European Kingdoms

Kingdom of Rumania with Bessarabia & Moldavia
AD 1918 - 1940

Eastern Europe All Modern States Caucuses Tribes Slavic Tribes The Rus / Old Russia

The state of Romania (or Rumania in older usage) came into being as a principality in 1859 under Ottoman suzerainty. It was formed out of the late-Eastern Roman and then Ottoman-ruled Danubian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia.

The new country gained independence from the Ottomans in 1877-1878 following the Ottoman defeat at the hands of Russia. Karl (or Karel) of the Prussian royal family of Hohenzollern had already been invited to form a new monarchy for Wallachia, and so he became the first king of Rumania in 1881 when the kingdom was officially proclaimed.

Northern Dobruja was soon added in return for Rumania's part in the 1876-1878 Russo-Turkish War and in compensation for the loss of some territory which abutted southern Bessarabia (mostly within modern Moldova). This gave the kingdom much of its Black Sea coastline to the north of the Danube.

Much more territory was added out of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire, between 1918-1920. Romanians in the Hungarian province of Transylvania had already formed a 'National Party' to campaign for their rights, but had met with repression by the Hungarian authorities. Now they too were able to join Rumania, in 1919, beginning the 'Greater Romania' period which lasted until 1940.

On 6 February 1918, Moldavia briefly became independent. The 'Bessarabian National Council', also known as the 'Assembly of the Land', became the country's supreme governing body, with its own president in the form of Ion Inculet. This blossoming of home rule was quickly snubbed out with incorporation into the kingdom of Rumania.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information by Edward Dawson, from Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and his Regime, Romania, 1940-1944, Dennis Deletant, 2006, and Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopaedia Volume 1, Bernard A Cook (Ed), from Istoria Romaniei (Bucharest, 1962), from Din istoria Transilvaniei, Bucharest, 1963, and from External Links: BBC Country Profiles, and Orbis Latinus.)

1918

Bessarabian Nat Council president (Feb-Apr only).

1918 - 1927

King of Rumania, Bessarabia & Moldavia.

1916 - 1918

The death of King Karel in 1914 had ended Rumania's alliance with the First World War Central Powers. On 17 August 1916, Rumania, long courted by the western allies, had finally been persuaded by promises from France and Russia that it would gain the principality of Transylvania from Hungary.

With the various peoples who made up its ethnically-diverse population pulling apart from it in 1918, Vienna was left with a rump state which greatly reduced its power and significance in post-Austro-Hungarian empire Europe

The death of King Karel in 1914 had ended Rumania's alliance with the First World War Central Powers. On 17 August 1916, Rumania, long courted by the western allies, had finally been persuaded by promises from France and Russia that it would gain the principality of Transylvania from Hungary.

Furthermore, the ethnic Rumanians of the Russian imperial provinces of Bessarabia and Moldavia declare a 'Moldavian People's Republic' in January 1918, with the Rumanian army close at hand. In April, these regions become part of Rumania proper. The country's gains in terms of populace amount to about a quarter of its total figure, although it has lost Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria.

1927

Upon the death of King Ferdinand, his son Karel is prevented from succeeding him thanks to a scandalous lifestyle and a renunciation of his rights to the Rumanian throne. Instead his own son, the young Michael, is placed on the throne with Karel's brother Nicolae acting as regent. Karel spends three years in exile.

This photo from the German Federal Archives depicts Iuliu Maniu, leader of Rumania's 'National Peasant Party' which won an overwhelming victory in the 1928 elections, with these being claimed as the freest in Romanian history prior to the post-communist period

1927 - 1930

King of Rumania, Bessarabia & Moldavia.

1927 - 1930

Uncle and regent.

1930

Karel changes his mind about accepting exile and returns to Rumania. With the support of the governing National Peasants' Party he proclaims himself king, effectively deposing his own son. This is despite having permanently signed away any right to rule in official documents which had been written and signed in front of his own father.

1930 - 1940

King of Rumania, Bessarabia & Moldavia. Forced to abdicate.

1930s

As with elsewhere in Europe, this decade is an unsettled and dangerous one for Rumania, together with its eastern regions of Bessarabia and Moldavia. The country witnesses the rise of the green-shirted fascist 'Iron Guard' mass movement and weakened government after government as the country lurches towards nationalist leanings.

King Karel II of Rumania, pictured next to his brother, Prince Nicholas (on the right), became increasingly dictatorial during the troubled years of the 1930s

1938

Following the country's slide towards fascism and his own somewhat mixed relationship with fascism's leaders in Rumania, Karel II establishes an absolute monarchy - effectively a dictatorship.

1940

Russia seizes Bessarabia before Rumania becomes an active ally of Germany. The seizure is made under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. The industrialised territory to the east of the Dniester, generally known as Trans-Dniester or the Dniester region, is taken from Ukraine and combined with Bessarabia to form the 'Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic'.

Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)
AD 1940 - 1991

Eastern Europe All Modern States Caucuses Tribes Slavic Tribes The Rus / Old Russia

The region of Bessarabia, on the west bank of the River Dniester, had been part of the kingdom of Rumania since 1918. Soviet Russia seized it in 1940 before Rumania could become an active ally of Nazi Germany. The seizure was made under the terms of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

The industrialised territory to the east of the Dniester was generally known as Trans-Dniester or the Dniester region. An autonomous area within Ukraine until now, it was taken by Moscow in 1940 to be combined with Bessarabia to form the 'Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic'.

The bulk of the Moldavian republic lay between the rivers Dniester and Prut. In July 1941, Moldavia was returned to Rumania when it seemed that the kingdom would be a willing ally. When Rumania sided with Germany in order to save itself, the Soviet Union again occupied Moldavia, in 1944, and officially reincorporated Moldavia on 15 September 1947.

Two-thirds of Moldovans were and still are of Romanian descent, the languages being virtually identical, and the two countries share a common cultural heritage. This area was inhabited mainly by Russian and Ukrainian speakers who shared no real cultural or linguistic affinity with the Bessarabians.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Security Dynamics in the Former Soviet Bloc, Graeme P Herd & Jennifer D P Moroney (2003), Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe, Jan Zielonka (2001), Russia - Continuity and Change, Gerald Hinteregger & Hans-Georg Heinrich (Eds), European Yearbook 2000, Francis Rosenstiel, Edith Lejard, Jean Boutsavath & Jacques Martz, De Facto States: The Quest for Sovereignty, Barry Bartmann, T Bahcheli (2004), and from External Links: BBC Country Profiles, and Moldova (World Statesmen).)

1940

After some internal strife, the fascists rule Rumania as part of the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany. The country is governed by its pro-German dictator, with the king powerless. Antonescu's rule is marked by anti-Semitic atrocities, including racially discriminatory laws, deportations, and pogroms.

The king and his mother, Queen Helen, are kept informed about the next actions which are planned against the Jewish population. The queen then seeks urgent meetings with Antonescu, and manages to have many anti-Jewish measures and orders rescinded, saving many thousands of Jewish lives.

Adolf Hitler at the height of his rule over Nazi Germany envisioned a 'Greater Germany' covering a vast swathe of Central Europe with 'living room' for Germans and a subservient Slavic population in the east to handle manual work

1940 - 1945

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1944

A provisional government is formed in Rumania, and an armistice announced which ends hostilities against Soviet troops who are already pushing towards the country's borders. Within hours, German planes bomb the royal palace and Romania joins the allies.

The powerful Marshal Antonescu is executed by the communist authorities after the war. The sudden appearance of Soviet troops in Romania causes panic in Bulgaria.

1945 - 1946

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1946 - 1950

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1947

With the USSR occupying the rest of Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War, Rumania is taken over by communists. The king is forced to abdicate by Petru Groza, the communist prime minister.

If the king does not comply, Groza threatens the death of about a thousand pro-monarchy supporters, most of them students who had been arrested at earlier rallies. The king signs, and an impromptu meeting of parliament witnesses the proclamation of the republic of Romania.

Poet Yevgeny Dolmatovski recites his works on Berlin's Pariser Platz just a few days after the German surrender - a remarkable poetry recital with the bullet-riddled Brandenburg Gate flanked by ruins and two tank barrels hovering above the heads of soldiers

1948 - 1949

As with Moldova, a Soviet-style constitution is imposed on Romania, along with purges of dissidents in the communist party. In 1949, one of the victims of the newly-established communist state is the heir to the throne of Mexico, Princess Maria, who dies in suspicious circumstances shortly after she is interned along with her husband.

1950 - 1952

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1952 - 1954

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1954 - 1961

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1955

The USSR forms the Warsaw Pact in direct response to the admission of the 'Federal Republic of Germany' (West Germany) into Nato whilst itself being barred from joining. The states which are involved in the founding of this eastern alliance are Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Russia.

Russia, plus its seven Warsaw Pact allies, signed the treaty of establishment in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on 14 May 1955, with the location of signing giving the pact its name

1961 - 1980

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1980 - 1989

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1989 - 1991

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1990

Increasingly alarmed at the state of the Soviet Union, the prospect of its break-up, and that of closer ties with Romania, the Trans-Dniester region of Moldavia unilaterally declares independence from Moldova.

A long, narrow strip of territory on the east bank of the Dniester, its population is largely formed of Ukrainian and Russian speakers who do not share the largely Romanian heritage of the majority of Moldavians.

The Russian-sympathising Gagauz region in Moldavia's south-west also declares independence from both entities. On 19 August 1990 it declares itself to be the 'Gagauz Soviet Socialist Republic'.

The Chernobyl disaster and the subsequent attempted cover-up by the Soviet authorities was the spark which brought down the already-fragile USSR, allowing Belarus amongst many other subject territories to gain its independence

1991

Soviet first secretary of the central committee.

1991

Thanks to behind-the-scenes manoeuvring by the newly-elected president of the Russian republic, Boris Yeltsin, on Christmas Day 1991 Communist USSR President Gorbachev announces the termination of the Soviet communist state.

The Soviet Republics become independent sovereign states (if they had not already become so since 1989), including Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Ossetia, Poland, Romania, Transnistria, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

Modern Moldova
AD 1991 - Present Day
Incorporating Heads of State (1991-2024)

All Modern States Early Cultures Africa Americas British Isles Europe Far East Near East Ancient Mesopotamia Native Americans Special Indices

The modern state of Moldova in Eastern Europe is a parliamentary republic which has its capital in the city of Chișinău (often shown in English-language publications as Chisinau, and known historically as Kishinev). Initially the 'Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldova' under Soviet controls, it became simply the 'Republic of Moldova' in 1991.

A landlocked country, Moldova is surrounded to the north, east, and south by Ukraine, and to the west by Romania. The breakaway region of Transnistria also sits along a good deal of that eastern border. The bulk of Moldova lies between the rivers Dniester and Prut. Historically this region was known as Bessarabia, while the equally historical region of Moldavia - which often included Bessarabia - incorporated double the territory of today's Moldova, stretching an equal distance to the west of the Prut.

The eighteenth century principality of Moldavia was adjoined to the kingdom of Romania in 1918, but the USSR seized its Bessarabia section in 1940 before Romania could become an active ally of Germany.

Prior to that happening, the industrialised territory to the east of the Dniester, generally known as Trans-Dniester or the Dniester region, had formed an autonomous area within Ukraine. This was now taken from the 'Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic' and combined with Bessarabia to form the 'Moldavia Soviet Socialist Republic'.

Having declared independence from the collapsing USSR on 27 August 1991, modern Moldova is a little smaller than the old Bessarabia, with only part of its former territory on the east bank of the Dniester having been recovered from Ukraine.

Two-thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian descent, the languages being virtually identical, and the two countries share a common cultural heritage. East of the Dniester, in Transnistria, much of the population is formed from Russian and Ukrainian speakers.

As people there became increasingly alarmed at the prospect of closer ties with Romania in the tumultuous twilight years of the Soviet Union, Trans-Dniester unilaterally declared independence from Moldova in 1990 as Transnistria. Its people remain divided from Moldova, but unrecognised as a nation state in their own right and with a permanent presence of around 1,500 Russian troops to support them.

Please note that the History Files does not regularly monitor changes in modern heads of state or their representatives. Get in touch here if this section requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information from Security Dynamics in the Former Soviet Bloc, Graeme P Herd & Jennifer D P Moroney (2003), from Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe, Jan Zielonka (2001), from Russia - Continuity and Change, Gerald Hinteregger & Hans-Georg Heinrich (Eds), from European Yearbook 2000, Francis Rosenstiel, Edith Lejard, Jean Boutsavath & Jacques Martz, from De Facto States: The Quest for Sovereignty, Barry Bartmann, T Bahcheli (2004), from Washington Post (22 December 1991, 10 May 1996, 3 December 1996, 27 February 2001, & Digest, 17 March 2012), and from External Links: BBC Country Profiles, and Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), and Moldova (Flags of the World), and Moldova (Rulers.org), and Moldova (Zárate's Political Collections (ZPC)), and How the conflict started (Veridica), and Royal funeral for Romania's uncrowned Queen Anne (BBC), and Moldova and the Russia-EU tug of war explained (The Week), and Moldova holds security meeting (The Guardian), and Moldovan PM resigns (The Guardian), and Plotting to oust pro-EU government (The Guardian), and Maia Sandu wins second term (The Guardian).)

1990 - 1997

President. Communist Party of Moldova (PCM / PCRM).

1992

Following the official dissolution of the Soviet Union and the declaration of Moldovan sovereignty, fierce fighting takes place in the Trans-Dniester region as it tries to assert its 1990 declaration of independence in the form of a presidential republic. Although violence has been building for some months, it is 2 March 1992 which is marked as the start of the Transnistrian War.

A Russian 14th Army tank as used by the guards of the pro-Russian separatist, self-proclaimed Trans-Dniester republic, having been burned out by Moldovan police near Bendery, Moldova, on 27 June 1992

Between March and July 1992, hundreds die, and the violence only ends with the introduction of Russian 'peacekeepers' acting on the side of the separatists. Calling itself the 'Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic' (PMR, also known as Pridnestrovie), Trans-Dniester's independence remains unrecognised and the region exists in a state of lawless and corrupt limbo. Moldova refers to it as Stînga Nistrului, meaning 'Left Bank of the Dniester'.

1994

Late in 1994 the Moldovan parliament grants autonomous status to the Turkic-speaking Gagauz region in the country's south-west. In partial recompense for having relinquished its independence - declared on 19 August 1990 in the form of the 'Gagauz Soviet Socialist Republic' - it has powers over its own political, economic, and cultural affairs.

1997 - 2001

President. No party.

2001 - 2009

President. PCRM.

2006

The Trans-Dniester region (Transnistria) reasserts its demand for independence and also expresses support for a plan ultimately to join Russia in a September 2006 referendum which is unrecognised by Chișinău and the international community.

Modern Chișinău bears all the hallmarks of mass Soviet-era concrete construction, although living standards in the twenty-first century are slowly improving

It still houses a stockpile of old Soviet military equipment and a contingent of troops of the Russian 14th Army. Withdrawal had begun in 2001 under international agreements but this had been halted when the Trans-Dniester authorities had blocked the dispatch of weapons. Subsequent agreements to resume the removal of weapons do not reach fruition as relations cool between Moscow and Chișinău.

2009 - 2010

Acting president. Liberal Party (PL).

2010

Acting president. Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova

2010 - 2012

Acting president. Agrarian Democratic Party of Moldova.

2012

In November, Moscow issues an ultimatum to Chișinău, commanding Moldova to withdraw from energy agreements with the EU or face losing discounts on Russian gas supplies from Russia itself.

2012 - 2016

President. No party.

2013 - 2014

Wine is amongst a broad range of Moldovan agricultural exports which are banned by Russia before and after the country's signing of an EU association agreement alongside Ukraine and Georgia. But Moldova's pro-EU government defies calls from Russia for it to delay the deal's implementation.

2016

A royal funeral takes place at Curtea de Arges in central Romania on 13 August 2016. A day of mourning is also declared both in Romania and Moldova, and flags fly at half-mast. The ceremony is for Queen Anne of Romania, after she passes away in hospital in Switzerland on 1 August, at the age of ninety-two.

Anne of Bourbon-Parma, queen of Romania as the wife of King Michael, married the king after his forced abdication and exile, and did not even set foot in Romania until the 1990s

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti, many other statesmen, and thousands of well-wishers have already paid their respects as her coffin lay in state at Peles Castle at Sinaia and at the royal palace in Bucharest.

2016 - 2020

President. Party of Republic of Moldova Socialists (PSRM).

2019

Further political turmoil grips Moldova as diplomatic tensions between Russia and the EU are played out in the former Soviet republic's domestic politics. On 8 June 2019 a new government is elected, with Maia Sandu as prime minister. The constitutional court declares the proceedings to be invalid, but the pro-Russian President Dodon appoints the government anyway.

On Sunday 9 June, Igor Dodon is stripped of his duties by the country's courts for refusing to dissolve parliament so that a second election can be held. He is replaced by a pro-EU interim president, Pavel Filip, former prime minister, who immediately calls snap elections for September.

Demonstrators hold up the Moldovan flag as the political crisis of 2019 deepened in Moldova, although the press release which came with the image failed to state which side they were supporting - the pro-Russian or pro-EU side

2020

Former prime minister and now interim president.

The crisis comes months after a general election which produces no clear victor. Filip's order for parliament to dissolve is refused by some lawmakers who claim that the country's state institutions have been seized. The row fuels fears of street violence as political tensions grow, although the situation eventually cools. Maia Sandu is the country's new president.

2020 - On

First female president of Moldova. PAS.

2022

On Monday 22 February, after months of increasing pressure from his side, President Putin takes the politically manipulative step of formally recognising as independent states the Russian-created breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

Almost immediately afterwards, Putin orders Russian troops which had been massing along Ukraine's borders (and even its Belarussian border) to enter Ukraine and occupy it, although the plan immediately falters quite spectacularly.

Despite outnumbering the more lightly-armed Ukrainian forces by at least three-to-one, Russian forces continued to suffer far heavier casualties, with tank losses surprisingly high as Ukrainian units undertook ambushes against them

For its part, Moldova starts taking in refugees who mainly enter via its northern and southern borders with Ukrainian territory. By April the separatist region of Transnistria is experiencing an increasing level of paramilitary actions against its pro-Russian forces (there are still fifteen hundred Russian troops permanently stationed in the region).

The Moldovan fear is that this is either the start of internecine fighting or a pretext for Moscow to invade - not that it is capable by this point, having failed to meet any of its targets in Ukraine.

2023

Moldova's pro-western government resigns after eighteen months in power following a series of economic and political crises which have engulfed the country in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, makes the statement at a news conference on Friday 10 February 2023, hours after Russia violates Moldovan airspace. President Sandu selects another pro-western candidate in the form of her security advisor, Dorin Recean.

Moldova's president, Maia Sandu, convened a meeting of her security council on 26 April 2022 following a series of incidents in the breakaway region of Transnistria

She also discloses intercepted Russian plans to disrupt and remove the country's government with a Russian puppet administration. The ongoing protests have largely been organised by the party of the exiled opposition politician, Ilan Sho, a committed pro-Russian supporter.

2024

President Maia Sandu wins a second term in office in the Moldovan presidential elections, marking a significant boost for the country's EU aspirations and a clear rebuke to Moscow. The runoff election is seen as a crucial indicator of whether the country's long-term geopolitical alignment will be with Russia or Europe.