The Kingdom of Wallachia (Czech: Valašské Kralovství) is a micronation founded in 1997 by the writer and photographer Tomáš Harabiš as an "elaborate practical joke". It was named after the region of Moravian Wallachia, a mountainous region located in the easternmost part of Moravia in the Czech Republic, near the Slovakian border. The name originated in the Vlachs, a historical term used for Eastern Romance-speaking peoples in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. They migrated up along the Carpathians to Moravia between the 13th and 18th centuries.
On the east side, the kingdom borders with Slovakia, and on the north, it neighbours with Lachia and their towns of Frýdek-Místek, Nový Jičín and Příbor. Westwards the mountains gradually recede, and behind the town of Hostýn they meet a rich neighbour - region of Haná. On the south, nearby the towns Zlín, Vizovice and villages surrounding Slavičín, are the neighbours of Wallachians - Moravian Slovaks and Luhačovické Zálesí. The capital of the kingdom is Valašské Klobouky, a small town with 5,081 inhabitants.
After the official proclamation of the kingdom in 1997, actor Bolek Polívka was enthroned as King Boleslav I the Gracious with his coronation occurring at a lavish ceremony in 2000. The "Government" led by Tomáš Harabiš established state institutions and issued passports to around 80,000 officially Czech citizens. A new currency, the Jurovalsar, was launched which was pegged to the euro at a rate of 1:1. The attempts to forge official ties with other countries have proved disappointing and the kingdom enjoys no diplomatic recognition. However, it has consulates in the Arctic Circle and Togo
In 2001 the Wallachian "government" deposed King Boleslav in a palace coup, accusing the fallen monarch of behaving unconstitutionally by demanding 1,000,000 Czech koruna for his services. Unable to settle the dispute internally, the case was taken to court in 2007 in Ostrava. The court ruled in favour of the "government" of Tomáš Harabiš which went on to search for a new candidate for the throne, eventually crowning Vladimír Zháněl as King Vladimír II. Since then the former king, Bolek Polívka, has appealed to the Czech High Court.
More and more visitors began venturing to visit the kingdom, which has a distinct culture and dialect heavily influenced by the Romanian shepherds. Their black hat even graces the kingdom's official crest. On the other hand, the kingdom reflects a distinct Czech attraction to the absurd, developed as a national defense mechanism during centuries of foreign rule and decades of Communism. "The Kingdom of Wallachia is a parody of Czech identity because nothing is holy for Czechs," explained Harabiš. "Our history and reality is marked by depression, invasion and occupation, while fiction and fantasy let you do and be whatever you want."
The kingdom has its own guidebook, providing information on its history and immigration requirements, as well as on how to tell the weather with nothing more than a shoelace. The only degree offered at its only university is the Faculty of Distilling's course in making and drinking slivovica (plum brandy). The state limousine is a bright yellow, Communist-era Trabant. The Royal Wallachian Navy consists of 40 wooden canoes, and the Wallachian Royal Air Force has five Cessnas emblazoned with a Wallachian crest: an emaciated chicken falling through the sky.
Wallachia makes money several ways, but.its biggest source of revenue is the passport (covered with a picture of the pagan god Radegast), which costs the equivalent of $7.69. George W. Bush received a passport some years ago by a Czech living in Texas, but his citizenship was revoked in 2003, after the United States invaded Iraq. The passport has created some confusion, however. When a man from Pakistan recently asked the kingdom for political asylum, Harabis said he had to explain that Wallachia wasn't a real country.
About the stamp
The stamp is part of the series Funny Pictures, issued by Holubí pošta (Pigeon Post), the "official" postal operator of the Kingdom of Wallachia.
Because the postcard was delivered via Aerican Empire (thanks to Victor Moldoveanu), it has also a stamp of this micronation, issued on July 1, 2016. It is a joint-issue Universal Diplomacy, created by the Aerican Empire Post together with Poste Magistrale Adrianee, to celebrate the relation between the Aerican Empire and the Sovrano Militare Ordine Romane Adrianeo.
About the postmark
References
Kingdom of Wallachia - Wikipedia
Kingdom of Wallachia - official website
Battle Royal Over Chief for a Czech State of Mind - The New York Times
Coup in fantasy kingdom inside Czech Republic - Independent
Sender: Victor Moldoveanu
Sent from Kingdom of Wallachia, via Aerican Empire (15.03.2017)
Photo: Tomáš Harabiš, foreign minister of Kingdom of Wallachia
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