Sfatul Tarii
Encyclopedia
Sfatul Țării was, in 1917-1918, the National Assembly (parliament) of the Governorate (guberniya
, province) of Bessarabia
of the disintegrating Russian Empire
, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic
in December 1917, and then union
with Romania
in April (according to the old style, March) 1918.
; the Tsar
had abdicated in March 1917, but the Russian Provisional Government
that took his place had not proclaimed the Empire a Republic until September 1917. They wanted social and economic changes, such as annulment of the privileges of the nobility, and an agrarian reform
that would give the peasants the land they worked on.
Despite the bad situation, the Army of the Russian Empire did not disband. Soldiers continued to form units, but often officers were replaced by new, elected ones. Units continued to be stationed as before and would not move without the consent of the general command. The soldiers also started making political claims, such as land reform, permission to use the national language in administration and courts, as well as education and church services in the national language. Some Bessarabian soldiers had numerous occasions to interact with soldiers of the Kingdom of Romania
, and with ethnic Romanians from Transylvania
and Bukovina
, many of the latter taken prisoners from the Austrian army, and organized in regiments now fighting on the Entente
side.
Contacts between Romanian intelligentsia in Austria-Hungary and in Russia were quite strong already before 1914, as many saw a common goal: building a national homeland for all Romanians. There were many divergent visions on how this could be achieved: some wanted all lands inhabited by Romanians to be reunited under the Austrian crown, others wanted an independent Romanian state, which might be closer either to the Central powers or to the Entente. At the time, less than half of all Romanians lived within the borders of what was then the Kingdom of Romania, and due to its small size, it had almost no influence over the two big neighboring empires. As a result, the Romanian intelligentsia in Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia had to seek political empowerment by itself, exchanging methods and tactics with each other. Transylvanian newspapers in Romanian, such as Ardealul of Onisifor Ghibu
were widespread in Bessarabia before World War I, where local newspapers such as Cuvânt moldovenesc
and Viaţa Basarabiei
, although not completely outlawed, were targets of Russian authorities. With the overall recruitment for World War I, many representatives of Romanian intelligentsia found themselves as low-rank officers in Austrian and Russian armies.
In 1917, after the February Revolution
in Petrograd, "Moldavian Revolutionary Committees of Soldiers" were organized in the major Russian cities where recruits from Bessarabia
were concentrated: Odessa
, Kiev
, Sevastopol
, Kherson
, Novo-Georgevsk, Moroski (Minsk gubernia) in Russia, as well as in Iaşi
, Roman
, and Bârlad
on the Romania
n Front, plus smaller ones. Among the main calls on their banners were "Land and liberty", "Down with the war", and "Peoples's right to self-determination". April 1917 was the month with most such gatherings in the Russian Empire. On , a huge meeting was held in Odessa, where more than 10,000 Bessarabian soldiers participated. The resolution adopted by the meeting demanded (a) political autonomy for Bessarabia, (b) organization in Bessarabia of Moldavian military units (cohort
s) in order to stop the violence to the population produced by the deserting irregulars of the partially disintegrating Russian Army
, news of which had reached the soldiers, making them feel very worried for the fate of their families. This "congress" was also attended by a number of Bessarabian students, who obtained from the Russian authorities the permission to hold for those interested Romanian history and literature courses at the University of Odessa, as well as a number of Bessarabian intellectuals, such as Emanoil Catelli
, Baluţă, and others, who were most probably the authors of the resolution passed.
and the cessation of World War I
hostilities, various meetings and congresses were organized throughout Bessarabia, discussing the future of the country. Led by teachers and intellectuals, meetings were held and committees were set up in virtually every village, after which county-wide and Bessarabia-wide congresses of professional corporations - peasants, teachers, cooperators, clergy - were held. On –, a congress of the representatives of the village cooperatives ("The First Congress of Cooperatives of Bessarabia") was held in Chişinău
and voted a motion demanding political, administrative, educational, religious, and economic autonomy for Bessarabia and the formation of a legislative assembly "Sfatul Ţării" (literally The Council of the Country).
This was followed by other congresses, including those of soldiers, priests, students and teachers, all demanding self-rule. On –, 1917, a Congress of Clergy and representatives of parish committees was held in Chişinău, demanding a Moldavian archbishop to head the Church in Bessarabia, political autonomy of Bessarabia, and the setting of a High Council as a national legislative and executive body. Similar motions were passed in all nine counties of Bessarabia.
A "General Congress of Bessarabian Teachers" was held in Chişinău, and passed a motion to switch the primary language used in teaching from Russian
to Romanian
, to use the Latin alphabet, and supporting the demands of the other three congresses. On –, the Congress of Moldavian Teachers decided to switch to the Latin alphabet. Among the notable speeches at that congress were the ones given by Alexei Mateevici
, who asked that Bessarabians identify as "Romanians
" rather than "Moldavians
", and of Iulie Frăţiman, who asked that the areas beyond the Dniester inhabited by Romanians be administered by Bessarabia. These opinions weren't unanimous, as several protested being called "Romanians", affirming they were "not Romanian", but "Moldavian".
During April, May and June 1917, a series of Peasant Congresses are held at local levels, demanding land, administrative, and social reform, and the autonomy of Bessarabia. On –, the First General Congress of Peasants of All Bessarabia takes place in Chişinău. The Congress claimed that from the report of all the regions of Bessarabia, the land was taken over by an anarchic and public disorder current, to which the administration of Kerenski can not attend. Therefore, the Congress decided to found a Provisional Council of 100 members, 70 of which should be Moldavians and 30 should by representatives of minority groups. To this end, the Congress made up an organization commission. However, all this remained talk, and this organization commission has never done anything.
took place in Petrograd in 1917, the governor of Bessarabia stepped down and passed his legal powers to Constantin Mimi
, the President of the Gubernial Zemstvo, who was named the Commissar of the Provisional Government in Bessarabia, with Vladimir Criste his deputy. Similar procedures took place in all regions of the Russian Empire
; the chiefs of the Tsarist administrations passed their legal powers to the chiefs of the County and Governorate Zemstvos, which were then called County/Governorate Commissars.
. On , the representatives of Moldavian soldiers in the Russian Army units located on the Romanian Front gathered in Iaşi
, and proposed a commission of jurists in Chişinău who would create a Declaration of national and territorial autonomy of Bessarabia, while respecting the rights of ethnic minorities of Bessarabia. On , the Moldavian soldiers' central committee in Chişinău
called for the creation of a council of the province, which would create a Proposed Law for National and Territorial Autonomy. On , the same committee started its own newspaper, called Soldatul român and edited by Iorgu Tudor.
At the suggestion of P. Varzar, P. Harea, and lieutenant Gherman Pântea
, leaders of the Central Soldiers Committee, the meeting set up elections for a provincial assembly, Sfatul Ţării. Organizing elections in that situation was difficult due to the security situation, and to the fact that most men between 19 and 48 (if not physically deformed and did not have a profession vital for the supply of the military) were recruited into the Russian army, and stationed on the Romanian front (which saw action until December 1917), in Odessa
and other Black Sea
ports.
(a renowned conservative), Vladimir Herţa, Pan Halippa
(a renowned socialist), Onisifor Ghibu
. The party, which demanded autonomy, had a newspaper called Cuvânt moldovenesc, to which some refugees from Bukovina
and Transylvania
also contributed. The cornerstone of the Moldavian National Party program was to obtain political, administrative, church, school, and economic autonomy for Bessarabia. They did not hesitate to send members of the respective professions to the various congresses held in Bessarabia throughout 1917, and became very influential.
Ghibu and George Tofan
were part of a group of Transylvanian and Bukovinian intellectuals which arrived in Bessarabia in the wake of the February Revolution to help organize schools in Romanian, to print books and newspapers, and to help the Bessarabians reorganize political and cultural life. Intellectuals from Bukovina, Transylvania, and the Romanian Old Kingdom
fleeing the war to Bessarabia, helped with the printing of Cuvânt moldovenesc, started various language, history, culture, and sciences courses, and set up a People's University in Chişinău.
claimed Bessarabia as part of Ukraine
, and in response, the Moldavians asked for protection from the Petrograd provisional government. On , Constantin Mimi
, the official Commissar of the Russian Provisional Government
(of Alexander Kerenski) in Chişinău, gathered delegates of all major political, national, professional and administrative organizations to a "delegation" to protest and reject the pretensions of the Ukrainian Central Rada to annex Bessarabia. Protest notes were sent to the Government in Petrograd and to the Ukrainian Rada in Kiev. The "delegation" also elected a commission tasked with elaboration of an organic statue of the new political and administrative order in Bessarabia. (Halipa, Moraru, pag 144, Nistor, p. 275)
On the same day, similar decisions were taken by the Central Moldavian Soldiers Committee of All Bessarabia (Chişinău), and the Committee of Moldavian Soldiers in the Odessa Garrison, which had 19,000 Moldavian soldiers and officers, and the Rumcherod
protested to Kerenski. The Central Soldiers Committee in Chişinău, and Rumcherod, a revolutionary committee of soldiers of the Russian Army from the Romanian front, of the Black Sea navy, and of the workers and peasants of the Kherson and Bessarabia gubernias, both asked the Petrograd Government to separate Bessarabia from Russia by agreeing to its autonomy and self-rule in its historic and ethnographic borders. Facing a unanimous protest of Bessarabians, the Ukrainian Rada withdrew its stance on Bessarabia. A revolutionary organization, Rumcherod
, was created in Odessa
, being a representative body of the Russian Army
on the Romanian front, and having many Moldavians in its ranks. On , the Rumcherod protested against the Ukrainian claims, and demanded from the provisional government the right "to rule themselves within the historical and ethnic boundaries".
On –, the Soldiers' council proclaimed the autonomy of Bessarabia, and summoned for the election of a representative body (diet), called Sfatul Ţării. The soldiers' councils elected 44 deputies for the assembly, the Peasants' Congress elected 36 deputies, and the remaining 70 deputies were elected by county and communal commissions, as well as by professional and ethnic associations. 70% of the members were Romanians, and the rest were Russians, Bulgarians, Jews, etc.
Moldavian Central Soldiers and Officers Committee of All Bessarabia decided it could wait no longer, and called the First Soldiers Congress in Chişinău on –. 9,000 delegates came to represent the 300,000 Bessarabian soldiers in the Russian Army. The delegates had to come with written delegations from their military units, which were then checked. During the first day, the main theme was the disaster in the security situation in Bessarabia, which was full of gangs practicing pillage, robbery, rapes and killings of the population. At first, these were isolated gangs, but by October, whole regiments turned into such gangs. Two Cossack regiments were stationed in Bălţi Country, and a 3,000-strong Russian Army regiment in Orhei County
had no other occupation but regular raids through these Counties. Among their victims were preeminent personalities, such as the lawyer Simeon G. Murafa
, the engineer Hodorogea, and Mihai Razu in August 1917. On , the Congress, "based on historic, national and revolutionary" considerations, proclaimed Bessarabia territorially and politically an "Autonomous Republic". On 23 October, the Congress discussed the administrative question, and proclaimed the setting of the parliament Sfatul Ţării, composed of 120 delegates, 84 of which should be Moldavians
, and 36 ethnic minorities, which should assume the national sovereignty. The Congress demanded that with the setting of Sfatul Ţării, all political committees, except for the professional ones, to be dismantled. The number of members of Sfatul Ţării was later raised to 135, and then to 150, preserving the 70%:30% ratio of Moldavians:minorities. An organization bureau (birou de organizaţiune) was elected to implement this decision. 44 delegates were to be elected by the Soldiers Congress, 36 by the Peasants Congress and its County representations, and the remainder by county and local commissions, different professional corporations, associations of the clergy, of the teachers, of the bar, of public functionaries, of workers, so that all the ethnic groups be duly represented.
out and Ion Inculeţ
as the new Commissar. This move was planned by Alexander Kerenski, who sent Inculeţ, an associate professor at the University of Petrograd, to Bessarabia to take hold of the situation. As soon as the Peasants Congress, which had no legal power, voted, Kerenski formally replaced Mimi with Inculeţ. When Inculeţ arrived in Chişinău to take power, he faced the quiet opposition of the nobility, therefore he agreed to take the position of deputy commissar to Vladimir Criste. When the republic was proclaimed, Criste stepped down and passed his legal powers to Inculeţ.
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On , after a month of elections by different political and professional organizations of their delegates, Sfatul Ţării opened as the first parliament of the autonomous Bessarabia, with the local legal representatives of the Russian Provisional Government
signing off their duties to Sfatul Ţării.
A festive mass was held at the Chişinău Central Cathedral, with Bishop Anastasii, a Russian cleric, holding the mass in Romanian
.
After the mass in the Cathedral, at noon the delegates gathered at the Sfatul Ţării Palace
, where a Moldavian tricolor flag flew. Before the session, in the chapel of the palace, a te Deum
was hold by the vicar of the Eparchy of Bessarabia and Bishop of Cetatea Albă, Gavriil, also a Russian, and again to everyone's surprise, it was held in Romanian, ending with a congratulation to Bessarabia for the autonomy a blessing to Sfatul Ţării. The delegates moved to the session hall, where a few soldiers presented the flag of the 1st Moldavian Regiment. Bishop Gavriil blessed the flag and the church chorus, led by the priest Berezovski song "Deşteaptă-te, române!
" and "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire". After this, the assistance, moved to the balcony to watch the march of the 1st Moldavian Regiment and of several other troops which came to salute the opening of Sfatul Ţării.
At 2 pm, the delegates and the public took their places and the session started. In the front of the hall, the elder of the delegates, Nicolae N. Alexandri took the place of the president of the session. In front of him, the delegates took their places. To the right, places were reserved for the public, and to the left for the press.
The first session of Sfatul Ţării was held on , and chose Ion Inculeţ
as its president.
government, a Sfatul Ţării delegation visited Vladimir Lenin
in Petrograd, explaining to him "the hard-hit fate of the people of Bessarabia, which is of Latin root, under the tsarist rule, when the centuries old traditions and customs, which are different from those of the Russian people, were being attacked, hit, and forbidden, and explained him the stage of the organization of Bessarabia." Lenin is said to have replied that he was aware of the situation in Bessarabia, and was satisfied that the people managed to elect a parliament in an orderly fashion based on democratic principles. He said "Do not waste your time here in Petrograd, go to Bessarabia and organize yourselves. You have all the right to self-determination, do everything that you consider is in the interest of the people, that is of the peasants".
After some long talks, on , Sfatul Ţării proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Federative Republic , with Inculeţ as President.
Following the October Revolution
, the governor of Bessarabia retired, yielding power to Constantin Mimi
, the president of the Zemstvo
of the guberniya
, who was named Guberniya Commissar in March. The Peasants' Congress in October replaced Mimi with Inculeţ, an action planned and approved by Kerensky
, Russia's interim prime minister. As soon as the Peasants Congress, which had no legal power, voted, Kerenski formally replaced Mimi with Inculeţ. When Inculeţ arrived in Chişinău to take power, he faced the quiet opposition of the nobility, therefore he agreed to take the position of deputy commissar to Vladimir Criste. When the republic was proclaimed, Criste stepped down and passed his legal powers to Inculeţ.
The aims put forward by Sfatul Ţării in its session on were:
Executive power was given to the Council of Directors led by Pantelimon Erhan
. On , Sfatul Ţării elected the government of the Moldavian Democratic Republic - the Council of Directors General, with nine members, seven Moldavians, one Ukrainian, and one Jew.
(the temporary capital of Romania
) to ask the Entente
for military help against the Bolsheviks. The Entente unsuccessfully sent some Serbian and Czechoslovakian troops, but some squads of Romanian Transylvanians and Bukovinans, organized in Kiev, were sent to Bessarabia, and they resisted the Bolsheviks at the Chişinău train station.
The hardest work for the new Republic was the armed forces, the need for which was imminent. Unfortunately, Major Teodor Cojocaru
soon became ill and was hospitalized. Lieutenant Gherman Pîntea was named Director General for Armed Forces, but a few precious days were lost. Pîntea managed to organize several well disciplined Moldavian military units led by qualified Bessarabian officers.
In Tighina
, Captain Caşcarev (a.k.a. Caşu) formed an artillery squadron, and in addition the Kherson Drujina, formed entirely of Moldavian soldiers, destined for rear front missions, was nationalized. In Băliţ, Drujina no. 478, also composed only of Moldavians, and led by Captain Anatolie Popa, was nationalized. A commission of military medics was formed and was attached to the 1st Moldavian Regiment. The Jewish community in Chişinău demanded and obtained the creation of a Jewish company in the same regiment. By , when a military march was held in front of the President of the Republic, there were already two cavalry and one infantry regiments, several artillery batteries, and 16 special cohorts. The units received banners, "sanctified" by priests.
However, the Ilie Catărău incident tarnished the reputation of the efficiency of Moldavian units. Ilie Catărău
, a private in the Russian Army, joined the new Moldavian military units. His credentials could not be verified, as no-one at that time in Chişinău
has met him in any former military unit of the Tsar, but he spoke clean Romanian, said he was from a Bessarabian village, and said he has long suffered under the Tsarist regime, therefore he was entrusted with responsibility. As soon as he got a small position, he started to call soldiers to insubordination and disorder - "Everything belongs free of charge to the working people, everything should be taken now, immediately, without waiting for laws to drawn which would nationalize the goods and distribute them to the people". With a small group of his friends, Catărău made a group of soldiers of the Russian Army and of some Moldavian soldiers from the Chişinău Garrison, who trustfully "elected" him "Commander of Chişinău Garrison". In this quality, he started to send groups of soldiers to pillage neighboring villages and bring to Chişinău oxes, cows, horses, cattle carts, which were taken not only from the boyars, but also from peasants. These were brought to the court of the Theological Seminary in Chişinău, where Catărău waited for their peasant owners to show up, and in lieu of a payment would order to free the cattle, thus making thousands of rubles. Several times, he even entered with a dozen armed men the session hall of Sfatul Ţării. As a result of numerous complains from the peasants and the MPs, on
, Catărău was arrested, and sent to Odessa. However, Catărău's calls to "take everything", especially when applied to alcoholic drinks, found some audience among several soldiers. An inexperienced authority, easy to lure by clever individuals such as Catărău, was being portrayed by them as incapable of effectively defending peasants' rights to "take everything".
At the same time, a number of former functionaries who were left without political power by what they regarded as filthy peasants, started to undermine the authority of Sfatul Ţării, and found associates among political radicals that were spreading demagogy. In the conditions that the legal authority was being challenged in the northernmost and southernmost districts by numerous gangs of demobilized Russian soldiers on their way home, some soldiers already pray to the influence of the Bolshevik ideology, and even when in Chişinău the authority was not always effective, to realize the land reform, to organize the administration and justice, to nationalize the education, were impossible tasks in the current security situation. Therefore, on session of the Council of Directors General, it was decided to send a delegation to Iaşi to demand the Romanian government and representatives of Entente military aid against the danger of Bolshevik anarchy in Bessarabia.
But the political situation in Iaşi at the time was also very difficult. Russian armies on the Romanian front often fraternized with the Germans/Austrians, military discipline disappeared. The General Stuff of general Sherbachov was threatened by Russian revolutionaries, and had to be protected by Romanian soldiers. Romanian army had to extend in a short period of time to cover a long portion of the front line previously occupied by Russian soldiers, and had to attend to the disarmament of the Russian soldiers all over. The Romanian government replied that it couldn't spare any soldiers. The representatives of Entente decided then to send to Bessarabia one Serbian and one Czechoslovak division, which were being formed in Russia from prisoners of war taken from Austria-Hungary, however to send them to Bessarabia turned out to be a logistical nightmare. In Kiev
, with the help of the Romanian government, there were being formed several legions of Bukovinian and Transylvanian volunteers, soldiers and officers, to be sent to Bukovina and possibly Transylvania. The Entente high Command in Romania decided to divert a couple of these to Bessarabia. But, as soon as these were ready to move, they were in keen need on the front to cover empty spots, thus this proved impractical as well. The Romanian government cared more about its own security, while Entente representatives cared about keeping Germany in check. For none of them Bessarabia was a priority. Faced with systemic pillage by Russian deserters, some Bessarabian peasants started to flee to Romania.
decided to intervene, and on , the 9th Romanian Army under Gen. Broşteanu entered Chişinău. The Bolshevik troops retreated to Tighina
, and after a battle retreated further beyond the Dniester
.
, while the President remained Ion Inculeţ.
, Soroca
and Orhei
were the earliest to ask for the "holy, redeeming, much desired and eternal union with the mother country Romania
"
The Sfatul Ţăriis declaration listed 14 special privileges that Bessarabia would retain inside an enlarged Romania:
The first and main condition of undertaking agrarian reform was debated and approved by the Romanian Parliament in November, 1918. Following this, on November 27, 1918, the leaders of the Moldovan Bloc urged Sfatul Ţării to follow suit with Bukovina's Declaration of Union with Romania earlier that day, and vote a motion to remove the other conditions, trusting that Romania would be a democratic country. Although lacking a quorum
and voting in the middle of the night, the deputies renounced the other condition, declared the union with Romania unconditional, and voted to dissolve the assembly, with legislative powers to pass to the Romanian Constituent Assembly. Professor of International Affairs Charles King
also judges the November 1918 vote on the dissolution of the Diet to be illegitimate, since only 44 of the 125 members took part in it (all 44 voted "for").
In the autumn of 1919, elections for the Romanian Constituent Assembly
were held in Bessarabia; 90 deputies and 35 senators were chosen. On December 20, 1919, these men voted, along with the representatives of Romania's other regions, to ratificate the unification acts that had been approved by Sfatul Ţării and the National Congresses in Transylvania and Bukovina.
, issued in Iaşi
the Decree-Law No. 842, published in Monitorul Oficial No. 8, on April 10, 1918, sanctioning the Union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania, thus making the text of the Union Act as voted by Sfatul Ţării, including its conditions, legally binding in Romania.
According to documents found by the researcher Mihai Taşcă at the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova, several days after the signing of the Union act, three absent members of Sfatul Ţării, Serghei Donico-Iordăchescu
, Ion Harbuz
, and Gavril Buciuşcan
, who abstained on the day of the vote, came to sign the copies of the Union act.
On , Sfatul Ţării, contending that the social and economic conditions stipulated in the Union Act of 27 March/8 April 1918, regarding the universal suffrage, the agrarian reform, and the rights of the people, were being fulfilled by the new Romanian legislation, and taking the act of the Union of Bukovina and of Transylvania
(1 December 1918) with Romania, has decided to "renounce to the other conditions from the Union Act from and declares the Union of Bessarabia with Romania unconditional" from the day preceding the day of the Romanian Constituent Assembly (a body subsequently elected in 1919 after the three 1918 unions, to which these make reference), until which Sfatul Ţării would continue to attend to the needs and requests of the people. This act was again sanctioned by the King and made legally binding in Romania. However, the session of Sfatul Ţării on , where this unanimous decision was taken, was attended only by 44 MPs, raising questions about its legality. Anti-union political forces from inside and outside Romania have used this as a pretext to challenge the union per se, and the Union Act in March/April 1918.
The Union Act of stipulated 11 conditions. The first condition was the agrarian reform, realized by Sfatul Ţării after the Union Act, and its legal recognition in the legislative body of Romania. Conditions 4 to 11 regarding human rights and freedoms, minority rights, the representation of Bessarabia in the Romanian legislative and executive, the type of suffrage for general and local elections, the legal continuation and conditions for modifications of the laws and regulations adopted by Sfatul Ţării, the reform and organization of the military (recruitment on territorial basis), and the amnesty for crimes committed for political reasons in 1917-1918, were absorbed into the Romanian Constitution and/or legislation, and were respected (to remain as constituent parts of the Romanian legislative body) from 1918 until the Soviet occupation. The annulment of the conditions of the Union Act did not have any legal consequences with respect to conditions 1, or 4-11. The 27 November/9 December vote, however, effectively abrogated conditions 2 and 3, which stipulated provincial autonomy, with a diet, an executive body and administration, with the diet having the legal prerogatives (a) to vote the local budgets, (b) to control all the local and city bodies, and with the executive body having the prerogative (c) to nominate all local administration, in the case of higher functionaries with confirmation by the Romanian Government.
The representatives of the German minority abstained from the vote on April 9, with Alexander Loesch
declaring that they do not have the empowerment of the German community to vote and that "this question question can be answered by the Congress of the German Colonists". The Congress of the German Colonists in Bessarabia took place on March 7, 1919 in Tarutino
. The following decision was taken by unanimity of votes:
Challenges to the Union have come from a number of people, from some bodies (e.g. Ukrainian Rada), and from one state (the Soviet Union
). However, many of the same people, bodies and state have at other points accepted the Union.
In the reply note to a note of protest of the Ukrainian Rada expressing pretensions over Bessarabia, the Romanian government mentioned "1. Bessarabia was not annexed by Romania, as the Ukrainian note states, but has declared
The Ukrainian bodies have not subsequently challenged the union.
An anti-Bessarabian and anti-Romanian campaign was started in 1918-1919 in a part of the western press. A "Committee for the Defence of Bessarabia" was formed in Odessa, in the Bolshevik-dominated areas of southern Ukraine, by many of the former member of the "Front Otdel", such as Perper
, Kaabak, Levinzon, together with Alexander Krupenski, Alexander Schmidt, Vladimir Tsiganko, Mihail Savenco
, Mogilyanski, Shlonim, and others. The activity of many of these people had substantial personal baggage - Krupenski was during the Tsarist rule the most influential and powerful person in Bessarabia, Schmidt was mayor of Chişinău
, Savenco was the former Minister of Justice of the Moldavian Republic, all of them very unpopular. They have send a memo
to the Paris Peace Conference
, published several newspaper articles and brochures targeting the French public opinion, portraying the situation in Bessarabia as a Romanian military occupation. The Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic
was proclaimed on May 5, 1919 in Odessa.
On the opposite side, supporting Bessarabia, were Nicolai N. Durnovo, writer and publisher, Sergei Witte
, former Russian prime-minister, General Kuropatkin, former war minister of Russia, Leon Casso, minister of education of the Russian Empire in 1910-1914, writer Danilevski, journalist Tikhomirov
. Sotov, correspondent of the Russian journal "Sovremennye Zapiski" in Berlin
(1921), and a declared adversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, nevertheless in his articles with regard to the portrayal of the events and blamed the forced Russification
in the Bessarabia's past for the post-1918 situation:
, and 30% of minorities. "This appears to be a fairly accurate guess; the official Russian figures, which the Moldavians considered as inaccurate and padded, set the Moldavian proportion considerably lower, as about one-half. Such figures are misleading in all European countries of mixed nationalities, since the census enumerator generally has instructions to count everyone who understands the state language as being of that nationality, no matter what his everyday speech may be."
The original 135 Diet mandates were divided into 28 constituency groups:
The increase to 150 members meant that several were added from the zemstvos and the cities of the various districts, and the government service of mail, telegraphs and telephones. In the final form, of the 150 members, 44 were representatives of the Congress of Moldavian Soldiers, 30 - of the Soviet of the Moldavian Peasants, 21 - of the administrations of cities and zemstvos, 10 - of political parties, 16 - of cooperatives, unions, and cultural societies, 29 - of organizations of national minorities.
Of the 150 Diet members, 105 were Moldavians/Romanians
, 15 Ukrainians
, 13 Jews
, 6 Russians
, 3 Bulgarians
, 2 Germans, 2 Gagauzians, 1 Pole
, 1 Armenian
, 1 Greek
, 1 unknown.
"The various organizations elected their representatives, wherever possible; but the Diet was mainly appointive, and would not be considered a duly representative body in normal times in any western country. It must however be remembered that Bessarabia was in a state of anarchy already, shortly to be complicated by the fall of Kerensky
, which left Russia
with no responsible government whatever for the moment. He was succeeded by the Bolsheviks-numerically at that time an infinitesimal minority of the Russian people, and not recognized as legitimate rulers by the Bessarabians. The Diet at any rate provided a welcome substitute for constitutional government, and indeed considered itself at the start a transitional body, preliminary to the establishment of a definite regime. The rapid march of events, combined with the ability and determination of several of its members, made of it a genuine governing organ."
Voted for the Union on (name, age, profession, ethnic group, county; as available):
Voted against the Union:
Refrained from voting:
Absent from that session:
By the session on April 9, 1918 the number of deputies has reduced for various reasons to 138. Marked with an asterisk are the names of those who were in the Diet from the beginning.
For the Union with Romania voted 83 Moldavians, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian and 1 Pole (total 86), against it voted 2 Ukrainians and 1 Bulgarian (total 3), while the abstained consisted of 11 Moldavians, 8 Ukrainians, 6 Russians, 5 Bulgarians, 4 Jews and 2 Germans (total 36).
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, province) of Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
of the disintegrating Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, which proclaimed the independent Moldavian Democratic Republic
Moldavian Democratic Republic
The Moldavian Democratic Republic , a.k.a. Moldavian Republic, was the state proclaimed on by Sfatul Ţării of Bessarabia, elected in October-November 1917 in the wake of the February Revolution and disintegration of the political power in the Russian Empire.Sfatul Ţării was its legislative body,...
in December 1917, and then union
Union of Bessarabia with Romania
On , the Sfatul Ţării, or National Council, of Bessarabia proclaimed union with the Kingdom of Romania.-Governorate of Bessarabia:The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empires provided for Russian annexation of the eastern half of the territory of the Principality...
with Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in April (according to the old style, March) 1918.
Russian participation in World War I
In August 1914, the First World War started, and 300,000 Bessarabians were mobilized and enrolled in the army of the Russian Empire, the majority in the immediate wake of Russian defeat. By March 1917, the military actions on the Eastern Front came to a stalemate. Conferences of soldiers in the rear of the front line dominated. Many called for a RepublicRepublic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
; the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
had abdicated in March 1917, but the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
that took his place had not proclaimed the Empire a Republic until September 1917. They wanted social and economic changes, such as annulment of the privileges of the nobility, and an agrarian reform
Agrarian reform
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
that would give the peasants the land they worked on.
Despite the bad situation, the Army of the Russian Empire did not disband. Soldiers continued to form units, but often officers were replaced by new, elected ones. Units continued to be stationed as before and would not move without the consent of the general command. The soldiers also started making political claims, such as land reform, permission to use the national language in administration and courts, as well as education and church services in the national language. Some Bessarabian soldiers had numerous occasions to interact with soldiers of the Kingdom of Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
, and with ethnic Romanians from Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, many of the latter taken prisoners from the Austrian army, and organized in regiments now fighting on the Entente
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
side.
Contacts between Romanian intelligentsia in Austria-Hungary and in Russia were quite strong already before 1914, as many saw a common goal: building a national homeland for all Romanians. There were many divergent visions on how this could be achieved: some wanted all lands inhabited by Romanians to be reunited under the Austrian crown, others wanted an independent Romanian state, which might be closer either to the Central powers or to the Entente. At the time, less than half of all Romanians lived within the borders of what was then the Kingdom of Romania, and due to its small size, it had almost no influence over the two big neighboring empires. As a result, the Romanian intelligentsia in Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia had to seek political empowerment by itself, exchanging methods and tactics with each other. Transylvanian newspapers in Romanian, such as Ardealul of Onisifor Ghibu
Onisifor Ghibu
Onisifor Ghibu was a Romanian teacher of pedagogy, member of the Romanian Academy, and politician.-Early life:...
were widespread in Bessarabia before World War I, where local newspapers such as Cuvânt moldovenesc
Cuvânt moldovenesc
- History :The first edition was printed on June 5, 1914 and last on January 7, 1919. The first editor in chief was Nicolae Alexandri, rempalced on April 2, 1917 by Pan Halippa. Among the authors were: Simion Murafa, Ion Pelivan, M. Ciachir, Gh. Stîrcea, T. Inculeţ...
and Viaţa Basarabiei
Viaţa Basarabiei
Viaţa Basarabiei is a Romanian-language periodical from Chişinău, Moldova. Originally a literary and political magazine, published at a time when Bessarabia region was part of Romania, it was founded in 1932 by political activist Pan Halippa and writer Nicolai Costenco...
, although not completely outlawed, were targets of Russian authorities. With the overall recruitment for World War I, many representatives of Romanian intelligentsia found themselves as low-rank officers in Austrian and Russian armies.
In 1917, after the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
in Petrograd, "Moldavian Revolutionary Committees of Soldiers" were organized in the major Russian cities where recruits from Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
were concentrated: Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
, Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
, Novo-Georgevsk, Moroski (Minsk gubernia) in Russia, as well as in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, Roman
Roman, Romania
Roman is a mid-sized city, having the title of municipality, located in the central part of Moldavia, a traditional region of Romania. It is located 46 km east of Piatra Neamţ, in the Neamţ County at the confluence of Siret and Moldova rivers....
, and Bârlad
Bârlad
Bârlad is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the Bârlad River, which waters the high plains of eastern Moldavia....
on the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Front, plus smaller ones. Among the main calls on their banners were "Land and liberty", "Down with the war", and "Peoples's right to self-determination". April 1917 was the month with most such gatherings in the Russian Empire. On , a huge meeting was held in Odessa, where more than 10,000 Bessarabian soldiers participated. The resolution adopted by the meeting demanded (a) political autonomy for Bessarabia, (b) organization in Bessarabia of Moldavian military units (cohort
Cohort (military unit)
A cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary cohort:...
s) in order to stop the violence to the population produced by the deserting irregulars of the partially disintegrating Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
, news of which had reached the soldiers, making them feel very worried for the fate of their families. This "congress" was also attended by a number of Bessarabian students, who obtained from the Russian authorities the permission to hold for those interested Romanian history and literature courses at the University of Odessa, as well as a number of Bessarabian intellectuals, such as Emanoil Catelli
Emanoil Catelli
Emanoil Catelli was a Moldovan politician.-Biography:The parents of Emanoil Catelli were Grigore and Anastasia Catelli. In 1917, Emanoil Catelli was the founder of the Moldovan Progressive Party. Emanoil Catelli served as minister of agriculture in the Petru Cazacu Cabinet...
, Baluţă, and others, who were most probably the authors of the resolution passed.
Local congresses
Following the February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
and the cessation of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
hostilities, various meetings and congresses were organized throughout Bessarabia, discussing the future of the country. Led by teachers and intellectuals, meetings were held and committees were set up in virtually every village, after which county-wide and Bessarabia-wide congresses of professional corporations - peasants, teachers, cooperators, clergy - were held. On –, a congress of the representatives of the village cooperatives ("The First Congress of Cooperatives of Bessarabia") was held in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
and voted a motion demanding political, administrative, educational, religious, and economic autonomy for Bessarabia and the formation of a legislative assembly "Sfatul Ţării" (literally The Council of the Country).
This was followed by other congresses, including those of soldiers, priests, students and teachers, all demanding self-rule. On –, 1917, a Congress of Clergy and representatives of parish committees was held in Chişinău, demanding a Moldavian archbishop to head the Church in Bessarabia, political autonomy of Bessarabia, and the setting of a High Council as a national legislative and executive body. Similar motions were passed in all nine counties of Bessarabia.
A "General Congress of Bessarabian Teachers" was held in Chişinău, and passed a motion to switch the primary language used in teaching from Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
to Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, to use the Latin alphabet, and supporting the demands of the other three congresses. On –, the Congress of Moldavian Teachers decided to switch to the Latin alphabet. Among the notable speeches at that congress were the ones given by Alexei Mateevici
Alexei Mateevici
Alexe Mateevici was a Moldavian poet.- Biography :He was born in the town Căinari, in Eastern Bessarabia, which was part of the Russian Empire, now in the Republic of Moldova...
, who asked that Bessarabians identify as "Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
" rather than "Moldavians
Moldovans
Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova...
", and of Iulie Frăţiman, who asked that the areas beyond the Dniester inhabited by Romanians be administered by Bessarabia. These opinions weren't unanimous, as several protested being called "Romanians", affirming they were "not Romanian", but "Moldavian".
During April, May and June 1917, a series of Peasant Congresses are held at local levels, demanding land, administrative, and social reform, and the autonomy of Bessarabia. On –, the First General Congress of Peasants of All Bessarabia takes place in Chişinău. The Congress claimed that from the report of all the regions of Bessarabia, the land was taken over by an anarchic and public disorder current, to which the administration of Kerenski can not attend. Therefore, the Congress decided to found a Provisional Council of 100 members, 70 of which should be Moldavians and 30 should by representatives of minority groups. To this end, the Congress made up an organization commission. However, all this remained talk, and this organization commission has never done anything.
Legal situation
When the February RevolutionFebruary Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
took place in Petrograd in 1917, the governor of Bessarabia stepped down and passed his legal powers to Constantin Mimi
Constantin Mimi
Constantin A. Mimi was a Bessarabian politician and winemaker.- Biography :He graduated from Odessa State University and SupAgro ....
, the President of the Gubernial Zemstvo, who was named the Commissar of the Provisional Government in Bessarabia, with Vladimir Criste his deputy. Similar procedures took place in all regions of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
; the chiefs of the Tsarist administrations passed their legal powers to the chiefs of the County and Governorate Zemstvos, which were then called County/Governorate Commissars.
Security situation
Officers started to disband their troops, and soldiers tried to form groups of people from the same regions to return home. The sheer number of soldiers retreating put a strain on resources along their path home. As a consequence, on , general Dmitriy Shcherbachov, the Supreme Commander of the Russian Armies on the Romanian Front, by order 156370 agreed to form 16 cohorts exclusively of Moldavian soldiers, and commanded by Moldavian officers. He distributed them to all nine counties of Bessarabia.Central Soldiers' Committee
On June 22, 1917, delegates of the Moldavian soldiers from all Russian Fronts and major reserve units formed a "Moldavian Central Soldiers' Committee for All of Bessarabia", with headquarters in ChişinăuChisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
. On , the representatives of Moldavian soldiers in the Russian Army units located on the Romanian Front gathered in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
, and proposed a commission of jurists in Chişinău who would create a Declaration of national and territorial autonomy of Bessarabia, while respecting the rights of ethnic minorities of Bessarabia. On , the Moldavian soldiers' central committee in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
called for the creation of a council of the province, which would create a Proposed Law for National and Territorial Autonomy. On , the same committee started its own newspaper, called Soldatul român and edited by Iorgu Tudor.
At the suggestion of P. Varzar, P. Harea, and lieutenant Gherman Pântea
Gherman Pântea
Gherman V. Pântea was a Bessarabian-born soldier, civil servant and political figure, active in the Russian Empire and Romania. As an officer of the Imperial Russian Army during most of World War I, he helped organize the committees of Bessarabian soldiers, oscillating between loyalty to the...
, leaders of the Central Soldiers Committee, the meeting set up elections for a provincial assembly, Sfatul Ţării. Organizing elections in that situation was difficult due to the security situation, and to the fact that most men between 19 and 48 (if not physically deformed and did not have a profession vital for the supply of the military) were recruited into the Russian army, and stationed on the Romanian front (which saw action until December 1917), in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and other Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
ports.
National Moldavian Party
Prior to 1917, Bessarabian intelligentsia was divided between noblemen, conservatives, democrats, and socialists. Vasile Stroescu, a rich but modest filantop boyar, managed to persuade all major factions to leave their internal fights and join together. In April 1917, the National Moldavian Party was created, headed by Vasile Stroescu, having among its members Paul Gore (politician)Paul Gore (politician)
Paul Gore was a Bessarabian politician and historian.He was the president of the National Moldavian Party.- Works :* Însemnare despre cei de una credinţă din Basarabia ;...
(a renowned conservative), Vladimir Herţa, Pan Halippa
Pan Halippa
Pantelimon "Pan" Halippa was a Bessarabian and later Romanian journalist and politician. One of the most important promoters of Romanian nationalism in Bessarabia and of this province's union with Romania, he was president of Sfatul Ţării, which voted union in 1918...
(a renowned socialist), Onisifor Ghibu
Onisifor Ghibu
Onisifor Ghibu was a Romanian teacher of pedagogy, member of the Romanian Academy, and politician.-Early life:...
. The party, which demanded autonomy, had a newspaper called Cuvânt moldovenesc, to which some refugees from Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
and Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
also contributed. The cornerstone of the Moldavian National Party program was to obtain political, administrative, church, school, and economic autonomy for Bessarabia. They did not hesitate to send members of the respective professions to the various congresses held in Bessarabia throughout 1917, and became very influential.
Ghibu and George Tofan
George Tofan
George Tofan was a writer and official from Austro Hungary, Moldavian Democratic Republic, and Romania. He was the editor in chief of Şcoala magazine ; also, George Tofan was a journalist and official in Chişinău.-Biography:...
were part of a group of Transylvanian and Bukovinian intellectuals which arrived in Bessarabia in the wake of the February Revolution to help organize schools in Romanian, to print books and newspapers, and to help the Bessarabians reorganize political and cultural life. Intellectuals from Bukovina, Transylvania, and the Romanian Old Kingdom
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Danubian Principalities—Wallachia and Moldavia...
fleeing the war to Bessarabia, helped with the printing of Cuvânt moldovenesc, started various language, history, culture, and sciences courses, and set up a People's University in Chişinău.
Relationship with Ukraine
In the meantime, the Ukrainian National Assembly in KievKiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
claimed Bessarabia as part of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and in response, the Moldavians asked for protection from the Petrograd provisional government. On , Constantin Mimi
Constantin Mimi
Constantin A. Mimi was a Bessarabian politician and winemaker.- Biography :He graduated from Odessa State University and SupAgro ....
, the official Commissar of the Russian Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
(of Alexander Kerenski) in Chişinău, gathered delegates of all major political, national, professional and administrative organizations to a "delegation" to protest and reject the pretensions of the Ukrainian Central Rada to annex Bessarabia. Protest notes were sent to the Government in Petrograd and to the Ukrainian Rada in Kiev. The "delegation" also elected a commission tasked with elaboration of an organic statue of the new political and administrative order in Bessarabia. (Halipa, Moraru, pag 144, Nistor, p. 275)
On the same day, similar decisions were taken by the Central Moldavian Soldiers Committee of All Bessarabia (Chişinău), and the Committee of Moldavian Soldiers in the Odessa Garrison, which had 19,000 Moldavian soldiers and officers, and the Rumcherod
Rumcherod
Rumcherod was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized, and short-lived organ of Soviet power in the South-Western part of Russian Empire that functioned during May 1917–May 1918...
protested to Kerenski. The Central Soldiers Committee in Chişinău, and Rumcherod, a revolutionary committee of soldiers of the Russian Army from the Romanian front, of the Black Sea navy, and of the workers and peasants of the Kherson and Bessarabia gubernias, both asked the Petrograd Government to separate Bessarabia from Russia by agreeing to its autonomy and self-rule in its historic and ethnographic borders. Facing a unanimous protest of Bessarabians, the Ukrainian Rada withdrew its stance on Bessarabia. A revolutionary organization, Rumcherod
Rumcherod
Rumcherod was a self-proclaimed, unrecognized, and short-lived organ of Soviet power in the South-Western part of Russian Empire that functioned during May 1917–May 1918...
, was created in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, being a representative body of the Russian Army
Imperial Russian Army
The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...
on the Romanian front, and having many Moldavians in its ranks. On , the Rumcherod protested against the Ukrainian claims, and demanded from the provisional government the right "to rule themselves within the historical and ethnic boundaries".
Elections
On , the Moldavian Central Soldiers Committee of All Bessarabia asked the Supreme Commander, General Sherbachov, to withdraw all Russian Military reserve units from Bessarabia and to increase the number of cohorts from 16 to 50, plus 20 cavalry cohorts, in view of the multiplication of the gangs of Russian deserters.On –, the Soldiers' council proclaimed the autonomy of Bessarabia, and summoned for the election of a representative body (diet), called Sfatul Ţării. The soldiers' councils elected 44 deputies for the assembly, the Peasants' Congress elected 36 deputies, and the remaining 70 deputies were elected by county and communal commissions, as well as by professional and ethnic associations. 70% of the members were Romanians, and the rest were Russians, Bulgarians, Jews, etc.
Moldavian Central Soldiers and Officers Committee of All Bessarabia decided it could wait no longer, and called the First Soldiers Congress in Chişinău on –. 9,000 delegates came to represent the 300,000 Bessarabian soldiers in the Russian Army. The delegates had to come with written delegations from their military units, which were then checked. During the first day, the main theme was the disaster in the security situation in Bessarabia, which was full of gangs practicing pillage, robbery, rapes and killings of the population. At first, these were isolated gangs, but by October, whole regiments turned into such gangs. Two Cossack regiments were stationed in Bălţi Country, and a 3,000-strong Russian Army regiment in Orhei County
Orhei County
Orhei was a county of Moldova from 1998 to 2003. Its population in 2003 was 300,400. Its capital was Orhei.-External links:* , Statoids.com...
had no other occupation but regular raids through these Counties. Among their victims were preeminent personalities, such as the lawyer Simeon G. Murafa
Simeon G. Murafa
Simeon G. Murafa was a Moldovan politician and director of the newspaper Cuvânt moldovenesc.-Biography:...
, the engineer Hodorogea, and Mihai Razu in August 1917. On , the Congress, "based on historic, national and revolutionary" considerations, proclaimed Bessarabia territorially and politically an "Autonomous Republic". On 23 October, the Congress discussed the administrative question, and proclaimed the setting of the parliament Sfatul Ţării, composed of 120 delegates, 84 of which should be Moldavians
Moldovans
Moldovans or Moldavians are the largest population group of Moldova...
, and 36 ethnic minorities, which should assume the national sovereignty. The Congress demanded that with the setting of Sfatul Ţării, all political committees, except for the professional ones, to be dismantled. The number of members of Sfatul Ţării was later raised to 135, and then to 150, preserving the 70%:30% ratio of Moldavians:minorities. An organization bureau (birou de organizaţiune) was elected to implement this decision. 44 delegates were to be elected by the Soldiers Congress, 36 by the Peasants Congress and its County representations, and the remainder by county and local commissions, different professional corporations, associations of the clergy, of the teachers, of the bar, of public functionaries, of workers, so that all the ethnic groups be duly represented.
Transition of power
The Peasants Congress, which took place in October 1917, voted MimiConstantin Mimi
Constantin A. Mimi was a Bessarabian politician and winemaker.- Biography :He graduated from Odessa State University and SupAgro ....
out and Ion Inculeţ
Ion Inculet
Ion C. Inculeț was a Bessarabian politician and the president of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. Also, he was a minister in Romania.-Early career:...
as the new Commissar. This move was planned by Alexander Kerenski, who sent Inculeţ, an associate professor at the University of Petrograd, to Bessarabia to take hold of the situation. As soon as the Peasants Congress, which had no legal power, voted, Kerenski formally replaced Mimi with Inculeţ. When Inculeţ arrived in Chişinău to take power, he faced the quiet opposition of the nobility, therefore he agreed to take the position of deputy commissar to Vladimir Criste. When the republic was proclaimed, Criste stepped down and passed his legal powers to Inculeţ.
Opening
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
signing off their duties to Sfatul Ţării.
A festive mass was held at the Chişinău Central Cathedral, with Bishop Anastasii, a Russian cleric, holding the mass in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
.
After the mass in the Cathedral, at noon the delegates gathered at the Sfatul Ţării Palace
Sfatul Ţării Palace
- Overview :The building is located near Downtown Chişinău. The building served as a meeting place for Sfatul Ţării.-References:**-Notes:...
, where a Moldavian tricolor flag flew. Before the session, in the chapel of the palace, a te Deum
Te Deum (religious service)
A Te Deum is a short religious service held to bless an event or give thanks. It is frequently used in the Orthodox church....
was hold by the vicar of the Eparchy of Bessarabia and Bishop of Cetatea Albă, Gavriil, also a Russian, and again to everyone's surprise, it was held in Romanian, ending with a congratulation to Bessarabia for the autonomy a blessing to Sfatul Ţării. The delegates moved to the session hall, where a few soldiers presented the flag of the 1st Moldavian Regiment. Bishop Gavriil blessed the flag and the church chorus, led by the priest Berezovski song "Deşteaptă-te, române!
Desteapta-te, române!
"Deșteaptă-te, române" is Romania's national anthem....
" and "Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire". After this, the assistance, moved to the balcony to watch the march of the 1st Moldavian Regiment and of several other troops which came to salute the opening of Sfatul Ţării.
At 2 pm, the delegates and the public took their places and the session started. In the front of the hall, the elder of the delegates, Nicolae N. Alexandri took the place of the president of the session. In front of him, the delegates took their places. To the right, places were reserved for the public, and to the left for the press.
The first session of Sfatul Ţării was held on , and chose Ion Inculeţ
Ion Inculet
Ion C. Inculeț was a Bessarabian politician and the president of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. Also, he was a minister in Romania.-Early career:...
as its president.
Relations with Petrograd
Trying to normalize the relationship with the now BolshevikBolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
government, a Sfatul Ţării delegation visited Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
in Petrograd, explaining to him "the hard-hit fate of the people of Bessarabia, which is of Latin root, under the tsarist rule, when the centuries old traditions and customs, which are different from those of the Russian people, were being attacked, hit, and forbidden, and explained him the stage of the organization of Bessarabia." Lenin is said to have replied that he was aware of the situation in Bessarabia, and was satisfied that the people managed to elect a parliament in an orderly fashion based on democratic principles. He said "Do not waste your time here in Petrograd, go to Bessarabia and organize yourselves. You have all the right to self-determination, do everything that you consider is in the interest of the people, that is of the peasants".
Moldavian Democratic Republic
Following the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, the governor of Bessarabia retired, yielding power to Constantin Mimi
Constantin Mimi
Constantin A. Mimi was a Bessarabian politician and winemaker.- Biography :He graduated from Odessa State University and SupAgro ....
, the president of the Zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
of the guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, who was named Guberniya Commissar in March. The Peasants' Congress in October replaced Mimi with Inculeţ, an action planned and approved by Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
, Russia's interim prime minister. As soon as the Peasants Congress, which had no legal power, voted, Kerenski formally replaced Mimi with Inculeţ. When Inculeţ arrived in Chişinău to take power, he faced the quiet opposition of the nobility, therefore he agreed to take the position of deputy commissar to Vladimir Criste. When the republic was proclaimed, Criste stepped down and passed his legal powers to Inculeţ.
The aims put forward by Sfatul Ţării in its session on were:
- to call as soon as possible the People Assembly of the Moldavian Democratic Republic, which should be elected in a general suffrage according to the highest democratic principles, and until such time Sfatul Ţării to take the full responsibility for the political power and legislation,
- to divide the land to the working people and to make up a law for land reform, while the forests, the waters, the underground, the research fields, the hotbeds, sugar beet plantations, boyar, monastery, church, and state grape-yards and orchards would pass under the administration of regional committees of the Moldavian Democratic Republic,
- to fulfill the people's need for basic food and stuff products, to regulate working conditions, where a rise in salary and an 8-hour workday should be provided for,
- to make up a plan to de-mobilize the Russian army, and increase employment in factories in order to eliminate the danger of famine,
- to organize correct elections for local administration,
- to defend the freedoms earned in the revolution,
- to abolish the death penalty,
- to make a law to protect fully the rights of all peoples that live in the Moldavian Democratic Republic,
- to organize education on the basis of autonomy and nationalization, for all the peoples of the Moldavian Democratic Republic,
- to organize the formation of Moldavian regiments for defending the riches of the country, for demobilizing the troops of the Romanian front, and for defending the motherland from the most terrible of dangers - anarchy,
- to ask the Moldavians and the brotherly peoples of the Republic to do the public works, building the new life on the basis of freedom, righteousness and fraternity.
Executive power was given to the Council of Directors led by Pantelimon Erhan
Pantelimon Erhan
Pantelimon Erhan was a Moldovan politician and prime minister of the Moldavian Democratic Republic .-Biography:Pantelimon Erhan was born in 1884 in Tănătari, Căuşeni District...
. On , Sfatul Ţării elected the government of the Moldavian Democratic Republic - the Council of Directors General, with nine members, seven Moldavians, one Ukrainian, and one Jew.
Deteriorating security situation
The Revolution brought chaos in Russia, and some gangs of Bolshevik soldiers were reported to be wreaking havoc in Bessarabia. The Council of Directors sent a mission to IaşiIasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
(the temporary capital of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) to ask the Entente
Triple Entente
The Triple Entente was the name given to the alliance among Britain, France and Russia after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Entente in 1907....
for military help against the Bolsheviks. The Entente unsuccessfully sent some Serbian and Czechoslovakian troops, but some squads of Romanian Transylvanians and Bukovinans, organized in Kiev, were sent to Bessarabia, and they resisted the Bolsheviks at the Chişinău train station.
The hardest work for the new Republic was the armed forces, the need for which was imminent. Unfortunately, Major Teodor Cojocaru
Teodor Cojocaru
Teodor Cojocaru was a Moldovan mylitary and politician.- Biography :He served as Director General for Armed Forces in Pantelimon Erhan Cabinet. Also he served as member of the Sfatul Ţării and Romanian Parliament, and mayor of Chişinău .- External links :* -Notes:...
soon became ill and was hospitalized. Lieutenant Gherman Pîntea was named Director General for Armed Forces, but a few precious days were lost. Pîntea managed to organize several well disciplined Moldavian military units led by qualified Bessarabian officers.
In Tighina
Tighina
Bender or Bendery, also known as Tighina is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Transnistria Republic since 1992...
, Captain Caşcarev (a.k.a. Caşu) formed an artillery squadron, and in addition the Kherson Drujina, formed entirely of Moldavian soldiers, destined for rear front missions, was nationalized. In Băliţ, Drujina no. 478, also composed only of Moldavians, and led by Captain Anatolie Popa, was nationalized. A commission of military medics was formed and was attached to the 1st Moldavian Regiment. The Jewish community in Chişinău demanded and obtained the creation of a Jewish company in the same regiment. By , when a military march was held in front of the President of the Republic, there were already two cavalry and one infantry regiments, several artillery batteries, and 16 special cohorts. The units received banners, "sanctified" by priests.
However, the Ilie Catărău incident tarnished the reputation of the efficiency of Moldavian units. Ilie Catărău
Ilie Cătărău
Ilie Cătărău was a Bessarabian-born political adventurer, soldier and spy, who spent parts of his life in Romania. Leading a secretive life, he is widely held to have been the main perpetrator of two bomb attacks, which sought to exacerbate tensions between Romania and Austria-Hungary in...
, a private in the Russian Army, joined the new Moldavian military units. His credentials could not be verified, as no-one at that time in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
has met him in any former military unit of the Tsar, but he spoke clean Romanian, said he was from a Bessarabian village, and said he has long suffered under the Tsarist regime, therefore he was entrusted with responsibility. As soon as he got a small position, he started to call soldiers to insubordination and disorder - "Everything belongs free of charge to the working people, everything should be taken now, immediately, without waiting for laws to drawn which would nationalize the goods and distribute them to the people". With a small group of his friends, Catărău made a group of soldiers of the Russian Army and of some Moldavian soldiers from the Chişinău Garrison, who trustfully "elected" him "Commander of Chişinău Garrison". In this quality, he started to send groups of soldiers to pillage neighboring villages and bring to Chişinău oxes, cows, horses, cattle carts, which were taken not only from the boyars, but also from peasants. These were brought to the court of the Theological Seminary in Chişinău, where Catărău waited for their peasant owners to show up, and in lieu of a payment would order to free the cattle, thus making thousands of rubles. Several times, he even entered with a dozen armed men the session hall of Sfatul Ţării. As a result of numerous complains from the peasants and the MPs, on
, Catărău was arrested, and sent to Odessa. However, Catărău's calls to "take everything", especially when applied to alcoholic drinks, found some audience among several soldiers. An inexperienced authority, easy to lure by clever individuals such as Catărău, was being portrayed by them as incapable of effectively defending peasants' rights to "take everything".
At the same time, a number of former functionaries who were left without political power by what they regarded as filthy peasants, started to undermine the authority of Sfatul Ţării, and found associates among political radicals that were spreading demagogy. In the conditions that the legal authority was being challenged in the northernmost and southernmost districts by numerous gangs of demobilized Russian soldiers on their way home, some soldiers already pray to the influence of the Bolshevik ideology, and even when in Chişinău the authority was not always effective, to realize the land reform, to organize the administration and justice, to nationalize the education, were impossible tasks in the current security situation. Therefore, on session of the Council of Directors General, it was decided to send a delegation to Iaşi to demand the Romanian government and representatives of Entente military aid against the danger of Bolshevik anarchy in Bessarabia.
But the political situation in Iaşi at the time was also very difficult. Russian armies on the Romanian front often fraternized with the Germans/Austrians, military discipline disappeared. The General Stuff of general Sherbachov was threatened by Russian revolutionaries, and had to be protected by Romanian soldiers. Romanian army had to extend in a short period of time to cover a long portion of the front line previously occupied by Russian soldiers, and had to attend to the disarmament of the Russian soldiers all over. The Romanian government replied that it couldn't spare any soldiers. The representatives of Entente decided then to send to Bessarabia one Serbian and one Czechoslovak division, which were being formed in Russia from prisoners of war taken from Austria-Hungary, however to send them to Bessarabia turned out to be a logistical nightmare. In Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, with the help of the Romanian government, there were being formed several legions of Bukovinian and Transylvanian volunteers, soldiers and officers, to be sent to Bukovina and possibly Transylvania. The Entente high Command in Romania decided to divert a couple of these to Bessarabia. But, as soon as these were ready to move, they were in keen need on the front to cover empty spots, thus this proved impractical as well. The Romanian government cared more about its own security, while Entente representatives cared about keeping Germany in check. For none of them Bessarabia was a priority. Faced with systemic pillage by Russian deserters, some Bessarabian peasants started to flee to Romania.
Bolshevik takeover attempt
The Bolshevik troops gained ground in Bessarabia, while spreading terror against the bourgeoisie. On , they occupied Chişinău, and the members of both Sfatul Ţării and the Council of Directors fled, while some of them were arrested and sentenced to death. On the same day, a secret meeting of Sfatul Ţării decided to send another delegation to Iaşi to ask for help from Romania.Intervention of Romanian troops
The Romanian government of Ion I. C. BrătianuIon I. C. Bratianu
Ion I. C. Brătianu was a Romanian politician, leader of the National Liberal Party , the Prime Minister of Romania for five terms, and Foreign Minister on several occasions; he was the eldest son of statesman and PNL leader Ion Brătianu, the brother of Vintilă and Dinu Brătianu, and the father of...
decided to intervene, and on , the 9th Romanian Army under Gen. Broşteanu entered Chişinău. The Bolshevik troops retreated to Tighina
Tighina
Bender or Bendery, also known as Tighina is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Transnistria Republic since 1992...
, and after a battle retreated further beyond the Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
.
Independence
On , Sfatul Ţării voted in unanimity for the independence of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. The Directory Council was dissolved, and was replaced by a Ministry Council, led by Daniel CiugureanuDaniel Ciugureanu
Daniel Ciugureanu was a Moldovan politician and the prime minister of the Moldavian Democratic Republic in 1918. Hw was also a minister in several Romanian governments....
, while the President remained Ion Inculeţ.
Union with Romania
Pro- and anti-unionist spirits
The county councils of BălţiBalti
Balti can refer to:* Balti language, a language spoken in Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir* Balti people, Muslims of Ladakhi/Tibetan origin from Baltistan in Pakistan and Ladakh in Kashmir...
, Soroca
Soroca
Soroca is a Moldovan city situated on the Nistru river about 160 km north of Chişinău. It is the administrative center of Soroca District.- History :The city has its origin in the medieval Genoese trade post of Olchionia, or Alchona...
and Orhei
Orhei
Orhei is a city and the administrative centre of Orhei District in Moldova with a population of 25,680. Orhei is approximately 50 kilometers north of the capital, Chişinău.-Demographics:...
were the earliest to ask for the "holy, redeeming, much desired and eternal union with the mother country Romania
Kingdom of Romania
The Kingdom of Romania was the Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between 13 March 1881 and 30 December 1947, specified by the first three Constitutions of Romania...
"
Proclamation of the Union
On , Sfatul Ţării voted on Bessarabia's union with Romania. Support for the union was mixed. The vote did not break down along clear ethnic lines, but with Romanian troops already in Chisinau, Romanian planes circling above the meeting hall, and the Romanian prime minister waiting in the foyer, many minority deputies chose simply not to vote. 86 members voted for the union and only 3 against, but 36 representatives abstained and 13 failed to appear. The vote would later be treated as a "quasi-unanimous" expression of the will of the Bessarabian people, but the motion only passed as a result of a compromise with the groups hesitant about the union.The Sfatul Ţăriis declaration listed 14 special privileges that Bessarabia would retain inside an enlarged Romania:
- Sfatul Ţării would undertake an agrarian reformAgrarian reformAgrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land reform measures. Agrarian reform can include credit measures,...
, which would be accepted by the Romanian Government - Bessarabia would remain autonomous, with its own dietDiet (assembly)In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
, Sfatul Ţării, elected democratically - Sfatul Ţării would vote for local budgets, control the councils of zemstvos and cities, and name the local administration
- conscription would be done on a territorial basis
- local laws and the form of administration could be changed only with the approval of local representatives
- the rights of minorities had to be respected
- two Bessarabian representatives would be part of the Romanian government
- Bessarabia would send to the Romanian Parliament a number of representatives equal to the proportion of its population
- all elections must involve a direct, equal, secret, and universal vote
- freedom of speech and of belief must be guaranteed in the constitution
- all individuals who had committed felonies for political reasons during the revolution would be amnestied.
The first and main condition of undertaking agrarian reform was debated and approved by the Romanian Parliament in November, 1918. Following this, on November 27, 1918, the leaders of the Moldovan Bloc urged Sfatul Ţării to follow suit with Bukovina's Declaration of Union with Romania earlier that day, and vote a motion to remove the other conditions, trusting that Romania would be a democratic country. Although lacking a quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
and voting in the middle of the night, the deputies renounced the other condition, declared the union with Romania unconditional, and voted to dissolve the assembly, with legislative powers to pass to the Romanian Constituent Assembly. Professor of International Affairs Charles King
Charles King (author)
Charles King is Professor of International Affairs and Government at Georgetown University, where he previously served as Chairman of the Faculty of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service....
also judges the November 1918 vote on the dissolution of the Diet to be illegitimate, since only 44 of the 125 members took part in it (all 44 voted "for").
In the autumn of 1919, elections for the Romanian Constituent Assembly
Constituent assembly
A constituent assembly is a body composed for the purpose of drafting or adopting a constitution...
were held in Bessarabia; 90 deputies and 35 senators were chosen. On December 20, 1919, these men voted, along with the representatives of Romania's other regions, to ratificate the unification acts that had been approved by Sfatul Ţării and the National Congresses in Transylvania and Bukovina.
Follow-up (1918-1919)
In the evening of the April 9, 1918, King Ferdinand I of RomaniaFerdinand I of Romania
Ferdinand was the King of Romania from 10 October 1914 until his death.-Early life:Born in Sigmaringen in southwestern Germany, the Roman Catholic Prince Ferdinand Viktor Albert Meinrad of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, later simply of Hohenzollern, was a son of Leopold, Prince of...
, issued in Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
the Decree-Law No. 842, published in Monitorul Oficial No. 8, on April 10, 1918, sanctioning the Union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania, thus making the text of the Union Act as voted by Sfatul Ţării, including its conditions, legally binding in Romania.
According to documents found by the researcher Mihai Taşcă at the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova, several days after the signing of the Union act, three absent members of Sfatul Ţării, Serghei Donico-Iordăchescu
Serghei Donico-Iordăchescu
- Bibliography :*Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, Sfatul ţării: itinerar, Civitas, Chişinău, 1998, ISBN 9975-936-20-2*Mihai Taşcă, Sfatul Ţării şi actualele autorităţi locale, "Timpul de dimineaţă", no. 114 , June 27, 2008 - External links :* *...
, Ion Harbuz
Ion Harbuz
- Bibliography :*Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, Sfatul ţării: itinerar, Civitas, Chişinău, 1998, ISBN 9975-936-20-2*Mihai Taşcă, Sfatul Ţării şi actualele autorităţi locale, "Timpul de dimineaţă", no. 114 , June 27, 2008 - External links :* * *...
, and Gavril Buciuşcan
Gavril Buciuşcan
Gavril Ivanovici Buciuşcan was a Bessarabian politician.- Biography :He served as Member of the Moldovan Parliament and Commissar for Education of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Buciuşcan was killed on October 23, 1937 in Tiraspol, during the Great Purge.- Bibliography...
, who abstained on the day of the vote, came to sign the copies of the Union act.
On , Sfatul Ţării, contending that the social and economic conditions stipulated in the Union Act of 27 March/8 April 1918, regarding the universal suffrage, the agrarian reform, and the rights of the people, were being fulfilled by the new Romanian legislation, and taking the act of the Union of Bukovina and of Transylvania
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
(1 December 1918) with Romania, has decided to "renounce to the other conditions from the Union Act from and declares the Union of Bessarabia with Romania unconditional" from the day preceding the day of the Romanian Constituent Assembly (a body subsequently elected in 1919 after the three 1918 unions, to which these make reference), until which Sfatul Ţării would continue to attend to the needs and requests of the people. This act was again sanctioned by the King and made legally binding in Romania. However, the session of Sfatul Ţării on , where this unanimous decision was taken, was attended only by 44 MPs, raising questions about its legality. Anti-union political forces from inside and outside Romania have used this as a pretext to challenge the union per se, and the Union Act in March/April 1918.
The Union Act of stipulated 11 conditions. The first condition was the agrarian reform, realized by Sfatul Ţării after the Union Act, and its legal recognition in the legislative body of Romania. Conditions 4 to 11 regarding human rights and freedoms, minority rights, the representation of Bessarabia in the Romanian legislative and executive, the type of suffrage for general and local elections, the legal continuation and conditions for modifications of the laws and regulations adopted by Sfatul Ţării, the reform and organization of the military (recruitment on territorial basis), and the amnesty for crimes committed for political reasons in 1917-1918, were absorbed into the Romanian Constitution and/or legislation, and were respected (to remain as constituent parts of the Romanian legislative body) from 1918 until the Soviet occupation. The annulment of the conditions of the Union Act did not have any legal consequences with respect to conditions 1, or 4-11. The 27 November/9 December vote, however, effectively abrogated conditions 2 and 3, which stipulated provincial autonomy, with a diet, an executive body and administration, with the diet having the legal prerogatives (a) to vote the local budgets, (b) to control all the local and city bodies, and with the executive body having the prerogative (c) to nominate all local administration, in the case of higher functionaries with confirmation by the Romanian Government.
The representatives of the German minority abstained from the vote on April 9, with Alexander Loesch
Alexander Loesch
- Bibliography :*Gheorghe E. Cojocaru, Sfatul ţării: itinerar, Civitas, Chişinău, 1998, ISBN 9975-936-20-2*Mihai Taşcă, Sfatul Ţării şi actualele autorităţi locale, "Timpul de dimineaţă", no. 114 , June 27, 2008 - External links :* *...
declaring that they do not have the empowerment of the German community to vote and that "this question question can be answered by the Congress of the German Colonists". The Congress of the German Colonists in Bessarabia took place on March 7, 1919 in Tarutino
Tarutino
Tarutino may refer to:*Tarutino, Russia, a village in Central Russia*The Battle of Tarutino in the 1812 French invasion of Russia that occurred near the village*The town of Tarutyne, Ukraine, called Tarutino in Russian...
. The following decision was taken by unanimity of votes:
"The war of the peoples of Europe, that everywhere had as consequences fundamental changes, has created something entirely new for Bessarabia as well, where 100 years ago German colonists have founded their motherland.
"After already in March 1918 [27 March/8 April 1918], the representatives of the Bessarabian population have expressed their serious desire for union with Romania, the definitive union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania has been sanctioned by the decree of His Majesty the King [of Romania] on 27 November 1918. Hence, Bessarabia, whose population is composed in majority of Romanians (Moldavians), is united to Romania.
"In view of this fact, the Congress of German Colonist from Bessarabia, in its turn declares the union to the Kingdom of Romania, being fully convinced that the German colonists from Bessrabia will live with the Romanian people united under a single scepter, in peace and in good understanding.
" A guarantee for this, the German colonists see in the decisions of the Sfatul Ţării, which establish that every nation has the right to be ruled, educated, administered, and judged in its own language and by its own sons and to have corresponding representation in the legislative bodies, in the government, representation which guarantees the autonomy of the church and school, as well as the rights of the German colonists. The Bessarabian colonists, as citizens of the Romanian state will always be faithful to the Throne and the State.
"The Congress of German Colonists makes this step of serious and of big responsibility with faith in God and asking the AlmightyAlmightyAlmighty is an Abrahamic term for God. See OmnipotentAlmighty may also refer to:*The Almighty , a Scottish rock band formed in 1988*The Almighty , a character in the anime/manga series Oh My Goddess!...
to bless it and to bring everything to a good end."
Challenges to the Union have come from a number of people, from some bodies (e.g. Ukrainian Rada), and from one state (the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
). However, many of the same people, bodies and state have at other points accepted the Union.
In the reply note to a note of protest of the Ukrainian Rada expressing pretensions over Bessarabia, the Romanian government mentioned "1. Bessarabia was not annexed by Romania, as the Ukrainian note states, but has declared
The Ukrainian bodies have not subsequently challenged the union.
An anti-Bessarabian and anti-Romanian campaign was started in 1918-1919 in a part of the western press. A "Committee for the Defence of Bessarabia" was formed in Odessa, in the Bolshevik-dominated areas of southern Ukraine, by many of the former member of the "Front Otdel", such as Perper
Perper
The perper was name of three geographically close currencies:* Hyperpyron - the original Byzantine coin* Ragusan perper - the currency of the historical Republic of Ragusa* Serbian perper - Serbian currency under Tsar Dusan...
, Kaabak, Levinzon, together with Alexander Krupenski, Alexander Schmidt, Vladimir Tsiganko, Mihail Savenco
Mihail Savenco
Mihail Savenco was a Moldovan politician. He was a high official of the Moldavian Democratic Republic.- Biography :He served as Director General for Justice in Pantelimon Erhan Cabinet. Also he served as member of the Parliament of Moldova ....
, Mogilyanski, Shlonim, and others. The activity of many of these people had substantial personal baggage - Krupenski was during the Tsarist rule the most influential and powerful person in Bessarabia, Schmidt was mayor of Chişinău
Mayor of Chişinău
The Mayor of Chişinău is head of the executive branch of Chişinău City Council.- History :The first mayor of Chişinău was Anghel Nour in 1817. In 1941, the office was abolished. After the Soviet era and the re-establishment of the office in 1990, Nicolae Costin became the first democratically...
, Savenco was the former Minister of Justice of the Moldavian Republic, all of them very unpopular. They have send a memo
Memo
Memo may refer to:* Most commonly Memorandum.* Bench memorandum, law* Memorandum Recordings - record company* Mêmo* MEMO - specialization in electrical engineering that studies Microwaves, Electromagnetism and Optoelectronic...
to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, published several newspaper articles and brochures targeting the French public opinion, portraying the situation in Bessarabia as a Romanian military occupation. The Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Bessarabian Soviet Socialist Republic or Bessarabian SSR was a government formed by Bolsheviks as part of their plans to establish control over Bessarabia, which was united with Romania in the course of events after the Russian Revolution of 1917...
was proclaimed on May 5, 1919 in Odessa.
On the opposite side, supporting Bessarabia, were Nicolai N. Durnovo, writer and publisher, Sergei Witte
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
, former Russian prime-minister, General Kuropatkin, former war minister of Russia, Leon Casso, minister of education of the Russian Empire in 1910-1914, writer Danilevski, journalist Tikhomirov
Tikhomirov
Tikhomirov may refer to:*Tikhomirov , a crater on the Moon*Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design*Tikhomirov , people with the surname Tikhomirov...
. Sotov, correspondent of the Russian journal "Sovremennye Zapiski" in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
(1921), and a declared adversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, nevertheless in his articles with regard to the portrayal of the events and blamed the forced Russification
Russification
Russification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
in the Bessarabia's past for the post-1918 situation:
"The alienation of the population [of Bessarabia] from RussismRussismRussism may refer to one of the following:*Russianism, a linguistic influence of the Russian language*An ideology propagated by Aleksandr Ivanov-Sukharevsky...
has happened quickly, without pain or hinders, because when Romanian authorities came to Bessarabia they have found an environment which understood them and which they understood.
"(...) This country, that before the revolution was in the hands of the big landlords from the "black gang", was culturally at an inferior level. The stupid RussificationRussificationRussification is an adoption of the Russian language or some other Russian attributes by non-Russian communities...
and Anti-SemitismAnti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
of the autocratic power made that the large masses of the Moldavian and Jewish population be alien from the Russian school, from the Russian book, and in general from all the elements of the Russian culture and the Russian intelligentsia. Hence, what kind of closeness could there be between the Russians and Romanians from Bessarabia? Between the Russian administration in Bessarabia and the popular masses, not only the Moldavian ones, but also those of other nationalities, was a chasm (...) The Russificators have created a situation, that the peasant coming to the city found himself in an unknown black forest. In every Chancellery, the Russian chinovnik had the right to not understand the Romanian languageRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
. The courts, the school, the church, the administration were as many institutions of alien language to the peasants. Over that, a savage arbitrareness ruled there (...) A little closer to the Russian culture was the Jewish population. But in the boroughs, in the fairs and in the markets, one could see how the big mass of the Jewish merchants and shopkeepers, which barely spoke Russian or couldn't understand it at all, were speaking perfectly in Moldavian.
"(...) The ruling elite of Romania, with the aim of RomanianizationRomanianizationRomanianization or Rumanization is the term used to describe a number of ethnic assimilation policies implemented by the Romanian authorities during the 20th century...
, have made concessions, have protected the national cultural rights of the minorities. Do you want school in Old Hebrew, in jargon, in Ukrainian, Polish, Greek, etc? Here you are! The population has used these gifts and hence the alienation of the masses from the Russian cultureRussian cultureRussian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture...
, from which it was already foreign and not interested in its preserver, is happening fast and without pain - with the passage of the time, so passes the Russia from Bessarabia."
Members
This Diet was initially planned to have 120 deputies, apportioned as follows: 84 (70%) to the Moldavians (ethnic Romanians), 36 to the minorities. 44 were to be elected by the Congress of Moldavian Soldiers from all Russia, 30 by the peasants, 10 by the Moldavian organizations, 36 by the minorities. This number was later increased to 135, and then 150. These figures were based on estimates of the population of Bessarabia as consisting 70% of MoldaviansRomanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, and 30% of minorities. "This appears to be a fairly accurate guess; the official Russian figures, which the Moldavians considered as inaccurate and padded, set the Moldavian proportion considerably lower, as about one-half. Such figures are misleading in all European countries of mixed nationalities, since the census enumerator generally has instructions to count everyone who understands the state language as being of that nationality, no matter what his everyday speech may be."
The original 135 Diet mandates were divided into 28 constituency groups:
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The increase to 150 members meant that several were added from the zemstvos and the cities of the various districts, and the government service of mail, telegraphs and telephones. In the final form, of the 150 members, 44 were representatives of the Congress of Moldavian Soldiers, 30 - of the Soviet of the Moldavian Peasants, 21 - of the administrations of cities and zemstvos, 10 - of political parties, 16 - of cooperatives, unions, and cultural societies, 29 - of organizations of national minorities.
Of the 150 Diet members, 105 were Moldavians/Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
, 15 Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
, 13 Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, 6 Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
, 3 Bulgarians
Bessarabian Bulgarians
The Bessarabian Bulgarians are a Bulgarian minority group of the historical region of Bessarabia, inhabiting parts of present-day Ukraine and Moldova.- Location and number :-Modern Ukraine:...
, 2 Germans, 2 Gagauzians, 1 Pole
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, 1 Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
, 1 Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, 1 unknown.
"The various organizations elected their representatives, wherever possible; but the Diet was mainly appointive, and would not be considered a duly representative body in normal times in any western country. It must however be remembered that Bessarabia was in a state of anarchy already, shortly to be complicated by the fall of Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
, which left Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
with no responsible government whatever for the moment. He was succeeded by the Bolsheviks-numerically at that time an infinitesimal minority of the Russian people, and not recognized as legitimate rulers by the Bessarabians. The Diet at any rate provided a welcome substitute for constitutional government, and indeed considered itself at the start a transitional body, preliminary to the establishment of a definite regime. The rapid march of events, combined with the ability and determination of several of its members, made of it a genuine governing organ."
Voted for the Union on (name, age, profession, ethnic group, county; as available):
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Voted against the Union:
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Refrained from voting:
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Absent from that session:
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By the session on April 9, 1918 the number of deputies has reduced for various reasons to 138. Marked with an asterisk are the names of those who were in the Diet from the beginning.
For the Union with Romania voted 83 Moldavians, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian and 1 Pole (total 86), against it voted 2 Ukrainians and 1 Bulgarian (total 3), while the abstained consisted of 11 Moldavians, 8 Ukrainians, 6 Russians, 5 Bulgarians, 4 Jews and 2 Germans (total 36).