Editing Moldavia (section)

===Union with Wallachia===
{{Main|Unification of Moldavia and Wallachia}}
Russian domination ended abruptly after the [[Crimean War]], when the Treaty of Paris also passed the two Romanian principalities under the tutelage of [[Great power|Great European Powers]] (together with Russia and the Ottoman overlord, power-sharing included the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the [[Austrian Empire]], the [[Second French Empire|French Empire]], the [[Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia]], and [[Prussia]]). Due to Austrian and Ottoman opposition and British reserves, the union program as demanded by radical campaigners was debated intensely.

In September 1857, given that ''[[Kaymakam|Caimacam]]'' [[Nicolae Vogoride]] had perpetrated [[Electoral fraud|fraud]] in elections in Moldavia, the Powers allowed the two states to convene ad hoc [[divan]]s, which were to decide a new constitutional framework; the result showed overwhelming support for the union, as the creation of a [[Liberalism|liberal]] and [[Neutrality (international relations)|neutral]] state. After further meetings among leaders of tutor states, an agreement was reached (the ''Paris Convention''), whereby a limited union was to be enforced – separate governments and thrones, with only two bodies in common (a [[High Court of Cassation and Justice|Court of Cassation]] and a Central Commission residing in [[Focșani]]); it also stipulated that an end to all privilege was to be passed into law, and awarded back to Moldavia the areas around [[Bolhrad]], [[Cahul]], and [[Izmail]].

However, the Convention failed to note whether the two thrones could not be occupied by the same person, allowing ''Partida Națională'' to introduce the candidacy of [[Alexandru Ioan Cuza]] in both countries. On January 17 (January 5, 1859, [[Adoption of the Gregorian calendar#Adoption in Eastern Europe|Old Style]]), in [[Iași]], he was elected prince of Moldavia by the respective electoral body. After street pressure over the much more [[Conservatism|conservative]] body in [[Bucharest]], Cuza was elected in Wallachia as well (February 5/January 24), this being considered as the day of the [[unification of Moldavia and Wallachia]] by means of a [[personal union]].

In 1862, after diplomatic missions that helped remove opposition to the action, the [[United Principalities]] (the basis of modern Romania) was formally created, and instituted Cuza as ''[[Domnitor]]'' – thus officially ending the existence of the Principality of Moldavia. All other pending legal matters were clarified after the replacement of Cuza with [[Carol I of Romania|Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen]] in April 1866, and the creation of an independent [[Kingdom of Romania]] in 1881.