All About Moldova

Podcast Transcript

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine is the nation of Moldova.

As with many landlocked countries in Central and Eastern Europe, it has a long history as a crossroads for armies and people.

In addition to serving as a crossroads of civilizations, it has also served as a buffer between states.

All of which has made for a very interesting history.

Learn more about Moldova and how it came to be on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

The territory of today’s Republic of Moldova lies mostly between the Prut and Dniester rivers, between Romania and Ukraine. That geography made it both a corridor and a buffer, a place where people mixed and where states rose, fractured, and were absorbed.

The territory of present-day Moldova has been inhabited since prehistoric times, with archaeological evidence showing human settlement dating back to the Paleolithic era.

The region became part of the cultural sphere of the Cucuteni-Trypillia civilization, one of the earliest European agricultural societies, between 5500 and 2750 BC. These early inhabitants left behind remarkable pottery and evidence of sophisticated settlements.

During antiquity, the area was populated by the Dacians, a Thracian people who established a powerful kingdom in the region. The Roman conquest of Dacia under Emperor Trajan in 106 brought Roman administration, culture, and language to the territory, though Roman control was limited primarily to areas south and west of Moldova proper.

The Romans withdrew in 271, but their linguistic and cultural legacy proved remarkably durable, forming the foundation of the Romanian language spoken by Moldovans today.

The period following the Roman withdrawal saw waves of migrations across the region. Goths, Huns, Avars, Bulgars, Magyars, and eventually Slavic peoples moved through or settled in the area.

These migrations created an extremely complex ethnic and cultural landscape that would characterize the region for centuries. By the early medieval period, Slavic influence had become particularly strong, contributing significantly to the local language and culture.

The medieval Principality of Moldavia emerged in the mid-14th century as a distinct political entity. According to tradition, the principality was founded around 1359 by an ethnic Romanian leader named Drago?, though the state became more firmly established under Bogdan I, who came from a neighboring region around 1365.

The principality stretched from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester River, encompassing territories of present-day Moldova, northeastern Romania, and parts of Ukraine.

The young principality quickly had to navigate relationships with powerful neighbors. The Kingdom of Hungary claimed dominion over the territory, while the rising Ottoman Empire to the south posed an increasingly serious threat.

The principality also maintained complex relationships with the Kingdom of Poland and later with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Stephen the Great, who reigned from 1457 to 1504, represents the golden age of medieval Moldavia. Stephen proved to be an exceptional military commander and diplomat, winning numerous battles against the Ottomans, Hungarians, and Poles.

He fortified the principality with a network of fortresses and monasteries, many of which still stand today as architectural treasures. Stephen managed to maintain Moldavian independence during a period when most of Southeastern Europe fell under Ottoman control.

The Orthodox Church canonized him as “Stephen the Great and Holy,” and he remains the most celebrated figure in Moldovan and Romanian history.

Despite Stephen’s successes, Moldavia could not indefinitely resist Ottoman pressure. In 1538, under Stephen’s son Petru Rare?, the principality became an Ottoman vassal state.

However, unlike territories fully incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia retained considerable autonomy, including its own prince, army, and internal administration. The Ottomans were primarily interested in tribute and strategic security rather than direct governance.

The period from the 16th to the 19th centuries was characterized by Moldavia’s status as a buffer zone between competing empires. The principality maintained its nominal independence but was subject to increasing Ottoman interference in its internal affairs.

The practice of appointing Greek rulers from Constantinople beginning in 1711 further diminished Moldavian autonomy and drained the principality’s resources through corruption and heavy taxation.

Russia’s growing power brought new complications. The Russo-Turkish Wars of the 18th and early 19th centuries repeatedly devastated Moldavian territory as the two empires fought for control of the Black Sea region.

The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in 1774 gave Russia the right to intervene on behalf of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, increasing Russian influence in Moldavia.

A transformative moment came with the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, which ended another Russo-Turkish war. The treaty ceded the eastern half of Moldavia, the territory between the Prut and Dniester rivers, to the Russian Empire.

This region became known as Bessarabia, named after the Wallachian Basarab dynasty that had once ruled there. Wallachia was a region of what is today Romania.

The division split the historical principality and created a boundary that would have lasting consequences.

The western portion of Moldavia remained nominally autonomous under Ottoman dominion and would eventually unite with Wallachia to form modern Romania in 1859.

Under Russian rule, Bessarabia underwent a significant transformation. The Russian Empire encouraged colonization by various ethnic groups, including Ukrainians, Russians, Germans, Bulgarians, and Gagauz Turks, making the region more ethnically diverse.

The Russians also attempted to diminish Romanian cultural identity by promoting the idea that Moldovans were a distinct people from Romanians and by increasing the use of Russian in administration and education.

The 19th century saw the development of a national awakening among Romanian-speaking intellectuals in Bessarabia, though this movement was considerably weaker than in other parts of the Romanian-speaking world due to Russian suppression.

The abolition of serfdom in 1861 brought social changes, but Bessarabia remained one of the poorest and least developed provinces of the Russian Empire.

The collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I created an opportunity for change. In the chaos of revolution, a Moldovan legislative assembly declared Bessarabia’s autonomy in December 1917 and, in February 1918, its independence as the Moldavian Democratic Republic.

However, facing threats from both Bolsheviks and Ukrainian nationalists, the parliament voted to unite with Romania in April 1918.

The unification with Romania was celebrated by many ethnic Romanians but contested by other communities and by Soviet Russia, which never recognized the annexation. Interwar Bessarabia saw efforts at modernization and integration into Greater Romania, including land reform and expansion of Romanian-language education.

However, economic underdevelopment persisted, and ethnic minorities, particularly Ukrainians and Russians, often felt marginalized.

The secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939, which I covered in a previous episode, assigned Bessarabia to the Soviet sphere of influence.

In June 1940, the Soviet Union issued an ultimatum demanding Bessarabia’s return. Romania, isolated and facing German pressure to comply, evacuated the province without resistance.

The Soviets quickly established the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, though they also transferred the southern and northern portions of Bessarabia to Ukraine and added the previously autonomous Transnistrian region east of the Dniester River.

The Soviet period brought dramatic and often traumatic changes. In the first days of occupation, Soviet authorities began mass deportations of “class enemies,” intellectuals, former officials, and wealthy peasants to Siberia and Central Asia.

Romania’s alliance with Nazi Germany led to the province changing hands again when Romanian and German forces occupied Bessarabia from 1941 to 1944. During this period, the Romanian regime implemented brutal policies, including the deportation and massacre of Jews and Roma.

Soviet forces reconquered the territory in 1944, and more waves of deportations followed. The worst came in the late 1940s, when Soviet authorities deported tens of thousands of Moldovans to Siberia and Central Asia, while a devastating famine exacerbated by Soviet agricultural policies killed tens of thousands more.

The goal was to break any resistance to Sovietization and to suppress Romanian identity.

The Soviet government systematically promoted a distinct Moldovan identity separate from Romanian identity, portraying Moldovans as a different nationality.

They imposed the Cyrillic alphabet on the Moldovan language, even though it is essentially identical to Romanian, which uses the Latin script. Russian became the dominant language in urban areas and the primary language of advancement in the Communist Party and administration.

Despite these policies, Moldovans maintained connections to Romanian culture and language, though these had to be carefully concealed.

Under the more relaxed atmosphere of the Khrushchev and Brezhnev eras, the republic achieved some economic development, particularly in food processing and wine production, though it remained one of the poorest Soviet republics.

The glasnost and perestroika reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s unleashed long-suppressed national feelings. The Moldovan Popular Front, formed in 1989, advocated for greater autonomy, linguistic rights, and closer ties with Romania.

In August 1989, massive demonstrations led to the adoption of laws making Moldovan, which is basically Romanian, the state language and returning to the Latin alphabet.

These developments alarmed Russian-speaking minorities and led to separatist movements. The Turks in the south and Russian-speaking populations in the Transnistrian region east of the Dniester River feared marginalization in a Romanian-dominated state.

In 1990, the Transnistrian region declared independence from Moldova, leading to escalating tensions.

Moldova declared independence on August 27, 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed.

After the Soviet collapse, the Moldavian SSR took the international name “Republic of Moldova,” using the form that had been standard in Soviet administration and in the Romanian language itself.

Since 1991, “Moldova” has referred specifically to the independent country east of the Prut River, while “Moldavia” has remained in English as a historical term for the medieval principality or the Romanian region west of the Prut.

The newly independent state faced immediate challenges. The question of possible reunification with Romania divided society, with intellectuals generally favoring it while many non-Romanians and even some Romanians opposed it.

Economic collapse accompanied independence as Soviet-era trade networks disintegrated and Moldova’s industrial enterprises lost their markets.

The conflict with Transnistria escalated into warfare in 1992. With support from Russian military forces stationed in the region, Transnistrian separatists successfully resisted Moldovan government control.

A ceasefire in July 1992 left Transnistria as a de facto independent state, unrecognized internationally but effectively outside Moldovan control. This “frozen conflict” has remained unresolved for over three decades, with Russian troops still present in the region today.

As of the time of this recording, Moldova is not a member of the EU or NATO. One issue that has been consistently raised but never brought to the forefront of Moldovan politics is the prospect of a merger with Romania.

Supporters argue that the two countries were historically one Moldavian–Romanian space and that reunification would correct a division imposed by nineteenth- and twentieth-century empires.

Moreover, it would provide a fast-track method for Moldova to join the European Union, NATO, and, by 2030, the Euro Zone. If Moldova joined the EU and NATO separately, the process would probably take years.

Opponents point to Moldova’s distinct post-Soviet identity, internal divisions over language and orientation, the unresolved separatist region of Transnistria, economic disparities, and the risk of provoking Russia.

Just days before the recording of this episode, the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, said that she would vote in favor of unification with Romania if the subject were put to a referendum.

One of the biggest industries in Moldova, and the product it is best known for, is wine. The wine industry remains culturally and economically important, with Moldovan wines gaining international recognition.

Moldova’s history reveals a small nation persistently caught between larger powers, struggling to maintain its identity and independence while adapting to successive waves of foreign domination.

From a medieval principality to an Ottoman vassal state, a Russian province, a Soviet republic, and now an independent country, Moldova has undergone repeated transformations while maintaining a core cultural continuity rooted in its Romance-language heritage and Orthodox faith.

The country’s future path, particularly regarding European integration and the unresolved Transnistria conflict, remains uncertain, but Moldova looks to continue its centuries-old balancing act between the East and the West.