The influence of decisive factors and actors on the negotiation process and signing of the russo-turkish peace treaty of 16 (28) may 1812

Abstract

The Peace Treaty of Bucharest (1812) marks the territorial amputation of Moldova and the appearance on the political map of Europe of a long-standing Russian-Romanian dispute. Demonstrating the expansionism of Russian policy in southeastern Europe, the impact of external and internal factors is also presented. A special place is given to the diplomatic role of the main Phanariots families from the Principalities during the war. Within the crisis of the Eastern Question, in 1812, the genesis of a new international problem takes place – the Bessarabian Question, when once “with the abduction of Bessarabia begins the great drama of our contemporary history and the most difficult problem of our foreign policy: relations with Russia” (Constantin Giurescu). Thus, the subject addressed capitalizes on one of the most major scientific problems regarding the political history of Moldova and Wallachia, which concerns the knowledge of the dramatic act of injustice committed in 1812 – a crucial moment of national history that influenced the entire process of historical development of the Moldovans from East of the Prut, in a geopolitical space that represents the most critical of the territorial problems bequeathed to the present generation by the Eastern Question. On the documentary support of archival materials from the Russian Federation, Romania, France, Turkey (some partially published, others unpublished) and of vast collections of diplomatic documents of the given period, using the historiography of several countries, the expansion of the Russian Empire from the beginning of the 19th century towards the south-east of Europe and its consequences on the Principality of Moldavia was analyzed; the activity of the Phanariots within the rivalry of the Great Powers and the role of the fastors (especially the Ypsilanti and Moruzi families) in the context of the Russo-Turkish War of 1806-1812. The policy of the Great Powers towards the Romanian Principalities under the impact of the Eastern Question in this area and the influence of decision-making factors and actors on the process of negotiations and signing of the Russo-Turkish Peace Treaty of 16 (28) May 1812 are elucidated. 

https://doi.org/10.58187/rim.139-140.05
CZU:94(470:560)’’1812’’:327