Language/Belarusian/Culture/Belarus-Timeline

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History of Belarus
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The Belarus we know today does not have a tradition of state continuity. Always caught between two poles, the Orthodox East and the Catholic West, for almost all of its history, this territory has only existed as part of larger groups: the Rus' of Kiev, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian state, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union ... This would explain the difficulties in defining the true Belarusian national identity. In 1918, the first Belarusian state was formed with the name of Belarusian People's Republic. A year later, from this state was born the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus. However, the country did not emerge with its current geographic borders until after World War II. Finally, in 1991, following the implosion of the USSR, for the first time in its history, it became an independent state under the name of Republic of Belarus.

Chronology[edit | edit source]

The Rus' of Kiev and the principality of Polotsk

  • 6th century: the eastern tribes of the Slavs organize themselves into political entities.
  • 862: first mention of Polotsk. Considered today as the cultural and political cradle of Belarus, this principality was the political center of the Slavic tribe of Krivichis.
  • 12th-12th centuries: Belarusian lands are part of the Ruthenia of Kiev.
  • 1067: first mention of Minsk, whose name comes from the Slavic verb "meniaty" (to change). Minsk has indeed very quickly become one of the main shopping centers in Eastern Europe.
  • The Grand Duchy of Lithuania
  • 13th-16th centuries: the Mongol threat and that of the Teutonic knights led the Belarusian principalities to approach the principality of Navahroudok where Prince Mendog founded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The new state is gradually expanding.
  • 1385: union of Krevo. First act in a series of agreements preparing for the rapprochement of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Jagiello, Grand Duke of Lithuania, receives Catholic baptism under the name of Ladislav. He married Hedwig, younger sister of the King of Poland, Louis I the Great, to whom he succeeded the same year.
  • 1410: during the battle of Grünwald, the armies of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland definitively defeat the Teutonic Knights.
  • 1567: publication of the first Bible in Old Belarusian by the humanist Francysk Skaryna.
  • The Polish-Lithuanian state
  • 1569: proclamation of the union of Lublin between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland and creation of the Polish-Lithuanian State (Rech Pospolita or Republic of the Two Nations). Belarus disappears as a state.
  • 1596: union of Brest which leads to the birth of the Uniate Church.
  • 1654-1667: war between the Polish-Lithuanian state and Russia.
  • The Russian Empire
  • 1700-1711: Northern War. The Polish-Lithuanian state is devastated by Russian and Swedish armies.
  • 1772, 1793 and 1795: distribution of Poland between Russia, Prussia and Austria. End of the Republic of the Two Nations. Belarus is integrated into Russia.
  • 1772-1917: Belarus is an integral part of the Russian Empire.
  • 1812: defeat of the Napoleonic army on the Bérézina river.
  • 1830-1831: Polish insurrection. The Belarusian language is prohibited because it is considered to be a deviation from Polish.
  • 1863: independence insurrection of Kastus Kalinowski. Revolts are also taking place in Poland and Lithuania.
  • 1874: official suppression of the Uniate Church.
  • 1902: creation of the revolutionary Belarusian Gramada, under the leadership of the Polish Socialist Party, which calls for the creation of an autonomous Belarusian diet in Vilna (Vilnius today).
  • 1915-1916: considered as a strategic space by the belligerents, during the First World War the Belarusian territory is the scene of many battles.
  • Soviet Belarus
  • March 25, 1918: in the chaos of the Bolshevik revolution, while the country was under Austro-German occupation, the birth of the People's Republic of Belarus was proclaimed.
  • January 1, 1919: proclamation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (RSSB).
  • 1921: the Riga peace treaty puts an end to the Soviet-Polish war (1919-1921). Belarus is divided into three parts: the west goes to Poland, the east to Russia; only the center, corresponding to the districts of Minsk, constitutes the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
  • December 30, 1922: The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic founds the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with Ukraine, Russia and Transcaucasia.
  • 1924-1926: Russia returns to Belarus the regions of Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel.
  • 1936-1940: hundreds of thousands of Belarusians fall victim to Stalinist repression.
  • September 17, 1939: under the German-Soviet pact, the eastern part of Poland, namely western Belarus, is ratifiedstained at the RSSB.
  • June 22, 1941: German troops enter Belarus and the Second World War begins.
  • July 28, 1944: liberation of Belarus by the Red Army.
  • 1945: the borders of the RSSB as established in 1939 are confirmed. Belarus acquires its current configuration and becomes a member of the United Nations.
  • 1945-1955: reconstruction of Belarus in general and Minsk in particular, which has many public monuments.
  • June 16, 1974: Minsk receives the title of "Heroic City" because of the destruction of the war and its rapid reconstruction.
  • April 26, 1986: incident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. 70% of radioactive deposits spread over Belarus.
  • June 1988: discovery of mass graves containing nearly 250,000 victims of the Stalinist purges in Kurapaty.
  • Republic of Belarus
  • July 27, 1990: implosion of the USSR and declaration of independence of Belarus which takes the name of Republic of Belarus.
  • August 25, 1991: ratification of the declaration of independence. Mr. Stanislaw Chouchkievitch is elected head of state.
  • January 26, 1994: Chouchkievitch is dismissed by the Supreme Soviet. March 15: adoption of the constitution. June 23-July 10: first presidential elections. Alexander Lukashenko was elected with 80.1% of the vote.
  • November 24, 1996: national referendum to amend the 1994 Constitution in order to strengthen presidential powers and extend the term of office. This consultation is contested and not recognized by European organizations. Belarus has its special guest status with the Council of Europe suspended.
  • June 22, 1998: recall of the Western ambassadors (European Union and United States) due to the "Residences Crisis" (the regime carried out a virtual expulsion of the ambassadors from the residential area of ​​Drozdy which adjoined the President's residence) .
  • January 18, 1999: return of the European ambassadors to Minsk, following a compromise reached on the question of residences.
  • October 15 and 29, 2000: legislative elections, boycotted by the great majority of the opposition. Parliament becomes "monocolour".
  • September 9, 2001: presidential election. Alexander Lukashenko is re-elected with 75.65% of the vote.
  • October 17, 2004: a referendum abolished the limitation of two presidential terms.
  • March 19, 2006: presidential elections. Alexander Loukachenko wins for the third time after an election deemed "not in accordance with international standards" and undemocratic by the OSCE. A few thousand people take to the streets to protest.
  • End of 2008: severely affected by the global economic crisis, Belarus benefited from an IMF loan of 1.8 billion euros. The Belarusian ruble devalues ​​20% against the dollar between spring and autumn 2008.
  • December 2010: presidential elections. The poll on December 19 confirmed Lukashenko's victory with 79.67% of the votes. He is elected for the fourth time. Opposition protests erupt in Minsk. 7 of the 9 opposition candidates were arrested on the same day.
  • April 11, 2011: A bomb exploded in the Kastryčnickaja metro station (Oktjabrskaja) during the period of leaving work. The explosion left 14 dead and 204 injured. The two officials, Dmitri Konovalov and Vladislav Kovalev, were sentenced to death in November 2011 and executed in March 2012.
  • January 11, 2012: Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan create the Common Economic Space (EEC) like the European Union. This agreement provides for the free movement of goods exempt from taxes between the member countries of the union.
  • September 2012: legislative elections. Of the 110 seats in Parliament, 109 were won by deputies supporting Alexander Lukashenko. The OSCE denounces the lack of transparency and freedom of these elections, in particular due to the imprisonment of several opposition candidates.
  • 2010-2014: the country is going through a severe economic crisis. High inflation makes prices unstable.
  • May 2014: In Belarus the Ice Hockey World Cup is held.
  • January 1, 2015: Belarus joins the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), joining Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
  • October 11, 2015: Alexander Lukashenko wins the presidential election by obtaining a fifth consecutive term with more than 83% of the vote. The day before the second round, 1,500 people gathered at Place de la Liberté to protest. On the evening of the second round, after the announcement of the results, the demonstrators headed for Independence Square where they demanded the resignation of the President and the organization of a new ballot.
  • January-February 2016: New demonstrations set the country ablaze. Managers and employees of SMEs take to the streets to express their disagreement with the law № 222 aiming to impose new such restrictions on their activity in the midst of the financial crisis.

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