Transnistria – nationalanthems.info (original) (raw)

Transnistria is a region of Moldova with a high concentration of Russians and Ukrainians in its territory. When Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union, Transnistria was concerned for the significant non-Moldovan population in its borders, and unilaterally declared its own independence from Moldova. It retained state symbols from the Soviet era, such as the flag of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, and the anthem chosen also has roots in the Soviet era, but the state does not have a Communist system of government.

The anthem was composed by a son of Alexander Alexandrov, who was the author of the music of “The Hymn of the Soviet Union”. In 1943, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin held a contest for the anthem of the USSR. Both Alexandrovs took part in it and Alexandrov Jr. presented his song, “Да здравствует наша держава” (“Da zdravstvuyet nasha derzhava”) [Long Live Our Country] (lyrics by A. Shilov). While Stalin chose the music of Alexandrov, Sr., the song of his son also became popular. Upon the 1990 Transnistria declaration of independence, this melody was adopted, and new text was created.

Special thanks to: Pavel Zinovatny for some of this information.