Reflection of the ethnic membership and origin of the
majority population from Bessarabia in Russian Empire sources (XIX – early XX centuries) Cover Image

Reflectarea originii și apartenenței etnice a populației majoritare din Basarabia în sursele Imperiului Rus (sec. XIX – înc. sec. XX)
Reflection of the ethnic membership and origin of the majority population from Bessarabia in Russian Empire sources (XIX – early XX centuries)

Author(s): Adrian Dolghi, Alina Felea
Subject(s): Geography, Regional studies, Local History / Microhistory, Social history
Published by: Institutul Patrimoniului Cultural al Academiei de Științe a Moldovei
Keywords: Bessarabia; Russian Empire; Romanians; Moldavians; historiography;

Summary/Abstract: In this article, the authors present the sources published in the Russian Empire in 1812–1917, availablefor this stage of the study. They are related to the originand ethnic membership of the majority population ofBessarabia. The study is carried out in order to identifythe opinions of the tsarist authorities, of the authors ofthe study – representatives of the Russian society, as wellas of the subjects of the research from whom the datawere actually collected. The article also emphasizes thatthe authors of the cited sources, are educated individuals,who knew and acknowledged that the majority of population from Bessarabia, called by them Moldavians (Romanians), Vlachs / Volohi, belonged to the Romanian people,considering also their Daco-Roman origin. The analyzedsources were classified into: a) historical-ethnographicresearch, encyclopedic studies; manuals / grammar; b)memoirs and travel journals; c) statistical reports andcensuses, which are presented in the order of elaborationand publication. The novelty of the problem addressed inthis study is determined by the perpetuation of both theidentity of the majority nation in the historiography of theRepublic of Moldova and in the whole society, as well asa number of myths created in the Soviet Union as instruments of national construction and manipulation of public opinion; myths and theses that persist to date

  • Issue Year: XXIII/2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 92-105
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Romanian