History of Transnistria
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Betacommand|Betacommand]] ([[User talk:Betacommand|talk]]) to last version by Neelix
{{Politics of Transnistria}}
{{History of Moldova}}
This is the '''[[history]] of [[Transnistria]]'''.
See also the [[history of Europe]] and the [[history of present-day nations and states]].
== Ancient history ==
In ancient times, the area was inhabited by [[Thracians|Thracian]] and [[Scythians|Scythian]] tribes. [[Pliny the Elder]] names the [[Tyragetae]], a [[Getae]] tribe living on an island of the [[Dniester]] (ancient name "Tyras"), the Axiacae living along the [[Tiligul River]] (ancient "Axiaces") and the Crobyzi, a Thracian tribe living beyond the Dniester.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''The Natural History'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+4.26 Chapter 26. Scythia]</ref>
At the mouth of the river, the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] of [[Miletus]] founded around 600 BC a colony named [[Tyras]]. It fell under the dominion of native kings whose names appear on its coins, and it was destroyed by the [[Dacians]] about 50 BC. In AD 56 it had been restored by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and henceforth formed part of the province of [[Lower Moesia]], which also included [[Dobruja]] (part of Romania) and northeastern [[Bulgaria]].
==Middle Ages==
The area of Transnistria was under the rule of the [[Goths]], who, in the 4th century century, were divided into the "Tervingi" and "Greuthungi" tribes, (traditionally identified with the [[Visigoths]] and [[Ostrogoths]]), the border between them being on the Dniester river.<ref>Peter J. Heather, ''The Goths'', Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0631209328</ref>
Transnistria was an early crossroads of people and cultures, including the [[South Slavs]], who reached it in the 6th century. Some East Slavic tribes ([[Ulichs]] and [[Tivertsy]]) may have lived in it, but they were pushed further north by [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] nomads such as [[Pechenegs]] and the [[Cumans]]<ref>Robin Milner-Gulland, ''The Russians'', Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0-631-21849-1 p.44</ref>. In the 10th century, the "Volohove" ([[Vlachs]], i.e. Romanians) are mentioned in the area in the [[Primary Chronicle]].{{fact|date=February 2007}}
Transnistria was inhabited by the [[Cumans]] and wars against them may have brought the territory under the control of the [[Kievan Rus']] at times around the 11th century.<ref>Charles King: "The Moldovans", Hoover Press, Studies of Nationalities series (Stanford University, 2000), page 179.</ref><ref>John Haywood: Cassell Atlas of World History</ref><ref>Penguin Atlas of Russian History (Puffin, 1995)</ref><ref>David Christian: A History of Russia, Mongolia and Central Asia, Vol. 1 (Blackwell, 1999)</ref> It became a formal part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in the [[15th century]].
The territory was divided after the [[Crimean Khanate]] conquered the southern part, which was included in 1504 in the region of [[Yedisan]] and was under the control of the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The northern part remained under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as part of the historical region of [[Podolia]]. The border between the two states was set on a brook known in Moldavian chronicles as ''Iahurlîc'' (today ''[[Iagorlîc]]'', in Transnistria).<ref>Sava, p.5</ref>
[[Moldavia]] started from its nucleus in [[Bukovina]] and soon reached [[Prut River|Prut]] and by the end of the 14th century the Dnister, which was set as their easternmost border. While there were some Moldavian military incursions beyond the Dniester in the 15th century, the earliest written evidence of Moldavian settlement beyond the Dnister dates from the 16th century: a 1541 letter written by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] to Polish [[Sigismund II Augustus]] says that some of his Moldavian subjects plundered [[Tighina]] and [[Akkerman]] and then retreated and settled in the Polish territory.<ref>Nistor, ''Vechimea...'', p. 6-7</ref>
While the territory beyond the Dnister was never politically part of Moldavia, some areas of today's Transnistria were owned by Moldavian boyars, being given by the Moldavian rulers. The earliest surviving deeds referring to lands beyond the Dnister date from the 16th century. <ref>Sava, p.4-6</ref> Moldavian chronicle [[Grigore Ureche]] mentions that in 1584, some Moldavian villages from beyond the Dnister in the Polish territory were attacked and plundered by Cossacks.<ref>[[Grigore Ureche]] ''[[s:ro:Letopiseţul ţărâi Moldovei, de când s-au descălecat ţara|Letopiseţul ţărâi Moldovei, de când s-au descălecat ţara]]''</ref> Many Moldovans were members of Cossacks units, two of them, [[Ioan Potcoavă]] and [[Danylo Apostol|Dănilă Apostol]], were [[hetman]]s of Ukraine.
Along with a nomadic Nogai Tatar population, the area was populated by [[Romanians]], [[Ukrainians]], and [[Russians]]. In 1927, Columbia University Professor [[Charles Upson Clark]], wrote that the lower Dniester was "an almost purely Romanian stream" since 1792<ref>[http://depts.washington.edu/cartah/text_archive/clark/bc_29.shtml Charles Upson Clark]</ref>. Later research, states that the largest group living between Dniester and Bug (a bigger territory than actual Transnistria) in the 18th century was made up of Slavs, primarily Ukrainian peasants<ref>Andrew Wilson: "The Ukrainians: Engaging the Eastern Diaspora" (Westview Press, 1998)</ref>.
==Russian Empire==
In 1792, the whole Transnistria was ceded to the [[Imperial Russia|Russian Empire]] and at that time, the population was sparse and the Russian Empire encouraged large migrations into the region, including people of Ukrainian, Romanian, [[Russians|Russian]] and [[Ethnic German|German]] ethnicity.
Russia began attempting to lure Romanian settlers (mostly from Moldavia, but also from [[Transylvania]], [[Bukovina]] and [[Muntenia]]) to settle in its territory in 1775, after it gained the largely uninhabited territory between the Dnieper and the Bug. <ref>Nistor, ''Vechimea...'', p. 14</ref>But the colonization was to a larger scale after 1792, to Transnistria and beyond, when the Russian government declared that the region between the Dnister and the Bug was to become a new principality named "New Moldavia", under Russian suzeranity. <ref>Nistor, ''Vechimea...'', p. 16</ref>
Plots of tax-extempt land were distributed amongst Moldavian peasants, while 56 Moldavian boyars (belonging to famous families like [[Rosetti]], [[Cantacuzino]], [[Catargiu]] and [[Sturdza]]) received large estates which they helped colonize. Dozens of new villages were founded during this colonization stage, which lasted until 1812, when Russia annexed Bessarabia and Transnistria ceased to be a borderland.<ref>Nistor, ''Vechimea...'', p. 15-16</ref>
During [[World War I]], representatives of the Romanian speakers beyond the Dniester (who numbered 173,982 in the 1897 census) participated in the Bessarabian national movement in 1917/1918, asking for the incorporation of their territory in [[Greater Romania]]. Nevertheless, Romania ignored their request, as it would have required a large-scale military intervention.<ref>King, p.80</ref>
== Autonomous Moldavian Republic in Soviet Ukraine ==
{{main|Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic}}
[[Image:Romania_MASSR_1920.png|right|thumb|250px|Moldavian ASSR (in orange) and Romania, 1924-1940]]
At the end of [[World War I]] in 1918, the [[Directory of Ukraine]] proclaimed the sovereignty of the [[Ukrainian People's Republic]] over the left bank of the Dniester. After the [[Russian Civil War]] in 1922, the [[Ukrainian SSR]] was created.
The geopolitical concept of an autonomous [[communism|Communist]] Transnistrian region was born in 1924, when Bessarabian military leader [[Grigore Kotovski]] proposed the founding under the auspices of Moscow of the [[Moldavian Autonomous Oblast]] that months later became the [[Moldavian ASSR]] of Ukrainian SSR.
In [[1927]] there was a massive uprising of peasants and factory workers in Tiraspol and other cities ([[Mohyliv-Podilskyi]], [[Kamianets-Podilskyi]]) of southern Ukrainian S.S.R. against Soviet authorities. Troops from Moscow were sent to the region and suppressed the unrest, causing around 4000 deaths, according to [[United States of America|US]] corespondents sent to report about the insurrection, which was at the time completely denied by the Kremlin official press.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,737074,00.html Disorder in the Ukraine?], ''[[TIME Magazine]]'', December 12, 1927</ref>
During the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of Romanian Transnistrians fled to Romania, the government of which set up a special fund for their housing and education. A 1935 estimate puts the number of refugees to 20,000.<ref>King, p.181</ref>
While the creation of ethnic-based autonomous polities was a general policy of the Soviets at that time, with the creation of the Moldavian ASSR, the Soviet Union also hoped also to bolster its claim to Bessarabia. Soviet authorities declared the "temporarily occupied city of [[Kishinev]]" as ''de jure'' capital of the [[ASSR]]. The concept of "Moldavian ethnicity theory" was also born there, including the Moldovan language created through the [[Cyrillic alphabet|cyrillization]] of the [[Romanian language]] spoken by approximately one third of the autonomous republic's population.
At that time, the population of Moldavian ASSR was 48% Ukrainian, 30% Romanian/Moldavian, 9% Russian, and 8.5% Jewish. In 1940, 6 of the 14 districts of MASSR were included in the new created [[Moldavian SSR]], together with a part of [[Bessarabia]].
According to the Soviet census of 1926, in the districts of Camenca, Rîbniţa, Dubăsari, Grigoriopol, Tiraspol and Slobozia, a teritorry roughly similar with today's Transnistria, there were 44,11% Moldavians (Romanians), 27,18% Ukrainians, 13,69% Russians, 8,21% Jews, 3,01% Germans etc<ref>[http://www.mdn.md/index.php?day=363 Our Moldova - Article about the creation of MASSR, with details about 1926 Soviet census results] (in Romanian)</ref>.
[[Image:Transnistria administratie romaneasca.png|thumb|170px|[[Romania]] controlled ([[August 19]] [[1941]] - [[January 29]] [[1944]]) the whole "Transnistrian" region between Dniester, [[Bug (river)|Bug]] rivers and [[Black Sea]] coast. The region was divided into 13 [[judeţ]]e (counties).]]
== World War II ==
{{main|Transnistria (World War II)}}
The Moldavian SSR, which was set up by a decision of the [[Supreme Soviet of the USSR]] on [[2 August]] [[1940]], was formed from a part of [[Bessarabia]] taken from Romania on June 28, following the [[Molotov-Ribbentrop pact]], where the majority of the population were Romanian speakers, and a strip of land on the left bank of the Dniester in the Ukrainian SSR, which was transferred to it in 1940 (the strip being roughly equivalent to the territory of today's Transnistria).
In 1941, after [[Axis powers|Axis forces]] invaded Bessarabia in the course of the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Second World War]], they advanced over the Dniester river. Romania controlled the entire region between Dniester and [[Southern Bug]] rivers, including the city of [[Odessa]], as ''Transnistria''. By March 1943, a total of 185,000 Jews had been murdered under the Romanian and German occupation. This figure includes Romanian and Ukrainian Jews deported from Romania and Bessarabia, but also local Jews who were hunted down by the [[Einsatzgruppen]] killing squads.
The Soviet Union regained the area in 1944 when the [[Red Army|Soviet Army]] advanced into the territory driving out the Axis forces.
== Soviet Moldavia ==
The Moldavian SSR became the subject of a systematic policy of [[Russification]]. [[Cyrillic]] was made the official script for [[Moldovan language|Moldavian]]. It had an official status in the republic, together with Russian, which was the language of "interethnic communication".
Most industry that was built in the Moldavian SSR was concentrated in Transnistria, while the rest of Moldavia had a predominantly agricultural economy. In 1990, Transnistria accounted for 40% of Moldavia's GDP and 90% of its electricity production.<ref>Mackinlay and Cross, p. 135</ref>
The 14th Soviet army had been based there since 1956 and was kept there after the fall of the [[Soviet Union]] to safeguard what is probably the biggest weapons stockpile and ammunition depot in Europe, which was set up in Soviet times for possible operations on the Southeastern Theater in the event of [[World War III]]. Russia was negotiating with the Republic of Moldova, Transnistria and Ukraine for transit rights to be able to evacuate the military materiel back to Russia. In 1994, the 14th Army headquarters were moved from Moldovan capital [[Chişinău]] to Tiraspol.
== The breakaway ==
{{main|War of Transnistria}}
[[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s policy of ''[[perestroika]]'' in the [[Soviet Union]] allowed the political liberalisation at the regional level in 1980s. The incomplete democratisation was preliminary for the exclusivist nationalism to become the most dynamic political force. Some national minorities opposed these changes in the Moldavian political class of the republic, since during Soviet times, local politics had often been dominated by non-Romanians, particularly by those of Russian origin. The language laws — introducing the [[Latin]] alphabet for written Moldavian and requiring proficiency in the [[Moldovan language|Moldavian language]] (essentially—some would say exactly—the [[Romanian language]]) for public servants— presented a particularly volatile issue as a great proportion of the non-Romanian population of the Moldavian SSR did not speak Moldavian. The problem of official languages in the Republic of Moldova has become a [[Gordian knot]], being exaggerated and, perhaps, intentionally politicized. This displeasure with the new policies was manifested in a more visible way in Transnistria, where urban centers such as Tiraspol, had a Slavic majority. The scenes of protests against the central government of the republic were more acute here.
According to the census in 1989, the population in Transnistria was 39.9% Moldavian, 28.3% Ukrainian, 25.4% Russian, 1.9% Bulgarian.
On [[2 September]] [[1990]], the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was unilaterally proclaimed as a Soviet Republic separate from Moldova by the "Second Congress of the Peoples' Representatives of Pridnestrovie". However on [[22 December]], the Soviet President [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] signed a decree "regarding the measures that would bring the situation back to normal in the Moldavian SSR". The decision stated that the proclamation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian SSR was null and void. On [[25 August]] [[1991]], the [[Supreme Soviet|Supreme Council]] of the PMSSR adopted the declaration of independence of the republic. On [[27 August]] [[1991]], the Moldovan Parliament adopted the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova, whose territory included Transnistria. The Moldovan Parliament asked the Government of the Soviet Union ''"to begin negotiations with the Moldovan Government in order to put an end to the illegal occupation of the Republic of Moldova and withdraw Soviet troops from Moldovan territory"''.
After Moldova became a member of the [[United Nations]] on [[2 March]] [[1992]], Moldovan President [[Mircea Snegur]] (president from 1990 to 1996) authorized concerted military action against PMR forces which had been attacking police outposts loyal to the Moldovan government on the left bank of the river [[Dniester]] (Nistru), and on a smaller section of the right bank around the southern city of [[Tighina]] (Bender/Bendery). The PMR forces, aided by contingents of Russian [[Cossacks]] and the [[Russian 14th Army]], consolidated their control over most of the disputed area.
Forces of the 14th Army (which had owed allegiance to the Soviet Union, [[Commonwealth of Independent States]] (CIS) and the [[Russian Federation]] in turn) stationed in Transnistria, had fought with and on behalf of the PMR side. PMR units were able to arm themselves with weapons taken from the stores of the former 14th Army. The Russian 14th Army's role in the area was crucial to the outcome of the war. The Moldovan army was in a position of inferiority which prevented it from regaining control of Transnistria. A cease-fire agreement was signed on [[21 July]] [[1992]].
== Aftermath ==
[[Image:Tiraspol bridge infantry vehicles.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Infantry vehicles on the disputed bridge between Tiraspol and [[Tighina]]]]
Despite the ceasefire agreement, Russia had continued to provide military, political and economic support to the separatist government, thus enabling it not only to survive but to strengthen itself and acquire a certain amount of autonomy from Moldova. General [[Aleksandr Lebed]], the commander of the Russian Operational Group (the former Russian 14th Army) since June 1992, who acted as a Transnistrian politician, said many times that his army was able to reach [[Bucharest]] in two hours. In the security zone controlled by the Russian peacekeeping forces, the Transnistrian government continued to deploy its troops illegally and to manufacture and sell weapons in breach of the agreement of [[21 July]] [[1992]]. In February 2003, the [[United States|USA]] and the [[European Union]] imposed visa restrictions against the Transnistrian leadership.
Although only 2,600 troops of the Russian 14th Army remain in the operational group, their presence has been used by Russia as an instrument of influence over the region.
The agreement to withdraw all Russian forces was signed in 1994, but while the number of troops decreased, an immense stockpile of ammunition and equipment remained. The arsenal of the former 14th Army consists of 49,476 firearms, 805 artillery guns, 4,000 cars, and 655 units of various military equipment, which is enough to arm four rifle divisions.{{ref|CFA}}
The OSCE is trying to facilitate a negotiated settlement and has had an observer mission in place for several years. The Russian army was still stationed in Moldovan territory in breach of the undertakings to withdraw them completely given by Russia at the OSCE summits in 1999 and 2001.
== Primakov Memorandum on the "common state" ==
On [[8 May]] [[1997]], the Moldovan President [[Petru Lucinschi]] and the separatist leader Igor Smirnov, have signed, in [[Moscow]], with the mediation of the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the OSCE Mission in Moldova, the "Memorandum on the principles of normalizations of the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transdniestria" also known as "Primakov Memorandum" or "Moscow Memorandum".
In compliance with the final clause of the memorandum, the relations between the Republic of Moldova and Transdniestria shall be developed within the framework of a common state, within the borders of the Soviet Moldova. The Russian Federation and Ukraine stating their readiness to become guarantors of the Transdnestrian status observance, as well as of the Memorandum’s provisions. Chişinău and Tiraspol have decided to sustain the establishment of legal and state relations: the mutual decision coordination, inclusively regarding prerogatives delimitation and delegation, the safeguard of mutual security, the Transnistrian participation in the process of accomplishment of the foreign policy of the Republic of Moldova. In the same time, Transdniestria was recognized the right, subject to mutual agreement, to independently establish and maintain international connections in such fields as economy, science, technologies and culture. The Memorandum provisions had widely diverging legal and political interpretations in Chişinău and Tiraspol.
== The Kozak Memorandum ==
In July 2002, OSCE, Russian, and Ukrainian mediators approved a document setting forth a blueprint for reuniting Moldova under a federal system. However, the fundamental disagreements over the division of powers remained, which rendered the settlement elusive.
In mid-November 2003, Russia unexpectedly provided a much more detailed memorandum proposing a united ''asymmetric'' federal Moldavian state with an attached key proposal to locate a Russian military base on Moldavian soil for the next 20 years [http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11413920]. First published in Russian on the website of Transnistria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the text was promoted by a Russian politician [[Dmitry Kozak]], known to be a close ally of President [[Vladimir Putin]] and one of the key figures in his presidential team. The memorandum presented an end to the previous Moscow policy, which assumed that the region would have equal status in federation with the rest of the country.
It was proposed that the competences of government of the federal Moldova would be divided into three categories: those of the federation, those of individual subjects and those of joint competences. The plan presented several issues risking to cause blockage in policy-making. A lower house, elected by proportional representation, would pass legislation by simple majority. All laws would also need the assent of the senate, however, whose representation would be highly disproportionate with respect to population figures: 13 senators elected by the federal lower house, nine by Transnistria and four by [[Gagauzia]]. According to the 1989 census, Transnistria had 14% and Gagauzia 3.5% of Moldova's total population. By this plan, Transnistria would be an outright blocking minority.
Large demonstrations against the Kozak memorandum took place in Chişinău in the days following the publication of the Russian proposal. Moldova's leadership declined to sign memorandum without the coordination with the European organizations. A visit by President Putin to Moldova was cancelled. Later in 2005, President [[Vladimir Voronin]] made a statement rejecting the 2003 Kozak memorandum because of contradiction with the Moldovan constitution which defines Moldova as a neutral state and could not allow any foreign troops on its soil, while the country cannot join military alliances. Moldova and the Kozak memorandum was a key issue at the OSCE ministerial meeting in [[Maastricht]] in December 2003, and disagreement between Russia on the one hand, and the EU and the US on the other on Moldova, was one of the principal reasons why a final joint declaration was not adopted after the meeting.
== 2004 crisis ==
{{main|Moldavian schools in Transnistria}}
In the summer of 2004, a crisis erupted over the issue of [[Moldovan schools in Transnistria|Moldavian schools in Transnistria]]. It led to a breakdown in negotiations and economic retaliations by both sides. The issue was resolved by compromise: The PMR government gave the schools autonomy and the schools formalized their registration with the PMR Ministry of Education.
== Ukraine-sponsored talks ==
In May 2005, the Ukrainian government of [[Viktor Yushchenko]] proposed a seven-point plan by which the separation of Transnistria and Moldova would be settled through a negotiated settlement and free elections. Under the plan, Transnistria would remain an autonomous region of Moldova. The United States, the EU and the PMR itself expressed some level of agreement with the project.
In July, Ukraine opened five new customs posts on the PMR-Ukraine border. The posts, staffed by both Moldovan and Ukrainian officials, are intended to reduce the hitherto high incidence of smuggling between the breakaway state and its neighbors.
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
==References==
* {{cite book
| author = [[Anne Applebaum]]
| title = Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe
| publisher = Pantheon Books
| year = October 1994
| id = ISBN 0-679-42150-5
}} ''see Chapter 4''
* {{cite book
| author = [[Alina Mungiu-Pippidi]], Ivan Krastev
| title = Nationalism After Communism: Lessons Learned
| id = ISBN 963-9241-76-8
}}
* {{cite book
| author = Aurel V. Sava
| title = Documente moldoveneşti privitoare la românii de peste Nistru (1574-1829)
| year = 1942
}}
* [[Ion Nistor]], ''Vechimea aşezărilor româneşti dincolo de Nistru'', Bucureşti: Monitorul Oficial şi Imprimeriile Statului, Imprimeria Naţională, 1939
* John Mackinlay and Peter Cross (editors), ''Regional Peacekeepers: The Paradox of Russian Peacekeeping'', United Nations University Press, 2003, ISBN 92-808-1079-0
* Charles King, ''The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the Politics of Culture'', Hoover Institution Press, 2000
== See also ==
* [[War of Transnistria]]
* [[Disputed status of Transnistria]]
== External links ==
* [http://pridnestrovie.net/taxonomy/term/36 Pridnestrovie.net history section] (Official Transnistrian site)
* [http://www.vspmr.org/?Part=5&Lang=Eng History of creation and development of the Parliament of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR)]
{{History of Europe}}
[[Category:History of Moldova|Transnistria]]
[[Category:Transnistria]]
[[Category:National histories|Transnistria]]
[[it:Storia della Transnistria]]
[[pt:História da Transnístria]]