![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Belarus-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution<\/a>, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People’s Republic<\/a>, which was conquered by Soviet Russia. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia<\/a> became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR)<\/a>. Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish\u2013Soviet War of 1919\u20131921<\/a>. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic<\/a> were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland<\/a>, and were finalized after World War II<\/a>. During WWII, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations<\/a>, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR<\/a>.<\/p>\n The parliament of the republic proclaimed the sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union<\/a>, Belarus declared independence on 25 August 1991. Alexander Lukashenko<\/a> has served as the country’s first president since 1994. Belarus has been labeled “Europe’s last dictatorship” by some Western journalists, on account of Lukashenko’s self-described authoritarian style of government. Lukashenko continued a number of Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy. Elections under Lukashenko’s rule have been widely criticized as unfair; and according to many countries and organizations, political opposition has been violently suppressed. Belarus is also the last country in Europe using the death penalty.<\/p>\n In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State<\/a>. Over 70% of Belarus’s population of 9.49 million resides in urban areas. More than 80% of the population is ethnic Belarusian<\/a>, with sizable minorities of Russians<\/a>, Poles<\/a> and Ukrainians<\/a>. Since a referendum in 1995, the country has had two official languages: Belarusian and Russian<\/a>. The Constitution of Belarus<\/a> does not declare any official religion, although the primary religion in the country is Eastern Orthodox Christianity<\/a>. The second-most widespread religion, Roman Catholicism<\/a>, has a much smaller following; nevertheless, Belarus celebrates both Orthodox and Catholic versions of Christmas and Easter as national holidays. Belarus is a member of the United Nations since its founding, the Commonwealth of Independent States<\/a>, CSTO<\/a>, EEU<\/a>, and the Non-Aligned Movement<\/a>. Belarus has shown no aspirations for joining the European Union<\/a> but nevertheless maintains a bilateral relationship with the organisation, and likewise participates in two EU projects: the Eastern Partnership<\/a> and the Baku Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n The name Belarus is closely related with the term Belaya Rus’, i.e., White Rus<\/a>‘. There are several claims to the origin of the name White Rus’. An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian<\/a> lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania<\/a> that had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia<\/a>, which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts<\/a>.<\/p>\n An alternate explanation for the name comments on the white clothing worn by the local Slavic population. A third theory suggests that the old Rus’ lands that were not conquered by the Tatars<\/a> (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mogilev) had been referred to as “White Rus'”.<\/p>\n The name Rus is often conflated with its Latin forms Russia and Ruthenia, thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia. The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature; the chronicles of Jan of Czarnk\u00f3w<\/a> mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila<\/a> and his mother at “Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto” in 1381. In some languages, including German, Afrikaans and Dutch, the country is generally called “White Russia” to this day (Wei\u00dfrussland and Wit-Rusland respectively).<\/p>\n The Latin term “Alba Russia” was used again by Pope Pius VI<\/a> in 1783 to recognize the Society of Jesus<\/a> there, exclaiming “Approbo Societatem Jesu in Alba Russia degentem, approbo, approbo.” The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey<\/a>, who was known for his close contacts with the Russian Royal Court. During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used “White Rus” to describe the lands added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<\/p>\n The term Belorussia first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled “the Tsar of All the Russias”, as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia\u2014the Great<\/a>, Little<\/a>, and White<\/a>. This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people.<\/p>\n After the Bolshevik Revolution<\/a> in 1917, the term “White Russia” caused some confusion, as it was also the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks. During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of a national consciousness. In western Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Bia\u0142ystok<\/a> and Grodno<\/a> during the interwar period.<\/p>\n The term Byelorussia was only used officially until 1991, when the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR<\/a> decreed by law that the new independent republic should be called Republic of Belarus, and that its abridged form should be “Belarus”. The law decreed that all the forms of the new term should be transliterated into other languages from their Belarusian<\/a> language forms. The use of Byelorussian SSR and any abbreviations thereof were allowed from 1991 to 1993. Conservative forces in the newly independent Belarus did not support the name change and opposed its inclusion in the 1991 draft of the Constitution of Belarus.<\/p>\n Accordingly, the name Byelorussia was replaced by Belarus in English. Likewise, the adjective Belorussian or Byelorussian was replaced by Belarusian in English. Belarusian is closer to the original Belarusian term of bielaruski. Belarusian intelligentsia in the Stalin era<\/a> attempted to change the name from Byelorussia to a form of Krivia because of the supposed connection with Russia. Some nationalists object to the name for the same reason. Several local newspapers kept the old name of the country in Russian in their names, for example Komsomolskaya Pravda v Byelorussii<\/a>, which is the localized publication of a popular Russian newspaper. Also, those who wish for Belarus to be reunited with Russia continue to use Belorussia. Officially, the full name of the country is “Republic of Belarus.”<\/p>\n From 5000 to 2000 BC, Bandkeramik<\/a> cultures predominated. In addition, remains from the Dnieper-Donets<\/a> culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine. Cimmerians<\/a> and other pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC, and by 500 AD, Slavs had taken up residence, which was circumscribed by the Scythians<\/a> who roamed its outskirts. Invaders from Asia, among whom were the Huns<\/a> and Avars<\/a>, swept through c. 400\u2013600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the Slavic presence.<\/p>\n The region that is now Belarus was first settled by Baltic tribes in the 3rd century. Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by Slavic tribes. The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts but the gradual assimilation of the Balts into Slavic culture was peaceful in nature.<\/p>\n In the 9th century the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus<\/a>‘, a vast East Slavic state ruled by the Rurikid<\/a> dynasty. Upon the death of Kievan Rus’ ruler Yaroslav I the Wise<\/a>, the state split into independent principalities. Many early Rus’ principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major Mongol invasion<\/a> in the 13th century, but the lands of modern Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<\/p>\n Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands. Of the principalities held by the Duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become Belarusian people. During this time, the Duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the Teutonic Knights<\/a> at the Battle of Grunwald<\/a> in 1410; the joint victory allowed the Duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n The Muscovites<\/a>, led by Ivan III of Moscow<\/a>, began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate the lands of Kievan Rus’, specifically the territories of modern Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.<\/p>\n On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland<\/a> were joined in a personal union through a marriage of their rulers<\/a>. This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth, created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization<\/a> of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the Polish language<\/a> and Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language\u2014with the Ruthenian language being banned from administrative use. However, the Ruthenian peasants, continued to speak their own language and remained faithful to the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church<\/a>. Statutes were initially only issued in Ruthenian language<\/a> and later also in Polish. Around 1840 the Statutes were banned by the Russian tsar following the November Uprising<\/a>. Modern Ukrainian lands used it until 1860s.<\/p>\n The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland<\/a> by Imperial Russia, Prussia<\/a>, and Austria<\/a>. The Belarusian territories acquired by the Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II<\/a> were included into the Belarusian Governorate<\/a> in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire<\/a> during World War I<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under Nicholas I<\/a> and Alexander III<\/a> the national cultures were repressed. Policies of Polonization changed by Russification<\/a>, which included the return to Orthodox Christianity<\/a> of Belorusian Uniates.<\/a><\/p>\n In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under the Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revol<\/a>t, led by Konstanty Kalinowski<\/a>. After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic<\/a> to Belarusian in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905.<\/p>\n During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk<\/a>, Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming the Belarusian People’s Republic. Immediately afterwards, the Polish\u2013Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world’s longest serving government in exile.<\/p>\n The Belarusian People’s Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under name “Belarus”. Despite significant efforts the state ceased to exist, primarily due to the fact that the territory was continually dominated by the German Imperial Army<\/a> and the Imperial Russian Army<\/a> in World War I, and than the Bolshevik Red Army<\/a>. It existed only from 1918 to 1919 but created prerequisites for the formation of the state idea around the name “Belarus”. The choice of the name was probably based the fact that the educated core of the newly formed government was educated in the tsardom universities, with a corresponding education around the ideology of West-Russianism.<\/p>\n The Republic of Central Lithuania<\/a> was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania in the historical confederacy state. The republic was created in 1920 following the staged rebellion of soldiers<\/a> of the 1st Lithuanian\u2013Belarusian Division<\/a> of the Polish Army<\/a> under Lucjan \u017beligowski<\/a>. Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Vilna<\/a>, for 18 months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland, upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area. After a variety of delays, a disputed election<\/a> took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland.<\/p>\n A part of Belarus under Russian rule emerged as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR)<\/a> in 1919. Soon thereafter it merged to form the Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR<\/a>. The contested lands were divided between Poland and the Soviet Union<\/a> after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. The western part of modern Belarus remained part of Poland.<\/p>\n In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and five-year plans<\/a> for the national economy, led to famine and political repression.<\/p>\n In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Poland, marking the beginning of World War II<\/a>. The Soviets invaded and annexed much of eastern Poland, which had been part of the country since the Peace of Riga<\/a> two decades earlier. Much of the northern section of this area was added to the Byelorussian SSR, and now constitutes West Belarus<\/a>. The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People’s Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 28 October 1939 in Bia\u0142ystok. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union<\/a> in 1941. The Brest Fortress<\/a>, which had been annexed in 1939, at this time was subjected to one of the most destructive onslaughts that happened during the war. Statistically, the Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained in Nazi hands until 1944.<\/a> During that time, Germany destroyed 209 out of 290 cities in the republic, 85% of the republic’s industry, and more than one million buildings. The Nazi Generalplan Ost<\/a> called for the extermination, expulsion or enslavement of most or all Belarusians for the purpose of providing more living space<\/a> in the East for Germans.<\/a><\/p>\n Casualties were estimated to be between 2 and 3 million (about a quarter to one-third of the total population), while the Jewish population of Belarus<\/a> was devastated during the Holocaust<\/a> and never recovered. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. It was also after this conflict that the final borders of Belarus were set by Stalin when parts of Belarusian territory were given to the recently annexed Lithuania.<\/p>\n After the war, Belarus was among the 51 founding countries of the United Nations Charter<\/a> and as such it was allowed an additional vote at the UN, on top of the Soviet Union’s vote. Vigorous postwar reconstruction promptly followed the end of the war and the Byelorussian SSR became a major center of manufacturing in the western USSR, creating jobs and attracting ethnic Russians. The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn, in accord with the 1919-proposed Curzon Line<\/a>.<\/p>\n Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization<\/a> to isolate the Byelorussian SSR from Western influences. This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR government. After Stalin’s death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor’s cultural hegemony program<\/a>, stating, “The sooner we all start speaking Russian, the faster we shall build communism.”<\/p>\n In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR was exposed to significant nuclear fallout<\/a> from the explosion at the Chernobyl<\/a> power plant in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR<\/a>.<\/p>\n In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR took place. Though the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front<\/a> took only 10% of the seats, the populace was content with the selection of the delegates. Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the support of the Communist Party, the country’s name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991. Stanislav Shushkevich<\/a>, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, met with Boris Yeltsin<\/a> of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk<\/a> of Ukraine on 8 December 1991 in Belavezhskaya Pushcha<\/a> to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States.<\/p>\n A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus<\/a>.<\/p>\n Two-round elections for the presidency on (24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994)[84] catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence. He garnered 45% of the vote in the first round and 80% in the second, defeating Vyacheslav Kebich<\/a> who received 14% of the vote. Lukashenko was re-elected in 2001<\/a>, in 2006<\/a>, in 2010<\/a> and again in 2015<\/a>. Western governments, Amnesty International<\/a>, and Human Rights Watch<\/a> have criticized Lukashenko’s authoritarian style of government.<\/p>\n Since 2014, following years of embrace of Russian influence in the country, Lukashenko has pressed a revival of Belarusian identity, following the Russian annexation of Crimea<\/a> and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine<\/a>. For the first time, he delivered a speech in Belarusian (rather than Russian, which most people use), in which he said, “We are not Russian\u2014we are Belarusians”, and later encouraged the use of Belarusian. Trade disputes, a border dispute, and a much relaxed official attitude to dissident voices are all part of a weakening of the longtime warm relationship with Russia.<\/p>\n In 2019, Lukashenko had bilateral talks in Sochi with Russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a> and declared that their two countries “could unite tomorrow, no problem.” An idea backed by Putin for years, observers have labeled the potential plan a scheme by Putin to remain in power beyond 2024. However, political scientist Mikhail Vinogradov explained that “Lukashenko will play tough to the public while trying to look weak in front of Putin,” and the Carnegie Moscow Center’s<\/a> Artyom Shraibman suggested that “Moscow will most likely fail to find its base among Belarusians.”<\/p>\n Belarus extends from north to south 350 miles and from west to east is 400 miles. It is landlocked, relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests.<\/p>\n Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus. Three major rivers run through the country: the Neman<\/a>, the Pripyat<\/a>, and the Dnieper<\/a>. The Neman flows westward towards the Baltic sea<\/a> and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea.<\/a><\/p>\n The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill)<\/a> at 1,132 feet, and the lowest point is on the Neman River at 295 feet. The average elevation of Belarus is 525 feet above sea level.<\/p>\n In 2014 the share of manufacturing in GDP was 37%, more than two thirds of this amount falls on manufacturing industries. The number of people employed in industry is 32.7% of the working population. At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus was one of the world’s most industrially developed states by percentage of GDP as well as the richest CIS member-state.<\/p>\n In 2015, 39.3% of Belarusians were employed by state-controlled companies, 57.2% were employed by private companies (in which the government has a 21.1% stake) and 3.5% were employed by foreign companies. The country relies on Russia for various imports, including petroleum. Important agricultural products include potatoes and cattle byproducts, including meat. In 1994, Belarus’s main exports included heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and energy products. Economically, Belarus involved itself in the CIS, Eurasian Economic Community, and Union with Russia.<\/p>\n In the 1990s, however, industrial production plunged due to decreases in imports, investment, and demand for Belarusian products from its trading partners. GDP only began to rise in 1996; the country was the fastest-recovering former Soviet republic in the terms of its economy.<\/p>\n Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, under Lukashenko’s leadership, Belarus has maintained government control over key industries and eschewed the large-scale privatizations seen in other former Soviet republics.<\/p>\n In 2006, Belarus’s largest trading partner was Russia, accounting for nearly half of total trade, with the European Union the next largest trading partner, with nearly a third of foreign trade. As of 2015, 38% of Belarusian exported goods go to Russia and 56% of imported goods come from Russia.<\/p>\n Rail transport in Belarus is operated by Belarusskaya Chyhunka<\/a> with a total of 3,425 miles of track, of which 543 miles is electrified.<\/p>\n Minsk features a subway system<\/a>. Many cities and towns have tramway systems.<\/p>\n In total, in Belarus there are more than 57,800 miles of roads.<\/p>\n Mazyr<\/a> has a river port on the Pripyat<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are 65 airports in Belarus with the main airport being Minsk International Airport<\/a>.<\/p>\n The balance of the airports are for local traffic only and are mostly absent commercial service with the exception some seasonal and charter services from Gomel Airport.<\/p>\n National air-carrier is Belavia<\/a> with extensive services throughout Europe.<\/p>\n The national flag of Belarus is a red and green flag with a white and red ornament pattern placed at the staff (hoist) end. The current design was introduced in 2012 by the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus, and is adapted from a design approved in a referendum in May 1995. It is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. Changes made to the Soviet-era flag were the removal of symbols of communism (the hammer and sickle and the red star) and the reversal of the colors of the ornament pattern, from white-on-red to red-on-white. Since the 1995 referendum, several flags used by Belarusian government officials and agencies have been modeled on this national flag.<\/p>\n This design replaced the historical white-red-white flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918, before Belarus became a 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 with Nazi collaboration during the Second World War. The white-red-white flag is used in protests against the government and by the Belarusian diaspora.<\/p>\n The flag does not differ significantly from the flag of the Byelorussian SSR, other than the removal of the hammer and sickle and the red star, and the reversal of red and white in the hoist pattern. While there is no official interpretation for the colors of the flag, an explanation given by President Alexander Lukashenko is that red represents freedom and the sacrifice of the nation’s forefathers, while green represents life.<\/p>\n A decorative pattern, designed in 1917 by Matrona Markevich, is displayed on the hoist of the flag. The pattern, derived from local plants and flowers, is a traditional type commonly used in Belarus. These patterns are sometimes used in woven garments, most importantly in the traditional rushnyk<\/a>, a woven cloth used for ceremonial events like religious services, funerals, and other more mundane social functions, such as a host offering guests bread and salt<\/a> served on a rushnyk.<\/p>\n The national flag of Belarus is a red and green flag with a white and red ornament pattern placed at the staff (hoist) end. The current design was introduced in 2012 by the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus, and is adapted from a design approved in a referendum in May 1995. It is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. Changes made to the Soviet-era flag were the removal of symbols of communism (the hammer and sickle and the red star) and the reversal of the colors of the ornament pattern, from white-on-red to red-on-white. Since the 1995 referendum, several flags used by Belarusian government officials and agencies have been modeled on this national flag.<\/p>\n This design replaced the historical white-red-white flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918, before Belarus became a 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 with Nazi collaboration during the Second World War. The white-red-white flag is used in protests against the government and by the Belarusian diaspora.<\/p>\n Decorative Pattern:<\/p>\n A decorative pattern, designed in 1917 by Matrona Markevich, is displayed on the hoist of the flag. The pattern, derived from local plants and flowers, is a traditional type commonly used in Belarus. These patterns are sometimes used in woven garments, most importantly in the traditional ruchnik, a woven cloth used for ceremonial events like religious services, funerals, and other more mundane social functions, such as a host offering guests bread and salt served on a rushnyk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[67,26,5,6,7,18,68],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Rus-principalities-before-the-Mongol-and-Lithuanian-invasions-242x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Etymology:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Napoleans-Grand-Army-Retreating-300x174.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Map-of-Belarus-280x300.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Early History:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Polish\u2013Lithuanian Commonwealth:<\/h3>\n
Russian Empire:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Cartoon-of-the-Partition-of-Belarus-1921-300x207.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Belarusian People’s Republic:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Belarusian-Peoples-Republic-postcard-200x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Republic of Central Lithuania:<\/h3>\n
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Soviet-Fighters-Behind-German-Lines-in-1943-300x198.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Independence:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Stanislav-Shushkevich.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Post-Independence:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Alexander-Lukashenko-300x188.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Strusta-Lake-300x142.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Belarus-Exports-300x233.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
Railways:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Trolleybus-in-Brest-300x252.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Highways:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/M1-Highway-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Ports:<\/h3>\n
Airports:<\/h3>\n
Flag of Belarus:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-Belarus-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Decorative Pattern:<\/h3>\n
Historic Flags:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/White-Red-White-Flag-of-Belarus-1918-and-1991-1995-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Lithuanian-Byelorussian-SSR-1919-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Byelorussian-Soviet-Socialist-Republic-1919-1927-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Byelorussian-Soviet-Socialist-Republic-1927-1937-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Byelorussian-Soviet-Socialist-Republic-1937-1951-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/09\/Flag-of-the-Byelorussian-Soviet-Socialist-Republic-1951-to-1991-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>