The monograph, based on an analysis of materials from Soviet and foreign archives and extensive literature, shows the prerequisites for the formation of a Romanian sovereign state, the characteristic features and features of the Romanian foreign policy and the national liberation movement of the studied period are revealed, the attitude of the powers to the struggle of Romania for the expansion of autonomy and the acquisition of the basic rights of an independent state is highlighted, the decisive role of diplomatic and military support provided by Russia in winning the independence of Romania during the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The connection of the Romanian national liberation movement with the struggle of the Balkan peoples for liberation from Ottoman oppression, as well as some issues of the history of Moldova, have been traced (negotiations on the conclusion of a convention on navigation on the Prut River, the construction of the Chisinau-Nok railway). The author criticizes the views of bourgeois historians on the issue under study.