In my presentation I will discuss the nation-building projects that have been implemented in Bessarabia and Transnistria (current territory of the Republic of Moldova) in the 19th and 20th centuries. Discussing these competing projects, generally elaborated outside these regions, will help us to better understand the so-called “identity crisis” that the population of Moldova, both the political and intellectual elite and ordinary people, is facing during the last 20 years