Brief essay on the history of Belarus. How much does customs clearance from Belarus cost? Recent history of Belarus

BELARUS. STORY
In the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. representatives of the Milograd culture (an ancient Slavic group) moved from the south to the territory of present-day Belarus. In the 1st century BC. representatives of another Slavic group appeared - the Zarubintsy culture. Slavic tribes the Dregovichi, Radimichi and Krivichi were eventually assimilated by the Baltic, who lived before them on this land. By the 9th c. the lands of Polotsk, Turov-Pinsk, Smolensk and other principalities became part of the Old Russian state.
Lithuanian period. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion of 1237-1240, the Belarusian lands were captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, making alliances with local feudal landowners against common enemies - the Mongol-Tatars in the east and the Teutonic Knights in the west. From the 14th century in the Teutonic chronicles, the term "White Russia" appears, and the local tribes are gradually united into a single nationality. In 1386 Grand Duke Lithuanian became the king of Poland and, thus, the ruler of a huge state that included the Baltic and Slavic peoples. The Belarusian language was the state and diplomatic language of Lithuania until 1569, when Lithuania united with Poland into a single state - the Commonwealth.
Polish period. The union of Poland and Lithuania led to the strengthening of Polish influence in the Belarusian lands. Both ecclesiastical and secular public institutions have changed. The Orthodox Church, which represented the main religion in Belarus, was transformed into a Uniate Union by the Union of Brest in 1596, retained the Byzantine ritual of the church service, but accepted Roman Catholic dogmas and the power of the pope. Polish influence also manifested itself in the socio-economic sphere, as the communal land ownership of the Belarusians was replaced by individual land ownership, and the peasants were enslaved. The noble elite quickly adopted the Polish language, Polish culture, and the Roman Catholic faith. Peasants and the urban common people have preserved the Belarusian language and culture and loyalty to the Uniate Church. The Commonwealth reached the peak of its power at the beginning of the 17th century, when its lands stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea, and Moscow Rus accepted the Polish prince Vladislav to the royal throne. The next century and a half passed in this region under the sign of wars between Russia, Poland and Sweden. Particularly destructive were the Russian-Polish war for the Ukrainian lands (1654-1667) and the Northern War (1700-1721) between Russia and Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. As a result of violence, hunger and disease, about half of the population of Belarus died in these wars.
Russian period. The divisions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by Russia, Prussia and Austria led to the incorporation of Belarusian lands into the Russian Empire. The Uniate Church was liquidated in 1839. In 1840 the Russian Judicial Code was put into effect, and the use of the term Belorussiya (Belarus) was prohibited. Belarus entered the "North-Western Territory" of the empire. The Belarusian nobility and some part of the peasantry under the leadership of Kastus Kalinovsky took part in the Polish-Lithuanian uprising of 1863. In the wake of the liberalization of public life in Russia in the 1860s and 1870s, publications in the Belarusian language began to appear. On March 24, 1918, the All-Belarusian Congress proclaimed the Byelorussian People's Republic. After the German troops that had occupied Byelorussia during World War I left the country in December 1918, a united Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Republic was created. Following the offensive of Poland in 1919 and a short war between Poland and Soviet Russia in 1920, Belarus was again divided. About 100 thousand square meters. km of its territory went to Poland. In the rest of the territory (107 thousand sq. Km), where approx. 5 million Belarusians, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was proclaimed, which in 1922 became part of the USSR.
Soviet period. In the late 1920s, Stalin began to pursue a course of Sovietization of Belarus. Industrialization and collectivization in the 1930s uprooted hundreds of thousands of Belarusians who moved to the rapidly growing cities of Belarus and the east of the USSR. In 1950, their numbers in the cities of Belarus exceeded the share of other ethnic groups (Russians, Poles and Jews). As a result of the invasion Nazi Germany and occupation during the Second World War, Belarus suffered enormous damage. When the republic was liberated in 1944 by the Soviet army and partisans, all its cities lay in ruins, all industrial enterprises were destroyed, and 2,225,000 people (every fourth inhabitant of the republic) died. After the war, Belarus began to rebuild and by the 1970s had become a developed economic region of the USSR. As urbanization and industrial growth intensified the process of assimilation of Belarusians. The state policy of enlightenment and education contributed to this process, because. circulation of Russian-language publications increased, and in the overwhelming majority of schools, Russian became the main language of instruction. In the 1990 elections, the Communist Party managed to win a majority of seats in the Supreme Soviet. However, the participation of other forces split the parliament into three blocs: the nomenklatura of the Communist Party; anti-communist Belarusian Popular Front; moderate intellectuals and ordinary members of the Communist Party. The first of these blocs supported the putsch in Moscow in August 1991, and after its failure, the leader of the bloc, Nikolai Dementei, was forced to resign as chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the republic. His place was taken by the leader of the moderates, Stanislav Shushkevich.
Independent Belarus. On August 25, 1991, the Supreme Council proclaimed the independence of the BSSR; a few weeks later the name of the country was changed to the Republic of Belarus. In December 1991, Shushkevich, Russian President B.N. Yeltsin and Ukrainian President L.M. Kravchuk met in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, annulled the Federal Treaty of 1922, according to which the Soviet Union was created, and united their countries in a free association called the Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS). After a long struggle with the left, Shushkevich was forced in January 1993 to resign from his post as chairman of the Supreme Council. He was replaced by Mieczysław Hryb, who sought integration with Russia. In March 1994 a new constitution was adopted, and in July the first presidential elections were held. A.G. Lukashenko, a former director of a state farm and a deputy of the Supreme Council, who has created a reputation for himself as a fighter against corruption, received more than 80% of the vote in these elections. In November 1996, Lukashenka held a referendum on constitutional amendments in 1994, which expanded his powers and extended his tenure as president. On November 19, 1998, Parliament approved the draft Civil Code, as amended by the president. These changes are aimed at establishing strict state control over the implementation of economic and social reforms during the transition period. On July 20, 1999, Lukashenka's tenure as president, determined by the 1994 constitution, ended, but, according to the results of the 1996 referendum, Lukashenka remained in office and is going to hold it until 2001. Western countries, unlike Ukraine and Russian Federation, dispute the legitimacy of President Lukashenko, although he is popular among the population of the republic. All three Slavic states condemned the NATO invasion of Yugoslavia, and after the operation ended, Belarus took an active part in the "West 1999" maneuvers conducted by the Russian armed forces. Interregional Association for Economic Cooperation" central Russia"established direct economic ties with the Vitebsk, Gomel, Minsk and Mogilev regions of Belarus. In December 1999, an agreement was signed between Belarus and Russia on the creation of the Union State.

Collier Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

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After in 1795, after the third and final partition of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ceased to exist, and the territory of Belarus was ceded to Russia, a policy of Russification began to be carried out on these lands, aimed at eradicating local characteristics and close rapprochement with neighboring, Russian regions . On these lands, an administrative-territorial reform was carried out, which divided Belarus into five provinces: Mogilev, Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk and Vilna. The provinces, in turn, were divided into counties, with a population of about 20-30 thousand in each. The provinces were part of two governor-generals: Belarusian (Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces) and Lithuanian (Minsk, Grodno and Vilna provinces). The heads of these administrative units - governors-general - had unquestioning power. This power was based on a powerful administrative, political and military apparatus. One example of such unlimited power was the Belarusian Governor-General Z.G. Chernyshev, who even had his own throne, thus emphasizing the fullness and greatness of his position for the general government.

Within a month, after the publication of the order to annex these lands to the Russian Empire, the local population was sworn in. Those who refused to take the oath were ordered to leave the empire within three months, having previously sold all real estate. Afraid to ignore the important differences in the state and legal status of the people who inhabited these lands, the authorities left the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1588 as the main legislative document in the field of civil law. Local population self-government could deal with issues, but the main role in these processes was assigned to the royal proteges.

The policy of the Russian government towards different social groups was different. Those representatives of the gentry who swore allegiance received all the rights and privileges of the nobility.

At the same time, the magnates were deprived of the right to own their own armies and fortresses. To stabilize the situation, an active planting of Russian land ownership was carried out. Estates with serfs, former possessions of magnates who went abroad, former church possessions - all this was given to Russian landowners. One of the largest owners on the territory of Belarus was Prince G.A. Potemkin-Tauride (about 15 thousand peasants), Field Marshal P.A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky (more than 11 thousand peasants), A.V. Suvorov (7 thousand). In total, during the reign of Catherine II and Paul I, about 200 thousand peasants were granted hereditary possession

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Topics: provincesPaul IRzeczpospolitaRussian Empire

Republic of Belarus

The Republic of Belarus is a state in Eastern Europe. The population at the beginning of 2016 is 9,498,700 people, the territory is 207,600 km². It ranks ninety-third in terms of population and eighty-fourth in terms of territory in the world.

The capital and largest city of the state is the city of Minsk. The state languages ​​are Belarusian and Russian. Unitary state, presidential republic. On July 20, 1994, Alexander Lukashenko took over as president, who later also won the elections of 2001, 2006, 2010 and 2015. Divided into 6 regions, the city of Minsk has a special status of a city of republican subordination.

Geographical position

The territory of Belarus is 207,600 km² (86th in terms of area among the countries of the world). Located in Eastern Europe. Belarus is the largest European country by territory (out of all those located in Europe) that does not have access to the sea. Belarus borders (starting from the northeast, clockwise) with Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

Climate

The climate of Belarus is temperate continental, transitional from maritime to continental, formed under the influence of the air masses of the Atlantic. AT winter period thaws are not uncommon. The average summer temperature ranges from +17°C in the north (July) to +18-19°C in the south. Precipitation falls evenly, increasing from south to north - from 500 mm in the south to 800 mm in the northwest. Maximum amount precipitation usually falls in autumn-winter period. In forest areas, the thickness of the snow cover can be 1-1.2 m.

Flora

Forests occupy about 2/5 of the country's territory. However, there are relatively few large forest areas on the territory of Belarus (the two largest are Belovezhskaya and Nalibokskaya forests), but there are no treeless areas either.

Fauna

The animal world combines representatives of deciduous forests, taiga and forest-steppe. Among the representatives of the fauna, the most common wild boar, hare, elk, beaver. The most popular and dangerous inhabitants of the forest are the wolf, bear, fox and lynx.

Stork, thrush, heron, crow, sparrow, tit, oriole, bullfinch are birds that reflect the flavor of Belarus.

There are many types of fish in the country, as the country is rich in water resources: rivers, lakes and reservoirs. The most common of them are: pike, roach, bream, crucian carp, perch.

Under state protection are: bison, marsh turtle, lynx, river beaver and pine marten. Insects are widespread everywhere.

bees, wasps, ladybugs, butterflies and earthworms are insects that are most common in the country.

Agriculture

Agriculture is a historically important branch of the local economy, providing more than 7% of the national GDP, providing employment for more than 9% of the population. The main agricultural sector is agriculture and dairy farming. The main food crops: potatoes (6.9 million tons), sugar beets (4.8 million tons), wheat (2.5 million tons) In the past, the traditional forest industry for the republic plays an insignificant role in foreign trade- exported timber products and services in 2013 amounted to 144.8 million dollars (0.39% of the country's exports).

Transport, infrastructure, communications

Railways and road transport are the main modes of transport in the country. Network railways is oriented to the main highway passing through Orsha, Minsk and Brest, which connects Belarus with Moscow in the east and Warsaw in the west. The operational length of the tracks is 5512 km. In total, there are more than 83,000 km of roads in Belarus common use and about 200,000 km of departmental (agricultural, industrial enterprises, forest, etc.), including 10,000 km in cities and towns. At the same time, the density of hard-surfaced country roads is still quite low - 337 km per 1000 km² of territory. There are 261 cars per thousand inhabitants in Belarus. The river fleet carries out transportation along 1,500 km of navigable waterways (mainly in the Dnieper basin). Air transport is relatively underdeveloped; largest airport country is located near Minsk. There are seven international airports in the country.

Declaration of Independence of Belarus. The collapse of the USSR.

The events of August 19-21, 1991 in Moscow accelerated the disintegration of the USSR. On August 25-26, 1991, an extraordinary session of the Supreme Council of the BSSR gave the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the BSSR the force of law, and also adopted a resolution on ensuring the political and economic independence of the Byelorussian SSR. On September 19, 1991, the Supreme Council adopted the Law "On the Name of the Byelorussian SSR", according to which it became known as the "Republic of Belarus", and in short - "Belarus". The coat of arms "Pahonia" and the white-red-white flag were declared the state symbols of the Republic of Belarus.

In August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR temporarily suspended the activities of the CPB on the territory of the republic. Her property became the property of the state.

December 8, 1991 in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, in the government residence of Viskuli (Pruzhany district Brest region) leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine B. N. Yeltsin, S. S. Shushkevich, L. M.

Kravchuk, ignoring the will of their peoples, expressed at the all-union referendum on March 17, 1991, denounced the Treaty of 1922 on the formation of the USSR and thereby finally destroyed a large and powerful state. The Soviet Union ceased to exist. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was created on the ruins of the USSR. The documents signed at the meeting in Viskuli were approved by the Supreme Soviets of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the majority of whose deputies were former communists.

On December 21, 1991, at a meeting in Alma-Ata, the leaders of 11 republics former USSR signed the Declaration on the formation of the CIS. All former Soviet republics, except for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, became members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In connection with the termination of the existence of the USSR on December 25, 1991, the President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev resigned. The red flag of the USSR over the Kremlin was replaced by the tricolor Russian one. Perestroika, begun in order to improve socialism, ended with its destruction.

For the first time, the written name "Belaya Rus" is found in documents in the second half of the 13th century. Until now, scientists have not come to a consensus regarding the interpretation of the term "White Russia" - probably, this name referred to the lands of Western Russia, independent of either the Mongol-Tatars or the Lithuanian feudal lords. Later, all Western Russian lands began to be called this way, but the name of the country and the people (Balarus, Belarussians) was finally fixed only at the end of the 19th century.

AT IX-X centuries the Krivichi, Dregovichi and Radimichi who lived in this territory became part of Kievan Rus, but by the end of the 11th century, the principalities of Polotsk (occupied half of the territory of modern Belarus), Turov, Pinsk, and others stood out. Under Vseslav Bryachislavich (Wizard) - the great-grandson of Rogneda Vladimir Svyatoslavich - the Polotsk principality became one of the most powerful states in Europe. From the 13th century, Belarus was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The borders of the new power, which included the territories of modern Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, part of the western lands of Russia, stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united to form the Commonwealth, which, having existed for more than two centuries, fell as a result of partitions between Russia, Austria-Hungary and Prussia.

The Russian Empire got a vast territory - together with Belarus. In 1917, Soviet power was proclaimed in the country, and two years later the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus, SSRB (soon it became known as the BSSR) was formed. The modern name - the Republic of Belarus - the country received in 1991, when its independence was proclaimed.

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How old is Belarus?

Belarus or the Republic of Belarus is a state located in Eastern Europe. This country with its modern system arose in 1991, on December 26th. If you think about how old Belarus is, it’s not so much already - only 24 years (in 2015), if you count from the day it gained independence from the USSR. It is this date that is celebrated as the Independence Day of the country, because on this day the main document was adopted - the Constitution of the Republic. The republic changed its name from the BSSR to the Republic of Belarus in 1991, namely on September 19th.

If we consider how many years Belarus is from the day it was founded as a republic in the Russian Empire (in 1918, March 25), then this country will soon celebrate its centenary. You can also count from the acquisition by Belarus of the status of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, namely: from March 1924 and from December 1926 (the dates of the accession of the Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces).

For the curious who are interested in the population of the republic, we advise you to read our article How many people are in Belarus.

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It just so happens that if the first historical documents mention such a state entity as "Belaya Rus" in the thirteenth century, then according to modern archaeological excavations history of Belarus goes back to more ancient Neolithic times, when primitive tribes lived on this territory. An earlier mention of the first capital of this state, Polotsk, can be read in one of the sections of the famous chronicle of Nestor.

At the same time, the Polotsk period of the Belarusian state in the 8th-9th centuries is characterized by a rather intensive development of agriculture and crafts, which led not only to the formation of feudal relations in this territory, but also to its acquisition of economic importance among neighboring states. So, it was quite natural that such centers of trade as Vitebsk (947) and the city of Turov (980) appeared on this territory.

In the X-XI centuries, based on this level economic development there was a union not only near the lying cities, but also the adjacent territories, which led to the formation of the Polotsk, Turov-Pinsky and Gorodensky principalities. And the very nature and geography of Belarus has become her fortress. At the same time, Christianity came to Ancient Russia in the same period, which led not only to the religious unification of these state entities, but also to the spread of Slavic culture in this territory, in particular, the development of the same Cyrillic alphabet and writing.

No less remarkable story these territories in the XIII century, when the united principalities, with light hand Lithuanian prince Minvog, were included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which stretched from south to north, from the Baltic to the Black Sea. During the same period, not only the economic, but also the cultural flourishing of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania falls. So, in particular, it was during this period that one of the first printers of ancient Russia, Francysk Skorina, worked in Polotsk.

In 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland united by signing the historic Union of Lublin. As a result of this merger, political map Medieval Europe a new historical player appeared, which in turn not only significantly changed the balance of power on the European continent, but also changed the cultural traditions of this state formation. After all, the Polish language was adopted as the state language of the Commonwealth, and religious traditions began to be based on the principles of Catholicism.

Modern history of Belarus

How modern public education Belarus begins its countdown from July 31, 1920, when the Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic was proclaimed, which on the same day became part of the USSR. Having passed severe tests during the period of industrialization and collectivization of the state and the period of the Second World War, today the Republic of Belarus is a modern economically developed and independent state, which has the most friendly ties with its neighbors, such states as Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

Capital of Belarus

Minsk has been the cultural and economic center of the territory of modern Belarus since the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And in those years, the name of this city sounded like “Meńsk”, which etymologically came from the Old Slavonic word meaning “exchange or exchange”, since Minsk of that period was a great economic and shopping mall Europe. A modern name capital Belarus received in 1991, when the majority of Belarusian parliamentarians refused to return to the city its historical name "Mensk".

State of Belarus

modern form state of Belarus, received as a result of the decay Soviet Union in 1991, and the signing of a corresponding agreement between the leaders of the three main states of the former USSR, namely the Russian Federation, Belarus and Ukraine. It can also be argued that due to their natural features, such as geography of Belarus, and its nature, Belarusians for 20 centuries still managed to stay afloat and not get lost among the many enslaved countries and peoples ...

Politics of Belarus

After declaring its independence in 1991, the Republic of Belarus is a unitary democratic socially oriented state with a presidential-parliamentary form of government, as a presidential republic. The entire policy of the state is built on the basis of the adopted Constitution of Belarus, which stipulates the supremacy of power on the basis of general popular elections, both the President of the Republic and its legislative body, the bicameral Parliament of the Republic. At the same time, in the same Constitution it is determined that politics Belarus, and its executive power is determined on the basis of the activities of the Government of the Republic of Belarus, formed by the Prime Minister and approved by the President of the Republic.

Language of Belarus

Like many European countries, Belarus supports linguistic tolerance. Therefore, according to the Belarusian constitution, the state Belarusian language- this is Belarusian, i.e. all state documentation is kept on it, but people communicate with each other mainly in Russian. In small towns and villages, people communicate in Trasyanka - a mixture of Russian and Belarusian languages. However, nevertheless, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, Belarusian and Russian are considered as official, state languages ​​of the republic.

On August 5, 1772, the first partition of the Commonwealth took place. Austria received Galicia, Prussia - western Prussia, and Russia - Belarus.

Russians and Belarusians admit that we differ little from each other. But still we are different. How Belarus was formed and what makes it unique

History of White Russia

The ethnonym "Belarusians" was finally accepted Russian Empire in XVIII - XIX centuries. Together with the Great Russians and Little Russians, the Belarusians in the eyes of the autocratic ideologists constituted a triune all-Russian nationality. In Russia itself, the term began to be used under Catherine II: after the third partition of Poland in 1796, the empress ordered the establishment of the Belarusian province on the newly acquired lands.

Historians do not have a common opinion about the origin of the toponyms Belarus, Belaya Rus. Some believed that White Russia was called the lands independent of the Mongol-Tatars (white is the color of freedom), others raised the name to white color clothing and hair of local residents. Still others contrasted white Christian Russia with black pagan Russia. The most popular was the version of Black, Red and White Russia, where the color was compared with a certain side of the world: black - with the north, white - with the west, red - with the south.

The territory of White Russia extended far beyond the borders of present-day Belarus. Since the XIII century, Latin foreigners called White Russia (Ruthenia Alba) Northeast Russia. Western European medieval geographers almost never visited it and vaguely imagined its borders. The term was also used in relation to the Western Russian principalities, for example, Polotsk. In the XVI- XVII centuries the concept of "White Russia" was assigned to the Russian-speaking lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the northeastern lands, on the contrary, began to be opposed to White Russia.

The accession of Ukraine-Little Russia to Russia in 1654 (it should not be forgotten that along with the Little Russian lands, part of the Belarusian lands were annexed to Moscow) provided state ideologists with an excellent opportunity to put forward the concept of the brotherhood of three peoples - Great Russian, Little Russian and Belarusian.

Ethnography and potato pancakes

However, despite the official ideology, Belarusians had no place in science for a long time. The study of their rites and folk customs was just beginning, and the Belarusian literary language took the first steps. Stronger neighboring peoples who were experiencing a period of national revival, primarily the Poles and Russians, claimed White Russia as their ancestral home. The main argument was that scientists did not perceive the Belarusian language as an independent language, calling it a dialect of either Russian or Polish.

It was only in the 20th century that it was possible to single out that the ethnogenesis of the Belarusians took place on the territory of the Upper Dnieper, Middle Dvina and Upper Ponemanye, that is, on the territory of modern Belarus. Gradually, ethnographers singled out the original aspects of the Belarusian ethnic group and, in particular, Belarusian cuisine. Potatoes in the Belarusian lands took root in the 18th century (unlike the rest of Russia, which knew the potato reforms and riots of the 1840s) and by the end of the 19th century Belarusian cuisine was full of an assortment of potato dishes. Draniki, for example.

Belarusians in science

Interest in the history of Belarusians, the emergence of the first scientifically substantiated concepts of the origin of the ethnic group is the work of the beginning of the 20th century. One of the first to undertake it was Vladimir Ivanovich Picheta, a student of the famous Russian historian Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky. Based on the settlement of the Slavs according to the Tale of Bygone Years, he suggested that the ancestors of the Belarusians were the Krivichi, as well as the neighboring tribes of Radimichi and Dregovichi. As a result of their consolidation, the Belarusian people arose. The time of occurrence was determined by the allocation of the Belarusian language from Old Russian, in the XIV century.

The weak side of the hypothesis was that the annalistic tribes have been disappearing from the pages of chronicles since the middle of the 12th century, and it is difficult to explain the two-century silence of the sources. But the beginning of the Belarusian nation was laid, and not least because of the systematic study of the Belarusian language that had begun. In 1918, a teacher at Petrograd University, Bronislav Tarashkevich, prepared its first grammar, normalizing spelling for the first time. This is how the so-called tarashkevitsa arose - language norm, later adopted in the Belarusian emigration. Tarashkevytsya was opposed by the grammar of the Belarusian language of 1933, created as a result of the language reforms of the 1930s. There was a lot of Russian in it, but it was fixed and used in Belarus until 2005, when it was partially unified with Tarashkevitsa. As a noteworthy fact, it is worth noting that in the 1920s on the official flag of the BSSR the phrase "Proletarians of all countries unite!" was written in four languages: Russian, Polish, Yiddish and Tarashkevitse. Tarashkevitsa should not be confused with tarasyanka. The latter - a mixture of Russian and Belarusian languages, is found everywhere in Belarus and now, more often in cities.

Belarusians from ancient Russian people

After the Great Patriotic War the national question in the USSR became very aggravated and on this basis, in order to prevent interethnic conflicts in the ideology of the Union, a new supranational concept - "Soviet people" began to be widely used. Shortly before this, in the 1940s, researchers Ancient Russia substantiated the theory of "Old Russian nationality" - a single cradle of the Belarusian, Ukrainian and Russian peoples. There was little similarity between these two concepts, but their active use by the USSR in specified period. Such features of the ancient Russian nationality as "community of territory, economy, law, military organization and, especially, the common struggle against external enemies with the awareness of their unity" can be safely attributed to Soviet society late 1940s - 1960s. Of course, ideology did not subordinate history, but the structures by which historians and politicians-ideologists thought were very similar. The origin of Belarusians from the ancient Russian nationality removed the weaknesses of the “tribal” concept of ethnogenesis and emphasized the gradual isolation of the three peoples in the 12th – 14th centuries. However, some scholars extend the period of formation of the nationality until the end of the 16th century.

This theory is still accepted today. In 2011, at the celebration of the 1150th anniversary Old Russian state its provisions were confirmed by historians of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. During this time, archeological data were added to it, which showed active connections of the ancestors of Belarusians with the Balts and Finno-Ugric peoples (this is where versions of the Baltic and Finno-Ugric origin of Belarusians were born), as well as a DNA study conducted in Belarus in 2005-2010, which proved the proximity of three East Slavic peoples and large genetic differences between Slavs and Balts in the male line.

Other Russia

In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which included in the XIII - XVI centuries almost the entire territory of modern Belarus, the old Belarusian language (that is, Western Russian) was the first state language - all office work was carried out in it, literary works and laws were written down. Developing in a separate state, it was strongly influenced by Polish and Church Slavonic, but it remained a bookish language. In contrast, colloquial Belarusian, experiencing the same influences, developed mainly in countryside and has been preserved to this day. The territory of the formation of Belarusians did not suffer so much from the Mongol-Tatars. The population constantly had to fight for their faith - Orthodoxy and against foreign culture. At the same time, much of Western European culture took root in Belarus faster and easier than in Russia. For example, book printing, started by Francis Skaryna almost 50 years earlier than in Muscovy. Finally, another important factor in the formation of the Belarusian nationality was the climate, milder and more fertile than in middle lane Russia. That is why in Belarus, potatoes took root 75-90 years earlier. The Belarusian national idea was formed later than that of other peoples and sought to resolve issues without conflicts. And this is her strength.

On March 25, 1918, representatives of national parties and movements announced the creation of an independent Belarusian People's Republic(BNR). After leaving German troops its territory was occupied by the Red Army. On January 1, 1919, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus was proclaimed in Smolensk.

Since February 1919, the territory of Belarus has become an arena Soviet-Polish war, during which Polish troops occupied Minsk in August 1919. The Red Army returned to Minsk in July 1920, and in 1921 a Soviet-Polish peace treaty was signed in Riga, according to which the western part of modern Belarus was ceded to Poland. In its eastern part, Soviet power was established and the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was formed, which became part of the USSR on December 30, 1922.

In the 1920s-1930s, a policy of industrialization and collectivization was carried out on the territory of Soviet Belarus, new branches of industry and agriculture were formed. The language reform of 1933 strengthened the Russification policy. In the years Stalinist repressions tens of thousands of representatives of the intelligentsia, cultural and creative elite, peasants were shot or exiled to Siberia and Central Asia. Part of the intelligentsia emigrated.

Western Belarus, which went to Poland under the Treaty of Riga in 1921, was reunited with the BSSR in 1939, after the defeat of Poland.

Already at the very beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the territory of Belarus was occupied by German troops. Partisan struggle was organized in the occupied territories, there was an underground. In 1943, an advisory body was created under the German occupation administration - the Belarusian Central Rada, which was entrusted with propaganda and some police functions. In the summer of 1944 Belarus was liberated by the Red Army.

According to data updated in 2001, every third inhabitant of Belarus died during the war years. In total, during the Great Patriotic War, German troops burned and destroyed 9,200 settlements. Of these, over 5,295 were destroyed along with all or part of the population during the period of punitive operations. The victims of the three-year policy of genocide and "scorched earth" in Belarus were 2.230 million people.

The role of Belarus in the fight against the invaders and the sacrifices made on the altar of victory over fascism gave her the right to take her place among the founding states of the UN.

In the second half of the 1940-1950s, the restoration of Belarus was proceeding at a rapid pace. In the 1960s and 1980s, it developed as component national economic complex of the USSR. Belarus was called one of the "assembly shops" of the Soviet economy.