NOTES ON WAR NEWS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 184, 10 July 1940, Page 6

NOTES ON WAR NEWS

TWO PROVINCES WITH A PAST Bessarabia is the north-eastern province of Rumania. It extends over 171,150 square miles and has * 3,000,000 inhabitants, of whom 2,000,000 are Rumanians, 500,000 Russians and Ukranians, and 500,000 other races, including Jews, Tartars, Bulgarians and other minorities. The province belonged originally to the Principality of Moldavia, one of the constituent parts of Rumania., but it was taken by Russia in 1812. After the Crimean War, it was given back to Rumania in 1856. Rumania again lost the province to Russia in 1878 in return for Russian help against the Turks, but regained it in 1919. SoViet Russia has, however, refused to recognise the annexation of the province by Rumania and lias, not given up lier claims to Bessarabia. None of the main Rumanian oilfields are located in Bessarabia, although Russian possession of the province would give the Soviet easy access to several big Rumanian oil wells just over the provincial border. . Bukovina is a small province on the border of Rumania and the Rus- ] sian border of occupied Poland, Hungary has previously made de- 1 mands on Rumania for Transylvania 1 which was ceded to Rumania after ' the Great War, and it is feared in ' _ some quarters that Hungary will ' repeat its demands.