Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia

The 1859 union of Moldavia and Wallachia under Alexandru Ioan Cuza created the basis of the modern Romanian state.

Alexandru Ioan Cuza: Alexandru Ioan Cuza was the first ruler of the united Moldavia and Wallachia and later of Romania. His election in both principalities made the union effective in 1859.
Romanian national awakening: The nineteenth-century movement that developed Romanian national identity and demands for political unity. Its cultural and political campaigns made union a shared national objective.
Ion C. Brătianu: Ion C. Brătianu was a Romanian liberal politician and revolutionary who later helped lead the independent kingdom. He organized unionist politics and supported Cuza's election as a means to unite the principalities.
Romanian land reform of 1864: A reform that emancipated peasants from labor obligations and redistributed some land in Cuza's Romania. The united government used its new authority to alter rural social relations.
Double election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza: The simultaneous choice of Cuza as ruler in Moldavia and Wallachia in January 1859. Electing the same prince in both assemblies achieved union without a single formal election.
Wallachian Revolution of 1848: A liberal and nationalist uprising in Wallachia against Russian and Ottoman influence. Its revolutionary program promoted national unity, a cause carried forward after its defeat.
Vasile Alecsandri: Vasile Alecsandri was a Moldavian poet, playwright, and politician who advocated Romanian unity. His writing and political work helped popularize the national cause behind unification.
Romanian secularization of monastic estates: The 1863 transfer of extensive monastic lands in Romania to state ownership. This landmark policy strengthened the united state's resources and autonomy.
Paris Convention of 1858: An agreement among the great powers that set the political arrangements for Moldavia and Wallachia. Its framework allowed separate institutions but did not forbid the two assemblies from choosing one ruler.
Moldavian Revolution of 1848: A brief liberal and national movement in Moldavia that was suppressed by its ruler. Its reformers joined a broader movement advocating political union across the principalities.

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