Following the onset of the European Revolutions, Kogălniceanu was present at the forefront of nationalist politics. Though, for a number of reasons, he failed to sign the March 1848 petition-proclamation which signaled the Moldavian revolution, he was seen as one of its instigators, and Prince Sturdza ordered his arrest during the police roundup that followed. While evading capture, Kogălniceanu authored some of the most vocal attacks on Sturdza, and, by July, a reward was offered for his apprehension "dead or alive". During late summer, he crossed the Austrian border into Bukovina, where he took refuge on the Hurmuzachi brothers' property (in parallel, the "Frăția"-led Wallachian revolution managed to gain power in Bucharest).