Dates and facts: Chronological history of Pridnestrovie
History | Independence
600 B.C.: First settlement, a Greek colony named Tyras, is founded on the site of today's Tiraspol.
Historically distinct, Pridnestrovie was never part of an independent Moldova. The two countries were forcibly joined in 1940 under a secret Nazi-pact with Stalin. In 1990, they found freedom and became independent of each other again.
Early history | Independence movement | After independence
Early history (600 B.C. - 1988)
Stamps issued by Pridnestrovie's postal service in
1995 depict archaeological finds in the country of Scythian artifacts. More than two thousand years ago, the area was part of Sarmatia and Scythia, separated from Dacia (today's Moldova) by the Dniester River which formed the border.
1995 depict archaeological finds in the country of Scythian artifacts. More than two thousand years ago, the area was part of Sarmatia and Scythia, separated from Dacia (today's Moldova) by the Dniester River which formed the border.
450 B.C.: As documented by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, in the 5th century BC the area just east of the Dniester is inhabited by Sarmatians, descendants of Scythians. Herodotus describes the Sarmatians' physical appearance as blond, stout and tanned. In the Greek geographer Strabo's 17-volume work Geographica he calls them "Celtic Scythians" and language studies have since shown that the Celts did play a significant role in Slavic ethnogenesis at the time.
100 B.C.: A hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Pridnestrovie is formally part of Sarmatia; itself confederated with Scythia. The Dniester River forms the Western-most reaches of Sarmatia. On the other side is Dacia, the forerunner to today's Romania and Moldova and wholly separate in culture, language, ethnicity and way of life.
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).
1359: On the other side of the Dniester, the Principality of Moldavia is formed. It lasts until 1512. The principality in its greatest extent streched from Transylvania in the west to the Dniester River in the east. A separate country in all respects, it never included any of Pridnestrovie. The two lands have always had distinct people and cultures.
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. Bender is a fortress to defend Russian borders, while the fortress in Tiraspol is being built. Under the sway of the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia never lays claim to any of the territory of Pridnestrovie.
1897: A census in Tiraspol shows that a full 27% of the city's population are Jews. Pridnestrovie, although mostly Christian, is also a country with strong Jewish roots.
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.
1939: Leading to World War II, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is signed with a secret protocol dividing Romania (and much of the rest of Europe) between dictators Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.
1940: Under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Stalin invades Romania and takes Moldavia which is annexed to Pridnestrovie (the 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.
1941: Fighting on the side of Hitler's Germany, Romanian fascists, supported by Hitler's Germany, retake Moldavia and continue into Pridnestrovie. An artificial geographic term, Transnistria, is created by Romanian Fascists to designate a territory of about 16,000 square miles, designated for the annihilation of Jews. Most of Pridnestrovie's large Jewish population perish under the Romanian/Nazi-occupation.
1941: The understanding that the Dniester River has always represented a natural international border was clear even in the minds of the Nazis and their Romanian collaborators: Although Romania and Nazi Germany held Pridnestrovie from July 1941 to April 1944, it is a known fact that "there was never any attempt to annex the occupied territory beyond the Dniester" (historical source: Charles King, 'The Moldovans', p.93). Pridnestrovie, even to the Romanian fascist leadership, was always a very separate, very distinct land and they had no wish to join it with Moldova or Romania proper.
1944: Soviet forces retake the area that was established in 1940 by Stalin's and Hitler's wartime border-redrawing. The unnatural marriage of Pridnestrovie and Moldova continue under Stalin's orders.
1988: Under glasnost, more freedom and self-rule is given to regions of the Soviet Union. In Moldova, advocacy groups for re-unificacion with Romania take the first steps of violence against minorities who oppose such a re-unification.
Independence movement (1989 - 1990)
1989: Pridnestrovie is the center of political strikes for human rights and civil rights of ethnic minorities in the MSSR (Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic).
1989: Populist leaders in Moldova launch a campaign of ethnic hatred against the country's minority of ethnic Russian speakers under the slogan “Suitcase – Trainstation – Russia!”
1990: Refendum on the autonomy of Pridnestrovie is held. In Rybnitsa, 91.9% vote for the formation of the Pridnestrovie as an independent republic. In Tiraspol, the proposal wins by 96%.
1990: First independent congress of people’s deputies of city, regional and rural assemblies of Pridnestrovie is held on 2 June 1990 in the village of Parkany. 673 deputies from all over Pridnestrovie attend. They pass the Declaration of the social and economic development of Pridnestrovie and decide to proceed with preparations for a statewide referendum on whether or not to form an independent republic.
1990: 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. The call for an end to the "political and legal" consequences of the Pact is later repeated in Moldova's Declaration of Independence, August 27 1991.
1990: Following the Tiraspol and Rybnitsa votes, referendums on possible independence are held in Bender, Grigoriopol, Dubossary and Slobozya. Total voter turnout is 79%, and 95.8% of the vote supports the creation of an independent Pridnestrovian state. Throughout the assemblies, town hall meetings and referendums, it is notable that even the ethnic Moldavians living in Pridnestrovie support the idea of creating an independent Pridnestrovian republic, separate from Moldova proper.
1990: Based on the 95.8% favorable vote and the support by all ethnic groups, the 673 deputies decide to declare independence. On 2 September 1990, at the second extraordinary congress of deputies, Pridnestrovie officially proclaims its founding. The republic is created by the most democratic way known to man: By free and fair vote and according to the will of the people in a popular referendum based on the human right of self-determination as set forth in the UN charter.
1990: Crossing the Dniester River, armed forces from Moldova shoot at unarmed factory workers in Dubossary in November, two months after independence is declared. This marks the first in what would soon become a series of killings in the struggle for the young republic's existence.
1990: Election of the first independent Pridnestrovian Parliament. No president is chosen, but an interim post of "Chairman" of the republic (with a duration of one year) is elected by members of Parliament.
1991: In August, neighboring Moldova formally declares its independence. The country bases its declaration on the right to self-determination as well as its interpretation of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact being "null and void", demanding that "the political and legal consequences of the above be eliminated". Since this was the only thing which had previously joined Pridnestrovie with Moldova, the country's declaration of independence implicitly annuls its claim to Pridnestrovian territory.
1991: Despite this, just two days after Moldova's declaration of independence, undercover agents from the Moldovan Secret Police arrest Igor Smirnov, one of the leaders of newly independent Pridnestrovie. He is taken to Chisinau and held incomunicado as the country's first political prisoner.
1991: A nonviolent protest against the imprisonment of Igor Smirnov is started by women who blocked the main railroad, stopping the trains between Chisinau and Odessa. At the beginning there are 10, after that 20, 100, then 1,000. Day and night, they sit down on the railroad tracks to protest. This peaceful protest leads to Smirnov's release a month later.
1991: On 1 December, a nationwide refendum on the independence of Pridnestrovie is held. The Pridnestrovian voters reaffirm the will of the people and vote to keep the full independence of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica.
1991: Adoption of the first Constitution of Pridnestrovie. This constitution, influenced by the Soviet constitution, does not allow for a market-based economy or wide political freedoms.
1991: First presidential election in Pridnestrovie. Only two candidates stand, with recently released political prisoner Igor Smirnov winning the race.
1992: In an armed incursion Moldova tries to retake Pridnestrovie, the territory which it had earlier given up by renouncing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. In Dubossary and Bender, 600+ civilian lives are lost in bombings and air raids carried out by Moldovan forces.
1992: Despite the heavy loss of lives, Pridnestrovie gathers volunteers who unite to fight off the Moldovan forces. On the Pridnestrovian side, improvised teams of fighters are made up of volunteer units, the old and the youth, men and women, regular military men, irregulars, veterans, Cossacks, Moldavians living in Pridnestrovie, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Germans, Jews, Poles. All, united on impulse, defend their Republic. They do not invade Moldova but merely take up defensive positions on their own side of the Dniester river, in Pridnestrovie.
1992: Moldova fights back with air-raids and bombings of Bender and parts of Tiraspol. By now, nearly one thousand civilians lie dead in the streets of Pridnestrovie. As the blodshed intensifies, the Russian 14th army steps in to put a quick end to the conflict and negotiate a ceasefire.
1992: Under the supervision of Boris Yeltsin, a ceasefire agreement is signed with Moldova. As part of the agreement, a Russian peacekeeping operation is stationed along the Dniester river to prevent the resumption the conflict or a renewed Moldovan invasion of the lawfully declared indepedent Pridnestrovian state.
1992: Creation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pridnestrovie.
1993: Establishment of Pridnestrovie's own law enforcement, security services and armed forced under the newly created Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Defense Ministry.
1994: Pridnestrovie puts its own currency, the PMR Rouble, into circulation. Bank notes and coins carry the symbols of the young state. Export agreements are signed with German and U.S. companies.
1995: Transition to a democratic market based economy requires modifications to Pridnestrovie's constitution. A referendum is held on the changes, introducing a new, multi-party constitution which allows for an open, market-based economy and a wide range of economic and political freedoms, freedom of expression, human rights, and the adherence to international agreements.
1996: The country's new post-Soviet Constitution takes effect. It codifies the new nation's commitment to a market-based economy, multi-party democracy, adherence to the UN charter and respect for human rights.
1996: Igor Smirnov re-elected president of the republic, with 71.9% of the voting electorate in his favor. Even though allegations of vote-fraud are apparently unsubstantiated, the country's parliament decides on changes to voting procedures and that the next elections will involve more transparency and the presence of international observers.
1999: The death penalty is abolished in Pridnestrovie by Decree no. 263, signed 6 July 1999.
2000: Elections for parliament. The president's party, Respublica, wins a majority of the seats. 122 internationals observers participate, pronouncing the elections democratic and free of fraud.
2001: Igor Smirnov re-elected president a second time, with 81.8% of the votes. Democratic oversight, 134 international observers participate. No allegations of fraud.
2002: Creation of Pridnestrovie's Supreme Court.
2005: A comprehensive set of foreign policy objectives is established, guiding the republic's relations with other nations and opening the possibility for diplomatic representation.
2005: Elections for parliament. 153 registered international observers participate along with 112 accredited journalists from 46 newspapers and television stations. Opposition party Renewal wins a majority. The election process is pronounced completely free and fair by all of the organizations who sent international observers. In contrast, only the groups who did not send observers declare the process to be undemocratic.
2006: Pridnestrovie's Central Bank announces best-ever economic figures and the lowest inflation of the past decade.
2006: Moldova and Ukraine tighten the rules on customs processing despite a 1997 agreement granting the right to independent foreign trade to Pridnestrovie. This move leads to losses and a reversal of the rosy economic figures.
2006: Pridnestrovie's parliament establishes the independent institution of a human rights Ombudsman.
