History UsefulNotes / Moldova

The atmosphere after the collapse of the USSR was filled with some optimism that the newly-proclaimed Republic of Moldova (well, it should more accurately be Bessarabia, but whatever) would reunite with Romania and finally rebuild the old Greater Romania. This scared the inhabitants of the region beyond the Dniester River, UsefulNotes/{{Transnistria}}, who were majority Russians and Ukrainians and were terrified of such a union. They themselves declared independence and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Transnistria a war started in 1992]] [[note]]Here, Transnistria was backed by Ukraine and Russia, while Moldova was supported by Romania, predictably enough[[/note]], which ended in a stalemate and Transnistria's ''de facto'' but unrecognised independence.

The atmosphere after the collapse of the USSR was filled with some optimism that the newly-proclaimed Republic of Moldova (well, it should more accurately be Bessarabia, but whatever) would reunite with Romania and finally rebuild the old Greater Romania. This scared the inhabitants of the region beyond the Dniester River, UsefulNotes/Transnistria, who were majority Russians and Ukrainians and were terrified of such a union. They themselves declared independence and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Transnistria a war started in 1992]] [[note]]Here, Transnistria was backed by Ukraine and Russia, while Moldova was supported by Romania, predictably enough[[/note]], which ended in a stalemate and Transnistria's ''de facto'' but unrecognised independence.

The atmosphere after the collapse of the USSR was filled with some optimism that the newly-proclaimed Republic of Moldova (well, it should more accurately be Bessarabia, but whatever) would reunite with Romania and finally rebuild the old Greater Romania. This scared the inhabitants of the region beyond the Dniester River, Transnistria, who were majority Russians and Ukrainians and were terrified of such a union. They themselves declared independence and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Transnistria a war started in 1992]] [[note]]Here, Transnistria was backed by Ukraine and Russia, while Moldova was supported by Romania, predictably enough[[/note]], which ended in a stalemate and Transnistria's ''de facto'' but unrecognised independence.

Still here so far? Good, because it gets a bit trickier now. In 1812, the Treaty of Bucharest was signed, which split the Principality in two: the part west of the Prut River remained independent and later united with Wallachia to form Romania, while the eastern bit between the Prut and Dniester rivers known as "Bessarabia" ("Basarabia" if you're Romanian) got taken over by Russia. The Russians settled various minorities like Ukrainians, Lipovans, Cossacks, Bulgarians,] Germans and Gagauzes in the southern sparsely inhabited parts of Bessarabia.

Now here's where it gets tricky. The Soviets did all they could to try and obliterate the region's old identity. The Romanian alphabet was banned and replaced with the Cyrillic, for starters. Most importantly, the Soviets promoted the idea that the Moldovans and Romanians were two different ethnic groups, and even that the Moldovan language was different from Romanian. A completely laughable claim, but they had {{The Gulag}}s and the MoscowCentre to make people believe that, essentially, TwoPlusTortureMakesFive.

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Spectral Spectral]] takes place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, once again, in fictionalized Moldova. The country is embroiled in an unspecified civil war and [[spoiler: the government decided it would be a good idea to weaponize invisible specters]].

Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ('''Romania:''' ''Republica Moldova''), is sandwiched in between Romania and Ukraine, suffering from a pretty bad identity crisis and being officially named the poorest country in Europe... yeah, suffice to say, the Republic of Moldova has it a bit rough.

The Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme movie ''Second in Command'' features a heavily fictionalized Moldova (referred to as Moldavia throughout the movie).

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}}--the Greek area or the country. Also, [[BerserkButton many of the Moldovan and Romanian people have historically held VERY strong (opposing) opinions about whether Moldovan is a language itself, or a dialect of Romanian.]] The truth behind this is somewhat more involved: The two languages have the same literary standard, although Moldovan was written in the Cryllic alphabet instead of the Romanian alphabet. (Which is a variant on the Latin alphabet.) Further, Moldova's 1991 Declaration of Independence declared Romanian the official language, while the 1994 Constitution declared Moldovan the national language. A 2013 Constitutional Court ruling ruled that the Declaration of Independence takes precedence, and that the official language was Romanian. For what it's worth, most linguists consider Moldovan and Romanian to be the same language, with Moldovan being a political glottonym more than anything else.

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}} the Greek area or the country. Also, [[BerserkButton many of the Moldovan and Romanian people have historically held VERY strong (opposing) opinions about whether Moldovan is a language itself, or a dialect of Romanian.]] The truth behind this is somewhat more involved: The two languages have the same literary standard, although Moldovan was written in the Cryllic alphabet instead of the Romanian alphabet. (Which is a variant on the Latin alphabet.) Further, Moldova's 1991 Declaration of Independence declared Romanian the official language, while the 1994 Constitution declared Moldovan the national language. A 2013 Constitutional Court ruling ruled that the Declaration of Independence takes precedence, and that the official language was Romanian. For what it's worth, most linguists consider Moldovan and Romanian to be the same language, with Moldovan being a political glottonym more than anything else.

In 1917, Bessarabia took advantage of the chaos of RedOctober to at first declare itself a Moldavian Democratic Republic within Russia in December. In January 1918, it broke off and declared independence, only to vote to unite with Romania in April. Bessarabia joined Greater Romania and the Romanians were really happy about it, whereas the Soviets refused to recognise Romanian rule over Bessarabia and became really pissed. They symbolically protested by creating a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Romania_MASSR_1920.png "Moldavian ASSR"]] on the border with Romania.

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}} the Greek area or the country. Also, [[BerserkButton the Moldovan and Romanian people have VERY strong (opposing) opinions about whether Moldovan is a language itself, or a dialect of Romanian.]]

Now, Moldova the region's got a long history and [[BlatantLies we don't want to bore you with it]], so here's the basics. The region first got settled in 1353 by Dragoş, at first under Hungarian control. It was Bogdan the Founder who managed to throw them out in 1359, and named the resulting realm after the Moldova river [[note]]popular etymology has it that the river was named in honour of Dragoş's dog Molda, who drowned in it during a hunting trip[[/note]]. The Principality of Moldavia soon covered the entire historical region. A long history ensued, which Romanians and Moldovans know from school but we can't risk {{Padding}} now, can we? The most important event here was the 1859 union between the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which created the United Principalities and officially ended the existence of Moldavia as an independent country. The United Principalities changed their name to Romania in 1866 and later the Kingdom of Romania in 1881.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Moldova_map_5805.gif

->The red, yellow and red reflects Moldova's past cultural ties with UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}. At the center is the national coat-of-arms, It shows a heraldic eagle holding a cross on its beak and an olive branch and a scepter on its claws. In front of the eagle is a shield, reflecting the ancient territory of Moldavia, whose eastern part forms modern-day Moldova -- the head of an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs aurochs]] (an extinct species of cattle that once roamed the land), an eight-pointed star, a five-petaled rose, and a crescent moon.

[[AC: The Moldovan Flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Flag_of_Moldova_svg_351.png

Sandwiched in between Romania and Ukraine, suffering from a pretty bad identity crisis and being officially named the poorest country in Europe... yeah, suffice to say, the Republic of Moldova has it a bit rough.

----

Now, Moldova the region's got a long history and [[BlatantLies we don't want to bore you with it]], so here's the basics. The region first got settled in 1353 by Dragoş, at first under Hungarian control. It was Bogdan the Founder who managed to throw them out in 1359, and named the resulting realm after the Moldova river [[hottip:*:popular etymology has it that the river was named in honour of Dragoş's dog Molda, who drowned in it during a hunting trip]]. The Principality of Moldavia soon covered the entire historical region. A long history ensued, which Romanians and Moldovans know from school but we can't risk {{Padding}} now, can we? The most important event here was the 1859 union between the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which created the United Principalities and officially ended the existence of Moldavia as an independent country. The United Principalities changed their name to Romania in 1866 and later the Kingdom of Romania in 1881.

The atmosphere after the collapse of the USSR was filled with some optimism that the newly-proclaimed Republic of Moldova (well, it should more accurately be Bessarabia, but whatever) would reunite with Romania and finally rebuild the old Greater Romania. This scared the inhabitants of the region beyond the Dniester River, Transnistria, who were majority Russians and Ukrainians and were terrified of such a union. They themselves declared independence and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Transnistria a war started in 1992]] [[hottip:*:Here, Transnistria was backed by Ukraine and Russia, while Moldova was supported by Romania, predictably enough]], which ended in a stalemate and Transnistria's ''de facto'' but unrecognised independence.

Moldova's been struggling ever since with what exactly is its national identity (Romanian? Moldovan? Something in between? TakeAThirdOption?) and who it should look forward to (Europe? Russia?). It's hoping to join the EuropeanUnion, but that probably won't happen for a while.

<<|UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}|>>

Still here so far? Good, because it gets a bit trickier now. In 1812, the Treaty of Bucharest was signed, which split the Principality in two: the part west of the Prut River remained independent and later united with Wallachia to form Romania, while the eastern bit between the Prut and Dniester rivers known as "Bessarabia" ("Basarabia" if you're Romanian) got taken over by Russia. The Russians started to russify Bessarabia by colonizing the region with various minorities like Ukrainians, Lipovans, Cossacks, Bulgarians,] Germans and Gagauzes while repressing the native Romanian population.

Sandwiched in between Romania and Ukraine, suffering from a pretty bad identity crisis and being officially named the poorest country in Europe... yeah, suffice to say, the Republic of Moldova [[{{Understatement}} has it a bit rough]].

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}} the Greek area or the country. Also, [[BerserkButton the Moldovan and Romanian people have VERY strong (opposing) opinionss about whether Moldovan is a language itself, or a dialect of Romanian.]]

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}} the Greek area or the country. Also, [[BerserkButton the Moldovan and Romanian people have VERY strong feelings about whether Moldovan is a language itself, or a dialect of Romanian.]]

First of all, to get a bit of etymology confusion out of the way: "Moldova" is the generic Romanian term for the historical region that was formerly occupied by the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Moldavia Principality of Moldova]] between 1346-1859. For the sake of avoiding confusion, English material differentiates between the ''historical region'', which is referred to by the anglicized "Moldavia", and the ''modern region of Romania and country', which are referred to as "Moldova". [[NamesTheSame It can get a bit confusing]], sort of like UsefulNotes/{{Macedonia}} the Greek area or the country.

[[AC: the Moldovan flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200px-Flag_of_Moldova_svg_351.png

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/517px-Moldadm_6806.png

The atmosphere after the collapse of the USSR was filled with some optimism that the newly-proclaimed Republic of Moldova (well, it should more accurately be Bessarabia, but whatever) would reunite with Romania and finally rebuild the old Greater Romania. This scared the inhabitants of the region beyond the Dniester River, Transnistria (the squiggly orange bit on the map), who were majority Russians and Ukrainians and were terrified of such a union. They themselves declared independence and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Transnistria a war started in 1992]] [[hottip:*:Here, Transnistria was backed by Ukraine and Russia, while Moldova was supported by Romania, predictably enough]], which ended in a stalemate and Transnistria's ''de facto'' but unrecognised independence.