”COHORTA” nr.2/2025 Gestionarea prezenței militare ruse în Basarabia (1918)

Managing the russian military presence in Basarabia (1918)/ Gestionarea prezenței militare ruse în Basarabia (1918)

 Vitalie Ciobanu

CZU:94(478)’’1918’’:355.1(47+57)’’1918’’

https://doi.org/10.65870/cohorta.2025.2.04

Published in  COHORTA nr. 2 din 2025
KEYWORDS: Bessarabia, Russian troops, evacuation, Romanian Army, 1918

ABSTRACT:
This article analyzes the political and military tensions in Bessarabia in early 1918, triggered by attempts to create Russian volunteer brigades and the subsequent evacuation of Russian troops across the Dniester. At the beginning of the year, certain political and military circles supported the creation of foreign military units – Russian, Ukrainian, Armenian, Jewish, and German – on Bessarabian territory. The initiative, endorsed by the French Military Mission in Romania and General Dmitri Shcherbachev, aimed to form Russian units “to fight for the reunification of Russia,” without the consent of the Moldavian Republic’s authorities or population. Bessarabian leaders protested vigorously, warning that such formations endangered the republic’s sovereignty and could spread imperial and Bolshevik propaganda. Although initially hesitant, the Romanian government soon supported Shcherbachev’s plan, instructing its military commanders to assist. Security concerns eventually prevailed. In mid-February, the Romanian High Command ordered the registration of Russian officers and soldiers, followed by measures for their evacuation. By the end of April, most Russian troops had been either repatriated across the Dniester or confined to designated residences. This episode highlights the fragile balance between local autonomy, Romanian central authority, and international pressures in a contested borderland.

REZUMAT:
Articolul de față analizează tensiunile politice și militare din Basarabia de la începutul anului 1918, declanșate de încercările de a crea brigăzi de voluntari ruși și de evacuarea ulterioară a trupelor ruse peste Nistru. La începutul anului, anumite cercuri politice și militare sprijineau formarea unor unități militare străine – rusești, ucrainene, armenești, evreiești și germane – pe teritoriul Basarabiei. Inițiativa, susținută de Misiunea Militară Franceză din România și de generalul Dmitri Șcerbaciov, urmărea formarea unor unități rusești „destinate luptei pentru reîntregirea Rusiei”, fără acordul autorităților și populației Republicii Democratice Moldovenești. Liderii basarabeni au protestat energic, avertizând că asemenea formațiuni puneau în pericol suveranitatea republicii și puteau răspândi propagandă imperială și bolșevică. Deși inițial ezitant, guvernul român a sprijinit pentru un timp planul lui D. Șcerbaciov, dând ordin comandanților militari să-l susțină. În cele din urmă, au prevalat considerentele de securitate. La mijlocul lunii februarie, Marele Cartier General a ordonat înregistrarea ofițerilor și soldaților ruși, urmată de măsuri pentru evacuarea lor. Până la sfârșitul lunii aprilie, majoritatea trupelor ruse au fost fie repatriate peste Nistru, fie repartizate într-un spațiu de reședință obligatorie. Episodul evidențiază echilibrul fragil dintre autonomia locală, autoritatea centrală românească și presiunile internaționale într-o zonă de frontieră disputată.

Vitalie Ciobanu, PhD in History and reserve colonel, is the Director of the Agency for Military Science and Memory. He is the author of the project for the establishment of the Military Museum of the Ministry of Defense and has initiated and overseen the publication of the military history journal  Cohorta as well as the Yearbook of Security and Defense Studies. Over time, he has served on the editorial boards of seven scholarly journals. In 2009, he was a research fellow at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Dr. Ciobanu is a member of the scientific councils of the History Institute of Moldova State University, the “Alexandru cel Bun” Military Academy, and the Agency for Military Science and Memory.

He is the author of more than 30 studies and documentary collections, along with over 100 scholarly and popular science articles. Throughout his career, he has worked in various structures of the Ministry of Defense and subdivisions within the Armed Forces. From 2000 to 2020, he served as President of the Military History Association of the Republic of Moldova.

He has been awarded the Order of Honor and the “Military Merit” Medal by decrees of the President of the Republic of Moldova, alongside several other honors, including the Cross of Merit of the Ministry of Defense of Hungary, the Cross of Honor of the Romanian National Military Archives, the Silver Jubilee Medal of the Institute of History and the Military Museum in Budapest, the Cross of Merit of the National Army, the Cross for “Impeccable Service”, the “Strengthening the Brotherhood of Arms” Medal, as well as 16 other medals.

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