Belarus: A Historical Overview Of Its Ancient Past

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union on 27 July 1990 and became independent on 25 August 1991. However, its history dates back to the Stone Age, with the first signs of settlements in ancient Belarus found in the village of Ogovo, dating back around 250,000 BC.

Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, various states arose, competing for legitimacy, which ultimately led to the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union.

During World War II, Belarus was devastated by military operations, losing about a quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. After the war, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations and continued to be part of the Soviet Union until declaring its sovereignty in 1990 and independence in 1991.

Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union on 27 July 1990, making it 33 years old

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. The country has a population of 9.1 million and spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi).

Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus', the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy, ultimately ending in the rise of the Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922.

On 27 July 1990, the parliament of the Byelorussian SSR proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus. This was a significant step towards independence from the Soviet Union, which was officially gained on 25 August 1991. Belarus has now been independent for over three decades, marking a new chapter in its history.

Following independence, Belarus adopted a new constitution in 1994, and Alexander Lukashenko was elected as the country's first president in its first and only free election. Lukashenko has maintained a highly centralized and authoritarian government, often described as "Europe's last dictatorship". Belarus has continued several Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy, and it is the only European country that retains capital punishment.

Since independence, Belarus has retained close ties with Russia, its most dominant neighbour. In 1999, the two countries signed the Union State Foundation Treaty, aiming to create a politically integrated confederation with a common currency. However, the precise nature of this partnership remains unclear. Belarus has also faced criticism from the international community for its human rights record, ranking low in measurements of freedom of the press and civil liberties.

Despite the challenges, Belarus has made strides in various fields, including sports, culture, and science. It has competed in the Olympic Games as an independent nation and has produced notable athletes, such as biathlete Darya Domracheva and tennis player Victoria Azarenka. The country also has a rich cultural heritage, with traditional music, literature, and cuisine. Overall, Belarus's journey since its independence declaration in 1990 has been eventful, shaping the country into what it is today.

The country was occupied by Nazi Germany and retaken by Stalin's Russia in 1944

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. The country has a long and tumultuous history, with different states controlling its lands over the centuries.

During World War II, Belarus, then known as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, was invaded by Nazi Germany. The German invasion began on 22 June 1941 and resulted in a brutal military occupation. The western parts of the country were incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland, and the Nazis established a local collaborationist government, the Belarusian Central Rada. The Belarusian population suffered immensely under Nazi rule, with mass murders, deportations, and the destruction of villages and settlements. The Nazis intended to exterminate, expel, or enslave the ethnically Slavic Byelorussian population as part of their ethnic cleansing operation, Generalplan Ost. More than two million people were killed during the three years of Nazi occupation, including a significant number of Jews as part of the Holocaust.

The Soviet Union launched a massive counter-offensive, Operation Bagration, in June 1944, which led to the liberation of Belarus from Nazi rule. The Red Army achieved overwhelming numerical and qualitative superiority over the German forces, with more than 2.5 million Soviet troops participating in the operation. Minsk, the capital, was retaken on 3 July 1944, and by the end of August, the entire country was liberated. The Soviet victory in Operation Bagration marked a significant turning point in the war and dealt a decisive blow to the German occupation of Eastern Europe.

Following the war, Belarus became a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and remained a constituent republic of the Soviet Union until declaring its sovereignty in 1990 and independence in 1991.

The first signs of settlements in ancient Belarus date back to around 250,000 BC

The ancient settlements discovered in the Gomel Oblast, such as those in the Palaeolithic-era villages of Yurovichi (Kalinkovichi area) and Berdysh (Chechersk area), date back approximately 26,000 years and 23,000–24,000 years, respectively. Ancient cultural relics have also been discovered in the Mogilev, Grodno, and Minsk oblasts.

During the Iron Age, there were three main settlements in Belarus: around the major river basins of the Dneiper, Dvina, and Pripyat rivers. The Milogradskaya culture and the Dneiper-Dvinskiy culture (ancestors of the Letts) were among the first states formed on Belarusian territory.

The colonization of Belarus by the Slavs began in the early centuries AD. Over the next few centuries, they settled across the entire region, replacing the earlier Baltic culture. In the 6th to 9th centuries, East Slavs formed the first political associations—unions of tribes.

The first recorded accounts of Polotsk and the Polotsk Duchy in the territory of modern Vitebsk and the northern part of the Minsk oblasts date back to the 9th century. It remained the dominating force in the region until the 13th century.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogotia was a powerful state that spanned Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and western Russia

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. Between the medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus. One of these states was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogotia, which was a powerful state that spanned Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and western Russia.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus and Samogotia was a unique state association for its time. It was the first Belarusian state and a defensive alliance with the Baltic tribes, where the Slavs taught them how to read and introduced them to the philosophy of Christianity. The state began its rise to power under the reign of Mindovg (also known as Mindaugas) in the 13th century and only began to lose its authority after a number of wars in the 16th century. By 1440, the grand duchy had become the largest European state, controlling an area from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. The consolidation of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 13th century. Mindaugas, the first ruler of the grand duchy, was crowned as the Catholic King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was targeted in a religious crusade by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order, but it survived. The rapid territorial expansion of the state started late in the reign of Gediminas and continued under the diarchy and co-leadership of his sons, Algirdas and Kęstutis. Algirdas's son Jogaila signed the Union of Krewo in 1386, bringing about two major changes in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: the conversion to Christianity of Europe's last pagan state, and the establishment of a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.

The reign of Vytautas the Great, son of Kęstutis, marked both the greatest territorial expansion of the grand duchy and the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. It also marked the rise of the Lithuanian nobility. After Vytautas' death, Lithuania's relationship with the Kingdom of Poland greatly deteriorated. Lithuanian noblemen, including the Radvila family, attempted to break the personal union with Poland. However, unsuccessful wars with the Grand Duchy of Moscow forced the union to remain intact. Eventually, the Union of Lublin of 1569 created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the Federation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania maintained its political distinctiveness and had separate ministries, laws, army, and treasury. The federation was terminated by the passing of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, when it was supposed to become a single country, the Commonwealth, under one monarch, one parliament and no Lithuanian autonomy. Shortly afterward, the unitary character of the state was confirmed by adopting the Reciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations.

The first attempt to establish a Marxist party in Russia took place in Minsk in 1898

Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus has a population of 9.1 million and spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi). Minsk, the capital and largest city, is administered separately as a city with special status.

The history of Belarus dates back to the Stone Age, with the first signs of settlements in ancient Belarus dating back around 250,000 BC. The first attempt to establish a Marxist party in Russia took place in Minsk in 1898. Known as the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party, it was formed to unite various revolutionary organisations of the Russian Empire into one party. The party was founded on the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, which stated that, despite Russia's agrarian nature at the time, the true revolutionary potential lay with the industrial working class.

The Marxist party was illegal for most of its existence, and within a month of its founding, five of the nine delegates were arrested by the Okhrana (imperial secret police). In 1903, the second party congress was held in Brussels and London, where the party split into two factions: the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks, led by Julius Martov. The Bolsheviks would later become the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1917, two revolutions swept through Russia, ending centuries of imperial rule and setting in motion political and social changes that would lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. The Russian Revolution of 1917 marked the end of the Romanov dynasty and resulted in the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, seizing power and destroying the tradition of czarist rule.

During the interwar period, the Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state. However, it existed only from 1918 to 1919 due to the domination of its territory by Imperial German and Russian armies, followed by the Bolshevik Red Army.

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