Everything about Danubian Principalities totally explained
Danubian Principalities (
Romanian:
Principatele Dunărene) was a conventional name given to the
Principalities of
Moldavia and
Wallachia, which emerged in the early
14th century. The term was coined in the
Habsburg Monarchy after the
Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji (1774) in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common
geopolitical situation. The term was largely used then by foreign political circles and public opinion until the union of the two Principalities (1859). Alongside
Transylvania, the Danubian Principalities (or
Romanian Principalities) became the basis for the
Romanian
nation-state.
History
Early history
» Main articles: Moldavia, Wallachia
The two emerged as
vassals of the
Hungarian Crown (in the case of Wallachia, Hungarian
suzerainty had been present for the polities which preceded the unifying rule of
Basarab I), and remained so until their independence (
1330 for Wallachia and
1359 for Moldavia). In 1476 Wallachia and in 1538 Moldavia came under initially formal
Ottoman suzerainty; however, they preserved their self-rule in all aspects but foreign affairs, except for periods when individual princes defied Ottoman suzerainty and established extensive foreign relations as well - one such rule, that of
Michael the Brave, also brought a brief personal union of the Danubian Principalities with each other and with Transylvania in
1600.
After a marked decline in independence and prosperity over the 16th-17th centuries (directly linked to the demands of the
Porte during the
Stagnation of the Ottoman Empire), further independent and insurgent rules, which connected the two countries with
Habsburg and
Russian Empire offensives during the
Great Turkish War, were blocked by the Ottomans by the introduction of
Phanariote rules over the two countries -
1711 in Moldavia and
1714 in Wallachia).
These, while connected with the very first administrative reforms, generally had to rely on spoliation, and coincided with a disastrous stage in the countries' history, given that the two became a major theatre of war in a series of confrontations between Russian, Habsburg, and Ottoman forces (until the mid-19th century, they frequently came under temporary Russian or Habsburg occupation, and sometimes administration - as happened to the regions of
Oltenia,
Bukovina, and
Bessarabia). The high taxation, reprimations, wars and pillaging during this hundred years led to a substantial deterioration of the quality of economical and cultural life, and to a decrease of population by 30%. (The following century the population would quadruple, and in 20th century would increase by another 50%.)
Early 19th century
» Main articles: History of the Russo-Turkish Wars, National awakening of Romania
The two countries became connected with the cause of
Greek independence during the
Greek Independence War: the
Filiki Eteria, backed by most Phanariotes, maneuvered in Moldavia, while the
1821 Wallachian uprising combined anti-Phanariote sentiment with an allegiance to the Eteria - ultimately, these two aspects came into conflict inside the movement itself, and Wallachian initiative was toppled by an Eteria administration which had to retreat in the face of Ottoman invasion.
Although these events brought about the disestablishment of Phanariote rules by the Porte itself, this was of little consequence in itself, as a new
Russo-Turkish War brought a period of Russian occupation under formal Ottoman supervision, extended between
1829 and the
Crimean War. A parallel Russian military administration was put in place, while the two principalities were given the first common governing document (the
Organic Statute): although never fully implemented, it confirmed a
modernizing government, created a new legal framework that reformed public administration, and deeply influenced political life in the following decades. The Russian pressures for changes in the text were perceived by Wallachians and Moldavians as a drive to remove the territories from Ottoman rule and annex them to a much more
centralised and
absolutist empire. This coincided with the period of
national awakening and the
Revolutions of 1848 - the rejection of Russian tutelage during the
Moldavian attempt and the
Wallachian revolutionary period were viewed with a degree of sympathy by the Porte, but calls by Russia ultimately led to a common occupation in the years following the rebellion's crushing.
United Principalities
The aftermath of Russian defeat in
1856 (the
Treaty of Paris) brought forth a period of common tutelage of the Ottomans and a Congress of
Great Powers (the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Second French Empire, the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the
Austrian Empire,
Prussia, and, albeit never again fully, Russia). While the Moldavia-Wallachia
unionist cause, which had come to dominate political demands, was viewed with sympathy by the French, Russians, Prussians, and Sardinians, it was rejected by the Austrian Empire, and viewed with suspicion by Great Britain and the Ottomans. Negotiations amounted to an agreement over a minimal and formal union - however, elections for the
ad-hoc divans of
1859 profited from an ambiguity in the text of the final agreement (specifying two thrones, but not preventing the same person from occupying both) and made possible the rule of
Alexander John Cuza as
Domnitor of the
United Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (
of Romania from
1861).
Although internationally recognized only for the period of Cuza's rule, the union was cemented by Cuza's unsanctioned interventions in the text of previous
organic laws, as well as by the circumstances of his deposition in
1866, when the rapid election of
Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who had the backing of an increasingly important Prussia, and the
Austro-Prussian War made measures taken against the union impossible.
In
1878, after the
Romanian War of Independence, Romania shook off formal Ottoman rule, but clashed with its Russian ally over the Russian request for the
Bujak (southern
Bessarabia) - ultimately, Romania was awarded
Northern Dobruja in exchange for southern Bessarabia. A
Kingdom of Romania emerged in
1881.
Footnotes
Further Information
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