Demobilizing the Romanian Front in Winter 1917-1918 and the Fate of Russian Military Property in Moldova and Bessarabia

The article deals with the Bessarabian question after 1917, as well as the demobilization of the Russian armies on the Romanian front. The fate of Bessarabia, which Romanian troops occupied in January 1918, depended on agreements between various foreign governments. Thus, Bessarabia was under Romanian rule even before the Treaty of Versailles, and it was incorporated into the Romanian Kingdom after World War I. As the front collapsed and Russian troops there were demobilized, their commanders tried to keep their country’s military property in the border areas of Moldova. Indeed, Russian generals made every effort to stabilize the situation in the Southwestern region in 1917 and 1918. However, in the face of their weakness, the Russians were not permitted to keep such property, not to mention their erstwhile Bessarabian province. The author concludes that Russian occupation of Romanian territory was inevitably fated to end because of its military weakness and civil war.