Byelorussian SSR
The
Byelorussian SSR (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic;
Russian Белору́сская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика,
Belarusian Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка) was one of the four original founding members of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in
1922, together with
Ukrainian SSR,
Transcaucasian SFSR and the
Russian SFSR. It was also known by the name of
White Russia.
The
republic's capital was
Minsk. The Byelorussian SSR was created on
January 1 1919.
Area: 207,6 km²
Population: 897,000 (1969)
Nationality (1959):
*
Belarusians - 81%
*
Russians - 0.2%
*
Poles - 16.7%
*
Jews - 1.9%
*
Ukrainians - 1.7%
* otherOther larger cities:
*
Brest*
Gomel (Homel)
*
Hrodna (Grodno)
*
Mogilev (Mahilyow)
*
Vitebsk (Vitsebsk)
Part of the Russian Empire before
World War I, Belarus first declared independence on
25 March 1918, forming the
Belarus National Republic. The Republic was, however, short-lived, and the regime was overthrown soon after the German withdrawal. In
1919 Belarus became the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), and merged into the
Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the
Polish-Soviet War ended in
1921, Byelorussian lands were split between Poland and the recreated Byelorussian SSR, which became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in
1922. In September
1939, the Soviet Union annexed the Polish-held Byelorussian land as a result of the
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
After
World War II, the Byelorussian SSR was given a seat in the
United Nations General Assembly together with the Soviet Union and
Ukrainian SSR, becoming one of the founding members of the UN.
Following the
August Coup, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus declared independence from the USSR on
August 25,
1991. The republic was renamed the
Republic of Belarus on
September 19 1991. On
December 8,
1991 it was a signatory, along with
Russia and
Ukraine, of the
Belavezha Accords, which replaced the USSR with the
Commonwealth of Independent States.
