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{{Infobox country|name=Republic of Belarus|native_name=Рэспубліка Беларусь|image_flag=Flag of Belarus.png | {{Infobox country|name=Republic of Belarus|native_name=Рэспубліка Беларусь|image_flag=Flag of Belarus.png|leader_title1=President|leader_name1=Aleksandr Lukashenko|leader_title2=Prime Minister|leader_name2=Roman Golovchenko|area_km2=207,600|population_estimate=9,349,600|population_estimate_year=2021|image_coat=Coat of arms of Belarus.svg|capital=Minsk|largest_city=Minsk|mode_of_production=[[Capitalism]]|currency=Belarusian rouble|currency_code=BYN|image_map=Belarus map.png|map_width=260|official_languages=Belarusian<br>Russian}} | ||
'''Belarus''', officially the '''Republic of Belarus''', is a landlocked country in [[Eastern Europe | '''Belarus''', officially the '''Republic of Belarus''', is a landlocked country in [[Eastern Europe]]. In the aftermath of the [[October Revolution|Russian Revolution in 1917]], different states arose competing for legitimacy, ultimately ending in the rise of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1991)|Byelorussian SSR]], which became a founding constituent republic of the [[Soviet Union]] in 1922. | ||
After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Belarus declared independence and sought to maintain its state-owned economy under president [[Alexander Lukashenko]]. Belarus is relentlessly harassed by the [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[Imperial core|West]] for refusal to privatize its state assets and embrace the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] world order.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-10-12|title=US Writes Belarus into Its Familiar Regime-Change Script|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-writes-belarus-familiar-regime-change-script/278700/|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> | After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], Belarus declared independence and sought to maintain its state-owned economy under president [[Alexander Lukashenko]]. Belarus is relentlessly harassed by the [[Imperialism|imperialist]] [[Imperial core|West]] for refusal to privatize its state assets and embrace the [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] world order.<ref>{{News citation|journalist=[[Alan Macleod]]|date=2021-10-12|title=US Writes Belarus into Its Familiar Regime-Change Script|url=https://www.mintpressnews.com/us-writes-belarus-familiar-regime-change-script/278700/|newspaper=[[MintPress News]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> | ||
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== History == | == History == | ||
=== | === Early history === | ||
{{ | [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1236–1795)|Lithuania]] controlled what is now Belarus from the 13th to 18th centuries, and it was part of the [[Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1569–1795)|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] after 1569. In 1795, [[Russian Empire (1721–1917)|Tsarist Russia]] conquered Belarus during the partition of Poland but Polish [[Landlord|landlords]] and merchants continued to dominate the area.<ref name=":02">{{Citation|author=Albert Szymanski|year=1984|title=Human Rights in the Soviet Union|chapter=The European Nationalities in the USSR|page=85|pdf=https://cloudflare-ipfs.com/ipfs/bafykbzaceazdmtb2y3qq27fve5ib3gk7uv2unt6ae2xss74xmfpur7k5uhl5m?filename=Albert%20Szymanski%20-%20Human%20Rights%20in%20the%20Soviet%20Union_%20Including%20Comparisons%20with%20the%20U.S.A.-Zed%20Books%20Ltd.%20%281984%29.pdf|city=London|publisher=Zed Books Ltd|isbn=0862320186|lg=https://libgen.rs/book/index.php?md5=C597B1232D9EA6B0F3DCB438D7E15A81}}</ref> | ||
=== | === Soviet Union === | ||
[[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Soviet Russia]] ceded the western part of Belarus to [[Republic of Poland (1918–1939)|Poland]] in a 1921 peace treaty ending the [[Polish–Soviet War]]. The [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] reunified western Belarus with the Belarusian SSR in 1939.<ref name=":02" /> | [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1917–1991)|Soviet Russia]] ceded the western part of Belarus to [[Republic of Poland (1918–1939)|Poland]] in a 1921 peace treaty ending the [[Polish–Soviet War]]. The [[Workers' and Peasants' Red Army|Red Army]] reunified western Belarus with the Belarusian SSR in 1939.<ref name=":02" /> | ||
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==== Arrest of terrorist Roman Protasevich ==== | ==== Arrest of terrorist Roman Protasevich ==== | ||
In 2021 the [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] terrorist [[Roman Protasevich]] boarded a flight from [[Hellenic Republic|Greece]] to Lithuania. While the plane crossed over Belarusian airspace, it was ordered to land by state authorities.<ref name=":0">The Grayzone (2021) [https://thegrayzone.com/2021/05/26/belarus-roman-protasevich-plane-nazis-ukraine/ US-funded Belarusian regime-change activist arrested on plane joined neo-Nazis in Ukraine]</ref> Protasevich was a member of the neo-Nazi militant organisations Young Front, Pahonia Detachment, and fought alongside the neo-Nazi militant organisation [[Azov Battalion]].<ref>FOIA research (2021) [https://www.foiaresearch.net/person/roman-protasevich Roman Protasevich]</ref> | In 2021 the [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] terrorist [[Roman Protasevich]] boarded a flight from [[Hellenic Republic|Greece]] to [[Republic of Lithuania|Lithuania]]. While the plane crossed over Belarusian airspace, it was ordered to land by state authorities.<ref name=":0">The Grayzone (2021) [https://thegrayzone.com/2021/05/26/belarus-roman-protasevich-plane-nazis-ukraine/ US-funded Belarusian regime-change activist arrested on plane joined neo-Nazis in Ukraine]</ref> Protasevich was a member of the neo-Nazi militant organisations Young Front, Pahonia Detachment, and fought alongside the neo-Nazi militant organisation [[Azov Battalion]].<ref>FOIA research (2021) [https://www.foiaresearch.net/person/roman-protasevich Roman Protasevich]</ref> | ||
The incident triggered a wave of denunciations by Western governments and aggressive [[Economic sanctions|sanctions]] on Belarus, since the US uses these neo-Nazi groups to advance their imperialist aims.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{News citation|journalist=Shane Quinn|date=2019-04-19|title=US and NATO's Ongoing Support for Neo-Nazis in Ukraine|url=https://popularresistance.org/us-and-natos-ongoing-support-for-neo-nazis-in-ukraine/|newspaper=[[Popular Resistance]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> | The incident triggered a wave of denunciations by Western governments and aggressive [[Economic sanctions|sanctions]] on Belarus, since the US uses these neo-Nazi groups to advance their imperialist aims.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{News citation|journalist=Shane Quinn|date=2019-04-19|title=US and NATO's Ongoing Support for Neo-Nazis in Ukraine|url=https://popularresistance.org/us-and-natos-ongoing-support-for-neo-nazis-in-ukraine/|newspaper=[[Popular Resistance]]|archive-url=|archive-date=|retrieved=}}</ref> | ||