The Politics of the Russian Administration Concerning Nobility Titles in Bessarabia in the First Half of the XIXth Century

Abstract

By looking at archive documents and published monographic studies, the article concerns the Russian imperial administration policy for granting noble titles in Bessarabia. The Tsar, joining the territory between the Pruth and Dniester rivers, wanted to attract Bessarabian nobles by all means. The annexation called not only for time, but for big efforts from Bessarabian noble families as well, as they had to confirm not just their noble status, but also the right on farmland possessions over the lands they had owned. Therefore, for a long period of time Bessarabian nobles had to present to the Russian administration documents confirmed by Moldovan rulers, civil or church authorities, that would eventually confirm their noble origin. In order to create a social base to support and promote imperial policy, the imperial administration directed an intense colonization of the territory and an infiltration among native nobility of Russian nobles or just simple clerks of Russian origin coming from different parts such as Poland, Austria, etc. The Tsarist administration`s policy of nobility confirmation tended to control upper society, as to create a social base that would support and promote the imperial policy in the newly annexed territory.