Etnosfera Journal www.etnosfera.ro Year XI, Issue 1(35) / 2020 3 southern bessarabia facing terrorism, propaganda and diplomacy. redefining the soviet strategy towards romania during the early 1920 ’ s George Damian Mocanu ABSTRACT The Bessarabian issue influenced the Romanian-Russian relation for over 200 years. In this article we follow the evolution of this dispute at the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Soviet Union. During the early 1920’s, Southern Bessarabia was captive in the face of terrorist attacks launched by the incipient Soviet special forces. This became a subject of intense international propaganda and the whole province was on the agenda of the Great Powers all around the globe, from Western Europe to Japan. The destiny of Bessarabia for the next century was defined in these years by the Soviet insistence to recapture the province and the creation of a new republic carrying the artificial Moldavian identity. Keywords: Bessarabia, diplomacy, terrorism, Soviet Union. On 18 th September 1924, Universul newspaper described the attacks organized by the Soviet Special Forces in Southern Bessarabia as a series of violent events, known as the “Tatar Bunar rebellion” 1 . The first attack was on 11 th September 1924, followed by a week of other assaults in many other localities in the region north of Danube Delta, all sharing the same pattern: a group of Soviet fighters killing the local authorities (the mayor, gendarmes), cutting off the communication lines via telegraph or telephone, instigating the population to plunder and to install a new authority of a local Soviet 2 . The violence spread by the Soviet agents was stopped by the Romanian Army during 18–20 th September, but even so, the attacks of Tatar Bunar played an important role during an intricate string of events, influencing on the long term the Romanian – Soviet relationship. Southern Bessarabia or Bugeac, composed of Ismail and Cetatea Albă counties during the interwar period, was a focal point for the Russian policy from 1 Vlad Darie, Mihai Potârniche, Cronica Basarabiei 1918–1944. Mărturii din presa timpului, Agenția Moldpres, Chișinău, 2012, p. 8.1 2 Pavel Moraru, Serviciile secrete și Basarabia. Dicționar 1918-1991, Editura Militară, București, 2008, p. 229.