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| Bela Lugosi as the definitive Count Dracula |
If, like me, you've tended to assume that the legend of Count Dracula and his drinking preferences originated in Transylvania - seeing as such a mysterious and ghoulish sounding place does actually exist - the reality is slightly different. Wallachia, subject of this post, was a land to the south of Transylvania, between the Carpathian Mountains and the great River Danube as it crosses central Europe eastwards towards the Black Sea. It was in Wallachia in the mid 15th century that a violent ruler named Vladimir Dracula, made his reputation. He was demonised by the Saxon inhabitants of Transylvania to the north as a drinker of the blood of his victims. Bram Stoker drew on this and other eastern European mythology for the great Count Dracula and his Transylvanian castle. Closest I've been to Dracula's Transylvania probably is eating fish and chips in Whitby, overlooking the ruined abbey above the harbour, which itself provided Stoker with some inspiration and setting for Count Dracula's voyage to England.
With apologies for that digression, the story of Wallachia leads into the creation of modern Rumania; a large country now bordered by Hungary and Serbia to the west; Bulgaria to the south; Moldavia and Ukraine to the north and east, and a coastal strip on the Black Sea. Like all 'kingdoms' in this series to date Wallachia spent many years - centuries in fact - fighting for its existence, its autonomy, while coming under pressure and occupation by stronger forces. Over time the Empires of Rome; Byzantium; Hungary; Austria, Russia and particularly the Ottomans laid their claims to influence or occupation.
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| Wallachia in the 18th and 19th centuries was landlocked |
Wallachia existed as a principality / kingdom / voivodeship from the early fourteenth century until the mid nineteenth century. From 1417 to 1859 it was under the yoke of the Ottoman Empire, although that period saw many conflicts, and the usual shifting of borders in repeated struggles for power and influence. The map above shows it neatly, with its two northern neighbouring principalities Transylvania and Moldavia, as they were in the 19 century. The three are bordered by the Black Sea to the east, and on terra firma by the great powers of the era Russia, Austria and the Ottomans. Its terrain runs from the foothills of the Carpathian mountain range to the north to the left bank of the Danube in the south. The country is crossed by dozens of tributaries of the Danube running from the mountains to the north. One of the larger of these, the River Olt, divides old Wallachia in two parts - Muntenia (Greater Wallachia) to the west and Oltenia (lesser Wallachia) to the east.
The name Wallachia is an exonym, meaning a term used by outsiders rather than the people themselves – as we saw with Galicia (See Post VKE 22/2/2020). It derives from a germanic word walhaz denoting Celtic peoples. Of such stock were the Vlachs, tribes that pushed south from Transylvania, escaping from Magyars invading from the west. Intriguingly, walhaz is also etymologically involved in places as different as Wales, Cornwall and Wallonia (southern Belgium). Wallachia disappeared at a stroke in 1859 after the Crimean war, when it merged with Moldavia to form Roumania.
Prior to the 14th century the land of Dacia, north and south of the lower Danube, was ‘Romanised’, and later came under the influence of the Byzantine empire, with its centre in (relatively) nearby Constantinople*. Byzantium’s influence was swept away by the First Bulgarian Empire; then by an emerging Hungarian empire; then some budding dynasties – the Peckenegs, then the Cumans – working their way east from Southern Ruthenia…. you’re getting the picture. Then in 1241 came the Mongol hordes from the east, replacing all of those.
The man who stopped this – at least temporarily – was Basarab I, widely regarded as the founder of Wallachia. He established a principality on either side of the River Olt, successfully rebuffing the advances of the Magyars, and extended his territories to the north eastward to what would become Bessarabia (another one of those WW1 curios I encountered). He and his descendants held on to Wallachia for over a century, but became increasingly threatened from the south by the burgeoning Ottoman Empire. This culminated in peace treaties in 1417 and 1428 that granted Wallachia a degree of autonomy, albeit under suzerainty** from Constantinople; while the Ottomans took complete control of the Balkans and Wallachian holdings on the Danube and Black Sea. This was to last until the 19 century, but there was sufficient autonomy to enable constant battles for power and influence, not to mention frequent incursions from other quarters.
Enter the Dracula (sic). Two aspiring dynasties wrestled for internal control of Wallachia in the early years of suzerainty. They were the Dănești and Drăculești, and the head of the latter became Vlad II Dracul as the victor. However, to confirm his acceptability to Constantinople he was obliged to submit his two sons to Ottoman custody, where they languished for nearly twenty year. In 1447 Vlad II was assassinated, opening the way for his elder son to be released by the Ottomans as their ruler in Wallachia – Vlad III Dracul. He immediately reverted to type, with a violent establishment of his authority, massacre of those groups held responsible for his father’s death, and a desire to gain freedom from Ottoman rule. His predilection, gained while imprisoned, for punishing dissent and petty crime by impaling earned his alternative moniker Vlad III the Impaler. He engaged in frequent battle with the Ottoman forces to the south, and the Transylvanian Saxons to the north. It was the latter who gave credence and notoriety to the blood drinking stories. The violence and instability couldn’t last for long, and in turn Vlad III Dracul was overthrown by his younger brother Radu, who had used his time in captivity to convert to Islam rather than obsessing about impaling people. Some stability, and more harmonious relations with the Ottomans ensued. In the late 15th century the diplomatic efforts turned to the north and the Hungarians and Transylvanian Saxons.
After a century of relative stability the ascent of Michael the Brave was a portent of modern Rumania in that he gained control of Moldavia and much of Transylvania, and established an alliance with the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor to counterbalance the suzerainty of the Ottomans. Following Michael’s fall in the early 17th century the struggles renewed – against the Ottomans influence from the south and the incursions by the Habsburg forces in the north and west (seeking to disrupt then control trade routes).
Come the 18th century and Wallachia continued to be pushed from pillar to post by the great powers. It was a pawn in the Austro-Russian-Turkish war of 1735-39, and then in 1768 had to undergo its first occupation by Imperial Russia. During the Napoleonic era of 1798-1814 nowhere in Europe was left untouched by effects of his campaigns. Napoleon’s temporary alliance with Russia enabled the latter to extend her influence in Wallachia and other territories along the Danube.
The Treaty of Vienna (1814) re-established much of the pre-Napoleonic status quo, but a series of steps during the 1820s initiated the birth of Roumania and the end of Wallachia’s existence as a Principality. Firstly there was a further – and fatal – weakening of the Ottoman Empire following the Greek War of Independence (1821-29). The Russo-Turkish war of 1828-30 that followed helped gain material Russian support for Wallachia’s struggle against Ottoman suzerainty, and culminated in the 1829 Treaty of Adrianople. This placed Wallachia and Moldavia under Russian military control (though they were still nominally in the Ottoman sphere of influence. Wallachia had its Danube ports returned and was allowed to initiate free trade via those ports, opening up economic and social growth.
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| Prince Alexandru Cuza First Ruler of Roumania |
Today's Rumania has a population of around 20 million of whom, ethnically, 90% are Romanian, around 7% are Hungarian and the remainder are Roma. The historic region of Wallachia is 97% Romanian ethnically; incorporates the capital Bucharest and around 8.5million people. It has thirteen counties, and is still divided broadly into Oltenia and Muntenia, either side of the River Olt.
* Hence modern Rumanian language is Romance, as with French, Italian and Spanish, rather than Slavic
** Defined as ‘situation in which a powerful region or people controls the foreign policy and international relations of a tributary vassal state while allowing the subservient nation internal autonomy.’
*** Prussia, Russia, Britain France, Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (see Post VKE ‘Savoy’ 10/1/2020
