Historical maps of Pridnestrovie

History of Pridnestrovie Historically distinct, PRIDNESTROVIE was attached to the territory that became Moldova when Stalin redrew borders in 1940. It became independent again in 1990. Click on the timeline below to see our borders throughout history.

600 B.C.: First settlement, a greek colony named Tyras, is founded on the site of today's Tiraspol.

100 B.C.: Pridnestrovie is formally part of Sarmatia; itself confederated with Scythia. The Dniester River forms the Western-most reaches of Sarmatia and the border with Dacia, the forerunner to today's Romania and Moldova.

850: In the early Middle Ages, Pridnestrovie is populated by peaceful Slavic tribes and Turkic nomads. The Bulgarian Khanate reaches all the way up to the Dniester river. Then, as now, the Dniester marks a clear separation from the lands to the west.

1450: Pridnestrovie becomes a formal part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century. Strong influences from Northern Europe can still be seen in Pridnestrovie's culture and architecture, as a result of the Polish-Lithuanian union which included Pridnestrovie. The border was marked by the Dniester river. Moldavia, on the other side of the river, was never part of the union.

1792: The Russian Empire incorporates the area, with Pridnestrovie's Dniester river representing the southwest border of Russia. On the other side of the river, Moldavia never laid claim to any of the territory of Pridnestrovie.

1924: Under the new Soviet Union, Pridnestrovie becomes the Moldavian ASSR which also incorporates parts of Ukraine but none of Moldavia. The Dniester river is still respected as the natural border between the two countries. Moldavia, in 1924, is part of Romania.

1940: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi-Germany, Stalin invades Romania and takes Moldavia which is annexed to Pridnestrovie (MASSR). The resulting area becomes known as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic. By force, and as an act of war, the two distinct lands of Pridnestrovie and Moldova are joined despite their will and despite the natural border of the Dniester River.

1989: In Chisinau, Moldova's Parliament annuls the 1940 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact which annexed Moldova to the Soviet Union. However, it is this same pact which joined Pridnestrovie and Moldova, too. So by declaring the pact null and void, Moldova also implicitly renounces its claim under international law to sovereignty over the Tiraspol, Bender, Grigoriopol, Dubossary, Rybnitsa, Slobodzeya and Kamenka districts of the dissolved MSSR. A year later, in 1990, the Republic of Moldova repeats this in its Declaration of Independence.

1990: On 2 September 1990 Pridnestrovie becomes independent. The republic is created democratically, by an explicit declaration of independence according to the will of the people in a popular referendum.

(Taken from: "Dates and facts: Chronological history of Pridnestrovie")