Moldavian Democratic Republic - History

History

When the February Revolution happened in Petrograd in 1917, the governor of the Bessarabia Governorate stepped down and passed his legal powers to Constantin Mimi, the President of the Gubernial Zemstvo, which was named the Commissar of the Provisional Government in Bessarabia, with Vladimir Criste his deputy. Similar procedures took place in all regions of the Russian Empire: the chiefs of the Tsarist administrations passed their legal powers to the chiefs of the County and Governorate Zemstvos, which were then called County/Governorate Commissars.

The Peasants' Congress, which took place in October 1917, voted Mimi out and Ion Inculeţ in as the new Commissar. This move was planned by Alexander Kerenski, who sent Inculeţ, an associate professor at the University of Petrograd, to Bessarabia to take hold of the situation. As soon as the Peasants' Congress, which had no legal power, voted, Kerenski formally replaced Mimi with Inculeţ. When Inculeţ arrived in Chişinău to take power, he faced the quiet opposition of the nobility, so he agreed to take the position of deputy commissar to Vladimir Criste. When the republic was proclaimed, Criste stepped down and passed his legal powers to Inculeţ.

The Sfatul Ţării (National Council) of Bessarabia was elected in October–November 1917, and started to work in December 1917. It proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Republic as a federal subject (autonomous republic) of the Russian Democratic Federative Republic.

In the wake of an unsuccessful Bolshevik takeover attempt on January 18 –January 25 1918 – and prompted by the declaration of independence of Ukraine, which effectively cut Bessarabia off from Russia – the Sfatul Ţării proclaimed the independence of the Moldavian Republic on February 6 1918.

Following the signing of separate peace armistices by Imperial Germany with Romania, Ukraine and Bolshevik Russia – and prompted by the strong internal sentiment of the population – the Sfatul Ţării, with 86 votes in favor, 3 against and 36 abstentions, proclaimed the Union of Bessarabia with the Kingdom of Romania on April 9 1918, with the condition of local autonomy and the continuation of Bessarabian legislative and executive bodies, legally ending the Moldavian Democratic Republic.

The union was confirmed in the Treaty of Paris (1920). Of the three people who voted against, Arcadie Osmolovschi emigrated to the Soviet Union, Ştefan Balmez became a successful local politician and Mihail Starenki continued his job as a teacher.