Romanian diplomacy in the struggle for Bessarabia at the Paris Peace Conference (January - August 1919)
The paper focuses on the struggle around Bessarabia at the Paris Conference in January - August 1919 to analyse the events related to the adoption of the decision about the Bessarabia territorial independence during the formation of the Versailles-Washington system of international relations. I. Bratianu's government clearly understood that the Entente would strengthen the presence of the kingdom in the region. However, the Entente showed an ambiguous attitude towards the aspirations of Bucharest. Firstly, it was the forgotten peace with Germany in 1918. Secondly, the problem was triggered by the Romanian policy of terror against the population of Bessarabia. Thirdly, the economic interests of France, England and Italy intersected in the Danube region. Fourth, the Entente leaders supported the White Guard (in particular, the representatives of the USA) and wanted to reconstruct the integrity of Russia. During the conference, the representatives of Romania did not enter the Supreme Soviet and the number of commissions. The representatives of A. Kolchak's White government and the Ukrainian delegation also influenced the position of the conference leaders, which proved the groundlessness of claims to all Bessarabia on the part of Bucharest. On the other hand, the Entente could not ignore Romania, which, like Poland, created the "sanitary border" for the war-torn lands of the past Romanov's Empire. In addition, it was they who had to act as a counterbalance to Germany. The important factor was that, when the Bolsheviks actively called for the "world revolution" in Europe, Romania took side with the anti-Bolsheviks, which was constantly emphasised by its representatives in Paris.