The Danubian Principalities ( Romanian : Principatele Dunărene , Serbian : Дунавске кнежевине , romanized : Dunavske kneževine ) was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia , which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774) in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common geopolitical situation. The term was largely used then by foreign political circles and public opinion until the union of the two principalities in 1859. Alongside Transylvania , the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia became the basis for the Kingdom of Romania , and by extension the modern nation-state of Romania .
22-839: In a wider context, the concept may also apply to the Principality of Serbia as one of The Principalities of the Danube , which came under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Porte from 1817. The two emerged as vassals of the Hungarian Crown (in the case of Wallachia, Hungarian suzerainty had been present for the polities which preceded the unifying rule of Basarab I ), and remained so until their independence (1330 for Wallachia and 1359 for Moldavia). In 1476 Wallachia and in 1538 Moldavia came under formal Ottoman suzerainty, preserving their self-rule in all aspects, except for
44-429: A modernizing government, created a new legal framework that reformed public administration, and deeply influenced political life in the following decades. The Russian pressures for changes in the text were perceived by Wallachians and Moldavians as a drive to remove the territories from Ottoman rule and annex them to a much more centralised and absolutist empire. This coincided with the period of national awakening and
66-531: A standing army to take part to the First and Second Serbo Turkish Wars of 1876-1878 , the first conflict in the nation's modern history, after which the country gained its full independence. It was succeeded by the Royal Serbian Army . In the first decades of the principality, the population was about 85% Serb and 15% non-Serb. Of those, most were Vlachs, and there were some Muslim Albanians, which were
88-594: The Sfaturi (or Divanuri ). The term " divan ", is derived from the Ottoman rule, being the name of a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states . The elections for the two Divans confronted two local movements: the National Party , which supported the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, as " Romania "; the anti-unionists, which sought to maintain the status quo . The National Party emerged as
110-776: The Austro-Prussian War made measures taken against the union impossible. In 1878, after the Romanian War of Independence , Romania shook off formal Ottoman rule, but clashed with its Russian ally over the Russian request for the Bujak (southern Bessarabia ) - ultimately, Romania was awarded Northern Dobruja in exchange for Southern Bessarabia . A Kingdom of Romania emerged in 1881. Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia ( Serbian : Књажество Србија , romanized : Knjažestvo Srbija )
132-747: The Belgrade fortress . The only stipulation was that the Ottoman flag continue to fly over the fortress alongside the Serbian one. Serbia's de facto independence dates from this event. A new constitution in 1869 defined Serbia as an independent state. Serbia was further expanded to the southeast in 1878, when its independence from the Ottoman Empire won full international recognition at the Treaty of Berlin . The Principality would last until 1882 when it
154-773: The Danubian Principalities ( Moldavia and Wallachia ), vassals of the Ottoman Empire . They were established by the Great Powers under the Treaty of Paris . By then, the Crimean War had taken the two states out of Russia 's sphere of influence, and had nullified the Moldo-Wallachian Regulamentul Organic regime. Officially, the two assemblies were provisional replacements for the traditional assemblies,
176-629: The Revolutions of 1848 - the rejection of Russian tutelage during the Moldavian attempt and the Wallachian revolutionary period were viewed with a degree of sympathy by the Porte, but calls by Russia ultimately led to a common occupation in the years following the rebellion's crushing. The aftermath of Russian defeat in 1856 (the Treaty of Paris ) brought forth a period of common tutelage of
198-608: The United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia (the Romanian United Principalities from 1862). This is known as the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia . The union was cemented by Cuza's unsanctioned interventions in the text of previous organic laws , as well as by the circumstances of his deposition in 1866, when the rapid election of Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen , who had the backing of an increasingly important Prussia, and
220-914: The Ottomans and a Congress of Great Powers (the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , the French Empire , the Austrian Empire , the Kingdom of Prussia , the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia , and, albeit never again fully, the Russian Empire ). While the Moldavia-Wallachia unionist cause , which had come to dominate political demands, was viewed with sympathy by the French, Russians, Prussians, and Sardinians, it
242-773: The Serbian–Ottoman Wars of 1876–1878, the Muslim population was expelled from the Sanjak of Niš . The Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynasty, except for a period under Prince Aleksandar of the Karađorđević dynasty. Princes Miloš and Mihailo Obrenović each reigned twice. 44°48′39″N 20°27′45″E / 44.81083°N 20.46250°E / 44.81083; 20.46250 Ad hoc divan The two Ad hoc Divans were legislative and consultative assemblies of
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#1732765728398264-524: The disestablishment of Phanariote rules by the Porte itself, this was of little consequence in itself, as a new Russo-Turkish War brought a period of Russian occupation under formal Ottoman supervision, extended between 1829 and the Crimean War . A parallel Russian military administration was put in place, while the two principalities were given the first common governing document (the Organic Statute ): although never fully implemented, it confirmed
286-496: The evacuation of the remaining Ottoman troops from the Belgrade Fortress and the country; its independence was recognized internationally in 1878 by the Treaty of Berlin . In 1882 the country was elevated to the status of kingdom . The Serbian revolutionary leaders—first Karađorđe and then Miloš Obrenović —succeeded in their goal of liberating Serbia from centuries-long Turkish rule. Turkish authorities acknowledged
308-643: The overwhelming majority of the Muslims that lived in Smederevo , Kladovo and Ćuprija . The new state aimed to homogenize its population. As a result, from 1830 to the wars of the 1870s in which Albanians were expelled from the country , it has been estimated that up to 150,000 Albanians that lived in the territories of the Principality of Serbia had been expelled. In 1862 more than 10,000 Muslims were expelled to Ottoman Bulgaria and Ottoman Bosnia. During
330-566: The period of the so-called Phanariote Rule (1711 - 1821), when foreign affairs were dictated by the Sublime Porte. After a marked decline in independence and prosperity over the 17th and 18th centuries, further independent and insurgent rules, which connected the two countries with Habsburg and Russian Empire offensives during the Great Turkish War , were blocked by the Ottomans by the introduction of Phanariote rules over
352-589: The principality included only the territory of the former Pashaluk of Belgrade , but in 1831–33 it expanded to the east, south, and west. In 1866 Serbia began the campaign of forging the First Balkan Alliance by signing a series of agreements with other Balkan entities in the period 1866–68. On 18 April 1867 the Ottoman government ordered the Ottoman garrison, which since 1826 had been the last representation of Ottoman suzerainty in Serbia, withdrawn from
374-574: The regions of Oltenia , Bukovina , and Bessarabia ). In the nineteenth century, Moldavia and Wallachia became involved in the cause of Greek independence . Backed by Phanariotes, the Filiki Eteria maneuvered in Moldavia during the anti-Phanariote and pro-Eterian 1821 Wallachian uprising . Wallachian initiative was toppled by an Eterian administration which itself retreated in the face of Ottoman invasion. Although these events brought about
396-546: The state by the 1830 Hatt-i Sharif , and Miloš Obrenović became a hereditary prince (knjaz) of the Serbian Principality. Serbia was de jure an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire , its autonomy was constrained by the presence of the Turkish army on its soil and by being forced to pay to Istanbul a yearly tribute of 2.3 million groschen , which represented about 10% of the country's budget. At first,
418-551: The two countries (1711 in Moldavia and 1714 in Wallachia). These, while connected with the first administrative reforms, generally had to rely on spoliation, and coincided with a disastrous stage in the countries' history, given that the two became a major theatre of war in a series of confrontations between Russian, Habsburg, and Ottoman forces (until the mid-19th century, they frequently came under temporary Russian or Habsburg occupation, and sometimes administration — as happened to
440-844: Was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution , which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agreement between Miloš Obrenović , leader of the Second Serbian Uprising , and Ottoman official Marashli Pasha . It was followed by the series of legal documents published by the Sublime Porte in 1828, 1829 and finally, 1830—the Hatt-i Sharif . Its de facto independence ensued in 1867, following
462-420: Was raised to the level of the Kingdom of Serbia . The principality was divided into seventeen districts known as Okrug which were then divided into a number of cantons, known as Sres , according to the size of the district. The Principality had a total of sixty-six Sres . The Armed Forces of the Principality of Serbia was the armed forces of the Principality of Serbia. Founded in 1830, it became
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#1732765728398484-501: Was rejected by the Austrian Empire, and viewed with suspicion by Great Britain and the Ottomans. Negotiations amounted to an agreement over a minimal and formal union - however, elections for the ad hoc divans of 1859 profited from an ambiguity in the text of the final agreement (specifying two thrones, but not preventing the same person from occupying both) and made possible the rule of Alexander Ioan Cuza as Domnitor of
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