tion of Romanian princes as rulers in
the Danubian principalities.

After the Russo-Turkish war from 1826 to 1828 Russian forces occupied
both Walachia and Moldavia to ensure the payment of a large war
indemnity by the Turks. Under the ensuing six-year enlightened and
competent rule of the Russian governor Count Pavel Kiselev, the
foundations were laid for a new Romanian state. The first constitutional
assemblies were organized along identical lines in each province; a
rudimentary governmental administration was established and modeled on
that of the French; an educational system was begun; commerce and a
modest industry were encouraged; and provisions were made for the
creation of a national militia. The intentional similarity in the
fundamental laws that were also enacted in each area further encouraged
the two principalities to develop side by side.

During the two decades after the departure of Russian occupying forces,
the national movement within the two principalities continued to grow
under the rule of native princes who had been restored to power.
Considerable stimulation was provided by the 1848 revolutionary events
in France, the basic ideas of which were imported by the French-educated
Romanians. Dissension arose, and street demonstrations took place during
which demands were made for freedom of speech, assembly, and the press,
as well as for the unification of all Romanians in one independent
state. Similar emancipation efforts were also organized in Transylvania,
but they, too, were forcibly repressed, as were those in Walachia and
Moldavia.

Despite the setbacks suffered by the intellectuals and other leaders of
the revolutionary movement, the modern ideas of liberal government took
firm root and continued to flourish. The dispute between Russia and
Turkey that culminated in the Crimean War, however, provided the actual
opportunity for the first step toward ultimate independence. French and
Russian collaboration at the Congress of Paris, which concluded the war
in 1858, succeeded in producing agreements that finally led to the
establishment of the autonomous United Principalities of Walachia and
Moldavia in 1859.

Although still subject to Ottoman authority, the United Principalities
moved rapidly under their newly elected leader, Alexander Cuza, to
further unify and modernize themselves. Cuza fused the administration of
the two principalities into a single government, established a single
capital at