The Moldavian Soviet Republic should have served, in Soviet intentions, as a force of attraction for Bessarabic irredentism, especially since part of the population was of Moldovan origin and the Moldovan dialect was recognized as an official language. Following the Soviet annexation of Bessarabia in June 1940, the Seventh Session of the Supreme Soviet in August 1940 elevated the Republic of Moldova to the rank of the thirteenth republic of the USSR, and incorporated northern and central Bessarabia into it. The southern districts of Bessarabia (Hotin, Akkemiann and Ismail) were instead detached from Bessarabia to be incorporated into the Ukrainian republic, in homage to their prevailing ethnic structure. The territory of the Republic of Moldova reached an area of ​​32. 700 sq. Km., With 2,385,000 residents (1939); the capital from Tiraspol was moved to Kišinev. In July 1941, however, the Romanian troops occupied the whole territory of the ancient autonomous republic of Moldavia, which, with the district of Odessa, was subjected to the Romanian civil administration, under the name of Transnistria. After the surrender of Romania (23 August 1944) the Russian-Roman borders of June 1940 were restored and consequently the federated republic of Moldavia was reconstituted, with 33,700 sq km. and 2,400,000 residents (71.2 per sq. Km.). The capital, Kišinev, has 113,000 residents. Romanian civil administration, under the name of Transnistria. After the surrender of Romania (23 August 1944) the Russian-Roman borders of June 1940 were restored and consequently the federated republic of Moldavia was reconstituted, with 33,700 sq km. and 2,400,000 residents (71.2 per sq. Km.). The capital, Kišinev, has 113,000 residents. Romanian civil administration, under the name of Transnistria. After the surrender of Romania (23 August 1944) the Russian-Roman borders of June 1940 were restored and consequently the federated republic of Moldavia was reconstituted, with 33,700 sq km. and 2,400,000 residents (71.2 per sq. Km.). The capital, Kišinev, has 113,000 residents.

Dictionary of History

According to politicsezine, the Autonomous Republic of Moldova was established in 1924, on Ukrainian territories E of Dnestr, after the Romanian annexation of Bessarabia (1920). The latter passed to the USSR, together with Bucovina, in 1940: northern Bukovina, southern Bessarabia and part of the Moldavian Republic were assigned to Ukraine, while northern Bessarabia, united with the remaining territories of the Moldavian Republic, formed the Socialist Republic Soviet Union of Moldova. Once again annexed to Romania (1941-44), after the war the Moldova followed the political events of the USSR and from the seventies until about the mid-eighties it was subjected to an intense policy of Russification. After the 1990 elections, Moldova conducted a policy of de facto secession: in June the sovereignty of the Moldovan state was proclaimed and the 1940 annexation of Bessarabia declared illegal; in May 1991 the name of the country was changed to the Republic of Moldova. After the failed coup in the USSR, Moldova proclaimed independence (27 August 1991) and in December joined the CIS. The crisis in relations between the Romanian-speaking majority and the Gagauza and Slavic minorities led to the proclamation by the latter of independent territorial entities: Gaugatia and Transnistria. In 1995 Gagauzia hired one status of wide autonomy, while in Transnistria, where the negotiations were also conditioned by the problem of the withdrawal of the former Soviet troops stationed in the region and passed under Russian control, the separatist demands remained alive, confirmed in 2006 by a referendum in which 97.1% of the voters expressed themselves in favor of reuniting with the Russian Federation. The laborious definition of a national identity and the laborious attempt to find an autonomous position for Moldova in the regional context was accompanied by an economic situation marked by a serious backwardness of the productive apparatus. The political elections of March 1998 were won by the Communist Party, banned in 1991 and legalized again in 1994, and the secretary of the Communist Party, V. Voronin, became president of the Republic, then reconfirmed in 2005 after the new electoral success of the Communists. Voronin tried to reaffirm the prerogatives of central power with respect to autonomist pressures and to alleviate social unrest with a relaunch of welfare measures, passing in foreign policy from pro-Russian positions to an openness to Europe. The victory of the Communist Party of apr. 2009, however, disputed with heated street demonstrations, did not produce a sufficient majority to elect the new president; the elections were then repeated in July, but not even the winning four-party center-right alliance was able to designate Voronin’s successor, who was replaced ad interim by the liberal Moldova Ghimpu.