History_of_Moldova Inhabited by Dacians in the antiquity and Romanized Dacians in the early Middle Ages, most of today's Moldova was part of the Principality of Moldavia from its founding in 1359 until 1812, when it was annexed (under the name Bessarabia) by the Russian Empire following one of several Russian-Turkish wars. In 1918, Bessarabia united with Romania, but in 1940 it was occupied by the Soviet Union, to become independent when the latter broke up in 1991.