Note: This section is intended to list some of the highlights (and lowlights) of Belarusian history. Refer to the more detailed reference material listed here for a more complete summary.
The most pressing issue regarding the history of Belarus is that an honest effort be made to record it and to make it widely available. Obvious as this may sound to many of us, this doesn't seem to be the case for the authorities in the Republic of Belarus. In fact, the opposite trend has been taking place since at least 1995. (For example, there were plans to open up the KGB records, but that never occurred.) This repressive trend includes school textbooks, reference books, general history references, and of course all forms of news media. Refer to the Examples of Censorship section for further notes on this topic.
The Soviet and the post-Soviet eras in Belarus view propaganda as the ultimate use of information. The search for historical accuracy and the "facts" that comprise it have no place in such thinking. The historical period of imperial Russia demonstrates that this trend by Belarus' eastern neighbor started hundreds of years ago. Of course, this is not to say that history is monolithic with total agreement, nor recorded with complete honesty, for any region of the world. Nonetheless, the era of the USSR is much, much below the standards in most of the world.
Certainly, the Republic of Belarus must have friendly relations with all of her neighbors, and not be dependent upon any one of them. If history can reveal anything, it is clearly that fact. For most of the twentienth century, as Germany has been politically and economically influential for much of western Europe, Russia has been in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Such "influences" on Belarus (particularly by the various Russian & Soviet states) have not only killed many Belarusians but also often specifically sought out national leaders, destroyed national treasures (many times wantonly), and cultural resources in general. Needless to say, such influences have also been been quite detrimental to the national identity of the population through to the present.
The preceding information compiled chiefly from the entry for the GDL in the Historical Dictionary of Belarus (Zaprudnik, 1998; p. 112-13):
News article: White-Red-White Flags Over Minsk in Memory of Orsha Battle
Charter 97 Web site 12:11, 08/09/2003, ZUBR Web siteA few national white-red-white flags were hung out ahead of September 8 in Minsk. By so doing ZUBR activists marked the national holiday – the Military Glory Day, reminding everyone of it. The flags appeared over the street in Malinovka and Kurasovschina suburban areas, as well as in Uruchie. All flags were put up above the high voltage lines and roofs of the blocks of flats.
Every year on September 8 Belarusians celebrate the Day of the Belarusian military glory. On that day in 1514 the army of the Great Lithuanian Dukedom, headed by commander Konstantin Ostorzhsky, defeated the thrice exceeding in number Moscow troops. The Orsha battle remains by right one of the most significant victories in Belarus’ struggle for independence from outside invaders.
"Forty kilometres from Mensk, in a picturesque area of 160 hectares, an attempt to reconstruct an 18th, 19th, and early 20th century Belarusian village is being made." (On belarus.net, which does not seem to be available currently -- sorry)
"Kalinoŭski defended the Uniate confession of Belarusans and denounced the exploitation and oppression of the Belarusan people by tsarist bureaucrats. His publications influenced the development of Belarusan language, journalism, and nationalism. . . . He was publicly executed in Vilnia on March 24, 1864. The ill-fated uprising of 1863-64 marked the end of an era in Byelorussian history. . . ."
Treaty at the end of WWI that included in its terms the loss of Belarusian lands and partition of what remained of it. As a result, the Council of the Belarusan Democratic [National] Republic declared the independence of Belarus on March 25, 1918.
Settled the Polish-Soviet War. As a result, Belarus was divided into Soviet and Polish sections.
An example of the widespread mass murder and terror of the Soviet period. A documentary film produced in 2003 mentions that 48 sites of mass murder are within the territory of Belarus, with 12 in the Miensk city area, Kurapaty only being one of the larger ones. Today, many people in Belarus still either don't believe such things happened during the Soviet period or else blame it on the Nazis.
- News Articles & Links about Kurapaty (on this Web site)
- Kurapaty -- Site of Soviet Massacre of 200,000 Belarusians, 1937-1941. at Virtual Guide to Belarus Web site
- Follow this link for information about the source book of the material on the Web.
- For a more detailed, comprehensive view of Soviet murders of its citizens (estimated at over 60 million, plus additional millions more due to starvation), read Alexander N. Yakovlev's, A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia, Yale University Press (New Haven and London), 2002. ISBN: 0-300-08760-8.
During a scholarly conference in Mensk, Belarus (Yubileinaya Hotel; December, 1999): "David R. Marples, professor of history at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, spoke about the period in Belarus' history after the annexation of Western Belarus to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic in September 1939 until the Nazi invasion."
"In Mr. Marples' opinion, Soviet historians' thesis that the 'annexation' (sic) of Western Belarus to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic under the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact purportedly dictated by Soviet concerns for the unity of the Belarusian people was a propaganda myth. Mass killings and deportations of Belarusians, as well as the transfer of Vilnius, which was then the most important center of Belarusian culture, to Lithuania (Oct. 10, 1939) prove that the Soviet authorities were least concerned about the national needs of the Belarusian people."
"The area of West Belarus included operations by the Polish Home Army, whose strategy included acts of terror against Belarusian teachers, etc., as part of a plan to include Western Belarus into a post-war Polish state."
"Approximately four million Belarusians were victims of political terror, executed, deported, or otherwise forceably relocated, mostly to the Asian areas of the USSR/Russian empire."
Source: BelaPAN, No. 72; Friday, December 17, 1999; 7:00 p.m.
Chief among the events of this period was the exploitation of WWII by the USSR (Russia) and Poland in destroying and dividing Belarus and Belarusians. The USSR used Belarus as a "moat," and was very willing to destroy and sacrifice both the people and the cultural history there. (For example, the Soviet NKVD set fire to Mensk as part of its chaotic and unorganized retreat in the face of the Nazi invaders.) Some Belarusians also turned to the Nazis (in various degrees) to help rid Belarus of the invaders from the east. "Partisans" (irregular soldiers) representing all sides of the conflict roamed the forests and countryside, some of these people no different than armed gangs.
Many thousands of Belarusians were enslaved, robbed, raped, tortured, and murdered by Nazis and Soviets (and partisans) alike--many people ran from both invading armies. Some Belarusian nationalists appeared on both the Nazi and Soviet sides of the war in hopes that aligning with one or the other would result in a better Belarus after the war. Other Belarusians fought against both the Nazis and the Soviets. The majority of Belarusians simply tried to survive.
These horrific events still resonate in Belarus today (often exploited in emotional terms by its rulers), and continue to divide the Belarusian communities world-wide.
Also see The Chatyn (Khatyn) Memorial A memorial to the 186 villages in Belarus (including their inhabitants) burned by the Nazis during WWII.
Also see Cherven [Igumen] Massacre by Soviet NKVD (1941) absent from Soviet, Russian, and official contemporary Belarusian governmental histories is the recording and mention of tragedies such as this one.
Also see The Drazhna massacre by Soviet partisans (April, 1943) absent from Soviet, Russian, and official contemporary Belarusian governmental histories is the recording and mention of tragedies such as this one.
Also see Three members of the Belarusian underground executed by the Nazis on October 26, 1941 Another event often misreported over the years, especially by the Soviet authorities.
In December 1943, at a summit meeting with the Soviet leader, Josef Stalin, the leaders of America and Britain had already secretly agreed as to what constituted the post-war Soviet "sphere of influence". Needless to say, Belarus had no input to this decision.
Concerning this horrific episode of human history, there is no lack of resources available. Some of the resources also discuss Jewish history in Belarus, but many do so without identifying Belarus.News Articles About the Jewish Community in Belarus
Treaty at conclusion of WWII that included the division of Belarus between its more powerful and brutal neighbors.
Over 20 percent of Belarus' land was contaminated by radiation, and over one-half million people had to be relocated. Seventy-five percent of the destructiveness of the disaster fell on Belarus. This contamination still affects Belarus today, country-wide (to some degree).
The (lack of) response by the government of the USSR, and the current policies of the government of Belarus have compounded the destructiveness of the catastrophe.
Depressingly, while many other NIS countries have corrected or are in the process of correcting the Soviet propaganda that was marketed as history, Belarus' revised textbooks are stored in warehouses and the Soviet-era books are still in use. Censorship, including that of pre-twentieth century history, is very much in existence in Belarus today. . . .
How can a nation work to solve the very serious problems of the present and take on the challenges of the future if it cannot acknowledge its past? . . . .
The best starting point to learn about the history of Belarus is to refer to the books noted in the history book section of this Web site, and especially the three references mentioned below.