Military History of Moldova - Dark Ages

Dark Ages

See also: Rus'-Byzantine Wars, Rus'-Byzantine Wars (disambiguation), and Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria

During the Dark Ages, the Northern Balkan Peninsula became a conduit for invading tribes who targeted richer lands further west and south. Information about the military operations conducted in this period is very scarce.

The territory of modern Romania was part of the Hun Empire, but after its disintegration different parts were under successive control of the Gepids, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars and Pechenegs. Most of these invaders did not permanently occupy the territory, as their organization was of typical nomadic confederacies. From them, only the Slavs settled in large numbers beginning with the 7th century.

The Byzantine Empire held the region between the Danube and the Black Sea (modern Dobruja) from time to time (such as during Justinian's reign in the 6th century) or again under some emperors of the Macedonian and Komnenian dynasties, being part of the Byzantine Paristrion thema (province) between in the period 971-976 and between 1001 and 1185, although it was a border that was hard to maintain due to the constant invasions from the north. Dobrudja was part of the Bulgarian Empire during its whole period of existence. The area around the Danube Delta was the site of battle of Ongal in 680 which led to the formation of Bulgaria in 681. Since the formation of the country the Bulgarians controlled the Wallachian Plain and Bessarabia to the north of the Danube, bordering the Avars to the north-west. The Bulgarians under Khan Krum destroyed the crumbling Avar Khanate in 803 and moved the border along the river Tisza, thus including Transylvania and parts of Pannonia in the Bulgarian state. In a military conflict with the Franks between 827-829 the Bulgarians secured their border with the Frankish Empire.

At the end of the 10th century, Dobruja was the theatre of operations between the Kievan Rus army led by Prince Sviatoslav I, the Bulgarian army and the Byzantine army led by emperor John Tzimiskes. Sviatoslav controlled large parts of the First Bulgarian Empire and established his capital at Pereyaslavets (near modern Nufăru) on the Danube. The Byzantines, led by John Tzimiskes were on the offensive after they defeated the united Russo-Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Arcadiopolis. Pereyaslavets was captured and Sviatoslav was forced to flee westwards to the fortress of Dorostolon (Durostorum). Emperor John proceeded to lay siege to Dorostolon, which resisted for sixty five days until Sviatoslav agreed to sign a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire, whereby he renounced his claims on Bulgaria and the city of Chersonesos in Crimea. Sviatoslav was allowed to evacuate his army to Kiev.

The Magyars settled the Pannonian Plain and subdued Transylvania from Bulgaria in the 10th and 11th centuries, while the Cumans occupied the Lower Danube region in the 11th century.