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SECTION 4
Title 1
Title 2
Title 3
Title 4
Title 5
Title 6
Welcome to the History of Belarus
Belarus
is a country that located in the geographical
center of Europe. It borders in the West with Poland, in the South - with
Ukraine, in the East - with Russia and in the Northwest with Lithuania and
Latvia (see the map). It is much larger than
many countries of the world - Greece, Portugal, Austria, Cuba, Lebanon, etc.
The population is more than 10 million.
The history of Belarus begins about 100 - 40 thousand years ago when ancient people, overcoming severe climate of the Glacial Age, have lodged on the southern territories of Belarus. In written sources the Belarusian lands are mentioned in the 6th century B.C. Herodotus of Halikarnas wrote in his “History” about the mysterious people of Neuri that had occupied the territories to the North of Scythia:
The Neurian customs are like the Scythian. One generation before the attack of Darius they were driven from their land by a huge multitude of serpents which invaded them. Of these some were produced in their own country, while others, and those by far the greater number, came in from the deserts on the north. Suffering grievously beneath this scourge, they quitted their homes, and took refuge with the Budini. It seems that these people are conjurers: for both the Scythians and the Greeks who dwell in Scythia say that every Neurian once a year becomes a wolf for a few days, at the end of which time he is restored to his proper shape. Not that I believe this, but they constantly affirm it to be true, and are even ready to back their assertion with an oath.
It is very interesting that reverence of snakes and belief in werwolwes-vaukalaka were still strong among Belarusian peasants by the beginning of the 20th century.
During the epoch of the High Middle Ages the territory of Belarus was a part of Ruthenia. The Belarusian cities - principalities, especially Polotsk, achieved their prosperity in the 12th century. In the 13th century their prompt development was stopped by intrusions of the German Crusaders and Mongol-Tartar Nomads. But they were not able to occupy Belarus.
In the13 – 18th centuries Belarus was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At this particular time the Belarusians were issued as an independent nation. The old-Belarusian language was official in Lithuania. Moreover, Belarus itself was called as Lithuania, and its inhabitants – as Lithuanians. In the 16th century in Vilnia, the capital of the Grand Duchy, Frantishak Skaryna founded his first printing house and published his own translation of the Bible. Thus the Belarusians became one of the first people of Europe that had the opportunity to read the Holy Scripts in their own native language.
At the end of the 18 - the beginning of 19th centuries Belarus was occupied by Russia. Despite of Polonization and Russification, the Belarusians were able to survive as the nation. In 1918 the Belarusian National Republic was proclaimed. Après cela, in 1919 - the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1991, Belarus achieved the real independence.
You have an opportunity to learn more about the history of Belarus with the help of my site. You also can participate in discussions
or write to me.Dzmitry S. Samakhvalau