Conflict in Transnistria Moldova Conflict in Transnistria Peter Peterson, Geography of Russia & Eastern Europe (GEOG 308)

Where is Transnistria Borders with Ukraine and Dniester River Formed its own government in 1991 which has not been recognized by any other world government Government Seat located in Tiraspol http://www.1uptravel.com

Ethnicities in Moldova Romanian/ Moldovan-65% Ukrainian-14% Russian-13% Gagauz-4% Other-4% http://www.1uptravel.com

Ethnicities in Transnistria Romanian/ Moldovan-40% Ukrainian-28% Russian-25% Other-7% This makes the Slavs a 53% majority http://www.1uptravel.com

History of the region Region called Moldavia or Bessarabia has been tossed between Russia and Romania since the early 1800s In WWII, Transnistria was a location of Romanian Nazi concentration camps where over 40,000 people were murdered Dec. 21-30, 1941 1950 – Russian doctors, teachers, engineers brought to Moldavia and the alphabet was changed to Cyrillic

History of the region Late 1980s saw national liberation movements August 1989 – Official language is now Moldovan August 1991 – Moldova gains its independence The Gagauz also declared its own independence from Moldova at this time as did Transnistria Transnistria called themselves the “Dnestr Moldavian Republic” (DMR) Fear a repeat of WWII and a annexation by a Greater Romania

Civil War December 1991 Igor Smirnov elected president of DMR From 1991 to 1992 Transnistria and Moldova engaged in civil war 50,000 Moldovan Nationalists marched on Transnistria Bloodshed ended by Russian 14th Army led by General Alexander Lebed

Civil War July 21st, 1992 – Moldovan President Mircea Snegur signed peace agreement with Russia (Boris Yeltsin), but Transnistria was not involved Peace agreement very favorable to Russians In 1994, General Lebed was released from his position in the 14th Army http://home.moldpac.md

Civil War Transnistrian city of Bender devastated, thousands fled the region Over 300 people died in the conflict, 1,000 injured

Reasons behind the war Not entirely an ethnic conflict Leaders of Transnistria feared the reform led by Yeltsin and wanted to return to the Stalinist days of the Soviet Union General Lebed assisted the Transnistrian separatists, providing arms and assisting in the fighting Lebed refused to “abandon” the ethnic Russians in Transnistria http://english.pravda.ru

Reality Moldova and its regions are in abject poverty Much of the governments are run by organized crime Transnistria is the only place in the former USSR where the Soviet Era is still going on. Soviet symbols and statues can still be found here. Igor Smirnov “owns everything of value in Transnistria” Transnistria is a haven for drug-runners, black-marketeers, and a supply of illegal arms The Gagauz region in southern Moldova has the same appearance as Transnistria http://www.photo.md

Reality This area will be a hotspot of conflict for many years to come A cease fire might be in effect, but the corruption, mistrust, ethnic violence must end before any conclusion to the conflict can occur http://www.moldova.4pla.net

Useful Resources Moldova Country Guide (Library of Congress) - http://countrystudies.us/moldova/43.htm The Eurasian Politician - http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~aphamala/pe/issue3/trans.htm Collection of interviews on Transnistria - http://www.transnistria.md/en/index_en.html Journal (Transdnister – the kolkhoz of smugglers ) - http://www.crji.org/arhiva/e_031202_2.htm Science Daily Magazine - http://www.sciencedaily.com/encyclopedia/history_of_moldova Moldova Country Guide - http://www.moldova.4pla.net/index.php Moldova Country Study - http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8851.html allMoldova Information Website - http://allmoldova.com/index.php?lang=eng Moldova Maps - http://www.1uptravel.com/worldmaps/moldova.html Holocaust information - http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/StaticPages/290.html Civil War Monument background picture - http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfsdr/photos.htm

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