Once part of Kyivan Rus, Belarus was gradually taken over by Lithuania in the 14th century and became part of the Polish"Lithuanian Grand Duchy. It was to be 400 years before Belarus came under Russian control, a period during which Belarusians became linguistically and culturally differentiated from the Russians to the east and the Ukrainians to the south.
The large Jewish population (later decimated by the Germans during World War II) settled in Belarus in the 14th cent. The region flourished under Lithuanian rule but after the Polish-Lithuanian union Belarus lost its relative importance, and its ruling classes became thoroughly Polonized.
Through the Polish partitions of 1772, 1793, and 1795, all Belarus passed to the Russian Empire. It suffered greatly during the wars (16th"18th cent.) between Poland and Russia and in the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 (during which it was laid waste by retreating Russian forces). Great poverty under Russian rule, notably among the Jews, led to mass emigration to the United States in the 19th cent. A battlefield in World War I and in the Soviet-Polish War of 1919"20, Belarus experienced great devastation.
Following World War I, Belarus proclaimed itself a republic, only to find itself occupied by the Red Army soon after its March 1918 announcement. The Polish-Soviet War of 1918-1921 was fought to decide the fate of Belarus. West Belarus was ceded to Poland; the larger eastern part formed the Belorussian SSR and was then joined to the USSR in 1922.
In early 1994 former Communists in the parliament voted to replace Shushkevich with Mechislav Grib, a former national police official; Aleksandr Lukashenko was elected to the post in July 1994. Parliamentary elections were held during 1995, and most seats were filled by former Communists.
This design replaced the historical white-red-white flag used by the Belarusian People's Republic of 1918, before Belarus became the Soviet Republic, and again after it regained its independence in 1991. Opposition groups have continued to use this flag though its display in Belarus has been restricted by the government of Belarus, which claims it was linked to Nazi collaboration during the Second World War.
The large Jewish population (later decimated by the Germans during World War II) settled in Belarus in the 14th cent. The region flourished under Lithuanian rule but after the Polish-Lithuanian union Belarus lost its relative importance, and its ruling classes became thoroughly Polonized.
Through the Polish partitions of 1772, 1793, and 1795, all Belarus passed to the Russian Empire. It suffered greatly during the wars (16th"18th cent.) between Poland and Russia and in the Napoleonic invasion of 1812 (during which it was laid waste by retreating Russian forces). Great poverty under Russian rule, notably among the Jews, led to mass emigration to the United States in the 19th cent. A battlefield in World War I and in the Soviet-Polish War of 1919"20, Belarus experienced great devastation.
Following World War I, Belarus proclaimed itself a republic, only to find itself occupied by the Red Army soon after its March 1918 announcement. The Polish-Soviet War of 1918-1921 was fought to decide the fate of Belarus. West Belarus was ceded to Poland; the larger eastern part formed the Belorussian SSR and was then joined to the USSR in 1922.
In early 1994 former Communists in the parliament voted to replace Shushkevich with Mechislav Grib, a former national police official; Aleksandr Lukashenko was elected to the post in July 1994. Parliamentary elections were held during 1995, and most seats were filled by former Communists.
This design replaced the historical white-red-white flag used by the Belarusian People's Republic of 1918, before Belarus became the Soviet Republic, and again after it regained its independence in 1991. Opposition groups have continued to use this flag though its display in Belarus has been restricted by the government of Belarus, which claims it was linked to Nazi collaboration during the Second World War.
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