Even before the Romanian unitary national state was established, the Russian Empire would look at the Romanian territory from a multiple perspective, seeing it as a means of gaining influence and taking action in the Christian provinces of the Ottoman Empire in times of peace, a critical supplier of cereals for the Russian troops fighting in the Balkans, and a place to recruit volunteers for the imperial army in times of war. The other Great Powers did not share the Russian interest in the Romanian Principalities. As a result of such divergent interests, the Romanian Principalities would often be ravaged by military conflicts and faced with obstacles on their way to consolidating a stable state structure. They often turned into a theatre of war that served the interests of the Great Powers and were forced to a lengthy exercise in diplomacy in preparation for a national state of the Romanians who were the majority population on this territory.
