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Belarusians
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Belarusians, also spelt Belarusans,
Belarussians, Byelorussians and Belorussians are a distinct ethnic
group of East Slavs who are the major population of Belarus, also
being minorities in the neighboring Poland (especially former Bialystok
province), Russia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Noticeable numbers are
in emigration in the USA and Canada.
The prefix "Bela" can be translated into 'White' so these
people were sometimes called White Russians though not to be confused
with the political group of white Russians that opposed Bolsheviks
during the Russian Civil War. This name was in use in the west for
some time in history, together with White Ruthenes, White Ruthenians
and similar forms. See Ruthenia#Belarusians. Using the form "White
Russians" is considered offensive and misleading by many Belarusians
as it incorrectly suggests being a subgroup of Russians.
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The Belarusian people trace their distinct
culture to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia and
earlier. For quite a long time they were mostly known under the
name of Litvins (Lithuanians), which refers to the state of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Litva, Vialikaja Litva) of which the White
Ruthenian lands were part of since the 12th century.
After the Russian Revolution Belarusians had their own state, with
varying degrees of independence (Belarus National Republic under
German occupation, and as the Byelorussian SSR since 1919, included
into the USSR in 1922). In 1991 Belarus gained full independence
after the leaders of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia declared the dissolution
of the Soviet Union. Because of political bonds however, the Belarusian
economy still remains largely dependent on Russia.
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Early history
The history of Belarus, or, more correctly of the Belarusian ethnicity,
begins with the migration and expansion of the Slavic peoples throughout
Eastern Europe between the 6th and 8th centuries Anno Domini. East
Slavs settled on the territory within present-day Belarus, Russia
and Ukraine, assimilating local Baltic (Belarus), Ugro-Finnic (Russia)
and steppe nomads (Ukraine) already living there, early ethnic integrations
that contributed to the gradual differentiation of the three East
Slavic nations. These East Slavs were pagan, animistic, agrarian
people whose economy included trade in agricultural produce, game,
furs, honey, beeswax and amber.
The modern Belarusian ethnos was probably formed on the basis of
the three Slavic tribes - Kryvians, Drehovians, Radzimians and some
Baltic tribes.
During the 9th and 10th century, Scandinavian Vikings established
trade posts on the way from Scandinavia to the Byzantine Empire.
The network of lakes and rivers crossing East Slav territory provided
a lucrative trade route between the two civilizations. In the course
of trade, they gradually took sovereignty over tribes of East Slavs,
at least to the point required by improvements in trade.
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The Rus' rulers on few occasions invaded
the Byzantine Empire, but eventually they became their ally against
the Bulgars. The condition underlying this alliance was to open
the country for Christianization and acculturation from the Byzantine
Empire.
The common cultural bond of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and written
Church Slavonic (a literary and liturgical Slavic language developed
by 8th century missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius) fostered
the emergence of a new geopolitical entity, Rus' -- a loose-knit
network of principalities, established along preexisting trade routes,
with major centers in Novgorod (currently Russia), Polatsk and Kiev
(Kyiv, Ukraine) � which claimed a sometimes precarious preeminence
among them.
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First Belarusian states
Kiev duke Vladimir and princess Rahneda of Polatsk (painting of
1770).Between the 9th and 12th century, the principality of Polatsk
(northern Belarus) emerged as the dominant center of power on Belarusian
territory, with a lesser role played by the principality of Turau
in the south.
It repeatedly asserted its sovereignty in relation to other centers
of Rus', becoming a political capital, the episcopal see of a bishopric
and the controller of vassal territories among Balts in the west.
The city's Cathedral of the Holy Wisdom (1044-1066) remains a symbol
of this independent-mindedness, rivaling churches of the same name
in Novgorod and Kiev, referring to the original Hagia Sophia in
Constantinople (and hence to claims of imperial prestige, authority
and sovereignty). Cultural achievements of the Polatsk period include
the work of the nun Euphrosyne of Polatsk (1120-1173), who built
monasteries, transcribed books, promoted literacy and sponsored
art (including local artisan Lazarus Bohsha's famous "Cross
of Euphrosyne," a national symbol and treasure stolen during
World War II), and the prolific, original Church Slavonic sermons
and writings of Bishop Cyril of Turau (1130-1182).
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The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Outline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with its major subdivisions
as of 1619 superimposed on present-day national bordersIn the 13th
century, the fragile unity of Rus' disintegrated due to nomadic
incursions from Asia, which climaxed with the Mongol Horde's sacking
of Kiev (1240), leaving a geopolitical vacuum in the region. The
East Slavs splintered along preexisting tribal lines into a number
of independent and competing principalities. Due to military alliances,
dynastic marriages and previous assimilation, the Belarusian principalities
gravitated toward the expanding Lithuanians, beginning with the
rule of King Mindouh (1240-1263). From the 13th to 15th century,
Baltic, Belarusian and Ukrainian lands were consolidated into the
multi-ethnic Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia, with
its capital in Navahradak (in western Belarus) and later in Vilnia
(now in the Belarusian-Lithuanian borderland).
The Lithuanians' smaller numbers and lack of written language or
Christian culture in this medieval state gave the Belarusians and
Ukrainians a major and important role in shaping Lithuanian political,
religious and cultural life, and further assimilation between the
Slavs and Balts occurred. Owing to the predominance of East Slavs
among the state's population and ties with greater Europe that literacy,
Christianity and culture facilitated, Old Belarusian became the
official language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia,
used for its official chancery, legal, diplomatic and judicial needs
until 1696, when it was eventually replaced by Polish.
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This period of political breakdown and
reorganization also saw the rise of written local vernaculars in
place of the literary and liturgical Church Slavonic language, a
further stage in the evolving differentiation between the Belarusian,
Russian and Ukrainian language.
After 1385, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Main article: History of Poland (1569-1795)
"Union of Lublin" of 1569, oil on canvas by Jan Matejko,
1869, 298 x 512 cm, National Museum in Warsaw.The Lublin Union of
1569 constituted the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as an influential
player in European politics and a vital cultural entity.
By the 18th century the nobles' democracy gradually declined into
anarchy, making the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign
influence. Eventually the country was partitioned by its neighbors
and erased from the map in 1795.
[edit]
Russian occupation
View of Polatsk in 1912The independence of the Commonwealth ended
in a series of partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) undertaken by Russia,
Prussia and Austria, with Russia gaining most of the Commonwealth's
territory including nearly all of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania
(except Podlachia and lands West from Niemen river), Volhynia and
Ukraine. Austria gained the populous southern region henceforth
named Galicia-Lodomeria, named after the Duchy of Halicz and Volodymyr.
(The Duchy was briefly occupied by Hungary between 1372 and 1399
and Habsburgs claimed were inherited after Hungarian Kings, despite
the fact that Volodymyr was not a part of Galicia). In 1795 Austria
also gained the land between Krakow and Warsaw, between Vistula
river and Pilica river. Prussia acquired the western lands from
the Baltic through Greater Poland to Krakow, as well as Warsaw and
Lithuanian territories to the north-east (Augustow, Mariampol) and
Podlasie. The last heroic attempt to save the state's independence
was a Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian national uprising (1794) led
by Tadevus Kasciuska, however it was eventually quenched.
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"Union of Lublin" of 1569,
oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1869, 298 x 512 cm, National Museum
in Warsaw.The Lublin Union of 1569 constituted the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth as an influential player in European politics and a
vital cultural entity.
By the 18th century the nobles' democracy gradually declined into
anarchy, making the once powerful Commonwealth vulnerable to foreign
influence. Eventually the country was partitioned by its neighbors
and erased from the map in 1795.
Russian occupation
View of Polatsk in 1912The independence of the Commonwealth ended
in a series of partitions (1772, 1793 and 1795) undertaken by Russia,
Prussia and Austria, with Russia gaining most of the Commonwealth's
territory including nearly all of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania
(except Podlachia and lands West from Niemen river), Volhynia and
Ukraine. Austria gained the populous southern region henceforth
named Galicia-Lodomeria, named after the Duchy of Halicz and Volodymyr.
(The Duchy was briefly occupied by Hungary between 1372 and 1399
and Habsburgs claimed were inherited after Hungarian Kings, despite
the fact that Volodymyr was not a part of Galicia). In 1795 Austria
also gained the land between Krakow and Warsaw, between Vistula
river and Pilica river. Prussia acquired the western lands from
the Baltic through Greater Poland to Krakow, as well as Warsaw and
Lithuanian territories to the north-east (Augustow, Mariampol) and
Podlasie. The last heroic attempt to save the state's independence
was a Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian national uprising (1794) led
by Tadevus Kasciuska, however it was eventually quenched.
Following the French emperor Napoleon I's defeat of Prussia, the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania was again set up under French tutelage.
With Napoleon's defeat, Belarus became part of Imperial Russia.
National uprisings in 1830 and 1863 were bloodily subdued by the
Russians. The opportunity for freedom appeared only after the World
War I and the Russian Revolution.
Still, the 19th century was signified by the rise of the modern
Belarusian nation and self-confidence.
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After Russian Revolution
The Belarus National Republic
The Belarus National Republic, 1918During World War I, when Belarus
was occupied by Germans according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk,
the Belarus National Republic was pronounced on March 25, 1918.
When the Red Army entered Minsk on January 5, 1919, the Rada (Council)
of the BNR went into exile. As of 2004, Ivonka Survilla is the current
chairperson of the Rada.
During the World War II the Nazis attempted to establish a puppet
Belarusian government with symbolics of BNR.
LBSSR
For a brief period within 1919, between the German and Polish occupations,
there existed a joint Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,
informally known as Litbel. In December 1918 the Germans left the
land, and on January 2, 1919 the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
was declared, which was joined with the Lithuanian SSR into the
BLSSR in February 1919, which existed until August 1919 (the onset
of the Polish-Soviet War). In 1920, the lands of Belarus were divided
between Poland and Byelorussian (Belarusian) Soviet Socialist Republic.
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Belarusian Soviet Republic and West
Belarus
Within the USSR, the name of the country was Byelorussian Soviet
Socialist Republic. It was declared on January 1, 1919 in Smalensk.
The frontiers between Poland, which had established a shaky independent
government following World War I, and the former Tsarist empire,
were rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions
and civil war. Poland's Jozef Pilsudski envisioned a new federation
(Miedzymorze), forming a Polish-led East European bloc to form a
bulwark against Russia and Germany, while the RSFSR attempted to
carry the revolution westward. When Pilsudski carried out a military
thrust into Ukraine in 1920, he was met by a Red Army offensive
that drove into Polish territory almost to Warsaw. However, Pilsudski
halted the Soviet advance at the battle of Warsaw and resumed the
offensive. The "Peace of Riga" signed in early 1921 that
split the territory of Belarus between Poland and the USSR. (see
also: Polish-Soviet War)
Until 1939 the territory of Belaru was divided into East Belarus
(The Belarusian SSR) and West Belarus (Nowogrodek (Navaharodak),
Bialystok (Bielastok), Polesia and Wilno (Vilnia) voivodships of
the Second Polish Republic). Initially, the national culture and
language had a significant boost of revival in the Soviet Belarus.
This was tragically ended during the Great Purges, when almost all
prominent Belarusian national intelligentsia were murdered. West
Belarus was undergoing a strong policy of polonization by the Polish
nationalist government. Around 300 thousands of Poles were settled
in Belarus, Belarusian language was prohibited for official use
and education.
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Belarus in World War II
When the Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, following
the terms of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, much of what had been eastern
Poland was annexed to the BSSR. Eighteen months later, Germany and
its Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Belarus
suffered particularly heavily during the fighting and the German
occupation, as well as from the results of a slash-and-burn policy
pursued by retreating Soviet troops. Following bloody encirclement
battles, all of present-day Belarus was occupied by the Germans
by the end of August 1941.
The Germans imposed a brutal racist regime, burning down some 9,000
Belarusian villages, deporting some 380,000 people for slave labour,
and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians more. Almost the
whole, previously very numerous, jewish population of Belarus was
killed. Since the early days of the occupation, a powerful and increasingly
well-coordinated partisan movement emerged. Hiding in the woods
and swamps, the partisans inflicted heavy damage to German supply
lines and communications, disrupting railway tracks, bridges, telegraph
wires, attacking supply depots, fuel dumps and transports and ambushing
German occupation soldiers. It should be noted that not all anti-German
partisans were pro-Soviet. In the greatest partisan sabotage action
of the entire Second World War, the so-called Asipovichy diversion
of July 30, 1943, four German trains with supplies and Tiger tanks
were destroyed. To fight partisan activity, the Germans had to withdraw
considerable forces behind their front line. On June 22, 1944, the
huge Soviet offensive Operation Bagration was launched, finally
regaining all of Belarus by the end of August.
In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population in the
Second World War. For the defence against the Germans, and the tenacity
during the German occupation, the capital Minsk was awarded the
title Hero City after the War. The fortress of Brest was awarded
the title Hero-Fortress.
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BSSR in 1945-1990
After the end of War, in 1945 Belarus became one of the founding
members of the United Nations Organisation.
50 years of Soviet Belarus - a Soviet stamp of 1969During the immediate
postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded
its economy, with control always exerted exclusively from Moscow.
Belarus became an important part of the Soviet economy, huge industrial
objects like the ByelAZ, MAZ, the Minsk Tractor Plant were built
in the country.
On April 26, 1986 the Chernobyl accident occurred at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It is regarded as the worst nuclear
accident in the history of nuclear power. It produced a plume of
radioactive debris that drifted over parts of the western Soviet
Union, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Large areas of Ukraine,
Belarus, and Russia were contaminated, resulting in the evacuation
and resettlement of roughly 200,000 people. About 60 percent of
radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.
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Republic of Belarus
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Belarus declared its independence
on July 27, 1990.
In 1994, the first presidental elections were held, Alexander Lukashenka
was elected president of Belarus. During his term of presidency,
an authoritarian regime was built up in the country. Belarus is
considered to be Europe's last dictatorship.
Symbols from earlier history
The images show the white-red-white flag and The Chase coat of
arms. These historical symbols were adopted as the symbols of the
Belarus National Republic and as the official national symbols of
the Republic of Belarus from the time it got its independence in
July 1991 and until the Referendum of 1995. The coat of arms is
similar to that of Lithuania (Vytis).
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