page_title: Union of Bessarabia with Romania
section_title: The Union Act
hierarchical_section_title: Union of Bessarabia with Romania / The Union Act
context_page_description: The Union of Bessarabia with Romania was proclaimed on April 9 [O.S. March 27] 1918 by Sfatul Țării, the legislative body of the Moldavian Democratic Republic.
context_section_description: On April 9 [O.S. March 27] 1918, Sfatul Țării decided with 86 votes for, 3 against and 36 abstaining (mostly non-Romanians), for union with the Kingdom of Romania, conditional upon the fulfillment of agrarian reform, local autonomy, and respect for universal human rights. This was in spite of the fact that the national referendum necessary under the law had not taken place.
  Fearing a radical land reform, the county councils of Bălți, Soroca and Orhei, dominated by large landowners, were the earliest to ask for unification with the Kingdom of Romania, deeming the royal government preferable to the Sfatul Țării, dominated by left-wing populists. On April 9 [O.S. March 27] 1918, Sfatul Țării voted in favour of the union, with the following conditions:
  Sfatul Țării would undertake an agrarian reform, which would be accepted by the Romanian Government.
  Bessarabia would remain autonomous, with its own diet, Sfatul Țării, elected democratically
  Sfatul Țării would vote for local budgets, control the councils of zemstvos and cities, and name the local administration
  Conscription would be done on a territorial basis
  Local laws and the form of administration could be changed only with the approval of local representatives
  The rights of minorities had to be respected
  Two Bessarabian representatives would be part of the Romanian government
  Bessarabia would send to the Romanian Parliament a number of representatives equal to the proportion of its population
  All elections must involve a direct, equal, secret, and universal vote
  Freedom of speech and of belief must be guaranteed in the constitution
  All individuals who had committed felonies for political reasons during the revolution would be amnestied.
caption: The Union Act of 1918.
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