1517 Renaissance and Reformations
Skaryna’s Bible
The first book printed in Ruthenian appears in Prague, a year after Erasmus.
Belarus
Republic of Belarus
Heir to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Belarus is the only country in Europe outside the Council of Europe and still applies the death penalty.
Heritage
The Statute of Lithuania of 1588, written in Ruthenian, is one of the most advanced legal codes of the European Renaissance. Francysk Skaryna printed a Bible in Ruthenian in Prague as early as 1517, a year after Erasmus's Greek New Testament.
History
The Belarusian lands formed the heart of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where Ruthenian served as chancery language. After the partitions of Poland-Lithuania the region passed to the Russian Empire and underwent a policy of Russification.
The territory was among Europe's most devastated in the twentieth century: a quarter of the population perished between 1941 and 1944, and most of its very large Jewish community was exterminated.
Independent in 1991, Belarus embarked from 1994 on a lasting authoritarian regime. The 2020 protests against Alexander Lukashenko's contested re-election were severely repressed; the country is excluded from the Council of Europe and subject to European sanctions, notably since its logistical role in the invasion of Ukraine.
Milestones
1588 Renaissance and Reformations
Statute of Lithuania
A code in the Ruthenian language, among the most advanced in Europe of its time.
1941 Contemporary period
Occupation and destruction
A quarter of the population perishes; hundreds of villages are razed.
1986 Contemporary period
Chernobyl fallout
Nearly 70 % of the radioactive fallout lands on Belarusian territory.
1991 Contemporary period
Independence of Belarus
The Belavezha Accords, signed in Belarus, formalise the dissolution of the USSR.
2020 Contemporary period
2020 protests
Contestation of the presidential election is repressed; the EU does not recognise the result.
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