The Romanians, 1774-1866

by Keith Hitchins

The century from the 1774 Treaty of Kuchuk Kainardji (between Russia and the Ottoman Empire) to the end of Prince Alexandru Cuza's reign in 1866 stands as a distinct era in the development of modern Romania. It marks the transition from long-established agrarian economic and social structures, and medieval political forms, to a society moulded by urban and industrial values and held together by allegiance to the nation-state. This initial period of nation-building was characterized by dramatic shifts of mentality and significant changes in economic and social life. The principal changes included: the freeing of the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia from Ottoman Turkish dominion and their union to form the core of modern Romania; the cultivation of the idea of the ethnic nation as the foundation of community; the emergence of new ways of producing goods and doing business, notably the advance of capitalism in agriculture and industry; and the relentless advance of Western politic