Delimitarea frontierei în sudul Basarabiei în documente diplomatice rusești (1855-1856)
Setting the Borderline in Southern Bessarabia, according to Russian Diplomatic Documents (1855-1856)

Summary/Abstract: After the defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War, the issue of Bessarabia was reopened. At the end of 1855, the Austrian Foreign Minister KarlBuol requested that the restitution of Southern Bessarabia to the Principality of Moldavia be included in the peace preliminaries. The Petersburg cabinet, under pressure from the Great Powers, accepted the peace terms, including the restitution of Southern Bessarabia. Nevertheless, Russian diplomacy tried by various means to preserve this territory. A territorial exchange was proposed: the fortress of Kars for southern Bessarabia. The intention of this territorial restitution was to prevent Russia from having access to the Danube. The Great Powers had divergent views on the issue of Bessarabia, so a mixed commission was established in 1856 to demarcate the border in Bessarabia. On location, the European commissioners noted the existence of two localities with the name of Bolgrad. The three Russian documents identified in Western archives show the Russian Empire’s attempts to preserve southern Bessarabia, especially the city of Bolgrad, which was the administrative centre of the Bulgarian settlers in Bessarabia.

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