This article describes the 'history of Belarus'. The
Belarusian ethnos is traced at least as far in time as other
East Slavs.
After an initial period of independent
feudal consolidation, Belarusian lands were included into the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogitia within the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the
Russian Empire and eventually the
Soviet Union.
Belarus became their own country in 1991 after declaring itself free from the Soviet Union.
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.
East Slavs settled on the territory within present-day Belarus,
Russia and
Ukraine, assimilating local
Baltic — (
Yotvingians,
Dnepr balts), 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 as well as several Baltic tribes.
During the 9th and 10th centuries,
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 the tribes of East Slavs, at least to the point required by improvements in trade.
The
Rus' rulers invaded the Byzantine Empire on few occasions, but eventually they allied 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,
Kievan Rus' — a loose-knit network of principalities, established along preexisting trade routes, with major centers in
Novgorod (currently Russia),
Polatsk (in Belarus) and
Kiev (currently in Ukraine) — which claimed a sometimes precarious preeminence among them.
First Belarusian states
Between the
9th and
12th centuries, the
Principality of Polotsk (northern Belarus) emerged as the dominant center of power on Belarusian territory, with a lesser role played by the principality of
Turaŭ 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–
66), though completely rebuilt over the years, 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–
73), 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–
82).
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In the 13th century, the fragile unity of Kievan Rus' disintegrated due to nomadic incursions from Asia, which climaxed with the
Mongol Blue Horde's sacking of Kiev (
1240), leaving a geopolitical vacuum in the region. The East Slavs splintered into a number of independent and competing principalities. Due to military conquest and dynastic marriages the Belarusian principalities were acquired by the expanding
Lithuania, beginning with the rule of Lithuanian King
Mindouh (Mindaugas) (
1240–
63). From the
13th to
15th century, Baltic, Belarusian and
Ukrainian lands were consolidated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with its initial capital unknown, but presumably that could have been either Trakai, Kernave, Voruta or Vilnius. Annals mention that king Mindaugas was crowned in Voruta. As of fourteenth century Vilnius was the only official capital of the state until the present moment, with exception of the beginning of 20th century when temporary capital was Kaunas.
The Lithuanians' smaller numbers and lack of their own written language in this medieval state gave Ruthenians (present-day Belarusians and Ukrainians) very 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 and
Eastern Orthodox faith among the state's population,
Ruthenian language was widely used for the state chancery, legal, diplomatic and judicial needs until
1696, when it was eventually replaced by
Polish.
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 languages.
Several Lithuanian monarchs — the last being
Švitrigaila in
1432–
36 — relied on the Eastern Orthodox Ruthenian majority, while most monarchs and magnates increasingly came to reflect opinions of the Roman Catholic Lithuanian minority.
Church of the Saviour's Transfiguration in
Zaslavl (1577)
Construction of Orthodox churches in some parts of preset-day Belarus had been initially prohibited, as was the case of
Vitebsk in
1480. On the other hand, further unification of the, mostly Orthodox, Grand Duchy with mostly Catholic Poland led to liberalization and partial solving of the religious problem. In
1511, King and
Grand Duke Sigismund I the Old granted the Orthodox clergy with autonomy enjoyed previously only by Catholic clergy. The privilege was enhanced in
1531, when the Orthodox church was no longer responsible to the Catholic bishop and instead the
Metropolite was responsible only to the
sobor of eight Orthodox bishops, the Grand Duke and the
Patriarch of Constantinople. The privilege also extended the jurisdiction of the Orthodox hierarchy over all Orthodox people
[1].
In such circumstances, vibrant Ruthenian culture flourished, mostly in major present-day Belarusian cities
[2]. Despite the legal usage of
Old Ruthenian language (predecessor of both modern
Belarusian and
Ukrainian languages) which was used as a chancellery language in territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the literature was mostly non-existent, outside of several chronicles. The first Belarusian book printed with the first
printing press in the
Cyrillic alphabet was published in
Prague, in
1517, by
Francysk Skaryna, a leading representative of the
renaissance Belarusian culture. Soon afterwards he founded a similar printing press in
Polatsk and started an extensive work of publishing the Bible and other religious works there. Apart from the Bible itself, until his death in 1551 he published 22 other books thus laying foundations for the evolution of the
Ruthenian language into modern
Belarusian language.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The
Lublin Union of
1569 constituted the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as an influential player in European politics and the largest multinational state in Europe. While
Ukraine and
Podlachia became subject to the
Polish Crown, present-day Belarus territory was still regarded as part of
Lithuania. The new polity was dominated by much more densely populated Poland, which had 134 representatives in the
Sejm as compared to 46 representatives of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However the Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained much autonomy, and was governed by a separate code of laws called the
Lithuanian Statutes, which codified both civil and property rights.
Mogilyov was the largest urban centre of the territory of present-day Belarus, followed by Vitebsk,
Polotsk,
Pinsk,
Slutsk, and
Brest, whose population exceeded 10,000. In addition,
Vilna (Vilnius), the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, also had a significant Ruthenian population.
[3]
With time the ethnic pattern did not evolve much. Throughout their existence as a separate culture, Ruthenians formed in most cases rural population, with the power held by local
szlachta and
boyars, often of Lithuanian, Polish or Russian descent. As in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, the
trade and commerce was mostly monopolized by
Armenians and
Jews, who formed a significant part of the urban population. Since the
Union of Horodlo of
1413 local nobility was assimilated into the
traditional clan system by means of the formal procedure of adoption by the ''
szlachta'' (Polish
gentry). Eventually it formed a significant part of the szlachta. Initially mostly Ruthenian and Orthodox, with time most of them became
polonized. This was especially true for major
magnate families (
Sapieha and
Radziwiłł clans being the most notable), whose personal fortunes and properties often surpassed those of the royal families and were huge enough to be called a state within a state. Many of them founded their own cities and settled them with settlers from other parts of Europe. Indeed there were
Scots,
Germans and
Dutch people inhabitating major towns of the area, as well as several Italian artists who had been "imported" to the lands of modern Belarus by the magnates. Contrary to Poland, in the lands of the Grand Duchy the peasants had little personal freedom in the
Middle Ages. However, with time the magnates and the gentry gradually limited the few liberties of the
serfs at the same time increasing their taxation, often in labour for the local gentry. This made many Ruthenians flee to the scarcely populated lands, ''Dzikie Pola'' (Wild Fields), the Polish name of the
Zaporizhian Sich, where they formed a large part of the
Cossacks. Others sought refuge in the lands of other
magnates or in Russia.
Also, with time the religious conflicts started to arise. The gentry with time started to adopt
Catholicism while the common people by large remained faithful to
Eastern Orthodoxy. Initially the
Warsaw Compact of
1573 codified the preexisting
freedom of worship. However, the rule of an ultra-Catholic King
Sigismund III Vasa was marked by numerous attempts to spread the Catholicism, mostly through his support for
counterreformation and the
Jesuits. Possibly to avoid such conflicts, in
1595 the Orthodox hierarchs of Kiev signed the
Union of Brest, breaking their links with the
Patriarch of Constantinople and placing themselves under the
Patriarch of Rome. Although the union was generally supported by most local Orthodox bishops and the king himself, it was opposed by some prominent nobles and, more importantly, by the nascent
Cossack movement. This led to a series of conflicts and rebellions against the local authorities. The first of such happened in
1595, when the Cossack insurgents under
Severyn Nalivaiko took the towns of
Slutsk and
Mogilyov and executed Polish magistrates there. Other such clashes took place in
Mogilyov (
1606–
10), Vitebsk (
1623), and
Polotsk (1623,
1633)
[4]. This left the population of the Grand Duchy divided between
Greek Catholic and
Greek Orthodox parts. At the same time, after the
schism in the Orthodox Church (
Raskol), some
Old Believers migrated west, seeking refuge in the Rzeczpospolita, which
allowed them to freely practice their faith
[5].
From
1569 the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth suffered a series of
Tatar invasions, the goal of which was to loot, pillage and capture slaves into jasyr. The borderland area to the south-east was in a state of semi-permanent warfare until the
18th century. Some researchers estimate that altogether more than 3 million people, predominantly
Ukrainians but also
Russians,
Belarusians and
Poles, were captured and enslaved during the time of the
Crimean Khanate.
Despite the abovementioned conflicts, the literary tradition of Belarus evolved. Until the
17th century, the
Ruthenian language, the predecessor of modern
Belarusian, was used in Grand Duchy as a ''chancery language'', that is the language used for official documents. Afterwards it was replaced with the
Polish language, commonly spoken by the upper classes of Belarusian society. Both Polish and Ruthenian cultures gained a major cultural centre with the foundation of the
Academy of Vilna. At the same time the Belarusian lands entered a path of economic growth, with the formation of numerous towns that served as centres of trade on the east-west routes.
However, both economical and cultural growth came to an end in mid-17th century with a series of violent wars against
Muscovy,
Sweden,
Brandenburg and
Transylvania, as well as internal conflicts, known altogether as
The Deluge. The misfortunes were started in
1648 by
Bohdan Chmielnicki, who started a
large-scale Cossack uprising in the
Ukraine. Although the Cossacks were defeated in
1651 in the
battle of Beresteczko, Khmelnytsky sought help from Russian tsar, and by the
Treaty of Pereyaslav Russia dominated and partially occupied the eastern lands of the Commonwealth since 1655. The
Swedes invaded and occupied the rest in the same year. The wars had shown internal problems of the state, with some people of the Grand Duchy supporting Russia
[6] while others (most notably
Janusz Radziwiłł) supporting the Swedes. Although the Swedes were finally driven back in 1657 and the Russians were defeated in
1662, most of the country was ruined. It is estimated that the Commonwealth lost a third of its population, with some regions of Belarus losing as much as 50%. This broke the power of the once-powerful Commonwealth and the country gradually became vulnerable to foreign influence.
Subsequent wars in the area (
Great Northern War and the
War of Polish succession) damaged its economy even further. In addition, Russian armies raided the Commonwealth under the pretext of the returning of fugitive peasants.
By mid-
18th century their presence in the lands of modern Belarus became almost permanent.
The last attempt to save the Commonwealth's independence was a
Polish–Belarusian–Lithuanian national uprising of
1794 led by
Tadeusz Kościuszko, however it was eventually quenched.
Eventually by 1795 Poland was
partitioned by its neighbors. Thus a new period in Belarusian history started, with all its lands annexed by the
Russian Empire, in a continuing endeavor of Russian tsars of "gathering the Rus lands" started after the liberation from the
Tatar yoke by Grand Duke
Ivan III of Russia.
Russian Empire
Under Russian administration, the territory of Belarus was divided into the ''
guberniyas'' of
Minsk, Vitebsk,
Mogilyov, and
Hrodno. Belarusians were active in the
guerrilla movement against
Napoleon's occupation and
did their best to annihilate the remains of the
Grande Armée when it crossed the
Berezina River in November 1812. With Napoleon's defeat, Belarus again became a part of
Imperial Russia and its ''guberniyas'' constituted part of the
Northwestern Krai. The anti-Russian uprisings of the gentry
[7] in
1830 and
1863 were subdued by government forces.
Although under
Nicholas I and
Alexander III the national cultures were repressed due to the policies of de-
Polonization[8] and
Russification, which included the return to Orthodoxy, the
19th century was signified by the rise of the modern Belarusian nation and self-confidence. A number of authors started publishing in the Belarusian language, including
Jan Czeczot,
Władysław Syrokomla and
Konstanty Kalinowski.
In a russification drive in the
1840s,
Nicholas I forbade the use of the term ''Belarusia'' and renamed the region the "North-Western Territory". He also prohibited the use of Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In
1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded into a revolt, led by Kalinowski. After the failed revolt, the Russian government introduced the use of the
Cyrillic alphabet to Belarusian in
1864 and banned the use of the
Latin alphabet.
In the second half of the 19th century, the
Belarusian economy, like that of the entire Europe, was experiencing significant growth due to the spread of the
Industrial Revolution to
Eastern Europe [9], particularly after the
emancipation of the serfs in
1861. Peasants sought a better lot in foreign industrial centres, with some 1.5 million people leaving Belarus in the half-century preceding the
Russian Revolution of 1917.
20th century
BNR and LBSSR
Main articles: Belarus National Republic,
Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
World War I was the short period when Belarusian culture started to flourish. German administration allowed schools with Belarusian language, previously banned in Russia; a number of Belarusian schools were created until
1919 when they were banned again by the Polish military administration. At the end of World War I, when Belarus was still
occupied by Germans, according to the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the short-lived
Belarus National Republic was pronounced on
March 25,
1918, as part of the German
Mitteleuropa plan.
In December 1918, Mitteleuropa was obsolete as the Germans withdrew from the
Ober-Ost territory, and for the next few years in the newly created political vacuum the territories of Belarus would witness the struggle of various national and foreign factions. On
January 2,
1919 the
Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia was declared. Next month it was disbanded. Part of it was included into
RSFSR, and part was joined to the
Lithuanian SSR to form the LBSSR,
Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, informally known as ''Litbel''. While Belarus National Republic faced off with Litbel, foreign powers were preparing to reclaim what they saw as their territories: Polish forces were moving from the West, and Russians from the East.
Eventually it was the foreigners who prevailed. When
Red Army entered
Minsk on
January 5,
1919, the Rada (Council) of the Belarus National Republic went into exile, first to
Kaunas, then to
Berlin and finally to
Prague. Several month later, in August, the Litbel was also dissolved, this time because of the pressure of Polish forces advancing from the West.
Belarusian Soviet Republic and West Belarus
Main articles: West Belarus,
Byelorussian SSR
Within the
USSR, the name of the country was ''
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic''. It was declared on
January 1,
1919 in
Smolensk uner the name of
Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB).
The frontiers between Poland, which had established an independent government following World War I, and the former Russian Empire, were not recognized by the
League of Nations. Poland's
Józef Piłsudski, who envisioned a
federation (
Międzymorze), forming an East European bloc to form a bulwark against Russia and Germany, carried out
Kiev Offensive into Ukraine in
1920, but was met by a Red Army counter-offensive that drove into Polish territory almost to Warsaw. However, Piłsudski halted the Soviet advance at the
battle of Warsaw and resumed the offensive. Finally the
Treaty of Riga, ending the
Polish–Soviet War, divided Belarusian territories between Poland and Soviet Russia. For next two years BNR prepared for national uprising in Belarus and ceased the preparations only when the
League of Nations recognised the eastern borders of Soviet Union on
March 15 1923.
The Polish part of Belarus was subject to
Polonization policies (especially in the
1930s), while the Soviet Belarus was one of the original republics which formed the
USSR. For several years, the national culture and language enjoyed a significant boost of revival in the Soviet Belarus. This was however soon tragically ended during the
Great Purge, when almost all prominent Belarusian national
intelligentsia were executed, many of them buried in
Kurapaty. Thousands were deported to Asia. As the result of
Polish operation of the NKVD tens of thousands people of many nationalities were killed. Belarusian
orthography was Russified in 1933 and use of Belarusian language was discouraged as exhibiting anti-soviet attitude.
[10]
In the
West Belarus, up to 30 000 families of Polish
veterans (''
osadniks'') were settled in the lands formerly belonging to the Russian
tsar family and Russian aristocracy
[11]. Belarusian representation in
Polish parliament was reduced as a result of the 1930 elections. Since the early 1930s, the Polish government introduced a set of policies designed to Polonize all minorities (Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, etc.). The usage of Belarusian language was discouraged and the Belarusian schools were facing severe financial problems. In spring of 1939 there already was neither single Belarusian official organisation in Poland nor a single Belarusian school (with only 44 schools teaching Belarusian language left).
[12]
Belarus in World War II
When the Soviet Union
invaded Poland on
September 17 1939, following the terms of the
Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact's secret protocol, much of what had been eastern Poland was annexed to the BSSR. Similarly to the times of German occupation during the
First World War, Belarusian language and Soviet culture enjoyed relative prosperity in this short period. Already in October
1940, over 75% of schools used the Belarusian language, also in the regions where no Belarus people lived, eg. around
Łomża, what was Ruthenization.
[13] After twenty months of Soviet rule, Germany and its
Axis allies invaded the Soviet Union on
June 22,
1941. Soviet authorities immediately evacuated about 20% of the population of Belarus and destroyed all the food supplies.
[14] The country suffered particularly heavily during the fighting and the German occupation. Following bloody encirclement battles, all of the present-day Belarus territory was occupied by the Germans by the end of August 1941.
During the World War II the
Nazis attempted to establish a puppet Belarusian government,
Belarusian Central Rada, with the symbolics similar to BNR. In reality, however, 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. Local police took part in many of those crimes. Almost the whole, previously very numerous,
Jewish population of Belarus which did not evacuate was killed. One of the first uprisings of a Jewish
ghetto against the Nazis occurred in 1942 in Belarus, in the small town of
Lakhva.
Since the early days of the occupation, a powerful and increasingly well-coordinated
Belarusian resistance 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 soldiers. Not all anti-German partisans were pro-Soviet.
[15] In the largest 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. Hundred thousand of Poles were expelled after 1944.
In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population in the Second World War, including practically all its intellectual elite. About 9 200 villages and 1.2 million houses were destroyed. The major towns of
Minsk and
Vitsebsk lost over 80% of their buildings and city infrastructure. 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''.
BSSR from 1945 to 1990
After the end of War in 1945, Belarus became one of the founding members of the
United Nations Organisation. Joining Belarus was the Soviet Union itself and another republic
Ukraine. In exchange for Belarus and Ukraine joining the UN, the
United States had the right to seek two more votes, a right that has never been exercised.
[1]
The Belarusian economy was completely devastated by the events of the war. Most of the industry, including whole production plants were removed either to Russia or Germany. Industrial production of Belarus in 1945 amounted for less than 20% of its pre-war size. Most of the factories evacuated to Russia, with several spectacular exceptions, were not returned to Belarus after 1945. During the immediate postwar period, the Soviet Union first rebuilt and then expanded the BSSR's economy, with control always exerted exclusively from Moscow. During this time, Belarus became a major center of manufacturing in the western region of the USSR. Huge industrial objects like the
BelAZ,
MAZ, and the
Minsk Tractor Plant were built in the country. The increase in jobs resulted in a huge immigrant population of Russians in Belarus. Russian became the official language of administration and the peasant class, which traditionally was the base for Belarusian nation, ceased to exist.
[16]
On
April 26,
1986 the
Chernobyl accident occurred at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in
Ukraine situated close to the border with Belarus. 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 Belarus, Ukraine and
Russia were contaminated, resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of roughly 200 000 people. About 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus. The
effects of Chernobyl accident in Belarus were dramatic: about 50,000 km² (or about a quarter of the territory of Belarus) formerly populated by 2.2 million people (or a fifth of the Belarusian population) now require permanent radioactive monitoring (after receiving doses over 37
kBq/m² of
caesium-137). 135 000 persons were permanently resettled and many more were resettled temporarily. After 10 years since the accident the occurrences of
thyroid cancer among children increased fifteen-fold (the sharp rise started in about four years after the accident).
[2]
Republic of Belarus
On
27 July 1990, Belarus declared its national sovereignty, a key step toward independence from the Soviet Union. The BSSR was formally renamed the
Republic of Belarus on
25 August 1991. Around that time,
Stanislav Shushkevich became the chairman of the
Supreme Soviet of Belarus, the top leadership position in Belarus. On
December 8,
1991, Shushkevich met with
Boris Yeltsin of Russia and
Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine, in
Belavezhskaya Pushcha, to formally declare the
dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
In
1994, the first presidential elections were held and
Alexander Lukashenko was elected president of Belarus. Under Lukashenko, economic reforms were slowed. The
1996 Belarus Referendum resulted in the amendment of the constitution that took key powers off the parliament. In
2001, he was
re-elected as president in elections described as undemocratic by Western observers. At the same time the west began criticising him of
authoritarianism. In
2006, Lukashenko was once again re-elected in
presidential elections which were again criticised as flawed by most EU countries.
Notes
1. Литовско–русское государство (''Litovsko–russkoye gosydarstvo'') in ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary''
2. "Братства" (''Bratstva'') in ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary''
3. Внутриполитические результаты Люблинской унии (''Vnutripolitičeskie rezul'tati Lyublinskoy unii''), Belarus.by portal
4. Церковная уния 1596 г. (''Tserkovnaya uniya 1596 g.'') in "belarus.by portal"
5. Jerzy Czajewski, ''Zbiegostwo ludności Rosji w granice Rzeczypospolitej'' (Russian population exodus into the Rzeczpospolita), Promemoria journal, October 2004 nr. (5/15), ISSN 1509-9091, Table of Contents online
6. Белорусская Советская Социалистическая Республика (''Belorusskaya Sovyetskaya Socialističeskaya Respublika''), article in "Большая Советская Энциклопедия" (Great Soviet Encyclopedia). Last accessed in December 2005
7. Żytko, ''Russian policy…'', p551.
8. Воссоединение униатов и исторические судьбы Белорусского народа (''Vossoyedineniye uniatov i istoričeskiye sud'bi Belorusskogo naroda''), Pravoslavie portal
9. История строительства дорог 1850–1900 гг. (''Istoriya stroitel'stva dorog 1850–1900 gg.], Byelorussian Railways
10. Janowicz, ''Forming…'', p. 247.
11. Janina Stobniak-Smogorzewska, ''Kresowe osadnictwo wojskowe 1920–1945'' (''Military colonization of Kresy 1920–1945''), Warsaw, RYTM, 2003, ISBN 83-7399-006-2
12. Ogonowski, ''Uprawnienia językowe…'', pp164–165
13. Ruchniewicz, ''Stosunki…'', p254
14. Mironowicz, p136
15. Strużyńska, ''Anti-Soviet conspiracy…'', pp859–860.
16. Janowicz, ''Forming…'',, p. 248.
References
★
Piotr Eberhardt, ''Problematyka narodowościowa Białorusi w XX wieku'' ("Nationality issue of Belarus in thr 20th century"), Lublin, 1996, ISBN 83-85854-16-9
★
Sokrat Janowicz, ''Forming of the Belarussian nation'', RYTM, 1999
★
Eugeniusz Mironowicz, ''Białoruś'', Trio, Warsaw, 1999, ISBN 83-85660-82-8
★
Jerzy Ogonowski, ''Uprawnienia językowe mniejszości narodowych w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej 1918–1939'' (''The Language Rights of National Minorities in the Second Republic of Poland, 1918–1939'', Polish with an English summary), Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, Warsaw, 2000
★
Ryszard Radzik, ''Kim są Białorusini?'' (''Who are the Belarusians?''), Toruń 2003, ISBN 83-7322-672-9
★
Małgorzata Ruchniewicz, ''Stosunki narodowościowe w latach 1939–1948 na obszarze tzw. Zachodniej Białorusi'' in ''Przemiany narodowościowe na kresach wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej 1931–1948'' (''Nationality relations in 1939-1948 on the territory of so-called Western Belarus''), Toruń, 2004, ISBN 83-7322-861-6
★
Nina Strużyńska, ''Anti-Soviet conspiracy and partisan struggle of the Green Oak Party in Belarus'', in ''Non Provinicial Europe'', London 1999, ISBN 83-86759-92-5
★
Anatol Żytko, ''Russian policy towards the Belarussian gentry in 1861–1914'', Minsk, 1999
See also
External links
★
Belarus National Republic — the Belarusian Government in exile
★
Stary Hetman — forums and library (in Belarusian and Russian) on Belarusian history
★
Belarus, by
CIA World Factbook, 2000
★
Belarus, by
United States Department of State
★
Belarusian diaspora
★
History of Grand Duchy of Lithuania
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