Minsk, Belarus
Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus. Located on the south-eastern slope of the Minsk Hills, Minsk was initially founded on the hills. However, in the twentieth century, it grew to include the relatively flat plains in the southeast.
Minsk must have something going for it, because it has a long history of being ruled by different states. I think that it is this long history of destruction and rebuilding that arouses my curiosity about the place.
First settled by the Slavs in the ninth century, it was incorporated into the early medieval Principality of Polatsk, one of the earliest East Slav states in 980. 1067 is now accepted as the founding year of Minsk, though the town (by then fortified by wooden walls) had certainly existed for some time by then.
In the early twelfth century, the Principality of Minsk was established although this was annexed by Kiev, the dominant principality of Kievan Rus. However in 1146 the Polatsk dynasty again regained control.
Minsk escaped the Mongol invasion of Rus in 1237. However, in later years it was attacked by nomadic invaders, who turned many principalities of the now defeated Kievan Rus into their vassal states. Trying to avoid the Tatar yoke, the Principality of Minsk sought protection from Lithuania, who had been consolidating their power in the region.
In 1242, Minsk became a part of the expanding Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was joined peacefully and local elites enjoyed high rank in the society of the Grand Duchy. This lasted until 1413, when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kingdom of Poland entered into a union. In 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland merged into a single state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
This was not to last though. In 1654, Minsk was conquered by troops of the Tsar of Russia. Russians governed the city until 1667, when it was regained by Poland.
All of this carry on had some effect though, as by the end of the Polish-Russian war, Minsk was reduced to just 2,000 residents and just 300 houses, far beneath its former glory. A second wave of devastation occurred during the Great Northern War, as Minsk was occupied by the Swedish army of Charles XII first, and then by the Russian army of Peter the Great.
Minsk was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland, and the city continued to grow and significantly progress throughout the nineteenth century.
The Russian Revolution had an immediate effect in Minsk. A Worker's Soviet was established in Minsk in October of 1917. After the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, German forces occupied Minsk. In March of that year Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Belarusian People's Republic, although that didn’t last long! In December, 1918, Minsk was taken over by the Red Army. In January, 1919 Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, though later in 1919 and again in 1920, the city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic during the course of the Polish-Bolshevik war.
I like their little green man on the walk sign, and they even tell you the time left!
When that was sorted out after the Peace of Riga, Minsk was handed back to the Russian SFSR and became the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, one of the founding republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
True to its history Minsk recovered. By 1938, it had a population of 300,000 people. Then World War Two happened. The German’s bombed the city on the first day of Operation Barbarossa, and occupied Minsk four days later.
Liberated by Soviet troops in early July, 1944, the city had been the centre of German resistance to the Soviet advance and saw heavy fighting. Factories, municipal buildings, power stations, bridges, most roads and 80% of houses were reduced to rubble. In 1944, Minsk's population had been reduced to a around 50,000.
After World War II, Minsk was rebuilt, but not reconstructed. The historical centre was replaced in the late-1940s and 1950s by Stalinist architecture, which favoured grand buildings, broad avenues and wide squares. For some odd reason, this is another of the key attractions for me in Minsk, as it seems so very different from my own experience.
Of course, I should not fail to mention the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the new nation of Belarus. Judging by their new library, clearly it’s entering a new phase of development!
Like many people I guess, my perceptions of Belarus (and Eastern Europe more generally) has been shaped by the Cold War. Everything was supposed to be grey, cold and harsh ‘over there’. Women were haggard, men were shabby, and the food was dreadful.
Yet these things conflict with my experience, the people that I’ve met have been. I like Eastern Europeans. I think that they seem generous and welcoming. When someone says “you don’t want to go there” I think “I want to go there”. When people say “the food is terrible” I think “I love the food”.
Come on, Henry and I love our onions, potatoes, beets, cabbage and pumpkin. We love melted butter and blobs of thick sour cream on everything. We love meat and we love bread. And almost more than all of this, we love the heartiness and ample portions!
Maybe I’m Belarusian at heart?
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Hopefully soon!