Key figures

The Belarusan ancestors, the Slavic tribes of Kryvichy, Dryhavichy and Radzimichy settled the territory of present Belarus in the 6th century A.D. Their agricultural economy soon became encreasingly trade oriented and towns began to appear along the riverways. Some of those towns grew into principalities. The most powerful of the several early Belarusan principalities was the one of Polacak.Alas, in the 9th century the flow of traders along the river ways was replaced by the onslaught of Varagean or Norman marauders. They overthrew the native rulers and usurped the power. The Varengians kept dragging the native populations into ceaseless bloody conflicts over division of their rich bounty. Thus, the Belarusan history begins with a tale of the murder of the Polacak's ruler Rahvalod and his family by another Varengian prince Vladimir, who was attempting to create an empire with the center in Kiev. Vladimir also forced Rahvalod's daughter Rahnieda, whose refusal to marry him provoked conflict in the first place, to become his wife. To solidify his hold on the empire Vladimir accepted baptism for himself and his subjects from Byzantium. After he married the Byzantium emperor's daughter he abandoned his wife Rahnieda and their son Iziaslau and send them to the Belarusan territory. Vladimir's empire, though, fell apart soon after his death and a long period of strife among his heirs, with all its ruinous consequences, followed. This gave the opportunity to Polacak and then to other Belarusan principalities to regain their independence and repeatedly challenge Kiev's might. Under the rule of Rahvalod's and Iziaslau's renascent dynasty the principality of Polacak became one of the largest and prosperous European feudal states. The great development was also achieved by principalities of Viciebsk, Miensk, Horadnia, Turau. By the middle of the 13th century, though, the power of those early principalities, under the strain of fraternal strives among princes and the onslaught of Mongol-Tatar and Teutonic invaders, terminated. Instead of them a new, Belarusan in today's terms, political entity - the Great Lithuanian Principality (GLP hereafter) stepped into the historical arena. Its creation and growth began with the assumption of power in the Belarusan principality of Navahradak by Mindouh (1200-1263). A shrewd politician and a skilled warrior he soon created a strong state. In the first 100 years under his heirs almost all Belarusan territory was united within the boundaries of the GLP and then Ukraine up to the Black Sea also was incorporated into it. The territory of nowadays Republic of Lithuania (Letuva), at that time called Samogitia, was annexed by the GLP only during the reign of Alhierd (1345-1377). After Alhierd the power came to his son Yahayla. In 1385 Yahayla married the Polish queen Yadwiga and in 1386 he became a Polish king. Opposing the power of the Polish king in the GLP some princes united under the leadership of Yahayla's cousin Vitaut (1350-1430).In 1392 Vitaut was recognized as the Grand Prince of the country. He devoted his life to the improvement of his subjects and enlargement of the state's territory by annexing the southern part of Ukraine. Vitaut died without leaving a heir and the throne came to Yahayla's ones. Still, under Yahayla's heirs the GLP attained the Golden Age of the old Belarusan culture. The Belarusan law, science and book printing ( under famous doctor Francishak Skaryna) reached the highest level. Belarusan was the official language of the state. The Statut of the GLP was written in it and the Bible was translated. State affairs, though, went on the decline. Moscow grew in power and began invading territories of the GLP and occupying them. In 1569 the last of Yahayla's heirs forced Lithuanian representatives to sign an act uniting both nations (Belarusan and Polish) into a Commonwealth. The GLP and the Polish Principality remained independent from each other in the internal policy. In the 17th century the Commonwealth got involved in the disastrous wars and began greed exploiting of lower classes and persecuting of Orthodox believers. Wars, fires, epidemics, hunger deserted almost the half of Belarusan land. All this led to several armed uprisings in the 18th century. The life of the Commonwealth was characterized by economical failure and political anarchy. As a result of three divisions of the Commonwealth (1772, 1793, 1795) Belarusan territory went to Russia. Russian became the official language and thousands of peasants were put in servitude. This led to several uprisings (1795, 1830 and 1863). All of them were overpowered by the Russian army and for 100 years slavery fell over the country. The Belarusan language was named a dialect of Russia and its official usage especially printing Belarusan books was prohibited. The name "Litva", "Belarus" was abandoned and so the country was called "the North-Western Suburbs". The situation was changed to the better only in the beginning of the 20th century. The 1905-1907 revolution, strengthening of national movement activated all spheres of social life and pointed the feeling of national self-conciousness. On march 25, 1918 the independence of the Belarusan Democratic Republic (BDR) was proclaimed. In June 1918 there was created the government of the BDR which confirmed the coat of arms "Pahonia" and a white-red-white flag as Belarusan symbols and made a passport of citizen of the BDR. The independence of the BDR was not long. In 1919 there was proclaimed the Belarusan Socialist Soviet Republic on the part of the territory of Belarus, which was included in the USSR till 1991. Repressions in the 30s, collectivization, Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945 against fascists in which Belarus wasted the quarter of its population, total russification, Charnobyl nuclear disaster… The luck of Belarus in the 20th century was not happy. Changings to the better happened at the beginning of the 90s. But in 1994 Aliaxandar Lukashenka, the former director of a collective farm, was elected the first president of Belarus. For seven years he has been dragging the country to its communistic past and to the union with Russia. You can have a look how the life in contemporary Belarus goes after reading informational materials on site http://www.charter97.org