 The new Russian province was called Oblast of Moldavia and Bessarabia, and initially enjoyed a large degree of autonomy.After 1828 this autonomy was progressively restricted and in 1871 the Oblast was transformed into the Bessarabia Governorate, in a process of state-imposed assimilation, Russification.As part of this process, the Tsarist administration in Bessarabia gradually removed the Romanian language from official and religious use.