Diplomatic efforts on the Bessarabian question during 1914-1916

Abstract

For a century since the beginning of the First World War the attention of Romanian and foreign historians was focused on the issues related to the period of neutrality of Romania, the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest by the second Crown Council (14/27 August 1916), and other issues related to the major events of that war. However, it is particularly important to undertake a re-inventorying of the initial sources and to understand how the negotiations on the issue of Bessarabia were conducted from the perspective of Russian and the Central Powers diplomacies in 1914-1916. The importance of research is increased by the fact that at the time the negotiations were held this issue wasn't a reference point for the Romanian diplomacy.

The problem of Bessarabia of 1914-1916 remains on the periphery of historical research. The paradox lies in the fact that there are no documents (not found), which could reveal the position of the Romanian government at this stage of the "Great War" (1914-1916) on the territorial issue of Bessarabia, annexed by Russia in 1812, as well as any requests or claims made by the Romanian government regarding the Romanians in Bessarabia, especially consid- ering the total lack of schools teaching in Romanian.