or WALLACHIA, one of the Danubian Principalities, lying between N. Lat. 43. 40. and 45. 42., E. Long. 22. 25. and 28. 5.; bounded on the N. by the Austrian province of Transylvania and by Moldavia, E. and S. by Bulgaria, and W. by Servia and Hungary. Length, from E. to W., 260 miles; greatest breadth, 120; area, 27,500 square miles. It is enclosed by natural boundaries on all sides; for the Carpathians separate it from Hungary and Transylvania, the Danube divides it from Servia and Bulgaria, and the Sereth from Moldavia. It is divided by the Aluta, the largest affluent of the Danube here, into two portions, Eastern or Great, and Western or Little Walachia. The portion of the Carpathians which forms the boundary of Walachia has an average height of between 3000 and 4000 feet, but some of its summits rise as high as 7000 or 8000 feet. It is crossed by several passes into Transylvania and Hungary. From this range, mountains of less elevation project towards the Danube; and between them are beautiful and fruitful vales, containing soil capable of producing most abundant crops. At the termination of these spurs of the mountain, there is a level district declining gradually to the great stream, and Walachia, on its border becoming marshes and morasses. In the extreme W. of the country, the branches of the Carpathians come down quite close to the banks of the Danube. Walachia is entirely watered by the tributaries of that stream, flowing down the valley in a S. or S.E. direction. Besides the Aluta, already mentioned, the most important of them are the Schyl, the Tellorman with its affluent the Vede, the Argish, the Jalonitzka, and the Buzoe, the last a tributary of the Sereth. All these rivers are navigable for barges; but little has been done to remove the obstructions caused by rocks, shoals, &c. In the marshy region along the banks of the Danube there are some considerable lakes, and occasionally that river overflows its banks and inundates the adjacent country. The geological formation of the hills is for the most part gneiss and mica schist, while in the lower parts of the country cretaceous and tertiary strata occur. The most valuable mineral found here is salt, of which there are almost inexhaustible mines. Copper, gold, sulphur, asphalt, &c., also exist in the country; but except those of salt, few mines are wrought. With the exception of the marshy region, Walachia enjoys a healthy climate, though it is extreme both in summer and in winter. The rivers are usually frozen for about six weeks. The soil is so fertile, that if the inhabitants were industrious, and the resources of the country properly developed, few parts of Europe would produce so much of all that contributes to life and comfort. Even with its present ignorant and inactive population, the land yields great crops of maize, wheat, and barley, which are exported to a large extent. Hemp, flax, hops, and tobacco, are also among the products of the country. Fruit of many various kinds is plentiful; the sides of the hills are covered with vines, and the wine made from them is equal to that of Hungary. The meadows afford excellent pasture for cattle, and large numbers of them, as well as of horses, sheep, and goats, are raised. The extensive forests afford abundance of excellent timber, but very little use is made of it. Very few manufactures are carried on, and most of the articles required are imported from foreign countries. The only port is Ibraila on the Danube, in the extreme E. of the country, and it has a considerable trade with Constantinople, Venice, Trieste, and England. The number of vessels that cleared here in 1837 was 960, and in 1858 1291. The total value of the exports of Walachia in 1856 was Ll,145,927, and that of the imports Ll,074,131. The exports consist chiefly of maize, barley, wheat, and wool; and the imports of coffee, sugar, wines, furs, and manufactured goods. The population of Walachia, like that of the adjoining province of Moldavia, is of a mixed character. The majority of them are Walachians, a people who seem to be descended from the Vlachi, a people who ancienly lived in Thrace and Macedonia, but migrated N. of the Danube to escape the oppressions of the Greek emperors and the inroads of the Turks. They call themselves Romanii, or Romans, and the name Walachians is supposed to be derived from the Slavonic word for Italian, the Vlachi having been originally Roman colonists, settled in these parts by Trajan. Mingled with these people there are numbers of Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and gypsies. These mixed races have formed a common language called Walachian, which is also extensively spoken in the adjacent countries. It is mainly derived from the Latin, but has also Greek, Gothic, and Turkish elements. The most of the people belong to the Greek Church, but there are among them a few Roman Catholics. The people are divided into four ranks or classes,—the boyars or nobility, who enjoy many privileges; the clergy; the peasants; and the gypsies, who are the most despised and oppressed of all. Education has made some progress in Walachia of late years, and schools of various kinds have been established. There are 2358 primary schools, attended by 52,140 scholars; normal schools in the capitals of all the circles, attended by about 4000; and Walachia, gymnasiuns at Bucharest and Krajora. There is also a college at Bucharest, where a literary and legal education is given, and theological studies are pursued at four episcopal seminaries in the principality. Walachia is divided into 18 circles, of which Great Walachia contains 12, and Little Walachia 6. The capital is Bucharest.

The country was in the time of the Romans a part of Dacia, and was invaded, but never permanently subdued, by the imperial forces. It was at one time governed by princes tributary to the Eastern Empire, and for a long period was subject in succession to the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and other neighbouring nations. At length Hungary became the most powerful neighbour of Walachia, and the contests with that state for independence were continued for a long time with varying fortune. The princes or voivodes as they were then called, for a time recognised the supremacy of Hungary; but after the battle of Mohacz in 1526 transferred their allegiance to Turkey. But even after this Walachia was long a bone of contention between the Turks and the Poles, until the latter, at the peace of Carlowitz in 1699, gave up their claim.

In 1716 the first Greek was appointed hospodar, as the princes were now called; his name was Nicholas Maurocordatus. When he attained the sovereign power the country was in the most depressed condition, the larger portion of the land uncultivated, and the people almost in a state of savage ignorance. Though no degree of freedom was introduced by the accession of a Greek prince, yet many improvements were introduced which advanced civilisation. Under his brother and successor Constantine, the peasants were lightened of a great part of their heavy burdens, and much was done for the improvement of the country. The hospodars, Alexander Ypsilante, Ghika, Kallimachi, and Karadza, attended to education, or affected to do so, and during their rule books embodying the ancient laws were printed and generally circulated. As the rulers, however, had unlimited power, subject only to the payment of an annual sum to the Porte, great oppression, and frequently great cruelty, were exercised towards all under their authority. These hospodars were sometimes suddenly deposed, and in some cases suffered violent deaths, under charges of treachery, which commonly consisted of negotiations, real or pretended, with Russia or with Austria. The country was invaded by the Russians in 1807, and again in 1809, when they occupied it till the peace of Bucharest in 1812. In 1818, the hospodar Prince Karadza, under apprehension of being deposed, or perhaps of being executed, withdrew himself with his family and his treasure, and, passing through Hungary, took refuge in Geneva and Genoa. In January 1819, the Porte nominated as his successor Prince Alexander Suzzo, who died two years after. His death seemed to be the signal of a general insurrection, which, though it broke out first in Walachia and Moldavia, speedily extended to the whole of European Greece, as well as to the islands, and produced those transactions which more properly belong to the history of that country than of Walachia. The insurrection in Walachia was first commenced by a native boyar, Theodore Wladimirsko, who had in the Russian service acquired the reputation of a brave and skilful officer. The interregnum appeared a favourable moment, and he at first collected 50 adherents in Little Walachia, where he was soon joined by more than 1000 peasants. In the meantime the Porte had nominated a new hospodar, Kallimachi, who sought to form an alliance with Wladimirsko, by means of which he expected to be enabled to raise the sum necessary to be paid at Constantinople as the purchase of his dignity. The negotiation was proceeding, and might have been concluded, if not to the honour to the advantage of the two aspirants; but Alexander Ypsilante, a general in the Russian army, appeared on the scene with a body of Greeks, and took possession of Jassy. This caused a most bloody civil war, by which Walachia and Moldavia were dreadfully ravaged and wasted by alternate victors. The Turks at length sent an army sufficiently strong to suppress the several contending parties, and submission was thus enforced. The sultan in 1822 placed Gregory Ghika on the throne, who, surrounded by Turkish guards, had little or no power, and felt that his dignity was of very uncertain duration. He continued to hold it, such as it was, till 1828, when a new war between Russia and Turkey broke out, and the former took possession of both the principalities, and established in Bucharest a plan of Russian civil organization.

By the treaty of Adrianople in 1829, the Russians evacuated the principalities; but these were thenceforward placed under the protection of the czar, who thus gained a pretext for further interference in their affairs. The hospodars were now elected for life by the boyars, subject to the approval of the Porte, to whom they had to pay a certain sum on their accession, besides an annual tribute. The subsequent events that took place in Walachia and Moldavia up to the peace of Paris in 1856, are narrated in the article Moldavia. In conformity with the terms of that peace, divans were held in the separate principalities in October 1857, to give expression to the wishes of the people as to the future administration of the country; and the unanimous decision, with the exception of two votes in Moldavia, was in favour of the union of the principalities under a foreign prince. Upon this the plenipotentiaries of the European powers, at a conference at Paris, 19th August 1858, decided that the principalities should thenceforth be called the United Principalities of Moldavia and Walachia, and should have in common a central commission and court of appeal, but be governed by different hospodars, to be elected by the people, and confirmed by the Porte. The deputies of the people had now to meet in the several provinces to elect hospodars; and the choice in both fell upon the same man, Alexander Couza, whose election was at first opposed by the Porte, but in September 1859 confirmed by the plenipotentiaries of the great powers. He was subsequently invested by the Porte in both principalities. The military forces of Walachia amount to 18,200 men. The public revenue for 1857 was L561,436, and the expenditure L618,581; and there was a public debt of about L200,000. Pcp. estimated at 2,600,000.

Walch, Johann Georg, an eminent German divine, was born at Meiningen in 1693. He studied divinity and philology at Jena, where he was subsequently appointed extraordinary professor of divinity in 1724, and ordinary professor of divinity in 1726. He died in 1775.

The works of J. G. Walch are alike numerous and excellent. His Philosophisches Lexicon, 1728; his Historia Critica Latinae Linguae, 1716; his Historische und Theologische Einleitung, 5 vols., 1724-35, and 5 vols., 1730-39; his Bibliotheca Patristica, 1720; his Bibliotheca Theologica selecta, 4 vols., 1757-65; and his Dr Martin Luther's Sammliche Schriften, in 24 vols., Halle, 1740-50; all contain unmistakable traces of vigour, zeal, and uncommon industry. The following three sons were almost as distinguished as their father.

Walch, Johann Ernst Immanuel, the eldest son of the celebrated J. G. Walch, was born at Jena on the 29th of August 1725, where he completed his studies, and where he was appointed professor of divinity in 1759. Natural history divided his studies with ecclesiastical history, and he has left behind him a great number of works in both of these departments of learning. He died December 1, 1778.

The principal works of J. E. I. Walch are as follows—De Christianorum sub Diocletiano in Hispania Persecutione, 1751; Marmor Hispaniae, 1750; Acta Societatis Latinae Jenensis, 4 vols., 1752-55; Dissertationes in Acta Apostolorum, 3 vols., 1756-61; De Arte Critica Veterum Romanorum Literarum, 1771; Das Reich systematisch erweitert, 2 vols., 1769; and his celebrated Georg Wolfgang Knorre's Sammlung von Merkwürdigkeiten der Natur, &c., 3 vols., 1768-73. This work has been translated into French in 1776, and into Dutch in 1779.

Walch, Christian Wilhelm Franz, one of the greatest divines of Germany, and the second son of J. G. Walch, was born at Jena in 1726, studied at the university there, and subsequently travelled with his brother Immanuel into France and Italy. In 1750 he was chosen extraordinary professor of philosophy at Jena; in 1753 he was made president of the Latin Society of that town; in 1754 he was appointed extraordinary professor of divinity in Göttingen, of which he was appointed ordinary professor three years afterwards. He died suddenly in 1784.

C. W. F. Walch wrote numerous works on classics, divinity, and church history. They all bear the marks of a very superior mind, and of very extensive learning.

The following are his principal works—Antiquitates Pallii Philosophici Veterum Christianorum, 1746; Oratio de Eloquentia Latina Veterum Germanorum, 1750; Historia Patriarcharum Judaeorum, 1751; Commentaria Historiae Ecclesiasticae recentissimae, 1757; Entwurf Einer vollständigen Historie der Kirchen-Vereinigungen, 1759; Monimenta Medii Aevi, 2 vols., 1768; Grundzüge der Kirchengeschichte des Neuen Testaments, 4 vols., 1772-74; Grundzüge der Naturlichen Gotteslehre, 1775; Krit. Untersuch. vom Gebrauch der Heiligen Schrifte, 1779; Neueste Religiöse Geschichte, 9 vols., 1771-83; Bibliotheca Symbolica, 1770; Bibliotheca Philologica, 3 vols., 1770-77; and Entwurf Einer vollständigen Historie, 11 vols., 1762-85. The latter work gained for its author the title of "Heretic Walch."

Walch, Karl Friedrich, the youngest son of J. G. Walch, was born at Jena in 1734, was chosen professor of law at Göttingen, and subsequently at Jena, where he died in 1799. He is the author of many valuable works on jurisprudence.