The history of Moldova has a huge amount of archaeological, linguistic and other data confirming the millennium-long development path, the genetic, anthropological continuity of the people of the modern Republic. These lands were inhabited by man in the early Paleolithic period. The Earth’s natural conditions changed, nations and empires appeared and disappeared , leaving their indelible mark. The history of Moldova from ancient times to the present day proves that this hardworking proud people had an original culture, statehood, an independent development path.
Kukuten-Tripoli civilization
There is a scientific and historical hypothesis subject to genetic, anthropological, archaeological evidence that the Balkans are the center of the first human appearance in Europe. The first people, the owners of haplogroup I, became the creators of Neolithic buildings, the most famous of which is Stonehenge (as the official version of the appearance of humanity on the planet says).
For 6-3 thousand BC. e. there was Kukuten-Tripoli civilization. It occupied vast lands from the Carpathian mountains to the middle reaches of the Dnieper River. A huge area of resettlement of representatives of this culture was located on the territory of modern Moldova, Romania and Ukraine. And this is 350,000 km 2 .
The ancient history of Moldova boasts the presence of proto-cities, according to archaeological excavations, with an approximate population of about 20,000 people. Such settlements had a fairly serious defense, embodied in wooden walls, ditches along the perimeter. Settlers provided for their livelihood through farming and cattle breeding. A high level of ceramics production culture was recorded. Widespread use of bronze tools. These ancient tribes disappeared unexpectedly, giving rise to many mysteries.
Bronze Age
The end of III - the beginning of the II millennium BC is marked by a smooth transition from nomadic cattle breeding to settled agriculture. In those natural conditions, there were two zones: forest-steppe, steppe. The steppes belonged to the Cimmerians - nomadic Iranian-speaking tribes. The forest-steppe zone was occupied by tribes, conditionally called archeologists of nou. They had rectangular houses, numerous utility pits, were engaged in cattle breeding. The history of Moldova has very scarce information about this period.
Penetration of the Thracian tribes
The blue-eyed fair-haired Thracians began to penetrate the Dniester-Prut interfluve in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. These are representatives of a militant people who despise labor, who prefer robbery to obtain their livelihood. Later, approximately in the IV-III century BC. e. among them stood out representatives of groups of North Thracian tribes, who are known by the Getae.
Their social system was military democracy: the leader was elected during the campaign. Often they acted as mercenaries in the conflicts of various states, having earned the glory of skilled, undaunted warriors.
"Influence" of Rome
Around the 1st - 3rd centuries AD e. characteristic of the creation of the Romans of the province of Lower Moesia. Traces of Roman legions were found even on the lands of the modern Odessa region. After two bloody wars, the province of Dacia was formed. However, the territory of Moldova did not enter this province. Nevertheless, this allowed some of the most odious “historians” to claim that Moldovans and Romanians are descendants of the glorious Roman legionaries who married local Dacian women. Confirmation of this fact in ancient sources is not found.
Studying the history of the Republic of Moldova (at the present stage) is turning into a dirty political tool for influencing the minds and moods of the population. In such a simple way, pro-Romanian political forces play their card, not even trying to introduce credibility into the subject under study.
Returning to the descendants of the Roman colonists, who were stuck in Dacia or hastily left it under the blows of the Goths, one can state the complete absence of any data or references to them. Ancient authors do not explain anything about this fact. All that remains is the unconfirmed fabrications of local nationalists and the famous monument in front of the National Museum of the History of Moldova.
How did this beautiful country come about?
Moldova: history of occurrence
Wallachi - the ancient name of Moldavians, which appeared on the historical scene of the forties of the XIII century. This courageous people was invited by the king of Hungary from Transylvania to repel the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Foreigners call Moldavians “Wallachians”. But in modern Romania, an incomprehensible way is the redistribution of concepts. Now the word is translated as “Romanian”.
What do the authoritative historical sources of the Renaissance say about this? They unanimously affirm: Moldovans are descendants of Volsk. These people occupied the central part of the Apennine Peninsula. He fought with the Romans. Unsuccessful battles prompted their homeland - Wlohia - as the Slavs called it, to leave the ancestors of the Wallachians.
They moved to a new land, which was already called Muldaue. This land is what the Goths called. Thus, the Wolves (Wallachians), having resettled, became Moldavians.
Contacts with the Slavs
The Slavs also influenced the history of Moldova. Penetrating into the Dniester-Carpathian lands, they moved to the Balkan Peninsula, assimilating the local population along the way. This is archaeologically confirmed by the ceramics of the Chernyakhov period and thirty settlements dating from about the 6th-7th centuries AD. e. These were representatives of the tribal unions of the Ants and the Slavs, who terrified Constantinople.
Mention of them is found on the pages of the "Tale of Bygone Years", the works of Jordan, the chronicles of Byzantium. With the advent of the Polovtsy (XI-XIII centuries), the Slavs significantly lost their dominant role in these lands. As a result of clashes with nomads, the number of settlements is sharply reduced.
But from the east there was a new threat - the Golden Horde. A new, unprecedented threat required the mobilization of the forces of the whole society.
The emergence of the Principality of Moldova
The Tatar-Mongols, taking advantage of the feudal fragmentation of the Russian principalities, defeated them. Now the path to the West was open. The Golden Horde walked through the Dniester-Carpathian lands with fire and sword. Subjugation, assimilation, inclusion in the new state - such a fate awaited the defeated peoples.
Around the XII - XIV centuries, there was a gradual migration of the Wallachians to this territory. But they were not yet ready to expel the presumptuous Golden Horde invaders, so they gathered forces, waiting for the opportunity. The unremitting battle for power within the Horde itself has greatly crippled its forces.
Dragos - governor of the Hungarian king, after a brilliantly executed campaign forced the invaders to retreat beyond the Dniester. Bessarabia was conquered. In 1371-1373 there were very unsuccessful attempts to Catholicize the population, which ended in the complete victory of Orthodoxy.
Peter I Mushat brought Moldova to the international arena. Now friendship with her was sought by Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and other states.
Inclusion in the Russian Empire
If we talk about the history of Moldova briefly, from the reign of Peter I Mushat to the signing of the Kyuchuk-Kaynagir peace in 1772, at first the state affairs went well. But this country could not leave anyone indifferent: the Commonwealth, the Ottoman Empire and other neighbors eagerly glanced in her direction, dreaming of including her in the sphere of their influence. In the end, Turkey succeeded in the XV century.
The military successes of Russia, despite all the protests of European states, allowed Bessarabia to be included in the empire.
The inclusion of Moldova in the USSR
The October Revolution of 1917, which brought the Bolsheviks to power, redrawed the world political map. Territories whose peoples wished for independence began to depart from the former Russian Empire. In the history of Moldova, a new turn has taken shape - in 1918, Bessarabia desired a reunion with Romania. Of course, not without bloodshed. The Soviet state did not recognize the legitimacy of such a reunion, rightly regarding it as an annexation.
The presence of these territories as part of Romania revealed the whole rot of the bureaucratic apparatus. Official chaos, a tough policy of assimilation of the local population - these events characterized the presence of Moldova under Romanian rule.
However, the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact, according to which this territory passed to the USSR, made it possible to commit another historical injustice: part of the territory was torn away from the MSSR and transferred to Ukraine. Thus, over half a million people and about 10,000 km 2 were lost.
Modern Republic of Moldova
After the collapse of the USSR and gaining independence, the state found itself in a difficult economic situation. As a result, there has been an unprecedented increase in nationalism. Books on the history of Moldova, with rare exceptions, become the vehicles of the policy of silence of the glorious pages of the past. The obvious forgery of historical facts, the manipulation of one’s own history for the sake of the interests of neighboring states is a path that does not inspire optimism for the further beneficial development of society.