In Search of Identity: the “Bessarabian Question” and Moldavian National Movement of the Early XXth Century in the Historiographical PerspectiveI

Abstract. The article deals with the Bessarabian question and Moldavian nationalism as they have been reflected in historical works starting from 1918 until present. The historiography may be divided into interwar Romanian, Soviet and contemporary
presented mainly by historians from the Republic of Moldova. Moldavian studies were and continue to be under the strong influence of ideology, debates on Romanian vs. Moldavian identity and political situation. These factors negatively affect the quality of the researches. Only recently, the turn to depoliticized and comparative approaches in Bessarabian studies is observed.

Keywords: Bessarabian question, Moldavian nationalism, Historiography, Moldovenism, Rumanianism.