The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia, also known as the unification of the Romanian Principalities or as the Little Union, happened in 1859 following the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince of both the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia. A potential unification between the two principalities, which shared a common Romanian ethnicity, language, and culture, had not been favored by the great powers for a long time, although it was accepted by them once it happened. The unification of these two states began a political struggle in the new country to find out which of the two regions would obtain "supremacy" and met some opposition in Moldavia by the so-called "separatists".