Гістарычны шлях нацыі і дзяржавы
Радзім Гарэцкі, Міхась Біч, Уладзімір Конан
Выдавец: Беларускі кнігазбор
Памер: 348с.
Мінск 2001
Наш абавязак — захавацца ў новы.м тысячагоддзі як самастойная этнічная супольнасць. Будзьма верыць, што глыбокія карані нашай мінуўшчыны і надалей утрымаюць на зямлі беларускае радаводнае дрэва!
NATION
The origin of the Belarusian nation goes back to very ancient times. The Belarusians belong to the very ancient European peoples. Our nation, the same as many others, was formed as the result of a series of migrations of the ancient inhabitants of Asia and Europe and their blending with tribes living at different times on the territory of the present day Belarus.
Archeological sources tell us that the most ancient inhabitants of the Belarusian territory were European aboriginals. Some 3 thousand years ago Finno-Ugric tribes from the Urals migrated to the territory which would become Belarus. In 2 thousand years BC IndoEuropean tribes from Asia began settling in Europe. At first these were Baltic tribes that assimilated both aboriginals and Finno-Ugric tribes.
It is in Herodotus — an Ancient Greek historian and geographer — that the first mentions of our ancestors are found. He described the war between the Persian Tsar Darius and the Scythians that took place on the territory of the contemporary Ukraine in 513 BC. According to Herodotus, there were the Neurs or Narts settled not far from the Budzins or Hudzins on the territory of the present Belarus north of the Scythians.
Early in the first millennium the territory of our country was inhabited by the Baltic tribes. In the Vlth century the Slavic tribes departed from the Indo-Europeans and began moving to the Belarusian territory. That is how it happened that ethnic traits of our nation distinguish us from the Russian, Ukrainian, and other Slavic nations which also have IndoEuropean roots (Slavic as well as Baltic) and Finno-Ugric elements. But this conception used to be strongly criticized in the Soviet period. Official historians claimed one common origin for ‘the three brotherly Slavic nations’ out of the Old-Russian nation. And the Russians, the Ukrainians, and the Belarusians were referred to these ‘brotherly nations’. Based on this erroneus concept, the idea of a common state and common history for these nations was cultivated. However, each nation has its own origin, and this is supported by a number of historical sources.
Жыхары старажытных беларускіх княстваў Княжацкая сям’я («Гістарычны атлас Беларусі») Resedents of ancient Belarusian principalities Duke’s family (Historic Atlas of Belarus)
Жыхары старажытных беларускіх княстваў
Гараджанка і сяляне (Л. Дучыц «Касцюм жыхароў Беларусі X—XIII стст.») Resedents of ancient Belarusian principalities
Townswoman and peasants (Belarusian Dress of the Xth-XIIIth c by L. Duchyts)
Жыхары Вялікага Княства Літоўскага XVI ст.
Багатыя гараджане (паводле Л. Малчанавай) Resedents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the XVIth c
Rich townsfolk (according to L. Malchanava)
Баярын Вялікага Княства Літоўскага.
Сярэдзіна XVI ст.
Nobleman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The middle XVIth c
Багатыя нявесты Малюнак Ю. Косака Rich brides Drawn by Yu. Kosak
Жыхары Вялікага Княства Літоўскага XVI—XVII стст. Прадстаўнікі знаці (паводле Л. Малчанавай) Resedents of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of the XVIth-XVIIth c Noblemen (according to L. Malchanava)
Літвіны-беларусы Belarusians-Litviny
Шляхціц Nobleman
Сяляне ў святочных уборах. 1910-я гг. Чэрск. Брэсцкі р-н (М. Раманюк «Беларускае народнае адзенне») Peasants in a holiday dress, the 1910s. Chersk, Brest District. {Belarusian National Dress by M. Ramaniuk)
Вінцэнт Дунін-Марцінкевіч (трэці злева) з дачкой Камілай і мінскай інтэлігенцыяй. Сярэдзіна XIX ст.
Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkievich (the third from the left) with his daughter Kamila and Minsk intelligentsia. The middle XIXth c
Беларускае народнае адзенне (паводле М. Раманюка) Belarusian national dress (according to M. Ramaniuk)
Жанчына ў старадаўнім строі з наміткай 1920-х гг. Яўсімавічы, Кобрынскі р-н (М. Раманюк «Беларускае народнае адзенне»)
Woman in a traditional dress with a namitka (kind of kerchief), the 1920s. Yausimavichy, Kobrin District (Belarusian National Dress by M. Ramaniuk)
Дзяўчына ў традыцыйным святочным строі 1920-х гг. Морач. Клецкі р-н (М. Раманюк «Беларускае народнае адзенне»)
Girl in a traditional holiday dress, the 1920s. Morach, Klietsk District. (Belarusian National Dress by M. Ramaniuk)
Мужчына ў традыцыйнай кашулі 1930-х гг. Збляпы. Лідскі р-н (М. Раманюк «Беларускае народнае адзенне»)
Man in a traditional shirt, the 1930s. Zbliapy, Lida District. (Belarusian National Dress by M. Ramaniuk)
There were a few Slavic tribes settled on the territory of Belarus: the Kry vichy (Vitsebsk, Smalensk, Vilnya, and partly Harodnya and Nievel lands), the Dryhavichy (Central Belarus and Northern Paliesie), the Radzimichy (Mahiliou, Homel, and Western Bransk lands). There were also other Eastern-Slavic tribes settled: the Drauliane, the Slavieny, the Valyniane.
In the Vlth-VIIth century a long consolidation and assimilation process of the former Baltic communities by Slavic tribes began. The process of state formation was greatly conductive to it.
At the end of the Xth century the Kryvichy formed our first state, the Polatsk principality. Since the middle of the XHIth century a leading role in state formation was taken by the Slavic tribes of Kryvichy and Dryhavichy and the Baltic tribes of Litva and Yatsviahi settled along the Nioman. Right there a new Slavic-Baltic state — the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the GDL) — was formed with Polatsk as a later part of it. Throughout the fivecentury history of the GDL a unique nation of Litviny (Litsviny) was being formed on the territory of contemporary Belarus. This nation composed the major part of the Duchy settling from Harodnya to Vilnya, from Polatsk, Mstsislau, Homel to Turau, Pinsk, Bierastsie. In such a way, the name ‘Litviny’ became the historical ethnic name of the Belarusians. The borderlands of the GDL were inhabited by other peoples from different ethnic groups with the Balts (the Zhamoity, the Aukshtaity), who were the forefathers of the modern Lithuanians, among them. It was the time when the word ‘Litviny’, meaning ‘a citizen of the GDL’, appeared.
In the late XVIIIth century the GDL, while a part of the Polish Commonwealth (Rzecz Pospolita), lost its independence in the result of annexion by Russia, Austria, and Prussia. The Belarusian lands became a part of the Russian Empire.
Such changes in the political life of the State had a bad influence on national life. A policy of total russification was inflicted on the Belarusian territory. A bit later even the name ‘Litviny’ was no longer relevant. Instead, the name ‘Bielaya Rus’ or ‘Belarus’ began to be used in reference to our lands annexed by Russia. Earlier the Orthodox population of our Eastern lands was called ‘Rusiny’, and that name did not correspond to the Russian lands, which were known as Muscovy.
But even the name ‘Belarus’ did not cohere with the strategic policy of the imperial power. In 1840 the names ‘Belarus’ and ‘Lithuania’ were forbidden in official documents according to a special edict by the Tsar. Later it was replaced by the insulting name ‘NorthWestern lands’ as if our land was a Russian province with no national peculiarities. Thus, the Litviny-Belarusians were no more a people in the official life of Russia. But in reality, they still were a nation with a unique culture and language.
In the second half of the XIXth century the national patriotic intelligentsia, who fought for the national and political revival of our Motherland, renewed the name ‘Belarus’, ‘the Belarusians’ as a symbol of national independence. With this name our people went into the XXth century, by this very name our nation was acknowledged in the world community, and is entering a new millennium. But we should always remember that we are the successors of the Litviny and followers of their patriotic principles.
And in the XIXth century, at a time of harsh national and social opression of the Belarusians by the Russian tsarist government, it was already impossible to stifle a fresh spring of ethnical national development. Decline of natural economy and the development of new economic relations gave great opportunities for the spreading of economic and cultural contacts on the Belarusian lands. Inner migration processes facilitated further formation of a common culture and language, strengthened ethnic interconnections, and were conducive to national self-determination. So, in circumstances that traced similar nation formation processes, the Belarusian nation was formed.
It should be mentioned that loss of statehood and the role of a province in the Russian Empire were almost fatal in the life of the Belarusian nation. Changes in social structure were especially crucial. According to the results of the census of 1897 the Belarusians were no longer lords in their native land, as they had been at the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Then it was hard to find a Belarusian in the major fields of economics and trade. Only 14.5% of urban citizens were Belarusian, compared with the more than 80% of Belarusian urban population in the XVIth century. Correspondingly, the national life of the Belarusian people returned to an ethnographic level. An ancient European nation, which once formed a flourishing state with well-developed economics, its own democratic traditions, and high culture, was gradually being turned into ‘the nation of peasants’.
The national revival of the Belarusian people at the turn of the XXth century, possibly because of crises and the crash of the Russian Empire, was severely suppressed by a Soviet policy of repression. As a result, the young Belarusian national intelligentsia and the Belarusian political and economic leaders were almost totally destroyed. The Soviets gave no chance for national development because of the denationalization policy when all the nations of the former USSR were supposed to become ‘one single Soviet nation’.
КНІГІ ОНЛАЙН
