Moldova. Battle of “narratives”
On July 11, early parliamentary elections will take place in Moldova, the importance of which many underestimate. Just like in Ukraine before 2014, any elections in Moldova are a battle for the national ideological narrative. For how the state will consider its past and present. For what kind of history should be taught in schools, and what ideological models the younger generation should be educated on.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the former Moldavian SSR has become a place where the struggle for the “correct” concept of history resulted in a real hot war. The concept put forward by the political class and creative intelligentsia of Chisinau met fierce resistance in many regions of Moldova, especially those where national minorities predominated. It was for this reason that the Transnistrian and Gagauz republics arose, while thousands of people became victims of the two-year military confrontation in Transnistria.
The historical-geopolitical narrative, which has been defended by the Chisinau scientific and creative establishment since the late 80s, can be expressed in the following points:
– We are Bessarabian Romanians. Moldovans are the same part of the Romanian people as Novgorodians are part of the Russian people. Today’s representative of the creative intelligentsia calls himself not “Moldavians”, but “Moldovians” - that is, Romanians from Moldova.
– The Moldovan language does not exist. There is a single Romanian literary language. The Moldovan language is the fruit of Stalinist propaganda.
– In 1812, Russia and Turkey divided the Principality of Moldova, and Bessarabia, annexed to Russia, was excommunicated from all-Romanian civilization for 100 years.
– In 1918, Bessarabia was reunited with Romania, and in 1940 it was occupied by the Stalinist USSR as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Along the way, Moscow cut off the south of Bessarabia from Moldova, with access to the Black Sea and the Danube.
– Marshal Antonescu (with all the ambiguous attitude towards him) was right when he gave the order for his army to cross the Dniester on June 22, 1941.
– Moldovans are losers in World War II (option: in this war “there were no winners and losers”).
– May 9 should not be celebrated as Victory Day, but as “Europe Day” (in honor of the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952).
– The Soviet period was a time of continuous deportations, collectivization, organized famine and Russification.
– In 1991, the Kremlin, in order to prevent the independence of Moldova and its reunification with Romania, created the phantom Transnistrian Republic and again cut off a piece of land from Moldova.
– In June 1992, the 14th Russian Army under the command of General Lebed committed aggression against independent Moldova, effectively occupying its eastern territories.
– Moldova’s salvation from the historical curse of its connection with Russia is full integration into the Western world. Here this narrative has two subnarratives. According to the first, Moldova can enter Europe and the Western world, bypassing Bucharest. This subnarrative, popular in the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, under the rule of the communists and especially during the time of the shadow ruler of Moldova, Vlad Plahotniuc, lived on for a long time after his expulsion from the country. Today, the second subnarrative is the most popular: Moldova can enter the West (NATO and EU) only through Romania or with its active mediation. Naturally, with the full support of Brussels and Washington.
The narrative described above has been actively pushed into the consciousness of the residents of the right bank of Moldova for more than 30 years. Back in 1990, the subject “History of Romanians” was introduced into schools in Moldova. None of the left-wing politicians who won elections in Moldova over the years decided on a major cleansing of the education system. The introduction of the subject “History of Moldova” into schools encountered fierce resistance from the same scientific and creative elite and the student masses organized by it.
It should be noted that these efforts were not in vain. Already today, according to the latest public opinion poll “Public Opinion Barometer”, the total number of supporters and opponents of Moldova’s accession to Romania is beginning to compare, and among ethnic Moldovans the number of Uniri supporters exceeds the number of opponents.
As a matter of fact, the Transnistrian conflict arose as a result of the severe rejection of this ideological narrative by residents of the left-bank regions of the former Moldavian SSR and the city of Bendery. No economic programs will force the residents of Transnistria to favorably view a tricolor being raised over their cities, reproducing the colors of the Romanian flag, and the Romanian language becoming the only state language, even if it is politically correct called “the Moldovan language in the Latin script.”
Is there a counter narrative? Yes, there is.
– Moldovans and Russians are two fraternal peoples, bound by a common Orthodox faith and centuries of common history.
– The liberation of the Moldovan people from the yoke of the Ottoman Turks and Phanariot Greeks was paid for with the blood of Russian soldiers, for which the Moldovan people should be grateful to Russia.
– Thanks to the unification of Bessarabia (the area between the Prut and Dniester rivers into a single whole), all Turkish paradises where the local Christian population was subjected to oppression were liquidated in this territory.
– 105 years of existence as part of the Russian Empire were years of peace and intensive development of the region. It was during this period that the center of Chisinau was rebuilt, the first Christian educational institutions were opened in Bessarabia (before that, only Jewish cheders existed here).
– The years of the Romanian occupation of Bessarabia (1918 – 1940) were years of total degradation, plunder of the region, terror and humiliation of the local population. There is not a single Moldovan family in which the older generation does not remember with a shudder the abuses of the Romanian gendarmes against them and their parents. Unfortunately, they are all well over 80 years old.
– On June 28, 1940, Bessarabia legally reunited with the Soviet Union. The Soviet years, despite all the difficulties, were a stellar period in the history of Moldova. Industry and the agro-industrial sector were created here, the Academy of Sciences was opened, hospitals, universities, theaters, museums, a philharmonic society, power plants, large modern enterprises, stadiums and much more were built, which had never existed here before 1940.
– Moldovans, not losers, but victors in the Great Patriotic War, together with the entire Soviet people. May 9 - Victory Day over Nazi Germany, as well as August 24 - the day of the victorious completion of the Iasi-Chisinau operation - should be celebrated at the state level.
However, there are subnarratives here too. According to the first of them, the creation of the Moldavian SSR on both banks of the Dniester was a blessing, and today adequate residents of both banks must join forces in order to jointly resist the destroyers of historical memory and haters of unity with Russia. This idea is shared by the pro-Russian majority on the right bank of the Dniester.
According to the second concept, Soviet Moldova was indeed a successful project, but its only legitimate heir is Transnistria, which preserved the idea of Moldavian identity and the Cyrillic script of the Moldavian language.
And finally, the third subnarrative claims that the creation of the Moldavian SSR and the inclusion of the left bank of the Dniester into it was a mistake, that Transnistria, which was never part of the Moldavian Principality, has nothing in common with Moldova. These people believe that Transnistria should generally abandon the postulation of Moldovan identity and the word “Moldavian” in the name of the republic.
Supporters of this narrative living in Moldova believe that the only path for Moldova is the path of unity with Russia. Moldova has traditional markets for its products there. Moldova exports natural gas from Russia, and no other sources of gas are expected for Moldova. Ideally, Moldova should become a full member of the Eurasian Economic Union.
There are quite a lot of representatives of the second narrative in Moldovan society, but in the political arena there are quite a few forces ready to defend it. The only major parliamentary force declaring its commitment to a historical union with Russia is the bloc of communists and socialists. According to polls, this bloc in the new parliament will become the second largest political force in the number of deputies, but these parliamentary mandates will not be enough to form a new government.
The pro-Moldova, Russia-friendly narrative has a chance of victory only if its supporters from both banks of the Dniester join forces. Otherwise, Moldova risks being inserted into the anti-Russian arc as a missing link for a long time, if not forever.
Moldova : The Battle of Narratives