Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
In 1812, the Treaty of Bucharest transferred Bessarabia from the Ottoman Empire to the Russian Empire. This region had been a vassal state of the Ottomans as part of the Principality of Moldavia. The transfer marked the beginning of over a century of foreign rule that would shape the area's demographics and political future. By 1917, the population included Romanians at 47.6 percent, Ukrainians at 19.6 percent, Russians at 8 percent, Jews at 11.8 percent, Bulgarians at 5.3 percent, Germans at 3.1 percent, and Gagauz at 2.9 percent. These figures showed a significant decrease in the proportion of Moldovans and Romanians compared to an 1817 census which recorded them at 86 percent. The change resulted from Russian policies of settling other nationalities and enforcing Russification. During the 1917 Russian Revolution, a local assembly called Sfatul țăării declared the Moldavian Democratic Republic on the 15th of December 1917. Romanian troops entered the region in early January 1918 and pushed Soviet forces back across the Dniester River by February. On the 27th of March 1918, Sfatul țăării voted for union with Romania, receiving 86 votes in favor, 3 against, 36 abstentions, and 13 absences. This decision remained controversial among historians including Cristina Petrescu and Sorin Alexandrescu.
On the 23rd of August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a non-aggression treaty containing a secret protocol that drew a demarcation line through Eastern Europe. Bessarabia appeared among regions assigned to the Soviet sphere of interest under Article III of this additional protocol. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop informed Soviet leaders about their intentions regarding Bessarabia and Bukovina on the 24th of June 1940. The Soviets did not inform Romanian authorities despite having acknowledged German interests earlier. By late June 1940, France had fallen to Nazi advances on June 22, rendering any potential assistance to Romania meaningless. Soviet military units concentrated along the Romanian border between April 15 and the 10th of June 1940. General Georgy Zhukov commanded the Southern Front which included the 5th, 9th, and 12th Armies. These forces comprised 32 infantry divisions, 2 motorized infantry divisions, 6 cavalry divisions, 11 tank brigades, 3 paratrooper brigades, and 30 artillery regiments. Two action plans existed for dealing with Romania, with the first plan assuming refusal to evacuate territories while the second assumed cooperation.
On the 26th of June 1940 at 22:00 hours, Soviet People's Commissar Vyacheslav Molotov presented an ultimatum note to Gheorghe Davidescu, Romania's plenipotentiary minister in Moscow. The document demanded evacuation of Romanian military and civil administration from Bessarabia and northern Bukovina within four days. King Carol II met with his prime minister Gheorghe Tătărescu and foreign minister Ion Gigurtu early on June 27. Ambassadors from Italy and Germany urged the king to stand down, stating it would be in the name of peace to accept Soviet demands. On June 28, the Romanian government led by Tătărescu agreed to submit to Soviet demands after deliberation during the night of June 27-28. The Crown Council vote showed 11 members rejecting the ultimatum including Ștefan Ciobanu and Nicolae Iorga, while 18 accepted it including Petre Andrei and Ion Gigurtu. One member abstained as Victor Antonescu. By 14:00 on June 28, three key cities had to be turned over to Soviets. Military installations built over a 20-year period were relinquished without resistance.
On the 2nd of August 1940, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed as a constituent republic of the Soviet Union. Political persecution began immediately with arrests, executions, and deportations to labor camps. According to Alexandru Usatiuc-Bulgăr, 32,433 people received politically motivated sentences between 1940 and 1941, of whom 8,360 died or were sentenced to death. In June 1941 alone, 31,699 people were deported from Soviet Moldova to Siberia. An additional 8,374 Romanians were deported from Chernivtsi oblast in Ukraine, and 3,767 from Izmail oblast in southern Bessarabia, totaling 43,840 deportees that month. Only 22,643 individuals deported from Soviet Moldova remained alive by September 1941. On the 13th of June 1941, 1,996 people from Hertsa raion were deported, with most dying according to some sources. In March 1945, 13,087 ethnic Romanians were relocated from Soviet Moldova to the Soviet east. Another 3,967 ethnic Romanians from Ukraine's Chernivtsi Oblast were sent to the Soviet east during the same month. By the 6th of July 1949, 11,239 families comprising 35,050 people were detained and deported.
On the 22nd of June 1941, Romania alongside other Axis powers commenced an invasion of the Soviet Union with stated intent to recover Bessarabia and Bukovina. Axis forces completed occupation of these territories by the 26th of July 1941. Between late 1941 and early 1944, Romania occupied and administered the region between Dniester and Southern Bug rivers known as Transnistria. In 1941 alone, between 45,000 and 60,000 Jews within these territories were killed by Romanian and German forces. Of those who survived initial killings, between 154,449 and 170,737 were deported to Transnistria. By the 16th of September 1943, only 49,927 remained alive out of those deported. By 1944, just 19,475 Jews in Bukovina and Dorohoi County had avoided deportation. Romanian gendarmerie units carried out destruction of Jewish communities in Transnistria, murdering between 115,000 and 180,000 people. The Antonescu government officially adopted a narrative of Jewish Bolshevism declaring Jews responsible for Romania's territorial losses during summer 1940.
On the 23rd of August 1944, King Michael led a coup that deposed Ion Antonescu and ceased military actions against Allies. Romania subsequently joined the fight against Germany while Soviet troops advanced from Bessarabia into Romania. On the 12th of December 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with Allied powers. In 1947, as part of Paris Peace Treaties, Romania and Soviet Union signed a border treaty confirming the border fixed in 1940. Several additional uninhabited islands including Snake Island were transferred from communist Romania to Soviet Union in 1948. The treaty confirmed the Soviet-Romanian border as it existed on the 1st of January 1941. These agreements legally solidified territorial changes made during the initial occupation period. The United States Department of State documented these developments in foreign relations publications from 1946.
Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and Hertsa remained part of Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. When the Soviet Union dissolved, these territories became part of newly independent states Moldova and Ukraine. On the 27th of August 1991, Moldova issued its Declaration of Independence declaring the Soviet occupation illegal. From June 26-28, 1991, an International Conference titled Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and Its Consequences for Bessarabia took place in Chișinău. Scholars including Nicholas Dima, Kurt Treptow, Dennis Deletant, Michael Mikelson, Stephen Bowers, Lowry Wymann, and Michael Bruchis participated alongside Moldovan, Soviet, and Romanian authors. An informal Declaration of Chișinău adopted at this conference stated that the pact constituted apogee of collaboration between Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. It further declared events were pregnant manifestation of imperialist policy of annexation and diktat. In 2010, interim president Mihai Ghimpu decreed the 28th of June 1940 as Soviet Occupation Day though Constitutional Court cancelled his decree on the 12th of July 2010.
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Common questions
When did the Soviet Union annex Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina?
The Soviet Union annexed Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina on the 28th of June 1940 after presenting an ultimatum to Romania. This action followed a secret protocol in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact signed on the 23rd of August 1939 that assigned these regions to the Soviet sphere of interest.
Who declared the Moldavian Democratic Republic during the Russian Revolution?
A local assembly called Sfatul țării declared the Moldavian Democratic Republic on the 15th of December 1917. This declaration occurred during the 1917 Russian Revolution before Romanian troops entered the region in early January 1918.
How many people were deported from Soviet Moldova to Siberia in June 1941?
In June 1941 alone, 31,699 people were deported from Soviet Moldova to Siberia. An additional 8,374 Romanians were deported from Chernivtsi oblast and 3,767 from Izmail oblast, totaling 43,840 deportees that month.
What happened to Jewish communities in Transnistria between 1941 and 1943?
Between late 1941 and early 1944, Romania occupied and administered the region known as Transnistria where Romanian and German forces killed between 45,000 and 60,000 Jews. By the 16th of September 1943, only 49,927 remained alive out of those who had been deported to Transnistria.
When did Moldova declare its independence from the Soviet Union?
Moldova issued its Declaration of Independence on the 27th of August 1991 declaring the Soviet occupation illegal. This declaration followed the collapse of the Soviet Union which had controlled Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and Hertsa until 1991.