Moldavia and Wallachia, in spite of the ever increasing desire of their inhabitants for union and for the development of their resources, so long restrained, were condemned to remain for ever in their lamentable condition by the jealousy of their three powerful neighbours. At length came the February Revolution of 1848 in Paris, the effects of which were felt even in far Roumania. An insurrection arose in Moldavia: the Hospodar was forced to abdicate; and a Provisional Government, the _Lieutenance Princière_,[7] was formed at Bucharest, and proceeded to frame a constitution embodying the freedom of the Press, the abolition of serfdom and all the privileges of the nobility. The earlier state of affairs was, however, restored on September 25 of the same year by the combined action of the Russians and the Turks, with the result that the Principalities for a time lost even the last remnants of their former independence, and the power of the Hospodars was hedged in with such narrow restrictions by the Treaty of Balta Liman (May 1, 1849) that they could undertake no initiative without the sanction of the Russian and Turkish commissaries, under whose control they were placed. [7] The so-called _Lieutenance Princière_ was a kind of governorship or regency which was formed after Prince Kusa's fall, and consisted of the chiefs of all the recognised political parties. The Crimean War brought with it emancipation from the Russian protectorate, but although the situation was now improving, much was still necessary before the Roumanians could regain their domestic independence. A French protector had taken the place of the Russian. The pressure, it is true, was by no means so severe, nor was it felt so directly as formerly, yet the country perforce suffered no inconsiderable damage, both moral and material, from the half-voluntary, half-compulsory compliance with the wishes of the French ruler. Napoleon wished to elevate Roumania, the "Latin sister nation," into a French dependency, and thereby to make France the decisive factor in the Oriental question. A willing tool was found in the person of the new Hospodar of the now united Principalities, and thenceforth everything was modelled upon French pattern. An international Commission assembled in Bucharest in 1857, together with a Divan convoked by an Imperial Firman for Moldavia and Wallachia, to consider the question of the future position of the Danubian Principalities. The deliberations of these two bodies, however, resulted in nothing, as neither the Sublime Porte nor the Great Powers were inclined to agree to the programme submitted to them, the main features of which were: the union of the two Principalities as a neutral, autonomous state under the hereditary sovereignty of a prince of a European dynasty, and the introduction of a constitution. A conference held at Paris, on the other hand, decided that each Principality should elect a native Hospodar, subject to the Sultan's confirmation.