Between Empire, Nation and Plan: Forest Administration in Bessarabia (1812–1950) A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

 This study examines the historical development of forest administration in Bessarabia between 1812 and 1950. Adopting a comparative perspective, it highlights the coexistence of institutional rupture and long-term administrative continuity within the broader context of forestry policies in Eastern Europe. As a frontier region shaped by successive political regimes, Bessarabia moved from imperial governance under the Russian Empire to national administration within Greater Romania and subsequently to a centrally planned Soviet system. Each transition introduced new institutional arrangements and regulatory frameworks while simultaneously preserving certain administrative practices inherited from earlier periods. The article argues that forest administration in Bessarabia should not be interpreted solely as a technical activity but rather as part of wider processes of state formation, territorial integration, and economic transformation. Forestry policies reflected changing political priorities, ranging from imperial resource supervision to national consolidation and later to socialist economic planning. At the same time, regional socio-economic conditions influenced the implementation of these administrative models, producing patterns of institutional adaptation rather than complete administrative rupture. By situating Bessarabia within a comparative East European perspective, the article demonstrates how forest governance became closely connected to shifting structures of political authority and broader modernization projects during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.