Danubian Principalities

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The Principalities of the Danube wider concept – Moldavia, Wallachia, and Serbia
The Danubian Principalities in the mid-19th century

The Danubian Principalities (

nation-state of Romania.[2]

In a wider context, the concept may also apply to the

Porte from 1817.[5]

History

Early history

Nicolae Mavrocordat
's coat of arms (early 18th century)

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 formal Ottoman suzerainty, preserving their self-rule in all aspects, except for the period of the so-called Phanariote Rule (1711 - 1821), when foreign affairs were dictated by the Sublime Porte.

After a marked decline in independence and prosperity over the 17th and 18th centuries, further independent and insurgent rules, which connected the two countries with

Phanariote
rules over the two countries (1711 in Moldavia and 1714 in Wallachia).

These, while connected with the 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).

Early 19th century

Main articles:
History of the Russo-Turkish Wars
Constantin Ipsilanti
's coat of arms (1805)

In the nineteenth century, Moldavia and Wallachia became involved in the cause of Greek independence. Backed by Phanariotes, the Filiki Eteria maneuvered in Moldavia during the anti-Phanariote and pro-Eterian 1821 Wallachian uprising. Wallachian initiative was toppled by an Eterian administration which itself retreated in the face of Ottoman invasion.

Royal Full Achievement of Arms (coat of arms) of the Rosetti (Rossetti) family; motto: VERENO AUT NUBILO SOSPES

Although these events brought about the disestablishment of Phanariote rules by the Porte itself, this was of little consequence in itself, as a new

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

Theodor Aman's painting The Union of the Principalities

The aftermath of Russian defeat in 1856 (the

Alexander Ioan Cuza as Domnitor of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (the Romanian United Principalities from 1862). This is known as the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia
.

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ Heppner Harald, Österreich und die Donaufürstentümer 1774–1812. Ein Beitrag zur habsburgischen Südosteuropapolitik, Habilitationsschrift, Graz, 1984, pp. 8–9
  2. ^ Gourdon, É. (1857). Histoire du Congrès de Paris. Librairie nouvelle. p. 14. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  3. ^ "www.harpers.org/archive/1876/03/0044983". harpers.org. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  4. ^ Wikisource:The Principalities of the Danube
  5. . Retrieved 2014-12-15.