In 1717, in the context of an Austro-Turkish war, Moldavian noblemen are forced to choose between Ottoman rule, represented by prince Mihai Racoviță, and a western, Christian governance within the Holy Roman Empire which desired an expansion eastward. Chamberlain Nicolae Șoldan, together with two other high-ranking boyars and with the support of the Austrian army, start a riot against Racoviță. Many young noblemen, oriented towards the West rather than towards the Ottoman Empire, joined the rebellion against the Moldavian prince. However, the riot was crushed. In a last attempt to force Racoviță to abandon the throne, Nicolae Șoldan kidnaps his sister and sends her to Kronstadt as the prisoner of the Austrian army. Racoviță captures the rebels, including Nicolae Șoldan, who is considered to be the leader of the rebellion. Even if he is left alive, his entire property is seized, including the ancestral estate of Dulcești, owned by the Șoldans for at least two centuries. After this episode, local noble families, already despised by the Ottomans after the attempt of prince Constantin Brâncoveanu to ally himself with the Habsburgs and of prince Dimitrie Cantemir to ally with the Russians, are beginning to rapidly decline, being replaced with Greek nobles from Constantinople. At the end of the 18th century, the Șoldans were completely removed from Moldavian power circles.