[hide]
1 Background
o o
1.1 Revival of nationalism (19881992) 1.2 Political ties and
unionism
2 Political commentary 3 Current trends
o o o o
3.1 Dual citizenship for Moldovan citizens 3.2 Action 2012 3.3
The Union Council 3.4 Union Marches
4 Opinion polls
o o
4.1 Moldova 4.2 Romania
5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External links
[edit]BackgroundSee also: History of Moldova and Union of
Bessarabia with Romania Bessarabia had been part of the
Principality of Moldavia until it was annexed by the Russian Empire
in 1812. During the Russian Revolution of 1917, a newly formed
Parliament (Sfatul rii) declared Bessarabia's autonomy inside a
Russian state. In 1918, after the Romanian army entered Bessarabia,
the makeshift parliament decided on independence, only to review
its position and ultimately decide on a conditional union with
Romania. The conditions, including the provisions for autonomy,
were ultimately dropped.[1] In 1940, during World War II, Romania
agreed to an ultimatum and ceded the region to the Soviet Union,
which organized it into theMoldavian SSR. The Soviets strongly
promoted the Moldovan ethnic identity, against other opinions that
viewed all speakers of theRomanian language as part of a single
ethnic group, taking advantage of the incomplete integration of
Bessarabia into the interwar Romania. [2] The official Soviet
policy also stated that Romanian and Moldovan were two different
languages and, to emphasize this distinction, Moldovan had to be
written in a new Cyrillic alphabet (the Moldovan alphabet) based on
the reformed Russian Cyrillic, rather than the obsolete Romanian
Cyrillic that ceased to be used in the 19th century in the Old
Kingdom and 1917 in Bessarabia.[3]
[edit]Revival
of nationalism (19881992)
In September 1989, with the liberalization in the Soviet Union,
the Moldovan SSR Parliament declared Moldovan as the official
language, and also asserted the existence of a "Moldovan-Romanian
linguistic identity".[4] On 6 May 1990, after several decades of
strict separation, Romania and the Moldovan SSR lifted temporarily
border crossing restrictions, and thousands of people crossed the
Prut River which marked their common border.[5] The factors
hindering the unification were complex, ranging from the caution of
political leaders in Moldova and Romania, the war in Transnistria,
and, perhaps more importantly, the mentality of large parts of the
population in Moldova (and to some extent in Romania) who were
indifferent or opposed to such a project.[6] In his address to the
Romanian parliament, in February 1991, Mircea Snegur, the Moldovan
president, spoke of a common identity of Moldovans and Romanians,
referring to the "Romanians of both sides of the Prut River".[7] In
June 1991, Snegur talked about Moldova moving toward the
reunification with Romania, adding that the USSR is not making
great efforts to stop it.[8]
While many Moldovan intellectuals supported the union and wanted
a "reunion with the Romanian motherland",[9] there was little
popular support for it, with more than 70% of the Moldovans
opposing it, according to a 1992 poll. At the same time,
Transnistria, the eastern part of Moldova, inhabited by a Slavic
majority, used the putative danger of unification with Romania as a
pretext for its own aspirations for independence.[10]
[edit]Political
ties and unionism
Following the declaration of independence on 27 August 1991, the
Romanian flag defaced with the Moldovan coat of arms and the
Romanian anthem "Deteapt-te, romne!" became the symbols of the new
independent Moldova.[11] Following the growing tension between the
pro-union governing Moldovan Popular Front and president Snegur, in
particular over unification,[12] the president moved closer to the
Moldovanist group of Agrarians, and appointed their candidate
Andrei Sangheli as prime minister. As a result, and especially
after the victory of Agrarians in the 1994 elections, Moldova began
distancing itself from Romania. The state flag was slightly
modified, and the anthem changed to "Limba noastr". The Moldovan
referendum of 1994 for an independent Moldova was seen by many
public figures to be aimed at implicitly excluding a union with
Romania. Furthermore, the constitution adopted in 1994 by the new
Parliament dominated by Moldovanist Agrarians and Socialists called
the official language "Moldovan", as opposed to the earlier
Declaration of independence that called it "Romanian". The attempt
by Moldovan president Mircea Snegur in 1996 to change the name of
the official language to "Romanian" was dismissed by the Moldovan
Parliament as "promoting Romanian expansionism". A "Concept on
National Policy" was adopted in 2003 by the Communist dominated
Parliament, stating that Moldovans and Romanians are different
peoples, and that the latter are an ethnic minority in Moldova.
[13]
Opposition demonstration in Chiinu in January 2002. The text on
the inscription reads "Romanian people-Romanian language."
Before 2005, only the Christian-Democratic People's Party, one
of the political heirs of the Moldovan Popular Front, actively
supported unification. However, the stance of the
Christian-Democrats changed significantly after they started
collaborating closely with the ruling Moldovan Communists. During
the elections of April 2009, the alliance of National Liberal Party
(Partidul Naional Liberal) and the 'European
Action' Movement (Miscarea Actiunea Europeana) ran on a common
platform of a loose union with Romania, but accumulated only around
1% of the votes.[14]
[edit]Political
commentary
In 2004 and later, the Romanian newspaper Ziua published a
series of articles and interviews with Stanislav Belkovsky, an
influential political commentator from the Russian Federation, who
proposed a plan of a unification between Romanian and Moldova
excluding Transnistria. Speculations followed whether his plan is
backed by higher circles in the Kremlin, but they were never
confirmed. Nevertheless, several journalists and scholars dismissed
the plan as a diversion, also pointing out several ambiguities,
such as the status of the city of Tighina situated on the right
bank of Dniester but under Transnistrian control, and, more
importantly, the unlikelihood of Moldova's acquiescence to such a
plan. In January 2006, the Romanian president Traian Bsescu
declared that he strongly supported the Moldovan bid for joining
the European Union and that "the minimal policy of Romania is for
the unification of the Romanian nation to take place within the
EU". The phrase"minimal policy" led to questions whether there is
also a maximal policy. In July 2006, the Romanian president Traian
Bsescu, claimed to have made a proposal to the Moldovan president
Vladimir Voronin that "Moldova join the EU together with Romania in
2007" and that the alleged offer was rejected. Bsescu also added
that Romania would respect this decision and would help Moldova to
join EU on its own.[15] In October 2006 the Romanian newspaper
Cotidianul estimated the cost of a union with Moldova at 30-35
billion euro,[16] and attracted criticism from the Romanian
newspaper Ziua,[17] as well as "Timpul"[18] for exaggerating the
costs and disregarding other dimensions of a possible union. After
Moldovan parliamentary election of April 2009, the 2009 Moldova
civil unrest, the Moldovan parliamentary election of July 2009, and
the creation of the governing Alliance for European Integration, a
new wave of speculations about the union followed. The Party of
Communists, now in opposition, claimed that "the unionists came to
power".[19] In November 2009, political commentator Stanislav
Belkovsky declared in an interview with Radio Free Europe that
April 2009 marks the beginning of the process of Moldova's return
to Romania.[20] Traian Bsescu made a state visit to Moldova along
with a number of ministers to announce several projects that would
intensify ties between the two countries, and the offer of 100
million euro grant for infrastructure projects. Bsescu called
Moldova his "soul project".[21] Private Romanian investments are
also expected to increase significantly, with the opening of a
Moldovan-Romanian business and investment office,[22] and the
takeover of the online news portal Unimedia by Romanian group
Realitatea-Caavencu group, owned by businessman Sorin Ovidiu
Vntu.[23] On February 15, 2010, the Rdui-Lipcani border crossing
between Romania and Moldova opened[24] and the remnant Soviet
barbed wire fence on the Moldovan side of the border with Romania
was dismantled.[25]
In January 2010, Mircea Druc, the former prime minister of
Moldova between 1990 and 1991, declared that the unification of
Romania and the Republic of Moldova is inevitable.[26] However,
acting President Mihai Ghimpu denied in an interview with the
Russian language newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda v Moldove" that
such a move will be taken, stating that a union is not included in
the program of the governing coalition.[27] On another occasion he
declared that if the people wanted unification, neither he, nor
anyone else could stop them.[28] He admitted on several occasions
to personally share unionist views.[29] However in August 2010 he
declared that the proposition of an "inter-state union" between
Romania and Moldova was "a very stupid" idea.[30]
[edit]Current [edit]Dual
trends
citizenship for Moldovan citizens
Between 1991 and 2009, some 140,000 Moldovan citizens obtained
Romanian citizenship.[31] According to some estimates, as many as 1
million Moldovan citizens requested Romanian citizenship by
2009.[32] In 2010, the Romanian government created the National
Authority for Citizenship to process the large number of
applications for Romanian citizenship coming especially from
Moldovan citizens. The study "Reacquiring Romanian citizenship:
historical, comparative and applied perspectives", released in
2012, estimated that 226,507 Moldovan citizens reacquired Romanian
citizenship by August 15, 2011 [33][34] Between August 15, 2011 and
October 15, 2012 an additional 90,000[35] reacquired Romanian
citizenship, acording to the National Authority for Citizenship,
bringing the total to 320,000. A poll conducted by IPP Chisinau in
November 2007 shows that 33.6% of the Moldovan population is
interested in holding Romanian citizenship, while 58.8% is not
interested. The main reason of those interested is: feeling
Romanian (31.9%), the possibility of traveling to Romania (48.9%),
and the possibility of traveling and/or working in the EU
(17.2%).[36]
[edit]Action
2012
In April 2011, a coalition of NGOs from Romania and Moldova
created the civic platform "Aciunea 2012" (English: Action 2012),
whose aim is to "raise awareness of the necessity of the
unification between Romania and the Republic of Moldova". Year 2012
was chosen as a reference to the bicentennial commemoration of the
1812 division of historical Moldavia, when the Russian Empire
annexed what would later be called Bessarabia. The proponents see
the unification as a reversal of this historical division, a
reversal inspired by the rather short-lived Union of Bessarabia
with Romania (19181940) disrupted by the Soviet
occupation.[37][38][39][40]
[edit]The
Union Council
In February 2012, the Union Council was created to "gather all
unionists" in order to "promote the idea of Romanian national
unity". Among the signatories: Mircea Druc former Moldovan
prime-minister, Alexandru Mosanu former speaker of the Moldovan
Parliament,Vitalia Pavlicenco president of the National Liberal
Party (Moldova), Vladimir Beleag writer, Constantin Tnase director
of the Moldovan newspaper Timpul de diminea, Val Butnaru president
of Jurnal Trust Media, Oleg Brega journalist and activist, Nicu
rn
soloist of the Moldovan rock band Gndul Mei, and Tudor Ionescu,
president of the Romanian neo-fascist association Noua Dreapt,
Valentin Dolganiuc, former Moldovan MP, Eugenia Duca, Moldovan
businesswoman, Anton Moraru, Moldovan professor of history, Eugen
Mihalache, vice president of People's Party, Dan Diaconescu and
others[41][42][43]
[edit]Union
Marches
The newly-created Action 2012 and Union Council initiative
groups organized several manifestations in support of the
unification throughout 2012. The first one was a rally of several
thousand people in Chiinu on 25 March 2012,[44] held as an
aniversary of theUnion of Bessarabia with Romania on 27 March 1918.
Similar rallies took place on 13 May[45] (which commemorated 200
years of theTreaty of Bucharest (1812) and the first Russian
annexation of Bessarabia) and 16 September.[46] A union march was
also held inBucharest on 21 October.[47] Smaller-scale
manifestations took place in the Moldovan cities of Cahul and Bli
on 22 July[48] and 5 August,[49] respectively. Various intelectuals
and artists from both countries supported the marches,[50] while
Moldovan Speaker Marian Lupu and Prime Minister Vlad Filat opposed
them.[51]
[edit]Opinion [edit]Moldova
polls
The International Republican Institute in partnership with The
Gallup Organization regularly conduct polls in the Republic of
Moldova on several social and political issues.[52] The following
results reflect the public stance in Moldova on the question of
reunification
Date
Question
Fully support
Somewhat support
Somewhat oppose
Fully DK/NA oppose
Jan-Feb 2011[53]
Excluding the impact of potential Moldovan membership in the
European Union, do you support unification of Moldova with
Romania?
10%
18%
16%
47%
9%
Do you support or oppose the Aug-Sep reunification of the
Republic of Moldova [54] 2011 with Romania?
11%
20%
16%
43%
10%
A poll conducted by IRI in Moldova in November 2008 showed that
29% of the population would support a union with Romania, while 61%
would reject it.[55]
[edit]RomaniaA poll conducted in NovemberDecember 2010 and
extensively analyzed in the study 'The Republic of Moldova in the
Romanian public awareness' (Romanian: Republica Moldova n contiina
public romneasc)[56] addressed the issue of reunification.
Question
Strongly agree
Partially agree
Partially disagree
Strongly disagree
DK/NA
Unification should be a national objective for Romania
23%
29%
23%
11%
15%
Sooner or later, the Republic of Moldova and 16% Romania should
unite upon the German model
29%
16%
11%
28%
According to a poll conducted in Romania in January 2006, 44% of
the population supports a union with Moldova, and 28% rejects it.
Also, of those supporting the union, 28% support a union with
Moldova, including Transnistria, while the rest of 16% support a
union without Transnistria.[57] A survey carried out in Romania in
June 2012 by the Romanian Centre of Strategic Studies showed the
following results:[58]
Question
Yes
No
DK/NA
Do you believe that the language spoken in Bessarabia is
Romanian?
71.9% 11.9% 16.2%
Do you believe that Bessarabia is Romanian land?
84.9% 4.7% 10.4%
Do you agree with the unification of Bessarabia with
Romania?
86.5% 12.7% 0.8%
Do you consider that the unification of Bessarabia with Romania
should be a priority for 55.2% 20.5% 24.2% Romanian
politicians?
Question
Romanians Moldovans Russians DK/NA
Do you consider that Bessarabians are primarily: 67.5%
[edit]See
28.2%
3.9%
0.3%
also Controversy over linguistic and ethnic identity in Moldova
Romanian-Moldovan relations Bessarabia Romanian Land Greater
Romania
[edit]Notes
1.
^ Charles King, "The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the
Politics of Culture", Hoover Press, 2000, pg. 35
2. 3. 4.
^ King, The Moldovans...; Mackinlay, pg. 135 ^ Mackinlay, pg.
140 ^ (Romanian) Legea cu privire la funcionarea limbilor vorbite
pe teritoriul RSS Moldoveneti Nr. 3465-XI din 01.09.89 (Law
regarding the usage of languages spoken on the territory of the
Republic of Moldova), published in Vetile nr.9/217, 1989
5.
^ (Romanian) "Podul de flori peste Prut. Puni de simire
romneasc", in Romnia Liber, 8 May 1990.
6.
^ "Romania's relations with Moldova are more ambiguous. The
instability of Ion Iliescu's pro-Moscow government in Bucharest has
made both sides cautious in seeking ties with one another. In
August 1990 Romania announced plans to help Moldova develop a
national police force, and a month later the two signed a treaty of
cooperation. Although each side has disavowed Romanian-Moldovan
reunification, groups are lobbying for it in both republics" Martha
Brill Olcott, "The Soviet (Dis)Union", in Foreign Policy, No. 82.
(Spring, 1991), pp. 130
7.
^ Problems, Progress and Prospects in a Post-Soviet Borderland:
The Republic of Moldova. Trevor Waters. "In an address to the
Romanian parliament in February 1991 (on the first official visit
to Romania by any leader from Soviet Moldova since its annexation),
the then President Snegur strongly affirmed the common
Moldovan-Romanian identity, noting that We have the same history
and speak the same language, and referred to Romanians on both
sides of the River Prut. In June 1991 the Romanian parliament
vehemently denounced the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia and
Northern Bucovina, describing the territories as sacred Romanian
lands."
8.
^ "Moldavians seek to unite with Romania", in The Independent,
June 4, 1991, Page 12
9.
^ King, p.345
10. ^ According to recent polls, 70 percent of Moldovans reject
unification with Romania as "undesirable," while only 7-10 percent
support it as necessary (Daily Report, December 30, 1992, p. 3)
John B. Dunlop, "Will a Large-Scale Migration of Russians to the
Russian Republic Take Place over the Current Decade?", in
International Migration Review, Vol. 27, No. 3. (Autumn, 1993), pp.
605-629. 11. ^ Mackinlay, pg. 139
12. ^ George Berkin, "Secession blues", in National Review,
September 9, 1991 13. ^ (Romanian) "Concepia politicii naionale a
Republicii Moldova" at the Moldovan Parliament website 14. ^
http://www.e-democracy.md/elections/parliamentary/2009/results/ 15.
^ (Romanian) "Bsescu i-a dezvluit planul unionist secret", in
Evenimentul Zilei, 3 July 2006 16. ^ (Romanian)"Basarabia costa
bani grei" (Bessarabia costs a lot), in Cotidianul 17. ^ (Romanian)
Ct ne cost idealul rentregirii? ("How Much The Ideal of
Reunification Costs Us?") - Ziuay 18. ^ (Romanian) De ce Germania a
numrat nemii, i nu banii din buzunarele lor? ("Why Did Germany
Count The Germans, And Not Their Money?") - Timpul.md 19. ^
(Romanian) A fi sau a nu fi acestei guvernari? - aceasta-i
intrebarea lui Voronin 20. ^ (Romanian) November 27, 2009. "Aprilie
2009 - nceputul procesului de revenire a Moldovei n componena
Romniei" 21. ^ (Romanian) [1] (Tense relations between Romania and
Moldova repaired with 100 million euros), Ziarul Financiar, 28
January 2010 22. ^ [2] (Moldovan-Romanian business and investment
office to open in Chiinu), Financiarul, 4 February 2010 23. ^
(Romanian) UNIMEDIA i PUBLIKA TV i unesc eforturile pentru
dezvoltarea mass-media din Republica Moldova), Realitatea TV, 9
December 2009 24. ^ (Romanian) Inaugurarea podului Lipcani-Rdui
Jurnal de Chiinu, 15 February 2010 25. ^ (Romanian) "Republica
Moldova a inceput daramarea gardului de sarma ghimpata de la
granita cu Romania", hotnews.ro, February 10, 2010 26. ^ (Romanian)
Mircea Druc este optimist i anun unirea inevitabil a Romniei cu
Basarabia, tiri din Basarabia, 15 January 2010 27. ^ (Russian) .. :
!, February 17, 2010 28. ^ "Interview with Mihai Ghimpu - Radio
Free Europe", Radio Free Europe, 1 March 2010
29. ^ (Romanian) "Interview with Mihai Ghimpu - Timpul",
September 29, 2009 30. ^ (Romanian) Ghimpu: Uniunea interstatal R.
Moldova - Romnia ar fi cea mai mare prostie!. Unimedia.md, August
23, 2010 31. ^ (Romanian) [3] [4] 32. ^ (Romanian) [5] 33. ^
http://www.gandul.info/news/aproape-un-sfert-de-milion-depersoane-din-r-moldova-au-redobandit-cetatenia-romana-in-20-de-ani9566918
34. ^ http://www.soros.ro/ro/comunicate_detaliu.php?comunicat=187
35. ^ http://cetatenie.just.ro/ordine/ 36. ^ (Romanian) [6], page
89-90 37. ^ http://www.actiunea2012.ro 38. ^
http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-cultura-8510245-webrelease-lansatplatforma-civica-actiunea-2012-sustine-uunirea-republicii-moldovaromania.htm
39. ^
http://www.publika.md/unirea-romaniei-cu-moldova--sustinuta-deplatforma-civica-actiunea-2012_294811.html
40. ^ http://www.tvr.ro/articol.php?id=102788 41. ^
http://www.radiochisinau.md/pages/view/2339 42. ^
http://www.jurnal.md/ro/news/a-fost-constituit-consiliul-unirii-216897/
43. ^
http://consiliul-unirii.union.md/conferin-a-de-presa-i-declara-iaconsiliului-unirii
44. ^
http://www.arena.md/?go=news&n=11589&t=FOTO__Mar%C5%9Fu
l_Unirii_la_Chi%C5%9Fin%C4%83u_marcat_de_incidente__ 45. ^
http://www.jurnal.md/ro/news/mar-ul-unirii-din-pman-pana-laambasada-rusiei-i-a-turciei-foto-219805/
46. ^
http://www.ziuaveche.ro/international/externe/chisinau-16septembrie-marsul-unirii-live-video-120529.html
47. ^
http://unimedia.info/stiri/foto--video-marsul-unirii-din-bucuresti-s-aincheiat-fara-incidente-53441.html
48. ^
http://www.trm.md/ro/regional/cahul-altercatii-la-marsul-unirii/
49. ^
http://www.jurnal.md/ro/news/violen-e-la-bal-i-video-live-text-224673/
50. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9pBTwxZTpA 51. ^
http://www.jurnal.md/ro/news/filat-roaga-moldovenii-sa-nu-participela-mar-ul-unirii-303660/
52. ^ http://www.iri.org/countries-and-programs/eurasia/moldova
53. ^
http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2011%20June%206%20Survey%
20of%20Moldova%20Public%20Opinion,%20January%2024February%207,%202011.pdf
54. ^
http://www.iri.org/sites/default/files/flip_docs/Moldova%20national%2
0voters%20survey%202010-09/HTML/index.html#/34/zoomed 55. ^
(Romanian) "29% din populatia R.Moldova este pentru unirea cu
Romania", detailed statistics 56. ^
http://www.soros.ro/ro/publicatii.php 57. ^ (Romanian) Cotidianul.
"Unirea cu Moldova", 23 January 2006 58. ^
http://www.rgnpress.ro/rgn_12/images/stories/2012/08/11sondaj_CRSS.pdf
[edit]References
Lenore A. Grenoble (2003) Language Policy in the Soviet Union,
Springer, ISBN 1-4020-1298-5
John Mackinlay, Peter Cross (2003) Regional Peacekeepers United
Nations University Press ISBN 92-808-1079-0
Charles King, "Moldovan Identity and the Politics of
Pan-Romanianism", in Slavic Review, Vol. 53, No. 2. (Summer, 1994),
pp. 345368.
Charles King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics
of culture, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University,
2000.ISBN 08179-9792-X
[edit]External
links (Romanian) Actiunea 2012 Official Website (Romanian)
Romanism.net Website dedicated to Romanian-Moldovan
reunification
(Romanian) BBC Romanian: "Interviu cu preedintele PPCD Iurie
Roca" (March 2005)
(Romanian) Ziua: "Trdarea Basarabiei de la Bucureti" (June 2005)
(Romanian) Hotnews.ro: March 2006 Poll (Romanian) Cotidianul: "Ci
bani ne-ar costa unirea cu
Basarabia" (October 2006)
(English) Basescu Plan: Actions supporting unification with
Romania
held in Chisinau (October 2006)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_for_the_unification_of_Romania_and_Moldova
Controversy over linguistic and ethnic identity in MoldovaFrom
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A controversy exists over the national identity and name of the
native language of the main ethnic group in the Republic of
Moldova. The issue more frequently disputed is whether Moldovans
constitute a subgroup of Romanians or a separate ethnic group.
While there is wide agreement about the existence of a common
language, the controversy persists about the use of the term
"Moldovan language" in certain political contexts. The Declaration
of Independence of 1991 calls the official language "Romanian",[1]
and the first anthem adopted by the independent Moldova was
"Deteapt-te, romne" ("Awaken, Romanian!"), the same as the anthem
of Romania. Mirroring political evolutions in the country, the
Constitution of Moldova (1994) calls the official language
"Moldovan"[2] and establishes as anthem "Limba noastr" (Our
language, without any explicit reference to its name). Moreover,
the 2003 "Law of Nationalities"[3]
adopted by the Communist-
dominated Parliament explicitly designates the Romanians as an
ethnic minority in Moldova. The officially sanctioned distinction
between Moldovans and Romanians has been criticized by some members
of the scientific community within Moldova.[4][5][6][7][8] and
raised protests from certain segments of the population, especially
intellectuals and students, at their turn inspired by several
political forces.[9] [10][11] Furthermore, the problem strained
Moldova's diplomatic relations with neighboring
Romania.Contents[hide]
1 Principality of Moldavia (13591812)
o o o o
1.1 Moldavian identity in medieval chronicles 1.2 Selected
foreign travelers about Moldavians 1.3 Early works in the local
language of Moldavia 1.4 Diplomats' opinion
2 Bessarabia in the Russian Empire (18121918) 3 Bessarabia
within Greater Romania (19181940) 4 Bessarabia within the Soviet
Union (19401992) 5 Linguistic dispute 6 Popular perception 7
Political positions 8 Moldovan presidents on the language and
identity of Moldovans
9 Moldovenism 10 See also 11 References 12 Bibliography
[edit]Principality
of Moldavia (13591812)
Hronicul vechimei a Romano-Moldo-Vlahilor (Chronicle of the
durability of Romano-Moldo-Wallachians). Written by Moldavian
Prince Dimitrie Cantemir.
Carte Romneasc de nvtur (Romanian Book of Learning). Written by
Metropolitan of Moldavia, Varlaam Mooc.
[edit]Moldavian
identity in medieval chronicles
The chronicles of medieval Moldavia attested the names used by
the inhabitants of Moldavia to refer to themselves as well as the
common language and origin of Moldavians, Wallachians and
Transylvanians. Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia (14571504),
had ordered a chronicle to be written by a German royal courtier.
The chronicle covered the years 14571499 and was titled Dy Cronycke
Des Stephen Woywoda auss Wallachey or The Chronicle of Stephen
Voivode of Wallachia.[12] The first important
chronicler of Moldavia, Grigore Ureche (15901647), states that
the Romanians of theHungarian Kingdom and Moldavians have the same
origin, since both "come from Rome".[13]Later, chronicler Miron
Costin (16331691) wrote in one of his works that the "rightest and
most authentic" name of Moldavians is Rumn (Romanian), a changed
form of "Roman", and that this name was kept by them from the
beginnings till to that day. He also mentioned that Moldavians
never ask "do you speak Moldavian?", but rather "do you speak
Romanian?".[citation needed] His son, chronicler Nicolae Costin
(16601712), shared his father's opinion.[citation needed]The
Wallachian chronicler Constantin Cantacuzino (16551716) explains
that by Romanians he means Romanians from Wallachia, Transylvania,
and Moldavia, as they all speak essentially the same language and
have a common origin[citation needed] Dimitrie Cantemir (16731723),
Prince of Moldavia and member of the Royal Academy of Berlin, wrote
a history book called Hronicul vechimei a Romano-Moldo-Vlahilor
(Chronicle of the Ancientness of the Romanian-Moldavian-Vlachs). In
the introductory part, he calls it "a chronicle of the entire
Romanian land" (Hronicon a toat ara Romneasc) that "later was
divided into Moldavia, Wallachia and Transylvania" (care apoi s-au
mprit n Moldova, Munteneasc i Ardealul) and mentions that the book
was first written in Latin and then translated into Romanian (pre
limba romneasc). He also claims that the usual name of
Transylvanians, Moldavians and Wallachians is Romanian (carii cu
toii cu un nume de obte romni s chiam).[citation needed]
[edit]Selected
foreign travelers about Moldavians
Several foreign travelers through Moldavia since the 16th
century noted that locals called themselves "Romanians"[14] and
their language "Romanian".[15] They also mention the awareness of a
common Roman origin among the inhabitants of Moldavia and
neighbouring Wallachia and Transylvania .[16] Georg Reicherstorffer
(14951554), a Transylvanian Saxon, was the emissary of Ferdinand I
of Habsburg in Wallachia and Moldavia. Reicherstorffer had traveled
in 1527 and 1535 in the Principality of Moldavia and wrote his
travel memoirs - Moldaviae quae olim Daciae pars, Chorographia
(1541) and also Chorographia Transylvaniae(1550). Describing the
geography of Moldavia he finds that "besides this name it is also
called Wallachia" and then speaking about the Moldavian people he
says that "the Roman [Italian] language still endures in this
nation...so the Wallachians [from Moldavia] are an Italian nation,
as they claim, from the old Romans".[17] A chronicler and mercenary
from Verona, Alessandro Guagnini (15381614), traveled twice in
Moldavia and helped Despot Vod (Ioan Iacob Heraclid) gain the
throne in 1563. In his biography of the prince, "Vita despothi
Principis Moldaviae", he described to the people of Moldavia:"This
nation of Wallachians refer to themselves as Romana and say that
they originate from exiled Romans of Italy. Their language is a
mixture of Latin and Italian languages, so that an Italian can
easily understand a Wallachian".[18] After a visit to Moldavia an
anonymous traveler, probably an Italian Jesuit, wrote in 1587 a
description of the people and found that "these people [Moldavians]
belong to the Greek faith, they take kindly to everything that is
Roman, maybe because of their corrupted language from Latin, or for
the belief they have about their descent from the Romans, as they
call themselves Romans".[19] Also, according to these sources, the
Slav neighbours called Moldovans "Vlachs" or "Volokhs", a term
equally used to refer to all the Romance speakers from Wallachia,
Transylvania, and the Balkan peninsula.[20] Nicolaus Olahus
(14931568), proeminent humanist, writes in Hungaria et Attila that
the Moldavians have the same
language, rituals and religion as the Wallachians and that the
only way to distinguish them is by their clothes. He also mentions
that the language of Moldavians and other Vlach peoples was once
Roman (Latin), as they all were colonies of the Roman Empire.[21]
Thomas Thornton (17621814) wrote a book in 1807 about his numerous
travels inside the Ottoman Empire and says that the Wallachian and
Moldavian peasants call themselves "Rumun, or Roman", to
distinguish themselves from boyars (local nobles), and that their
language is a corrupt Latin.[22]
[edit]Early
works in the local language of Moldavia
Similarly, in 1643, The Moldavian Prince Vasile Lupu sponsored a
book of homilies translated by Metropolitan Varlaam of Moldavia
fromSlavonic into Romanian (pre limba Romeniasc) and titled Carte
Romneasc de nvtur (Romanian Book of Learning) .[23] The foreword by
Prince Lupu says that it is addressed to the entire Romanian nation
everywhere (la toat semenia romneasc de pretutindeni). The book,
also known as "Cazania of Varlaam" (Varlaam's Homiliary), was the
very first printed in Moldavia and large numbers of copies spread
in the neighboring provinces inhabited by Romanian speakers.[24]
Furthermore, as a reaction to the translation in Transylvania of
the Calvinist catechism into Romanian, Metropolitan Varlaam wrote
in 1645 a "Response to the Calvinist Catechism" (Rspuns la
Catehismul calvinesc) addressed to "the beloved Christians and with
us one Romanian nation" from Transylvania [25] Vasile Lupu
sponsored the printing in 1646 of the first code of laws in
Moldavia titled Romanian Book of Learning (Carte romneasc de nvtur
de la pravilele mprteti i de la alte giudee). The book was inspired
by Byzantine tradition and in 1652 a virtually identical code of
laws appeared in Wallachia, sponsored by Prince Matei Basarab.[26]
Moldavian Metropolitan Dosoftei printed Dumnezaiasca Liturghie
(Divine Liturgy) in Romanian (tiparita romneste). In his "Foreword
to the Romanian nation" (Cuvnt depreuna catra semintia rumaneasca),
Dosoftei calls the book a gift to the Romanian language (acest dar
limbii rumnesti) translated from Greek (de pre elineasca) into
Romanian (pre limba rumneasca).[27] Later, after the annexation of
Bessarabia by the Russian empire, religious books written in the
region commonly called the language "Moldavian". Thus a menologium
printed in Chiinu in 1819 states it was translated from Slavonic
into Moldavian ( ), as does a typicon from 1821 ( ).[28][29]
[edit]Diplomats'
opinion
Joseph II, Ruler of the Austrian Empire and Catherine II,
Empress of Russia between 17621796, were willing to unite Moldavia
and Wallachia, then under Ottoman sovereignty, in order to create
an independent buffer state between Russia and Austria. The
proposed independent state, named Dacia, would have contained
Moldavia, Bessarabia and Wallachia, but Catherine wished it under
Russian influence as it was presented in the so-called "Greek
Project".[30] During the British Parliament debates of 1793, Mr.
Whitebread, speaking about the initiative of France to erect an
independent Belgium from Austro-Hungaria,
mentions Edmund Burke's initiative to form an independent state
from the Ottoman Empire, named Circle of the Danube comprising
Wallachia, Moldavia and Bessarabia.[31]Also, the memoirs of Sir
James Porter (17201786), British diplomat, ambassador to the
Sublime Porte in Istanbul from 1747 to 1762, mentions that, inside
the Ottoman Empire, next in number to the Slavonians are the
Rumelians or Romani, to whom the Moldavians and Wallachians belong,
who call themselves Rumuryi.[32]
[edit]Bessarabia
in the Russian Empire (18121918)
In 1812, the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia,
called Bessarabia, which includes the current territory of Republic
of Moldova (except for Transnistria) was ceded by the Ottomans to
the Russian empire. The idea of a unified state including all
Romanian speakers from Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia did not
emerge before the 18th century, as it was "foreign to the spirit of
the age"[33]
Starting with the 18th
century, a pan-Romanian national idea appeared, inspired by the
German and French romantic nationalism. The young boyars from
Moldavia and Wallachia educated in western universities returned
home with ambitious political goals to modernize their countries,
and sought to accomplish the ideal of a unified Romaniannation
state. One important step was achieved in 1859, in a favorable
international context, with the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as
a common ruler of the autonomous principalities of Wallachia and
(western) Moldavia. The newly formed Romanian state set among its
primary tasks to inculcate the sentiment of belonging to a common
Romanian nation to the illiterate rural majority through
state-funded universal elementary school. The Romantic historical
discourse reinterpreted history as a march towards the unified
state. The creation of a standardized Romanian language and
orthography, the adoption of the Roman alphabet to replace the
older Cyrillic were also important elements of the national
project.[33][34] Although still under foreign rule, the masses of
Romanians in the multiethnic Transylvania developed a Romanian
national consciousness, owing to their interaction with the ethnic
groups, and as a reaction to the status of political inferiority
and the aggressive nationalist politicies of the later Hungarian
national state.[35][36] Such developments were not reflected in the
Russian controlled Bessarabia. The Russification policy of the
regime, more successful among the higher strata of the society, did
not have an important effect on the majority of rural Moldavians.
As Romanian politician Take Ionescu noted at the time, "the
Romanian landlords were Russified through a policy of cooptation,
the government allowing them to maintain leading positions in the
administration of the province, whereas the peasantry was
indifferent to the national problem: there were no schools for
de-nationalization, and, although the church service was held in
Russian, this was actually of little significance"[37][38]
Furthermore, as University of Bucharest lecturer Cristina Petrescu
noted, Bessarabia missed "the reforms aimed at transforming the two
united principalities [Wallachia and Moldavia] into a modern
state"[37][39] Irina Livezeanu claims that, moreover, at the
beginning of the 20th century, peasants in all regions of the
former principality of Moldavia were more likely to identify as
Moldavians than the inhabitants of the cities.[40] In 1849, George
Long writes that Wallachia and Moldavia are separated only by a
political boundary and that their history is closely connected.
About the latter he says that it is inhabited mainly by Wallachians
who
call themselves Roomoon (Romanian).[41]Ethnologist Robert Gordon
Latham, writes in 1854, that the name by which a Wallachian,
Moldavian or a Bessarabian designates himself is Roman or Rumanyo
(Romanian), a name the author also applies to the Romance speakers
of Macedonia.[42] Similarly, in 1845, German brothers Arthur Schott
and Albert Schott (historian) write in the beginning of their book
- Walachische Mhrchen(Wallachian Fairy Tales) - that Wallachians
live in Wallachia, Moldavia, Transylvania, Hungary, Macedonia and
Thessaly.[43] The authors also mentions that Wallachians respond Eo
sum Romanu (I am Romanian) when asked what they are.[44]
[edit]Bessarabia
within Greater Romania (19181940)
In 1918, Sfatul rii voted for the union of Bessarabia with the
Kingdom of Romania. At the time, the Romanian army was already
present in Bessarabia. US historian Charles Upson Clark notes that
several Bessarabian ministers, Codreanu, Pelivan and Secara, and
the Russian commander-in-chief Shcherbachev had asked for its
intervention to maintain order.[45] He also mentions that after the
arrival of Romanian army "all classes in Bessarabia, except the
Russian revolutionaries, breathed a sigh of relief".[46] However,
he adds that, at the beginning, the intervention had "roused great
resentment among those who still clung to the hope of a Bessarabian
state within the Russian Federated Republic" such as Ion Inculet,
president of Sfatul Tarii and prime-minister Pantelimon Erhan who
initially demanded the prompt withdrawal of the Romanian troops to
avoid a civil war.[47] However, Inculet later welcomed Romanian
general Brosteanu, who was in charge with the intervention, to a
formal reception at Sfatul Tarii.[46] Given the complex
circumstances, some scholars such as Cristina Petrescu and US
historian Charles King considered controversial the Bessarabian
vote in favor of the union with Romania.[48][49] On the contrary,
historian Sorin Alexandrescu thinks that the presence of the
Romanian army "did not cause the unification, [...] but only
consolidated it". .[50] Similarly, Bernard Newman, who traveled by
bike in the whole of Greater Romania, claimed there is little doubt
that the vote represented the prevailing wish in Bessarabia and
that the events leading to the unification indicate there was no
question of a "seizure", but a voluntary act on the part of its
people.[51] Quoting Emmanuel de Martonne, historian Irina Livezeanu
mentions that, around the time of the union, Bessarabian peasants
"still called thesemlves Moldovans". She adds Ion Nistor's
explanation from 1915 of a similar earlier phenomenon in the
Austrian-ruledBukovina, where peasants had called themselves
Moldovans but "under the influence of the [Romanian] literary
language, the term 'Moldovan' was then replaced by 'Romanian'",
while "in Bessarabia this influence has not penetrated yet"[52]
After the unification, a few French and Romanian military reports
from the period mentioned the reticence or hostility of the
Bessarabian ethnic minorities, at times together with Moldovans,
towards the new Romanian administration.[53] Livezeanu also notes
that, at the beginning, the Moldovan urban elite educated under
Russian rule spoke predominantly Russian, and despised Romania as
"uncivilized" and the culture of its elite, of which it knew very
little.[54]
Owing partly to its relative underdevelopment compared to other
regions of Greater Romania, as well as to the low competence and
corruption of some of the new Romanian administration in this
province, the process of "turning Bessarabian peasants into
Romanians" was less successful than in other regions and was soon
to be disrupted by the Soviet occupation.[55][56] Cristina Petrescu
thinks that the transition between the Tsarist-type of local
administration to the centralized Romanian administration alienated
many Moldovans, and many of them felt they were rather occupied
than united with "their alleged brothers".[57] Based on the stories
told by a group of Bessarabians from the villages of the Balti
county, who, notably, chose to move to Romania rather than live
under the Soviet regime, Cristina Petrescu suggests that Bessarabia
seems to be only region of the Greater Romania where the central
authorities did not succeed "in integrating their own coethnics",
most of whom "did not even begin to consider themselves part of the
Romanian nation, going beyond their allegiance to regional and
local ties" .[56]
[edit]Bessarabia
within the Soviet Union (19401992)
In 1940, Bessarabia, along with northern Bukovina, was
incorporated into the USSR following an ultimatum sent to the
Romanian government. The Soviet authorities took several steps to
emphasize the distinction between the Moldovans and the Romanians,
at times using the physical elimination of pan-Romanian supporters,
deemed as "enemies of the people".[58] They were repressed by
theNKVD and KGB for their "bourgeois nationalism".[59] The Soviet
propaganda also sought to secure a separate status for the
varieties of the Romanian language spoken in the USSR. Thus, it
imposed the use of a Cyrillic script derived from the Russian
alphabet, and promoted the exclusive use of the name "Moldovan
language", forbidding the use of the name "Romanian language". The
harsh anti-Romanian Soviet policy left a trace on the identity of
Moldovans.[55]
[edit]Linguistic
dispute
Main articles: Languages of Moldova, Moldovan language, and
Romanian language
A Limba noastr social ad in Chiinu, Moldova with the word "Romn"
sprayed onto it.
There is essentially no disagreement that the standard form of
the official language inMoldova (called Moldovan by the
Constitution of 1994, also called Romanian or "the official
language"/"limba de stat") is identical to standard Romanian. The
spoken language of Moldova, in spite of small regional differences,
is completely understandable to speakers from Romania and
viceversa. [citationneeded]
The slight differences are in pronunciation and the choice of
vocabulary. For
example, cabbage, drill and water melon are respectively
"curechi", "sfredel" and "harbuz" in Moldova and Moldavia
(Romania), but their synonyms "varz", "burghiu" and "pepene" are
preferred in Transylvania and Wallachia. However, Daco-Romanian
speakers might know and understand both forms of each term.
Moldovan is widely considered merely the political name used in the
Republic of Moldova for the Romanian language.[60]
[edit]Popular
perception
A poll conducted in Moldova by IMAS-Inc Chiinu in October 2009
presented a somewhat detailed picture of the perception of identity
inside the country. The participants were asked to rate the
relationship between the identity of Moldovans and that of
Romanians on a scale between 1 (entirely the same) to 5 (completely
different). The poll shows that 26% of the entire sample, which
includes all ethnic groups, claim the two identities are the same
or very similar, whereas 47% claim they are different or entirely
different. The results vary significantly among different
categories of subjects. For instance, 33% of the young respondents
(ages 1829) chose the same or very similar, and 44% different or
very different. Among the senior respondents (aged over 60), the
corresponding figures were 18.5% and 53%. One of the largest
deviation from the country average was among the residents of
capital Chiinu, for whom the figures were 42% and 44%. The poll
also shows that, compared to the national average (25%), people are
more likely to perceive the two identities as the same or very
similar if they are young (33%), are native speakers of Romanian
(30%), have higher education (36%) or reside in urban areas (30%),
especially in the capital city (42%).[61] Until 2007, some 120 000
Moldovan citizens received Romanian citizenship. In 2009, Romania
granted 36 000 more citizenships and expects to increase the number
up to 10 000 per month.[62][63]
Romanian
president Traian Bsescu claimed that over 1 million more have
made requests for it, and this high number is seen by some as a
result of this identity controversy. The Communist
government(20012009), a vocal advocate of a distinct Moldovan
ethnic group, deemed multiple citizenship a threat to Moldovan
statehood.[64][65]
[edit]Political
positions
The major Moldovan political forces have diverging opinions
regarding the identity of Moldovans. This contradiction is
reflected in their stance toward the national history that should
be taught in Moldovans schools. Forces such as the Liberal Party
(PL), Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) and Our Moldova Alliance
(AMN) support the teaching of the history of Romanians. Others,
such as the Democratic Party (PD) and the Party of Communists
(PCRM) support the history of Republic of Moldova.[66][67] [68]
[69]
[edit]Moldovan
presidents on the language and identity of Moldovans
Mircea Snegur, the first Moldovan President (19921996), a
somewhat versatile supporter of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic
and linguistic identity "n suflet eram (i sunt) mai romn dect muli
dintre nvinuitori." [70] "In my soul I was (and am) more Romanian
than most of my accusers." Vladimir Voronin, President of Moldova
(20012009), an adversary of the common Romanian-Moldovan ethnic
identity, acknowledged at times the existence of a common language.
Limba moldoveneasc este de fapt mama limbii romne. S-o numeti romn
nseamn s neli istoria i s-i nedrepteti propria mam.[71] "Moldovan
is in fact the mother of the Romanian language. To call it Romanian
is to betray history and to commit injustice to your own mother."
"Vorbim aceeai limba, chiar dac o numim diferit."[72] "We speak the
same language [in Romania and Moldova], even though we call it
differently." Mihai Ghimpu, speaker of the Moldovan Parliament and
interim president (20092010), a staunch supporter of the common
Romanian-Moldovan ethnic identity: "Dar ce am ctigat avnd la
conducere oameni care tiau c limba e romn i c noi suntem romni, dar
au recunoscut acest adevr doar dup ce au plecat de la guvernare? Eu
nu am venit s manipulez cetenii, ci s le spun adevrul." [73] "What
have we gained having as leaders people who knew that the language
is Romanian and that we are Romanians, but acknowledged this truth
only after they left office? I have not come to manipulate the
citizens, but to tell them the truth."
[edit]MoldovenismMain article: Moldovenism The Soviet attempts,
which started after 1924 and were fully implemented after 1940, to
strongly emphasize the local Moldovan identity and transform it
into a separate ethnicity, as well as its reiteration in the
postindependence Moldovan politics, especially during theCommunist
government (20012009), is often referred to as Moldovanism. The
Moldovanist position refutes the purported Romanian-Moldovan ethnic
identity, and also at times the existence of a common language.[74]
US historian James Stuart Olson, in his book - An Ethnohistorical
dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires - considers that
Moldavians and Romanians are so closely related to the Romanian
language, ethnicity and historical development that they can be
considered one and the same people.[75]
Since "Moldovan" is widely considered merely a political term
used to designate the Romanian language,[76] the supporters of a
distinct language are often regarded as anti-scientific or
politicianist. A typical example is the Moldovan-Romanian
dictionary.
[edit]See
also
A language is a dialect with an army and navy Movement for the
unification of Romania and Moldova The case of Moldova is not
singular. For instance, similar controversies exist in some
republics originating from the formerYugoslavia. In spite of their
linguistic and religious identity, there is a question whether
Montenegrin and Serbian are the same or different ethnic groups. In
most such cases, the tension seems to be between a stronger local
identity and a weaker but wider identity. The questions are not
solely cultural, but also political.[77]
[edit]References This article uses bare URLs for citations.
Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains
verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available
to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (October
2011)
1.
^http://www.europa.md/upload/File/alte_documente/Declaratia%20de%20Independenta%20a%20Repu
blicii%20Moldova%202(1).doc
2.
^ Constitution of the Republic of Moldova. Article 13, Chapter
1. 1994-06-29. "The official language of the Republic of Moldova is
Moldovan, written in Latin script."
3. 4.
^ "L E G E privind aprobarea Conceptiei politicii nationale de
stat a Republicii Moldova". ^ Raisa Lozinschi. "SRL "Moldovanul""
(in Romanian). Jurnal de Chiinu. Archived from the original on
2008-08-22. Retrieved 2008-11-20. "Conf. Univ. Dr. Gheorghe Paladi,
preedintele Asociaiei Istoricilor din R. Moldova: Noi ntotdeauna am
susinut comunitatea de neam i ne-am considerat romni ca origine,
etnie, limb."
5.
^ "Primul manifest tiinific mpotriva conceptului de limb
moldoveneasc" (in Romanian). Observator de Bacu. 2008-03-05.
Retrieved 2008-11-20.
6.
^ Alina Olteanu (2007-11-22). "Academia Romn combate "limba
moldoveneasc"" (in Romanian). Ziua. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
7.
^ Eugenia Bojoga (2006). "Limb "moldoveneasc" i integrare
european?" (in Romanian). Chiinu: Contrafort. Archived from the
original on 2008-07-10. Retrieved 2008-11-20.
8.
^ "Rezoluie a lingvitilor privind folosirea inadecvat a
sintagmei: "limba moldoveneasc"" (in Romanian). Gndul. 2007-11-01.
Retrieved 2008-11-20.
9.
^ Michael Wines (2002-02-25). "History Course Ignites a Volatile
Tug of War in Moldova". The New York Times. Retrieved
2008-11-19.
10. ^ "A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in
Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR". East European Constitutional
review. NYU Law. 2002.
11. ^ About the controversy over Moldovan identity and language,
in French : N. Trifon, "Guerre et paix des langues sur fond de
malaise identitaire" in Rpublique de Moldavie : un tat en qute de
nation, Paris, Non Lieu, 2010, P. 169-258. 12. ^ [Vladimir Beleag,
tefan cel Mare ntr-o cronic german din secolul
XVIhttp://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GgSfLotgQ6kJ:www.contrafort.md/2004/1
15-116/721.html+Cronica+germana+stefan+cel+mare&cd=1&hl=ro&ct=clnk&gl=ro]
13. ^ Rumnii, ci s afl lcuitori la ara Ungureasc i la Ardeal i la
Maramorou, de la un loc suntu cu moldovnii i toi de la Rm s trag.
14. ^ After a journey through Wallachia, Moldavia and
TransylvaniaFerrante Capecci reports in 1575 that the inhabitants
of these provinces call themselves "romneti" ("romanesci") : "Anzi
essi si chiamano romanesci[= indeed they call themselves
romanesci], e vogliono molti che erano mandati qu quei che erano
dannati a cavar metalli..." in: Maria Holban, Cltori strini despre
rile Romne, Bucharest, Editura Stiinific, 1970, vol. II, p.158 161.
15. ^ Frenchman Pierre Lescalopier writes in 1574 that those who
live in Moldavia, Wallachia and most of Transylvania, "think they
are true heirs of the Romans and call their language "romnete",
that is Roman: "Tout ce pays: la Wallachie, la Moldavie et la plus
part de la Transylvanie, a est peupl des colonies romaines du temps
de Trajan l'empereur Ceux du pays se disent vrais successeurs des
Romains et nomment leur parler romanechte, c'est--dire romain " in
Voyage fait par moy, Pierre Lescalopier l'an 1574 de Venise a
Constantinople, in: Paul Cernovodeanu, Studii i materiale de
istorie medieval, IV, 1960, p. 444. 16. ^ The Croat Ante Verani
states in 1570 that " Vlachs from Transylvania, Moldavia and
Wallachia say that they are romani " : "...Valacchi, qui se Romanos
nominant..." "Gens quae ear terras (Transsylvaniam, Moldaviam et
Transalpinam) nostra aetate incolit, Valacchi sunt, eaque a Romania
ducit originem, tametsi nomine longe alieno..." De situ
Transsylvaniae, Moldaviae et Transaplinae, in Monumenta Hungariae
Historica, Scriptores; II, Pesta, 1857, p. 120. 17. ^ "...pe lng
aceasta se mai cheam i Valahia, de la Flacci o gint roman, cci
romanii dup ce au nfrnt i nimicit pe gei, au adus aci coloniti sub
conducerea unui oarecare Flaccus, de unde s-a numit mai nti
Flaccia, apoi, prin stricarea cuvntului, Valahia. Aceast prere este
ntrit de faptul c vorbirea roman mai dinuiete nc la acest neam, dar
att de alterat ntru toate, nct abia ar mai putea fi neleas de un
roman. Aadar, romnii sunt o seminie italic ce se trage, dup cum zic
ei, din vechii romani..." Adina Berciu-Drghicescu, Liliana Trofin.
Culegere de documente privind istoria Romanilor din secolele IV
XVI, Partea I, Editura Universitatii, Bucureti, 2006 18. ^ Adolf
Armbruster, Romanitatea romnilor: istoria unei idei, Editia a II-a,
Editura Enciclopedic, Bucureti, 1993, pg. 47 19. ^ S.J. Magyarody,
The Tsangos of Romania: The Hungarian minorities in Romanian
Moldavia, Matthias Corvinus Publishing, pg. 45 20. ^ Roger-William
Seton Watson, A history of the Romanians, Cambridge University
Press, 1934 21. ^ Hungaria et Attila, pg. 59
22. ^ Thomas Thornton, The present state of Turkey, London, 1807
23. ^ CARTE ROMNEASC // DE NVTUR // DUMENECELE // preste an i la
praznice mprte- // ti i la sfini Mari. // Cu zisa i cu toat
cheltuiala // LUI VASILIE VOIVODUL // i domnul rii Moldovei din
multe // scripturi tlmcit. din limba // sloveneasc pre limba
Romeniasc. // DE VARLAAM MITROPOLITUL // De ara Moldovei. // n
Tipariul Domnesc. n Mnstirea // a trei S(feti)teli n Iai de la Hs.
1643, The Book description on Biblioteca Judeean Petre Dulfu, Baia
Mare 24.
^http://bisericaromanaortodoxalessandria.wordpress.com/video-3/sfantul-ierarh-varlaam-mitropolitulmoldovei/cazania-mitropolitului-varlaam-2/
25. ^ iubiilor cretini i cu noi de un neam romni, pretutindeni
tuturor ce se afl n prile Ardealului i n alte pri pretutindeni ce
suntei cu noi ntr-o credin [1] 26. ^
http://moldova650.asm.md/node/42 27. ^ Nicolae Fustei, 330 de ani a
celei de a doua editii a Liturghierului lui Dosoftei 28. ^ Mineiu
de obte. Chiinu, Exarhiceasca Tipografie a Bassarabiei. 1819.
preface 29. ^ Tipic biserices, adunat n scurt. Chiinu,
Duhovniceasca Tipografie a Bessarabiei. 1821. preface 30. ^ Keith
Hitchins, The Romanians: 1774-1866, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1996,
pg44, pg.47 31. ^ The parliamentary register, Vol. 34, London,
Burlington House, 1793, pg. 405 32. ^ Sir James Porter, Turkey: its
history and progress, Hurst and Blackett, London, 1854, pg 25 33.
^a b
Lucian Boia, History and Myth in the Romanian consciousness, p
129
34. ^ Goina, Clin. How the State Shaped the Nation: an Essay on
the Making of the Romanian Nation in Regio - Minorities, Politics,
Society. Nprajzi Mzeum. No 1/2005. pp. 158-160, 161-163 35. ^ Sorin
Mitu, National identity of Romanians in Transylvania 36. ^ Goina,
Clin. How the State Shaped the Nation: an Essay on the Making of
the Romanian Nation in Regio - Minorities, Politics, Society.
Nprajzi Mzeum. No 1/2005. pp. 165-167 37. ^a b
Petrescu, Cristina. Contrasting/Conflicting Identities:
Bessarabians, Romanians, Moldovans in
Nation-Building and Contested identities: Romanian &
Hungarian Case Studies. Editura Polirom. 2001. pp. 154-155 38. ^
Livezeanu, Irina. Cultural Politics in Greater Romania:
Regionalism, Nation Building, and Ethnic Struggle,
1918-1930.Cornell University Press, 2000. p.94 39. ^ Goina, Clin.
How the State Shaped the Nation: an Essay on the Making of the
Romanian Nation in Regio - Minorities, Politics, Society. Nprajzi
Mzeum. No 1/2005. p. 165 40. ^ Livezeanu, Irina. Cultural Politics
in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation Building, and Ethnic
Struggle, 1918-1930.Cornell University Press, 2000. p.92 41. ^
George Long, Penny Cyclopaedia, volume XV, London, 1849, published
by Charles Knight, pg. 304 42. ^ Robert Gordon Latham, The native
races of the Russian Empire, London, 1854, pg.268 43. ^ Arthur
Schott, Albert Schott, Walachische Mhrchen, Cotta, Stuttgart and
Tbingen, 1845, pg. 3 44. ^ Arthur Schott, Albert Schott,
Walachische Mhrchen, Cotta, Stuttgart and Tbingen, 1845, pg. 44 45.
^http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/bc_19.shtml
46. ^
a b
http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/bc_20.shtml#bc_20
47. ^ Charles Upson Clark, Anarchy in Bessarabia in Bessarabia:
Russia and Roumania on the Black Sea. Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y.,
1927 48. ^ Petrescu, Cristina. Contrasting/Conflicting Identities:
Bessarabians, Romanians, Moldovans in NationBuilding and Contested
identities: Romanian & Hungarian Case Studies. Editura Polirom.
2001. p. 156 49. ^ King, Charles. The Moldovans: Romania, Russia,
and the politics of culture. Hoover Press. 2000. p. 34 50. ^ Sorin
Alexandrescu, Paradoxul roman, page 48. "Prezenta militara
romaneasca in Basarabia nu a cauzat deci unirea - vointa politica
pentru aceasta exista oricum - ci doar a consolidat-o 51. ^ Bernard
Newman, "The new Europe", p. 245 52. ^ Livezeanu, Irina. Cultura si
Nationalism in Romania Mare 1918-1930. 1998 p.115 53. ^ Livezeanu,
Irina. Cultural Politics in Greater Romania: Regionalism, Nation
Building, and Ethnic Struggle, 1918-1930.Cornell University Press,
2000. pp. 98-99 54. ^ Livezeanu, Irina. Cultura si Nationalism in
Romania Mare.Humanitas 1998, p.123 "rusa era considerata adevarata
limba publica a elitei urbane si a birocratiei. Moldovenii ce
devenisera parte a acestei elite sub carmuirea ruseasca, desi nu-si
uitasera neaparat limba materna, n-o mai foloseau in afara
relatiilor de familie. Faptul ca moldovenii aveau un precar al
identitatii culturale romanesti se reflecta in dispretul lor fata
de Romania, tara pe care multi dintre ei o priveau ca . De asemenea
dispretuiau cultura elitelor din Romania, desi o cunosteau foarte
putin, sau poate tocmai de aceea" 55. ^a b
Charles King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics
of culture, Hoover Institution
Press, Stanford University, 2000 56. ^a b
Petrescu, Cristina. Contrasting/Conflicting Identities:
Bessarabians, Romanians, Moldovans in
Nation-Building and Contested identities: Romanian &
Hungarian Case Studies. Editura Polirom. 2001. p. 154 57. ^
Petrescu, Cristina. Contrasting/Conflicting Identities:
Bessarabians, Romanians, Moldovans in NationBuilding and Contested
identities: Romanian & Hungarian Case Studies. Editura Polirom.
2001. p. 157 58. ^ Bugai, Nikolai F.: Deportatsiya narodov iz
Ukainyi, Belorussii i Moldavii - Deportation of the peoples from
Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Druzhba Narodov, Moscow 1998, Dittmar
Dahlmann & Gerhard Hirschfeld. - Essen 1999, pp. 567-581 59. ^
John Barron, The KGB, Reader's Digest inc., 1974, ISBN
0-88349-009-9 60. ^
http://www.interlic.md/2008-05-26/5119-5119.html 61. ^
http://www.interlic.md/download/988/ 62. ^
http://www.gandul.info/news/basescu-vrea-sa-adopte-lunar-10-000-de-basarabeni-gandul-a-fost-azila-botezul-a-300-dintre-ei-de-ce-raman-studentii-moldoveni-in-romania-6074646
63. ^
http://www.interlic.md/2009-08-27/cetatzenia-rom-na-pentru-basarabeni-redob-ndire-saurecunoashtere-11649.html
64. ^ "Voronin acuz Romnia c pune n pericol statalitatea
Republicii Moldova" (in Romanian). Bucharest: Realitatea TV.
2007-11-06. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 65. ^ Constantin Codreanu
(2007-03-08). "Chiinul spune c Bucuretiul submineaz statalitatea
Moldovei" (in Romanian). Bucharest: Ziarul Financiar. Retrieved
2008-11-19. 66. ^
http://www.adevarul.ro/international/europa/Istoria-Marian-Filat-Lupu-Vlad_0_128987562.html
Vlad Filat, president of PLDM "Vom nva istoria noastr - cea a
romnilor, aa cum este i firesc"/"We will teach our history - that
of Romanians, as it is natural" Marian Lupu, president PD: "Dup
prerea noastr, cea mai bun variant [...] ar fi istoria statului
nostru istoria Republicii Moldova. Fr a pune accente pe momente
sensibile, care ar putea duce la o scindare n societate.", a zis
liderul Partidului Democrat, Marian Lupu/"In our opinion, the best
option [...] would be the history of our state - the history of the
Republic of Moldova. Without focussing on the sensitive moments,
which would bring division in our society" 67. ^
http://www.formula-as.ro/2010/902/spectator-38/petru-bogatu-republica-moldova-nu-mai-poate-fiorientata-spre-moscova-12015
68. ^
http://www.pl.md/libview.php?l=ro&video_id=57&idc=69&id=832
69. ^
http://www.jurnalul.ro/stire-caravana-jurnalul-2007/scandalul-manualelor-de-istorie-integrata99589.html
70. ^ Mircea Snegur - Labirintul destinului. Memorii, Volumul 1-2,
Chiinu, 2007-2008 71. ^
http://politicom.moldova.org/news/voronin-limba-moldoveneasca-este-mama-limbii-romane-38764rom.html
72. ^
http://www.evz.ro/articole/detalii-articol/847673/Voronin-ataca-Romania-din-toate-partile/
73. ^
(Romanian)http://politicom.moldova.org/news/interviul-timpul-cu-mihai-ghimpu-203629-rom.html
74. ^ Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, The Comintern and the Origins of
Moldovanism (Chiinu: Civitas, 2009) 75. ^ James Stuart Olson, An
Ethnohistorical dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires,
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994, pg. 477 76. ^ [2]: "It is widely
accepted among linguists that Moldovan is the same language as
Romanian" 77. ^ About the controversy over linguistic identity in
Montenegro : Pavle Ivi in Standard Language as an Instrument of
Culture and the Product of National History
[edit]Bibliography
John Barron, The KGB, Reader's Digest inc., 1974, ISBN
0-88349-009-9 Bugai, Nikolai F.: Deportatsiya narodov iz Ukainyi,
Belorussii i Moldavii - Deportation of the peoples from Ukraine,
Belarus and Moldova. Druzhba Narodov, Moscow 1998, Dittmar Dahlmann
& Gerhard Hirschfeld. Essen 1999, pp. 567581
Charles Upson-Clark, Bessarabia, Dodd, Mead & Co., N.Y.,
1927 Frederick Kellogg, A history of Romanian historical writing,
Bakersfield, Ca., 1990
Charles King, The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics
of culture, Hoover Institution Press, Stanford University, 2000.
ISBN 0-8179-9792-X
S. Orifici, The Republic of Moldova in the 1990s : from the
declaration of independence to a democratic state, Geneve 1994
A. Pop, The Soviet-Romanian controversy & Moldova's
independence policy, Romanian review of international studies, 26,
1992
Hugh Seton-Watson, New nations & states, London 1997
Roger-William Seton-Watson, A history of the Romanians, Cambridge
Univ. Press 1934 G. Simon, Nationalism & Policy toward
nationalities in the Soviet Union, Boulder, S.F., Ca, & Oxford,
1991
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controversy_over_linguistic_and_ethnic_identity_in_Moldova
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During June 28 - July 4, 1940, as a consequence of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Red Army militarily
occupied[1][2][3]
the formerly Romanian held regions of Bessarabia, Northern
Bukovina,
and Hertza, after the Romanian government, following the Soviet
ultimatum, agreed to evacuate its troops and administration. The
Soviet Union had planned to accomplish the annexation with a
full-scale invasion, but the Romanian government, under a Soviet
ultimatum delivered on June 26, agreed to withdraw from the
territories in order to avoid a military conflict. Germany, who had
acknowledged the Soviet interest in Bessarabia in a secret protocol
to the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, had been made aware prior to
the planned ultimatum on June 24, but had not informed the Romanian
authorities, nor were they
willing to provide support.
[4]
The Fall of France on 22 June is considered an important factor
in the[5]
Soviet decision to issue the ultimatums.
On August 2, 1940, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was
proclaimed as a constituent republic of the Soviet Union,
encompassing most of Soviet-controlled Bessarabia, as well as the
former Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on the left
bank of the Dniester. The regions inhabited by Slavic majorities
(Northern Bukovina, the region of Khotin and Southern Bessarabia)
were included in the Ukrainian SSR. The Soviet administration was
marked by a series of campaigns of political persecution, including
arrests, deportations to labour camps and executions. In July 1941,
Romanian and Nazi German troops recaptured Bessarabia during the
Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. A military administration was
established and the region's Jewish population was either executed
on the spot or deported to Transnistria, where further numbers were
killed. In August 1944, during the Soviet Jassy-Kishinev Offensive,
the Axis war effort on the Eastern Frontcollapsed, also due to a
coup d'tat in Romania on 23 August 1944. Following this, the
Romanian army ceased resisting the Soviet advance and later joined
the fight against Germany, Romania thus effectively switching
sides. Soviet forces not only entered Bessarabia, but also occupied
entire Romania. Instrumental in this endeavor was the fact the
Soviets captured most of the troops of the Romanian army they were
facing before the start of the Jassy-Kishinev offensive, without a
fight. This happened because the Romanian army obeyed the orders of
the new Romanian administration not to oppose the Soviets. On
September 12, 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with the
Allies. The Armistice, as well as the subsequent peace treaty of
1947, confirmed the Soviet-Romanian border as it was on January 1,
1941.[7][8] [6]
Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and Hertza remained part of the
Soviet Union until its dissolutionin 1991, when they became part of
the newly independent states of Moldova and Ukraine. In its
declaration of independence of August 27, 1991, the government of
Moldova condemned the creation of Moldavian SSR, declaring that it
was done in the absence of any real legal
basis.Contents[hide][9]
1 Background
o o o
1.1 Soviet-Romanian relations during the interwar period 1.2 The
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact 1.3 International context at the beginning
of World War II
2 Political and military developments
o o o
2.1 Soviet preparations 2.2 Soviet ultimatum 2.3 Romanian
withdrawal
o
2.4 Incorporation of the annexed territories into the USSR
3 Aftermath
o o o o
3.1 International reactions 3.2 Political developments in
Romania 3.3 Romanian recovery of Bessarabia and wartime
administration 3.4 Restoration of Soviet administration
4 Social and cultural consequences
o o o
4.1 Population movements 4.2 Deportations and political
repression 4.3 Religious persecution
5 Legacy
o o o o
5.1 In the Soviet Union 5.2 Pre-independence Moldova 5.3 United
States 5.4 Modern Moldova
6 Notes 7 References 8 External links
[edit]Background [edit]Soviet-Romanian
relations during the interwar period
Interwar Romania (1920-1940)
The Bessarabian question was both political and national in
nature. According to the 1897 census,Bessarabia, at the time a
guberniya of the Russian Empire, had a population 47.6% Moldovans,
19.6% Ukrainians, 8% Russians, 11.8% Jews, 5,3% Bulgarians, 3.1%
Germans, 2.9% Gagauz.[10][11]
Which represents a strong decrease of the proportion of
Moldovans/Romanians in
comparison to the census of 1817, conducted shortly after the
Russian Empire annexed Bessarabia in 1812. According to the data of
this census, the Moldovans/Romanians represented 86% of the
population.
[12]
The decrease was due to the settling by the Tsarist authorities
of inhabitants of other[11]
nationalities on the territory of Bessarabia.
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, a National Council was
formed in Bessarabia to manage the province in the new political
situation.[13]
The council, known locally as Sfatul rii, initiated
several[14][15]
national and social reforms, and on December 2/15 1917 declared
Bessarabia an autonomous republic within the Russian Federative
Democratic Republic. A rival council loyal to the
Petrograd[14][16]
Soviet, the Rumcherod, was also formed and by late December the
latter gained control over the capital, Chiinu, and proclaimed
itself the sole authority over Bessarabia. With the consent of the
Entente, and, according to the Romanian historiography, on the
request of Sfatul rii, the Romanian troops entered Bessarabia in
early January, and by February had pushed the Soviets over the
Dniester.[17][18]
Despite later declarations by the Romanian prime-minster that
the military[19]
occupation was made with the consent of the Bessarabian
government,[20]
the intervention was met
with protest by the locals, notably by Ion Incule, president of
Sfatul rii, and Pantelimon Erhan, head of the provisional Moldavian
executive. The executive even authorised the
badly-organised[21]
Moldavian militia to resist the Romanian advance, although with
little success.[22]
In the wake of the
intervention, Soviet Russia broke diplomatic relation with
Romania and confiscated the Romanian Treasure, at the time in
Moscow for safekeeping. To calm the situation, the Entente
representatives[18]
in Iai issued a guarantee that the presence of the Romanian Army
was only a temporary military measure for the stabilisation of the
front, without further effects on the political life of the region.
In
January 1918, Ukraine declared independence from Russia, leaving
Bessarabia physically isolated from the Petrograd government, and
leading to the declaration of independence of the Moldavian
Republic on January 24/February 5. Romanian pressure.[17] [22]
Some historians consider that the declaration was made under
Following several Soviet protests, on February 20/March 5, the
Romanian
prime-minister, General Alexandru Averescu, signed a treaty with
Soviet representative in Odessa, Christian Rakovsky, which provided
that Romanian troops be evacuated from Bessarabia in the following
two months in exchange for the repatriation of Romanian POWs held
by the Rumcherod.[23]
After the White Army forced the Soviets to withdraw from Odessa,
and the German[17][24]
Empire agreed to the Romanian annexation of Bessarabia in a
secret agreement part of the Buftea Peace Treaty on March 5/18, the
Romanian diplomacy repudiated the treaty, claiming the
Soviets[18]
were unable to fulfil their obligations.
On March 27/April 9, 1918, Sfatul rii voted for the union of
Bessarabia with Romania, conditional upon the fulfilment of the
agrarian reform. There were 86 votes for union, 3 votes against
union, 36 deputies refrained from voting and 13 deputies were
absent from this session. The vote is regarded as controversial by
several historians, including Romanian ones such as Cristina
Petrescu and Sorin Alexandrescu.[25]
According to United States historian Charles King, with Romanian
troops already in[26]
Chiinu, Romanian planes circling above the meeting hall, and the
Romanian prime minister waiting in the foyer, many minority
deputies chose simply not to vote. On April 18 Georgy Chicherin,
the
Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs, sent a note of protest
against the incorporation of Bessarabia into Romania.[27]
In August 1916, the Entente and neutral Romania signed a secret
Convention that stipulated Romania will join the war against the
Central Powers in exchange for several territories of
Austria-Hungary, among them, Bukovina.[28]
During the last part of World War Inational movements of the
Romanians[29]
and the Ukrainians began to emerge in the province, however the
two movements had conflicting aims, each seeking to unite the
province with their national state. Thus, on October 25, 1918,
a[30]
Ukrainian National Committee, gaining the upper hand in
Czernowitz, declared Northern Bukovina, populated by a Ukrainian
majority, part of the West Ukrainian People's Republic. Romanians
followed suit, proclaiming the whole region united with Romania,
Romanian troops.[17] [31]
On October 27 the
and calling in the
The Romanian intervention quickly established the Romanian
Assembly as the
dominant force, and on November 28 a Congress of the Romanians,
Germans and Poles voted to unite with Romania. The representatives
of the Ukrainian and Jewish population boycotted the Congress, and
the struggle between ethnic factions continued for several
months.[30]
During the Russian civil war, the Soviet governments of Ukraine
and Russia, prompted by the unrest in Bessarabia due to Romanian
occupation, issued a joint ultimatum to Romania on May 1, 1919,
demanding its withdrawal from Bessarabia, and the next day,
Christian Rakovsky, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Soviet
government, issued another ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of
Romanian troops from Bukovina as well. The Red Army pushed the
Romanians over the Dniester, and even managed to land a detachment
on the right shore, and a Besarabian Soviet Republic was
proclaimed. The ultimatum also came in the context of the Hungarian
Revolution, Soviets hoping to prevent a Romanian intervention in
Hungary. A large scale rebellion in Ukraine prevented further
Soviet advance.[17][32][33]
Soviet Russia and later the Soviet Union would continue their
policy of non-
recognition of Romanian sovereignty over Bessarabia, which they
considered Romanian-occupied territory, until the 1940 events.
During the negotiations pre-dating the Treaty of Paris, the United
States representative asked for a plebiscite to be held in
Bessarabia to decide its future; however, the proposal was
obstinately refused by the head of the Romanian delegation, Ion I.
C. Brtianu, claiming such an undertaking would allow the
distribution of Bolshevik propaganda in Bessarabia and
Romania.[34]
A plebiscite was[35]
also requested at the Peace Conference by the White Russians,
only to be rejected again.[36]
The
Soviets would continue to press for a plebiscite during the
following decade, only to be dismissed every time by the Romanian
government.
Romanian sovereignty over Bessarabia was de jure recognized by
the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Japan by signing
aBessarabian Treaty on October 28, 1920. Soviet Russia and Ukraine
promptly notified Romania that they didn't recognize the treaty's
validity, and didn't consider themselves bound by it.[37] [38]
Ultimately, Japan failed to ratify the treaty, and this never
came into force,[39]
leaving Romania
without a valid international act to justify its possession of
Bessarabia.
The United States refused to
discuss territorial changes in the former Russian Empire without
the participation of a Russian government.[40]
Thus, it declined to recognize the incorporation of Bessarabia
into Romania, and,
unlike its position of recognizing of the independence of the
Baltic States, it insisted that Bessarabia was a territory under
Romanian military occupation, and incorporated the Bessarabian
emigration quota into the Russian one in 1923.[42] [41]
In 1933, the US government tacitly included the Bessarabian
emigration quota into the Romania, an act considered a de facto
recognition by the Romanian diplomacy. However, during World War
II, the US argued it had never recognized Bessarabia's[43]
union with Romania.
In 1924, after the failure of the Tatarbunar Uprising, the
Soviet government created a Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic on the left bank of the Dniester river within the
Ukrainian SSR. Romanian government saw this as a threat, a possible
staging ground for a Communist invasion of Romania. Throughout the
1920s, Romania considered itself a pillar in the cordon sanitaire
policy of containment of the Bolshevik threat, and avoided direct
relations with the Soviet Union.[citation needed]
On August 27, 1928, both Romania and the Soviet Union signed and
ratified the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as an instrument
of national policy.[44]
As a follow-on to its adoption, the Soviet Union[45]
signed a protocol confirming adherence to the terms of the Pact
with its western neighbors: Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Romania on
February 9, 1929. In signing the Pact, the[46]
contracting parties agreed to condemn war as a recourse to
solving conflict, to renounce it as an instrument of policy, and
that all conflicts and disputes are to be settled only by peaceful
means.[47]
On
the occasion, Soviet ambassador Maxim Litvinov made it clear
that neither the pact nor the protocol meant renunciation of Soviet
rights over the "territories occupied by Romanians". On July 3,
1933,
amongst others, Romania and the Soviet Union signed the London
Convention for the Definition of Aggression, Article II of which
defines several forms of aggression: "There shall be recognized as
an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed
one of the following actions: Firsta declaration of war on another
State. Secondinvasion by armed forces of the territory of another
State even without a declaration of war. (...)" and "No political,
military, economic or other considerations may serve as an excuse
or justification for the aggression referred to in Article II." In
January 1932 in Riga, and in September 1932 in Geneva,
Soviet-Romanian negotiations were held for a non-aggression treaty,
and on June 9, 1934, diplomatic relations were established between
the two countries. On July 21, 1936, Maxim Litvinov and Nicolae
Titulescu, the Soviet and Romanian Ministers of Foreign Affairs,
agreed upon a draft of a Mutual Assistance Pact.[48]
It was sometimes
interpreted as a non-aggression treaty, that would de facto
recognize the existing Soviet-Romanian border. The protocol
stipulated that any common Romanian-Soviet action should be
pre-approved by France. In negotiating with the Soviets for this
agreement, Titulescu was highly criticized by the Romanian far
right. The protocol was to be signed in September 1936. However,
Titulescu was dismissed in August 1936, leading the Soviet side to
declare the previously achieved agreement null and void. No
attempts at political rapprochement between Romania and the Soviet
Union have been
undertaken since then. over Bessarabia. [edit]The[50]
[49]
Moreover, by 1937 Litvinov and the Soviet press revived the
dormant claim
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov signs the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Behind him stand (left) German Foreign
Minister Joachim von Ribbentropand (right) Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin.
On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a nonaggression treaty which contained an
additional secret protocol with maps, in which a demarcation line
through Eastern Europe was drawn, dividing it into the German and
Soviet interest zones. Bessarabia was among the regions assigned to
Soviet sphere of interest by the Pact. Article III of its Secret
Additional Protocol states: With regard to Southeastern Europe
attention is called by the Soviet side to its interest in
Bessarabia. The German side declares its complete political
disinterestedness in these areas. [edit]International[51]
context at the beginning of World War II
Animation of the WWII European Theatre.
Assured by the Pact of Soviet non-interference, Germany started
World War II one week later byinvading Poland from the west on
September 1, 1939. The Soviet Union attacked Poland from the east
on September 17, and by September 28, Poland fell. Romanian
Prime-Minister Armand Clinescu, a strong proponent of Poland in its
conflict with Germany, was assassinated on September 21 by elements
of the Romanian far right with Nazi support. Romania remained
formally neutral in the conflict, but aided Poland by providing
access to Allied military supplies from the Black Sea to the Polish
border, and a route for the Polish government and army to withdraw
after the defeat. Polish government also preferred a formally
neutral Romania because that ensured the safety from German
bombardments of supplies through Romanian territory. (See also
Romanian Bridgehead.) On November 30, 1939, following the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the refusal byFinland to accede to
Soviet demands, the Soviet Union attacked Finland. The
ensuingWinter War lasted until March 12, 1940. Due to skilful
defence by the Finns, especially along the Mannerheim line, the
Soviets had to be satisfied with Karelian Isthmus andLadoga Karelia
with the cities of Viipuri and Sortavala, and also obtained the
right to build a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula (southwest of
Helsinki). On June 2, Germany informed the Romanian government
that, in order to receive territorial guarantees, Romania should
consider negotiations with the Soviet Union. Between June 1417,
1940, the Soviet Union gave ultimatum notes to, Lithuania,Estonia
and Latvia, and when these ultimata were satisfied, used bases thus
gained tooccupy these territories. France's surrender on June 22
and the subsequent British retreat from Europe rendered their
assurances of assistance to Romania meaningless. [edit]Political
[edit]Soviet
and military developments
preparations
This section requires expansion. (June2008)
By directives OV/583 and OV/584 of the Soviet People
Commissariat of Defense, military units of the Odessa Military
District were ordered into battle ready state in the spring of
1940. Soviet troop concentrations along the Romanian border took
place between April 15 and June 10, 1940. In order to coordinate
the efforts of the Kiev and Odessa military districts in the
preparation of