Belarus is a country in the east of Europe. Previously, it was part of the USSR, and in 1991 left it. Now it has several names - Belarus or Belarus. And the official name has been preserved for 25 years - the Republic of Belarus. The history of this country is very rich. She, like Ukraine, was under the rule of the Poles, the Russian Empire, the Principality of Lithuania.
General information
By the beginning of 2016, the population of Belarus amounted to almost 9.5 million people. Such indicators moved the state to 93rd place in the world ranking in terms of the number of inhabitants. The territory of the country occupies 207 thousand square meters. m. This is the 84th place in the world. A unitary state has a form of government - a presidential republic. Before we find out what the state language is in Belarus, we should turn to the history of the country, its traditions and population.
Name
The roots of the name of the state come from the XIII century. Then the Europeans called the territory of Veliky Novgorod White Russia. The place where the modern state is now located was calledPolotchina. It began to be called White Russia only after the 16th century. Later, the eastern lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were also called in the same way. And the inhabitants of this area, respectively, became Belarusians.
Only by the 19th century, when Belarus became part of the Russian Empire, the locals were renamed Belarusians.
Rus
It is known that the 9th century is attributed to the formation of the state under the leadership of the Rurikovich. The famous trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" affected the modern territory of Belarus. The Old Russian state for a long time coped with both local principalities and raids from outside. In 988, a significant event took place - the Baptism of Russia. A little later, dioceses appeared in Polotsk and Turov.
In the XII century. events occurred that led to the fragmentation and disintegration of the whole state into Russian principalities. The Mongol invasion then broke all the peoples of Russia, but the territory described was only slightly affected. At that time it was impossible to establish which language was the state language in Belarus, since there was no power with that name yet.
Lithuanian and Polish influence
After political events, the territory of the modern state was under the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was formed in the middle of the XIII century. Already by the XIV century. the state was a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional land.
After there were difficult times under the rule of the Commonwe alth. RightCatholicism also came to the entire territory of the former Principality of Lithuania. At that time, the population of modern Belarus was Orthodox. After the formation of the Uniate Church, there were a lot of dissatisfied people among the inhabitants. But already at the end of the 18th century, many became Uniates, and those who occupied the upper class became Catholics.
Russian supremacy
Under the rule of the Russian Empire, the territory of Belarus began to appear. At that time, this was the name of the Belarusian General Government, which included the Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces.
It was hard to call the inhabitants of these lands lucky. Recruitment and serfdom were introduced throughout the empire. The inhabitants of the western region of the modern state then got into a mess with the Polish uprising. Then began the complete Russification of the entire territory. The statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was canceled, the Uniate Church united with the Orthodox. And in 1866, the current state language of Belarus, Belarusian, was abolished. The empire carried out reforms related not only to religion and politics. The government tried to win back cultural superiority.
Then there was no such thing as Belarus. The head, the state language, all the more, were not formed. But many writers began to promote their native language, under the influence of the policy of Russification. Among them stood out Janka Luchina and Frantisek Bogushevich. The events of the Polish uprising of 1863 led to the fact that Belarusian self-consciousness began to grow among the people.
Dramatic changes
By the time the Russian Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Provisionalgovernment, the territory of modern Belarus did not change. During the October Revolution, cardinal changes began.
In 1917, the First All-Belarusian Congress took place. By 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic was formed. After liberation, Poland decided to claim its rights to the state. This is how the Soviet-Polish front arose.
Uncertainty
As you know, 1919 began with the appearance of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus on the map. Minsk became its main city. But a month later, the newly minted lands left the RSFSR. Now it was the Belarusian Socialist Soviet Republic.
But that didn't last long either. Again, a month later, the republic was disbanded, and part of the provinces went to the RSFSR, and part became the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. Litbel did not live long - in the summer of 1919 he was occupied by the Poles.
Later, with the formation of the USSR, the named territory became known as the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. And since 1922, it was under the control of the USSR, though not in full force.
Pre-war times
Despite the fact that, under the agreement, some provinces were not added to the territory of Belarus, nevertheless, it increased several times. The country accounted for half of the modern area of the state. More than 70% were Belarusians. The population reached 4 million people.
Therefore, the proclamation of Belarusianization is not accidental. In addition to culture, they also cared about the fact thatthe state language of Belarus was paramount. Although it was difficult to carry out the plan, since the territories were divided between states, and this influenced the speech of the inhabitants. Until the mid-30s, there were several official languages in the republic: in addition to Belarusian, Russian, Polish and Yiddish. The latter was popular among the Jewish population until 1999. It was then spoken by about 7% of the population.
The famous slogan "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" it was written in four languages, but, in addition, there was also a Polish national region on the territory of the republic.
At the same time, a language reform is taking place that eliminates Tarashkevitsa, as a result of which the state language of Belarus was reformed and became similar to Russian. More than 30 phonetic and morphological features have been added to the orthography.
Over time, the political and social situation began to deteriorate. Schools became many times smaller, the population remained illiterate. There were about 200 students. More than half of Orthodox churches have become Catholic. The crisis forced tens of thousands of residents to emigrate to Europe and America.
Becoming
After the Second World War, the republic was engaged in restoration, like other lands of the USSR. Only after the collapse of the Union, she received the title of parliamentary. Residents began to call their newly minted country Belarus. The capital, the head of state, the state language continued to take shape. Stanislav Shushkevich was the first to take the reins of government, but only until 1994.
It was then that the country's constitution was formed, and the presidential elections were held. Alexander Lukashenko became the first and so far the only president of Belarus. The form of government has become parliamentary-presidential. In 1995, the Russian language of Belarus received state status.
Alexander Lukashenko won the elections in 2001, followed by 2006. Then, in 2010, he was re-elected for the fourth time. Moreover, both the EU and the US with the OSCE pointedly did not recognize the results of the elections since 2001. When Alexander Lukashenko became president again in 2015, the EU suspended sanctions against the Republic. Last time, more than 83% of the population of the entire country voted for him.
Languages
As mentioned earlier, at the moment the state language of Belarus is Belarusian and Russian. But part of the population can communicate in Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian. At the same time, linguistic tolerance is observed in the country.
In practice, most of the population is still Russian-speaking. Many of those who live in the capital and large cities have completely forgotten Belarusian. Young people hardly know him. In small towns you can find trasyanka (surzhik in Ukraine). This mixture of Russian and Belarusian does not meet the standards of any of the named languages. It happens that some officials can speak Trasyanka. Pure Belarusian can be found only in small villages, in the countryside. Sometimes ituses intelligentsia and patriots.
Culture
The nationalities, language and traditions of Belarus are diverse. As mentioned earlier, here you can meet those who speak Polish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian and even Hebrew. In the school curriculum, they must study the Russian language. The Cyrillic alphabet is used for writing.
Now more than 80% of Belarusians, 8% of Russians, 3% of Poles, 1% of Ukrainians live on the territory of Belarus. There are also Lithuanians, Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, Georgians, Chinese, Arabs, Chuvashs, etc. The population of the country was shaped by history. Indigenous people have always lived in large villages. There are Jews in the cities, there are many Poles in the north, and Russians in the east. Part of the southern territory was occupied by Ukrainians. Despite the fact that more than 80% of the population are Belarusians, a diverse ethnic composition can be observed in the villages.
Most of the traditions of this state are similar to Ukrainian or Russian. This is due to the fact that almost all holidays and rituals are based on Christian customs. The only difference is in the name. For example, the famous Trinity here is called Semukha, Ivan Kupala - Kupalle, Peter's Day - Pyatro.
There are also special days that can be found only in the villages of Belarus, Ukraine or Russia: Radonitsa, Spring Calling, Gromnitsy or Dedy. Crafts are also considered traditional in the republic: weaving, woodworking, pottery, straw weaving.
Very cultured and calm countryBelarus. The state language - Belarusian - unfortunately, is slowly ceasing to exist, although its complete disappearance is unlikely to occur. Still, a huge number of people in villages and villages still use it in everyday life. They will continue to teach their children and grandchildren their national language.
