Moldavia

“ Of the character of the Moldavian people Cantemir does not give a very favourable account. Their best points were their hospitality and, in Lower Moldavia, their valour. They cared little for letters, and were generally indolent, and their prejudice against mercantile pursuits left the commerce of the country in the hands of Armenians, Jews, Greeks and Turks. The pure-blood Ruman population, noble and plebeian, inhabited the cities and towns or larger villages; the peasantry were mostly of Little Russian and Hungarian race, and were in a servile condition. ”

“ Still, nearly one-fourth of the area of the country remains uncultivated, and the soil is allowed to lie fallow every third year. Moldavia is better cultivated, upon the whole, than Wallachia, and this is principally owing to the fact of the Moldavian boyards residing upon their estates, and taking a pride in their management. Progress, however, is apparent throughout the country, and there is hardly a large estate without its steam threshing-machine. ”

“ From Transylvania came the powerful influence of the German colonies of «Saxons», concentrated there by the Hungarian rulers after 1100. Wallachia received the heritage of the Slavonic countries subdued by the Turks, and was enriched by currents of western influence. Moldavia accepted the culture of Red Russia, and was brought into contact, through Poland, with the Latin Renaissance. Later, through French secretaries and teachers, she came, much more strongly than any other Roumanian province, under the influence of every form of western civilisation. ”

“ At the same time Austria looked upon the interior development of Roumania with an even more unfavourable eye than Russia, and it seemed as though Moldavia and Wallachia, in spite of the ever increasing desire of their inhabitants for union and for the development of their resources, so long restrained, were condemned to remain for ever in their lamentable condition by the jealousy of their three powerful neighbours. ”

“ Rural scene near Bucharest. On completing their conquests the Romans carried into Moldo-Wallachia the civilization and arts they planted wherever they went. More than this: many Roman colonies, some of them comprising the soldiers of the empire, settled below the spurs of the Carpathians, and in the fertile and well-watered valleys of Moldavia. Soon the whole country bore the aspect of enterprise and improvement. Cities were founded, roads built, bridges stretched across the picturesque rivers ”

“ During the first half of the 15th century Polish influence was preponderant, and it was customary for the voivodes of Moldavia to do homage to the king of Poland at his cities of Kameniec or Snyatin.
In 1456 the voivode Peter, alarmed at the progress of the Turks, who were now dominant in Servia and Walachia, offered Stephen the Great. the sultan Mahomet II. a yearly tribute of 2000 ducats. On his deposition, however, in 1457 by Stephen, known as “the Great,” Moldavia became a power formidable alike to Turk, Pole and Hungarian. ”

“ With the receding of this exterminating wave of Asiatic conquest the great wilderness was thrown open to new settlers. The settlements of the Vlachs north of the Danube and east of the Aluta became the principality of Great Wallachia, the nucleus of the modern Roumania. West of the Aluta the district of Little Wallachia was incorporated for a long period, as the banat of Severin, in the Hungarian kingdom. Finally, the principality of Moldavia came into existence in 1341, in land previously won by the Hungarians from the Mongols, between the Dniester and the Carpathians. ”

“ When, in the 17th century, cultivated literature appeared in the Roumanian language, Moldavia took the lead, her chroniclers recalling the glorious Latin origins of the race and her priests inculcating in the people a mild Christianity, as that of the Archbishop Dositheus, who translated the psalms in verse. ”

“ There were two principalities: Moldavia in the north, the older, Wallachia in the south; a military and a popular state: two dynasties of opposite character, ever-ready to fight no matter who the opponent. At the beginning of the 15th century, however, only Orthodoxy remained, a single style for the churches of both principalities. ”

“ These legendary accounts seem to show that the Moldavian voivodate was founded, like that of Walachia, by Vlach Early History. immigrants from Hungary, during the first half of the 14th century. Its original strength lay probably in the compact Ruman settlements among the eastern Carpathians, first mentioned by Nicetas of Chonae, about 1164. The Moldavian lowlands were still held by a variety of Tatar tribes, who were only expelled after 1350, by the united efforts of Andrew Laszkovich, voivode of Transylvania, and Bogdan Voda, the first independent prince of Moldavia. ”

“ When one comes from the former country of Maramureș, now divided between Roumania and the Carpathian Ruthenians under Czechoslovakian rule, and descends into the valleys of the so-called Austrian Bukovina and, further, into the larger settlements of the vanished principality of Moldavia, one encounters representatives of another race — tall men of war-like appearance with long hair and swarthy skins, with the dignified demeanour of true aristocrats. They possess a certain courtesy of manner and dignity which no injustice or opression has been able diminish. ”

“ The Pruth, from the point where it enters Moldavia to its confluence with the Danube, and thence the left bank of the latter to its embouchure on the Black Sea at Kilia, shall be the boundary between the two empires. Thus the Porte surrendered to Russia a third of Moldavia, with the fortresses of Khoczim and Bender, and all Bessarabia, with Ismail and Kilia. By the same article, the navigation of the Danube is common to the subjects of Russia and Turkey. The islands enclosed between the several arms of the river below Ismail are to remain waste. ”

“ The Latin church remained alien, while their leaders committed the gross error of separating Moldavia, with its Italian friars, and the Jesuits in Jassy with their much-prized school, from Wallachia, subject to the bishop of Nicopolis in Bulgaria (the occupants of this See, Ercolani and Ferrer, were Italians too) who did not support the aspirations of Roumanian nationalism. Thus the Church at one time, in Moldavia, was the representative of a mere handful of Hungarians in the Carpathian districts of Roman and Bacău and in the tiny city of Huși. ”

“ Moldavia was governed on the same plan as the sister province, and frequently shared the same fate in war; sometimes ravaged by the Turks, at other times successful in resisting them. Towards the close of the 16th century, after its successful co-operation with Wallachia, Sigismund of Transylvania seized it, deposed the Voïvode Aaron, his friend and ally, and appointed a man of his own choice, whom he bound to pay him tribute. But in 1597, a Polish army invaded the province, and rescued it from the hands of Sigismund. ”

“ The Milcovǔ was the former boundary between Walachia and Moldavia. The Pruth rises on the northern limit of Moldavia, forms the eastern frontier for 330 m., and falls into the Danube 10 m. E. of Galatz. Its chief Rumanian tributaries are the Basheu (Başeǔ) and Jijia, rivers of the north. The Dobrudja (q.v.) or Dobrogea covers about 2900 sq. m. between the Black Sea and the lower reaches of the Danube. Its high crystalline rocks, covered with sedimentary formations, descend abruptly towards the delta, but more gradually towards the south, where the Bulgarian steppes encroach upon Rumanian soil. ”

“ Thus Moldavia, like Wallachia, came under Turkish suzerainty.
For many years after Stephen’s death the Turks exploited the Rumanian countries shamelessly, the very candidates for the throne having to pay great sums for Turkish support. The country groaned under the resultant taxation and the promiscuousness of the tribute exacted till, in 1572, John the Terrible ascended the Moldavian throne. This prince refused to pay tribute, and repeatedly defeated the Turks. An army of 100,000 men advanced against John ”

“ Those of Moldavia would view with pleasure any political change in their country which offered to them the sure prospect of improvement in civilisation. Those of Wallachia have long since consoled themselves for the improbability of any early change, 186by taking a very active part in the general system of rapacity, of which it has become the lot of their countrymen of inferior order to bear the weight. ”

“ After Stephen’s death, Bogdan neglected some years his father’s advice, till at last he saw the necessity of following it; and he sent, in 1536, ambassadors to Constantinople to offer the tribute. The Sultan then entered into written engagements with him, by which the same privileges as those of Wallachia were granted to Moldavia ”

“ Vlad’s career was cut short by the enmity of his neighbor the Moldavian King, Stephen, who, afraid of his influence, drove him from his throne, although he had relied on Vlad to promote his own interests when the Moldavian succession was in dispute. This was, of course, a gross error in statesmanship, for the only possibility of resisting Turkish aggression in these extreme Eastern lands of Europe depended on the close coöperation of Moldavia and Wallachia. If Wallachia were once occupied by the Turks, Moldavia’s invasion was certain to be the next step. ”

“ Besides the loods, there are in Wallachia about one hundred thousand individuals, and a proportionable number in Moldavia, who do not belong to the class of peasants, but who pay taxes at an equal rate. These are the tradesmen, Ottoman Jews, and other Rayahs. ”

“ And see, in the present war, we have, with very few troops, defeated your numerous forces; and after taking the fortresses of Hotim, Bender, Ibraïl, Ismail, and Otchakoff, and conquering Moldavia and Wallachia from one extremity to the other, we passed the Danube with eight thousand men, and routed the Ottoman army consisting of fifty thousand. As you have no troops able to face ours, know that this time also, after being well beaten, you will make a worse peace than the former one. ”

“ Both are still in MS. The Old Slavonic annals were later on translated and new notes were added, each subsequent writer annexing the work of his predecessor, and prefixing his name to the entire compilation. Ancient Rumanian historiography is thus difficult to unravel. In Moldavia, where the influence of Poland had been great and Western writings were accessible, we find the best chroniclers. The writers are often actors in the dramas which they describe, and often also the victims. ”

“ The events of the year 1848, by bringing back the Russians into Moldavia and Wallachia, afforded Europe new apprehensions relative to the preservation, growing daily more difficult, of the Ottoman Empire and the political balance, the latter of which was seriously threatened if not destroyed by the colossus of the north, with its population now increased to as much as sixty-five million souls. ”

“ The inattention of the Turkish cabinet is not to be exclusively ascribed to the general system of governing the empire, but chiefly to the selfish views and personal avidity of the ministers who compose it. They have accustomed themselves to look upon Wallachia and Moldavia as two rich provinces over which they have but a momentary authority ”

“ The Czar, sure of the Prince of Moldavia, never expected that the subjects might fail him; but the Moldavians often oppose their interests to those of their masters. They liked the Turkish rule, which is never fatal except to the grandees, and pretends a leniency to its tributaries; they were afraid of the Christians, especially the Russians, who had always used them ill.
Those who had undertaken to furnish the Russians with provisions made with the Grand Vizir the same bargain they had made with the Czar, and brought all their provisions to the Ottoman army. ”

“ A formal alliance was entered into in 1711 with Tsar Peter the Great, but a joint military action against the Turks failed, the Tsar returned to Russia, and the Porte threatened to transform Moldavia, in order to secure her against incipient Russian influence, into a Turkish province with a pasha as administrator. The nobles were preparing to leave the country, and the people to retire into the mountains, as their ancestors had done in times of danger. ”

“ The loss of Wallachia had deprived Rumania of four-fifths of her food supplies, almost all her petrol and her principal railway centres. Moldavia had to support, in addition to the normal population, thousands of refugees from Wallachia and, to a great extent, the Russian forces. So defective were the road and railway communications, that the supply services functioned only with the greatest difficulty while the troops remained at129 rest. To attempt to even utilize this region as an advanced base for offensive operations was to invite defeat. ”

“ He sat down before that fortress about the middle of March, and immediately began to invest it; but the moment the Turks were informed that the enemy had entered Moldavia, they detached a corps of 40,000 men, to drive them out of the province. ”

“ Moldavia and Wallachia resemble Servia alike in the fertility of their soil and the laxity with which it is cultivated. Wallachia descends gradually from the mountain slopes on the west until it widens into broad level plains stretching to the banks of the Danube. In the upper lands of the west are extensive pastures, prolific in aromatic herbs, where sheep are raised in great quantities; below, on the Danube, cattle are in like manner fattened. ”