Vasile Gheorghe CijevschiSee full name in Constantin et al., p. 311 (; also credited as Cișevschi, Cijevschii, Cijevski, Cijewsky, or Tchizhevsky; – 14 July 1931) was a Bessarabian and Romanian politician, administrator and writer. Originally a career officer and Orientalist in service to the Russian Empire, he was dispatched to the Far East, in Vladivostok and Khabarovsk, seeing action in the Russo-Japanese War. He was wounded and shielded from active duty, but returned with the start of World War I, managing to survive the Battle of Tannenberg. By the time of the February Revolution, he was a civil servant in Bessarabia, and an affiliate of the Octobrist Party.
Later in 1917, Cijevschi was active within the ethnic Romanian political movement, being increasingly supportive of Romanian nationalism as espoused by the National Moldavian Party; as president of the Soldiers' Congress, he mapped out a plan for Bessarabia's emancipation, and fought against the influence of leftist factions, Esers and Bolsheviks alike. On this platform, he joined the regional assembly, called Sfatul Țării, as well as the executive leadership of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. As the government-appointed Commissar, Cijevschi helped organize defense against leftist insurrection, but denounced Bolshevik infiltration of the Bessarabian troops, which had compromised his plan for action. Ultimately supportive of the Romanian military expedition, he contributed decisively to the Bessarabian–Romanian union in March 1918. He then drifted away from the mainstream nationalist platform, establishing his own National-Democratic Party, and then affiliating with Vladimir Herța's short-lived Romanian League.
Cijevschi was much upset with the centralizing policies of Greater Romania, and in particular with the dissolution of Sfatul—though he continued to work as a civil administrator, and joined the mainstream People's Party, as well as, briefly, the Romanian National Party. Turning to Russian-language journalism, and earning reputation as a polemicist and alleged blackmailer, he is also remembered for his endorsement of Bessarabian identity within Romania, while also still frequenting the nationalist club ASTRA. His critics were alarmed by what they saw as "anti-Romanian" activities, and circulated allegations that he was cultivating known communists. A man of literary and scholarly ambitions, during the early interwar period Cijevschi was a patron of the Bessarabian Art Academy. His various projects were cut short by his death at age 50, reportedly caused by a combination of his old war wounds and disease.
Biography Early life and career Cijevschi was a native of Zaim village, Bender County, at the geographical center of Bessarabia Governorate.Iurie Colesnic, "Remember. Cimitirul Central Ortodox la un pas de a deveni Panteon...", in Limba Română, Vol. XIII, Issues 4–5, 2003, p. 211 Mihai Tașcă, "Deputați în Sfatul Țării înmormântați la Chișinău", in Timpul, April 10, 2010Mihai Tașcă, "Asigurarea pazei Palatului Sfatului Țării de către militarii basarabeni", in Cohorta. Revistă de Istorie Militară, Issue 1/2022, p. 38Munteanu, p. 153 Aureliu Benu, "Vasile Cijevschi – ofițer, deputat, funcționar, publicist, prozator și mare patriot", in the Moldovan Ministry of Defense Oastea Moldovei, Issue 20/2012, p. 7 In a 1918 record of all Sfatul Țării members, his nationality was indicated as "Moldavian"—a term used in that paper for all the ethnic Romanian or Romanian-speaking delegates;Țurcanu (2018), p. 382 military historian Anatol Munteanu refers to his family as being "Moldavian Romanian", noting that Vasile's ancestors were priests—of the Russian Orthodox Church—who had amassed a sizable family fortune. Activist Romulus Cioflec, who met Cijevschi in late 1917, recalls that he spoke "a poorly mastered, minimal but clean, Romanian language" (o românească greu mânuită și săracă, dar curată).M. A. R., "Comemorări. Douăzeci de ani de la 'congresul militarilor moldoveni'. Interesante amintiri ale d-lui Romulus Cioflec", in Adevărul, 30 October 1937, p. 5 His birth date was 17 October 1880,Munteanu, p. 153. See also Țurcanu (2018), p. 298 though some records suggest 1881. Young Vasile was initially destined for a career in the Orthodox clergy, and enlisted at the Bessarabian Theological Seminary. He befriended Ion Pelivan, the emerging leader of Bessarabian Romanians; in June 1898, they heard songs by the "great patriot and true spiritual parent", , at the monastery of Suruceni.Constantin et al., p. 316
Cijevschi never graduated, preferring to enlist in the Cadet Corps. In 1902, he completed training at a cavalry school in Yelisavetgrad, Kherson Governorate, and was dispatched for guard duty on the Sea of Japan coastline (Primorskaya Oblast), at Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. He reached the rank of Rotmistr (Captain).Constantin, p. 53; Munteanu, p. 153; Țurcanu (2012), pp. 96, 243; Zamfirescu & Adam, pp. 55, 83. See also Vrabie, pp. 117, 123 He was involved in the Russo-Japanese War, when he also received academic training in Oriental studies and prepared for a career in Russian diplomacy. By 1905, he was fighting in Manchuria, where he happened to meet a fellow Bessarabian soldier, Ștefan Usinevici. The latter wrote to Pelivan that October: "I never again ran into Cijevschi, and possibly never will, for such things are now quite impossible, my brother."Constantin et al., p. 311 Caught up in a series of losing battles, Cijevschi was badly injured, and moved back into European Russia—advancing to battalion commander with the official rank of Major, he was honorably discharged on 16 April 1911.Munteanu, pp. 153, 156. See also Constantin et al., p. 372 He was again called to arms upon the outbreak of World War I in mid 1914, the year which also marked his graduation as a philologist from Saint Petersburg State University. Assigned to the 2nd Army on the Eastern Front, he managed to survive its destruction at Tannenberg. He was allowed to regain civilian life in Bessarabia, settling in Khishinev (Chișinău) as an employee of the local Zemstvo (local government body).
Cijevschi turned to politics during the February Revolution of 1917, originally as a member of the Party of State Order (Octobrists). In April, he was registered as one of six Bessarabian envoys to the Congress of Russian Peoples of the Ukrainian People's Republic, where he prospected the emancipation of Romanians living under nominal Ukrainian rule.Charles Upson Clark, Bessarabia. Russia and Roumania on the Black Sea: Chapter XVI, "The Ukraine Encroaches", at the University of Washington's Electronic Text Archive; Ioan I. Șerban, "Din activitatea desfășurată în Vechiul Regat de voluntarii și refugiații ardeleni și bucovineni în slujba idealului național (iunie 1917 – ianuarie 1918)", in the 1 December University of Alba Iulia Annales Universitatis Apulensis, Series Historica (AUASH), Issue 1, 1997, p. 106. See also Munteanu, p. 154 Cijevschi's turn to Romanian nationalism was observed by fellow activist Grigore Cazacliu, whom Cijevschi visited in Iași, on the Romanian Front, at some point in mid 1917. As Cazacliu notes: "he pledged his body and his soul to our cause, namely the action for setting free our Bessarabia." As noted by historian Ion Țurcanu, Cijevschi "enjoyed the admiration of Moldavian nationalist combatants", becoming "one of the most educated [and] most influential" among them;Țurcanu (2018), pp. 298–299 the resulting National Moldavian Party elected him as one of the chief delegates. By September 1917, Cijevschi was also involved with the Moldavian Congress of Chișinău, which called for Bessarabian autonomy within the Russian Republic. This institution elected Cijevschi as Commissar for Bessarabia, but, despite the efforts of Bessarabian lobbyists, his appointment was never sanctioned by the Russian Army Command in Mogilev.Constantin, pp. 43–46
Shortly after the October Revolution, Cijevschi helped establish the All-Russian Congress of Moldavian Soldiers, functioning as the first legislative and executive body of Bessarabian autonomists. He was elected President of that Congress, with Ștefan Holban serving as his secretary.Constantin, pp. 53–55; Țurcanu (2012), p. 96; Vrabie, pp. 117, 121–122, 123–124, 133, 135; Zamfirescu & Adam, p. 55 As noted by Cioflec, this event witnessed the "most impressive moment" in the development of Romanian nationalism in Bessarabia: Cijevschi's speeches in Romanian alternated with renditions of patriotic songs (including Deșteaptă-te, române! and Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire), while the attending crowds waved variants of the Romanian tricolor. It was here that, in early November, the Major presented other delegates with the political options that resulted from self-determination—autonomy, (con)federation, and a unitary independent state.Vrabie, p. 135 Cijevschi also issued orders for applying the ethnic criterion in education, setting aside funds for the "nationalization" of Bessarabian schools, and reprimanding the authorities of Akerman County for resisting this trend.Vrabie, pp. 141–142. See also Constantin et al., p. 612; Munteanu, p. 154
In the 1918 union struggle Confronting the groups of radicalized soldiers, especially the Esers and Bolsheviks, Cijevschi also drafted the first plans for a regional parliament and a Bessarabian military.Munteanu, p. 154 Both he and Holban signed their names to a Congress proclamation on self-determination, which became legal precedent in the Moldavian Democratic Republic.Zamfirescu & Adam, p. 55. See also Munteanu, p. 154; Rotaru, p. 290 Following the legislative election of 1917, Cijevschi became a representative of BenderRotaru, p. 122 in the new regional assembly, called Sfatul Țării; his mandate officially began on the opening day of 21 November 1917, and saw him mainly active on the Legal and Drafting Commissions. As Pelivan recalls, the Major organized the opening festivities, which saw him reviewing the first Bessarabian troops and planting a Romanian tricolor on the Sfatul Palace.Constantin et al., p. 372 Within this legislature, he also presided upon an all-Romanian faction, the "Moldavian Bloc", which rivaled other ethnic community parties.Zamfirescu & Adam, p. 55 On 23 November, the Republic appointed Cijevschi Commissar of the Bessarabian army, which was engaged in the effort to contain Bolshevik rebellion. The office had been created on his own suggestion.Munteanu, p. 154; Țurcanu (2018), pp. 299, 308 Upon taking over, he applied his own philosophy for recruitment: instead of creating an all-Romanian military structure, he gave a significant share to members of all ethnic communities.Ciobanu, p. 93 One late report by soldier Dimitrie Bogos notes that Cijevschi's aide-de-camp, Vasile Țanțu, was in charge during November, when the Commissar was incapacitated by disease.Țurcanu (2012), p. 243