Post by natalya on Aug 16, 2010 23:12:54 GMT -5
Nation: Belarus
Name: Natalya Arlovskaya
Gender: Female
Appearance of Age: Early- to Mid-Twenties.
Hair Color: Platinum Blonde
Eye Color: Blue-Purple
Height: 160 cm [5'2"]
Weight: 50.8 kg [112 lbs]
Appearance:
Personality: Natalya Arlovskaya is a multi-faceted young woman, but what most people see are not the most... savory of traits. What most people see is only her obsessive love for her brother, her addiction to any attention she can get from him, good, bad, or otherwise, and her hatred for anyone who would get between the two of them. She loves her brother and longs for recognition, but her rather extremist attempts at gaining it tend to scare him off rather than draw him closer. Unfortunately, she lost the ability to be calm around him ages ago, and the aura of intent that surrounds her when she's near him is completely unconscious.
When she's not near Ivan, however, Natalya can be- note, can be- another person entirely. She tends to be more withdrawn and shy. She is so unused to men approaching her due to her aura of danger and her love of sharp knives that any compliment tends to cause her pale cheeks to become a bright red. She is not, however, entirely rid of her intense personality, and she will often glare at people who make her uncomfortable.
Belarus is intensely protective of those she cares for. In particular, her siblings, Ivan and Yekaterina, but she has a history, also, of protecting those under her brother's 'care', or at least keeping them from being killed. However, if it were to come down to them or Ivan... she would choose Ivan every time.
Likes:
+ Russia. Actually, it's an understatement to say that she likes Russia- she loves him, with every fiber of her being, every inch of her heart and soul. Geez. Who would have imagined?
+ Ukraine. Though she doesn't share the same obsessive love for her sister as she does for her brother, she does love the older girl. After all, Ukraine raised her. Sometimes she feels more like a mother than a sister...
+ Sunflowers. Not only because Russia likes them, but... well... okay, mostly because Russia likes them. Still! They're pretty, and would look so nice next to a white dress...
+ Warm Clothes. Of course, this is less of a preference than it is a necessity, especially in the winters... and especially when she'sstalking visiting her brother.
+ Sewing. Oddly girly, for her, but she does enjoy making things out of cloth. Dolls, flowers, clothes... She tends to make things for Ukraine more often than anything else.
Dislikes:
- Lithuania. He's annoying, and quite the stalker. In fact, she's pretty sure she knows where her missing dresses have been going...
- Doors. Especially doors with locks. Somehow, they always get shut in her face, especially when she's trying to talk to Ivan. Hmm...
- Anything that stands between her and Ivan. Really, self explanatory, yes?
- Pity. There's nothing worse than looking at someone and seeing pity in their eyes, or having someone pat you on the back and say "Well, it's okay, I'm sure you'll do better next time."
- Weakness. She wasn't a very strong girl, but she'll be damned if she lets herself be manipulated or overpowered anymore.
- Heat. There's not very much of it at her brother's house, and if you pair it with the thick, warm clothes she usually wears, she tends to get uncomfortable. Not to mention, her summers are fairly mild, so she isn't used to extreme heat.
Fears:
~ Being sent away. Russia sent her away once, to live with Lithuania, and it was one of the worst experiences of her life. She didn't fight then, but if he tried again, she would.
~ General Winter. Not only is he incredibly cruel to her beloved Brother, but he seems to have it out for all of the Kievan Rus 'children'. Not to mention, he controls the season that her country seems unable to escape.
~ America. She went to stay with him once, after the Soviet Union fell. His cheerfulness was terrifying. She'd prefer not to have to ever do that again.
~ Lithuania. Oddly enough, she fears Toris as much as she hates him. He, and his partner at the time Poland, were quite cruel to her when she lived with them. Where does he get off, acting all innocent now?
Strengths:
+ Accuracy/Aim. When it comes to throwing projectiles, Belarus is second to none. Of course, she couldn't do half the things with a frying pan that Hungary could, but give her a set of throwing knives, and she's got the best damn aim in the whole of Eastern Europe.
+ Persistence/Dedication. Please take note of her decades of Russia-stalking. He's rejected her countless times, has set up blockades and has hidden, but never once has she given up. That doesn't mean she never will, but she's got a pretty damn good track record so far.
+ Physical strength. A long time ago, Belarus was a weak child. After some less-than-pleasant experiences- we won't go into that too deeply- she realized that strength was a big factor in a lot of things. Now, she's one of the strongest female nations.
+ Sneakiness. Honestly, she doesn't use this skill often, as it's easier to just blast through obstacles in her way, but if she needed to she could slink through a dead-silent forest without making so much as a whisper of noise.
+ Tracking/Hunting. Please see all past episodes of Russia-hunting for examples.
Weaknesses:
- Her siblings. If someone were ever to get a hold of either of her siblings, Belarus would be completely at their command. She would never do anything intentionally to hurt them, and heavens help anyone who would.
- Children. Belarus has a secret desire to be a mother, and adores children; she coddles them, she protects them, and she can't say no to them.
- One track mind. When Belarus has her mind set on something, her mind is set on it, and there is very little that can distract her.
- Inability to handle rejection. This is seen in how she completely ignores her brother's pleas for her to leave him alone. She doesn't know how to handle being rejected... and so she ignores it when it happens. When it does finally break through, though, it has the potential to break her.
- Shyness. When not around Russia, Belarus is very easily flustered, and her shyness rivals that of Latvia's. Oh, she's still scary, make no mistake, but she's also much more of a girl.
History:
Principalities of Polotsk/Turaŭ
Around the 10th or 11th century A.D. , the Principality of Polotsk emerged as the dominant center of power on the territory that would later be known as 'Belarus', with a lesser but no less important role being played by the Principality of Turaŭ in the south. Polotsk repeatedly asserted its power in relation to other centers of the Kievan Rus', even becoming a political capital.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In the 13th century A.D. or so, the Kievan Rus' began to disintegrate thanks to nomads from Asia invading the lands often. The final straw was the Mongol sacking of Kiev, which ruined Kievan Rus' and left a huge geopolitical vacuum in the region. Thanks to military conquest and dynastic marriages, Belarus was separated from Ukraine and Russia and was absorbed into the expanding Lithuanian lands. While Baltic and Ukrainian lands were also consolidated over time, Belarus made up the vast majority of the Lithuanian conquests.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
While Ukraine and Podlachia became part of Poland, Belarus stayed within Lithanian borders when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. Unlike in Poland, those within the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had little personal freedom. The few liberties that the peasants had were limited gradually, and the taxes were increased, causing life to be harsh for many Belarusians. Many of them fled to the scarcely populated lands located on the Khortytsia island in the middle of the Dnieper River, where they formed a large part of the Cossacks. Others sought refuge in Russia.
Around 1569 onwards, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth suffered from a series of Tatar invasions. Altogether, more than 3 million people, mostly Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians and Poles were captured and enslaved. In the mid-17th century, there was a series of violent wars against the Tsardom of Russia, Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Transylvania, as well as massive internal conflicts. Altogether this was known as The Deluge. Some of the people in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania supported Russia, notably Belarusians, while others supported the Swedes. Eventually, the Swedes and Russians were driven back, but the Commonwealth lost around a third of its population, with many regions of Belarus losing up to fifty percent of its people.
By the mid-18th century, wars and raids by the Russian armies had weakened the Commonwealth's economy and power so much that the Russian presence in Belarus was almost permanent. The last attempt to save the Commonwealth's independence consisted of a Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian nation uprising, but even that was eventually squelched, and in 1795 Poland was partitioned by its neighbors, the first of many. All of the Belarusian lands were annexed by the Russian Empire.
Russian Empire
Under Russian administration, the territory of Belarus was divided into four parts. Belarusians were active in the guerrilla movement against Napoleon's occupation, and they did their best to get rid of the remains of the Grande Armée when it crossed the Berezina River in November of 1812. After Napoleon's defeat, Belarus once more became part of Imperial Russia. Though there were anti-Russian uprisings by the gentry in 1830 and 1863, they were quickly subdued by government forces.
The national cultures of Belarus were repressed greatly under Nicholas I and Alexander III, due to the policies of de-Polonization and Russification. The use of the term 'Belarusia', or 'White Russia', was forbidden, and Belarus was renamed 'The North-Western Territory'. The use of the Belarusian language in public schools was prohibited, as were Belarusian publications. Those who had converted to Catholicism under Polish-Lithuanian rule were pressured to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. A failed revolt incited the Russian government to reintroduce the use of the Cyrillic Alphabet to Belarus and ban the use of the Latin Alphabet.
Despite this, the emancipation of the Belarusian serfs had the peasants leaving Belarus for Russia in the half-century preceding the Russian Revolution of 1917.
World War I
During the first World War, German administration allowed schools with Belarusian Language, something that Russia had banned. A number of Belarusian schools were created, until the Polish Military re-banned them in 1919. The Belarus National Republic was pronounced on March 25, 1918, but quickly fell when the Germans withdrew from the territory. On January 2, 1919, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia was declared, and the next month it was disbanded. Part of it was joined to the Lithuanian SSR to form the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Belarus National Republic fought against this, and at the same time, Polish forces moved in from the West, while Russians did the same from the East.
The Red Army entered Minsk on January 5, 1919, and the Council of the Belarus National Republic went into exile- first to Kaunas, then to Berlin, and finally to Prague. Later, in August, the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was also disbanded due to the pressure of the advancing Polish forces.
In 1920, the Polish-Soviet war was ended by the Treaty of Riga, which divided Belarus between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Polish part of Belarus was subject to Polonization policies (again), but Soviet Belarus was one of the original republics which would form the USSR. The Great Purge in the 1930s had many prominent Belarusians executed or deported to Asia. Once more, the Belarusian language, both written and spoken, was Russified, and for the most part the Belarusian language was discouraged as 'anti-soviet behavior'.
World War II
When the Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, much of what had been Easter Poland (including former Belarusian lands) was annexed to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. Much like in the beginning months of the first World War, Belarusian language began to flourish once more. After twenty months of Soviet rule, however, Germany and the Axis Powers invaded the Soviet Union, and the Soviet authorities evacuated only about 20% of the population of Belarus, destroying the remaining food supplies and leaving the rest of the Belarusians to suffer through starvation, fighting, and German occupation. All of Belarusian territory was occupied by the Germans by the end of August, 1941.
During the war, the Nazis attempted to establish a puppet Belarusian government, Belarusian Central Rada. However, in reality, the Germans imposed a brutal racist regime, burning down over nine thousand Belarusian villages, deporting over three hundred eighty thousand people for slave labor, and killing hundreds of thousands more civilians. Local police aided in many of the crimes. Nearly the whole (and very numerous) Jewish Population of Belarus that did not evacuate was killed.
Beginning in the early days of the occupation, a powerful and well-coordinated Belarusian Resistance movement emerged. Hiding in the woods and swamps, they inflicted heavy damage to German supply lines and communications, disrupted railways tracks, bridges, telegraph wires, supply depots, fuel dumps, and transports... basically, anything that they could get their hands on, as well as ambushing German soldiers. On June 22, 1944, the huge Soviet offense called "Operation Bagration" was launched, and by the end of August, the Soviets had regained all of the Belarusian lands.
However, not all anti-Germans were pro-Soviet, and a special unit of thirty local Belarusians, known as Čorny Kot (Black Cat) were airdropped behind the lines of the Red Army, where they experienced an intense but short-lived success due to the disorganization in the rear of the Red Army. This ended quickly, though, and only a few of the Belarusian Nationalists escaped. In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population, including almost its entire intellectual elite. About 9,200 villages and 1.2 million homes were destroyed, and the major towns of Minsk and Bitsebsk lost over 80% of their city infrastructure.
1945-1990 and Chernobyl
After the end of the war, in 1945, Belarus became one of the founding members of the United Nations. Belarus was joined by the Soviet Union and the Republic of Ukraine. The Belarusian economy was completely ruined, most of the industry having been moved to either Russia or Germany. Control over Belarus post-war was always exerted from Moscow as the Soviet Union rebuilt the BSSR's economy, and Belarus became a major center of manufacturing in the USSR. Due to the huge industrial objects build in Belarus and the increase in jobs, a huge amount of Russians immigrated to Belarus. Russian, once more, became the official language of administration and the peasant class, traditionally the huge base for the Belarusian nation, completely ceased to exist.
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The plant was situated close to the border with Belarus, and about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus, and the effects were dramatic- about a quarter of Belarusian territory, formerly populated by 2.2 million people (a fifth of the Belarusian population) now requires permanent radioactive monitoring. 135,000 people were permanently resettled- many more were only resettled temporarily. After 10 years, the occurrences of thyroid cancer among children increased fifteenfold.
Republic of Belarus
On July 27, 1990, Belarus declared its national sovereignty. The BSSR was formally renamed the Republic of Belarus, and on December 8, 1991, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus met with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 1994, the first presidential elections were held, and Alexander Lukashenko was elected president of Belarus. Economic reforms were slowed, and Lukashenko was re-elected twice, in elections that were described as undemocratic. He was criticized of Authoritarianism, a form of social organization characterized by submission to one authority.
He remains president to this day, censoring press and media and making enemies out of many former Belarusian allies, in particular Russia.
Allies: Russia, Ukraine, Prussia (Sometimes), Iran, Syria, Poland (When he's not around Lithuania, that is)
Enemies: Russia (But only because her President said so!), United States of America, Lithuania, Georgia (Why? Who knows, the guy's crazy)
Sample Post: He had kissed her once. Well, no- he had kissed her a lot of times, when they were younger. Soft brushes of lips against her cheek, forehead, over closed eyelids when he thought she was asleep... When he had loved her too, even if only as a sister. But while she would cherish each tiny show of affection forever, the one that she remembered the most was on the worst night of her life. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky as they ran, fingers tangled together, and her sister's voice echoed in her ears. "Ivan! Take Natalya and run! Don't look back, don't stop, and don't let go of her hand, do you understand?"
He was taller than she was, nearly a pre-teen while she still retained the plumpness of childhood, cheeks round and fingers chubby inside her mittens. Her legs pumped, but she couldn't keep up with his long strides, and he couldn't carry her- no, his unnatural strength wouldn't come until years and years later, and she was heavy for her size. They could hear the thundering of hooves, only slightly muted by the snow that came nearly up to her hips, and beyond that, Yekaterina's sweet voice calling out, filled with something that they rarely heard from her- anger, with a healthy serving of fear mixed in.
Natalya wailed as her covered fingers slipped from her older brother's grasp, stumbling and falling to her knees, nearly engulfed in the drifts of snow. It was only a few moments, but those few moment seemed to stretch on forever, surrounded as she was by silence and blank white flakes. Her breath caught in her chest, and she flailed in the snow until her fingers caught on a thick fabric, and long fingers closed around her forearms, pulling her up. Sobbing, the girl clung to her brother, the sound of hooves louder and louder in her ears.
It was fleeting; his lips pressed to hers, then sliding to her ear. "Run. Go to Lithuania, and don't stop, no matter what you hear." And then she was set back on her feet and a hand pushed at her back, until she had to move again or fall, and she took one step, then another, and then she was running as fast as her little legs could go. She sobbed, freezing air stinging her lungs and freezing tears to her cheeks, and when a loud scream rent the air, her own high-pitched cry joined it.
It seemed like hours that she was running before her legs finally gave out and she collapsed back into a bank of snow, unable to run anymore. Curling into herself, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and pressed her forehead into her knees, trembling. The sounds of pursuit were far off, and she threw her head back, fighting not to scream.
"Brother...!"
Did you read the rules?
The universe's here because I'm here
The galaxy's here because I'm here
Endless awesomeness,
I am Prussia!
[THIS IS A LIE.
I AM NOT PRUSSIA.
WHY DO YOU MAKE ME DO THIS?
NOT COOL, MAN, NOT COOL.]
Name: Natalya Arlovskaya
Gender: Female
Appearance of Age: Early- to Mid-Twenties.
Hair Color: Platinum Blonde
Eye Color: Blue-Purple
Height: 160 cm [5'2"]
Weight: 50.8 kg [112 lbs]
Appearance:
Personality: Natalya Arlovskaya is a multi-faceted young woman, but what most people see are not the most... savory of traits. What most people see is only her obsessive love for her brother, her addiction to any attention she can get from him, good, bad, or otherwise, and her hatred for anyone who would get between the two of them. She loves her brother and longs for recognition, but her rather extremist attempts at gaining it tend to scare him off rather than draw him closer. Unfortunately, she lost the ability to be calm around him ages ago, and the aura of intent that surrounds her when she's near him is completely unconscious.
When she's not near Ivan, however, Natalya can be- note, can be- another person entirely. She tends to be more withdrawn and shy. She is so unused to men approaching her due to her aura of danger and her love of sharp knives that any compliment tends to cause her pale cheeks to become a bright red. She is not, however, entirely rid of her intense personality, and she will often glare at people who make her uncomfortable.
Belarus is intensely protective of those she cares for. In particular, her siblings, Ivan and Yekaterina, but she has a history, also, of protecting those under her brother's 'care', or at least keeping them from being killed. However, if it were to come down to them or Ivan... she would choose Ivan every time.
Likes:
+ Russia. Actually, it's an understatement to say that she likes Russia- she loves him, with every fiber of her being, every inch of her heart and soul. Geez. Who would have imagined?
+ Ukraine. Though she doesn't share the same obsessive love for her sister as she does for her brother, she does love the older girl. After all, Ukraine raised her. Sometimes she feels more like a mother than a sister...
+ Sunflowers. Not only because Russia likes them, but... well... okay, mostly because Russia likes them. Still! They're pretty, and would look so nice next to a white dress...
+ Warm Clothes. Of course, this is less of a preference than it is a necessity, especially in the winters... and especially when she's
+ Sewing. Oddly girly, for her, but she does enjoy making things out of cloth. Dolls, flowers, clothes... She tends to make things for Ukraine more often than anything else.
Dislikes:
- Lithuania. He's annoying, and quite the stalker. In fact, she's pretty sure she knows where her missing dresses have been going...
- Doors. Especially doors with locks. Somehow, they always get shut in her face, especially when she's trying to talk to Ivan. Hmm...
- Anything that stands between her and Ivan. Really, self explanatory, yes?
- Pity. There's nothing worse than looking at someone and seeing pity in their eyes, or having someone pat you on the back and say "Well, it's okay, I'm sure you'll do better next time."
- Weakness. She wasn't a very strong girl, but she'll be damned if she lets herself be manipulated or overpowered anymore.
- Heat. There's not very much of it at her brother's house, and if you pair it with the thick, warm clothes she usually wears, she tends to get uncomfortable. Not to mention, her summers are fairly mild, so she isn't used to extreme heat.
Fears:
~ Being sent away. Russia sent her away once, to live with Lithuania, and it was one of the worst experiences of her life. She didn't fight then, but if he tried again, she would.
~ General Winter. Not only is he incredibly cruel to her beloved Brother, but he seems to have it out for all of the Kievan Rus 'children'. Not to mention, he controls the season that her country seems unable to escape.
~ America. She went to stay with him once, after the Soviet Union fell. His cheerfulness was terrifying. She'd prefer not to have to ever do that again.
~ Lithuania. Oddly enough, she fears Toris as much as she hates him. He, and his partner at the time Poland, were quite cruel to her when she lived with them. Where does he get off, acting all innocent now?
Strengths:
+ Accuracy/Aim. When it comes to throwing projectiles, Belarus is second to none. Of course, she couldn't do half the things with a frying pan that Hungary could, but give her a set of throwing knives, and she's got the best damn aim in the whole of Eastern Europe.
+ Persistence/Dedication. Please take note of her decades of Russia-stalking. He's rejected her countless times, has set up blockades and has hidden, but never once has she given up. That doesn't mean she never will, but she's got a pretty damn good track record so far.
+ Physical strength. A long time ago, Belarus was a weak child. After some less-than-pleasant experiences- we won't go into that too deeply- she realized that strength was a big factor in a lot of things. Now, she's one of the strongest female nations.
+ Sneakiness. Honestly, she doesn't use this skill often, as it's easier to just blast through obstacles in her way, but if she needed to she could slink through a dead-silent forest without making so much as a whisper of noise.
+ Tracking/Hunting. Please see all past episodes of Russia-hunting for examples.
Weaknesses:
- Her siblings. If someone were ever to get a hold of either of her siblings, Belarus would be completely at their command. She would never do anything intentionally to hurt them, and heavens help anyone who would.
- Children. Belarus has a secret desire to be a mother, and adores children; she coddles them, she protects them, and she can't say no to them.
- One track mind. When Belarus has her mind set on something, her mind is set on it, and there is very little that can distract her.
- Inability to handle rejection. This is seen in how she completely ignores her brother's pleas for her to leave him alone. She doesn't know how to handle being rejected... and so she ignores it when it happens. When it does finally break through, though, it has the potential to break her.
- Shyness. When not around Russia, Belarus is very easily flustered, and her shyness rivals that of Latvia's. Oh, she's still scary, make no mistake, but she's also much more of a girl.
History:
Principalities of Polotsk/Turaŭ
Around the 10th or 11th century A.D. , the Principality of Polotsk emerged as the dominant center of power on the territory that would later be known as 'Belarus', with a lesser but no less important role being played by the Principality of Turaŭ in the south. Polotsk repeatedly asserted its power in relation to other centers of the Kievan Rus', even becoming a political capital.
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In the 13th century A.D. or so, the Kievan Rus' began to disintegrate thanks to nomads from Asia invading the lands often. The final straw was the Mongol sacking of Kiev, which ruined Kievan Rus' and left a huge geopolitical vacuum in the region. Thanks to military conquest and dynastic marriages, Belarus was separated from Ukraine and Russia and was absorbed into the expanding Lithuanian lands. While Baltic and Ukrainian lands were also consolidated over time, Belarus made up the vast majority of the Lithuanian conquests.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
While Ukraine and Podlachia became part of Poland, Belarus stayed within Lithanian borders when the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. Unlike in Poland, those within the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had little personal freedom. The few liberties that the peasants had were limited gradually, and the taxes were increased, causing life to be harsh for many Belarusians. Many of them fled to the scarcely populated lands located on the Khortytsia island in the middle of the Dnieper River, where they formed a large part of the Cossacks. Others sought refuge in Russia.
Around 1569 onwards, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth suffered from a series of Tatar invasions. Altogether, more than 3 million people, mostly Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians and Poles were captured and enslaved. In the mid-17th century, there was a series of violent wars against the Tsardom of Russia, Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia, and Transylvania, as well as massive internal conflicts. Altogether this was known as The Deluge. Some of the people in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania supported Russia, notably Belarusians, while others supported the Swedes. Eventually, the Swedes and Russians were driven back, but the Commonwealth lost around a third of its population, with many regions of Belarus losing up to fifty percent of its people.
By the mid-18th century, wars and raids by the Russian armies had weakened the Commonwealth's economy and power so much that the Russian presence in Belarus was almost permanent. The last attempt to save the Commonwealth's independence consisted of a Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian nation uprising, but even that was eventually squelched, and in 1795 Poland was partitioned by its neighbors, the first of many. All of the Belarusian lands were annexed by the Russian Empire.
Russian Empire
Under Russian administration, the territory of Belarus was divided into four parts. Belarusians were active in the guerrilla movement against Napoleon's occupation, and they did their best to get rid of the remains of the Grande Armée when it crossed the Berezina River in November of 1812. After Napoleon's defeat, Belarus once more became part of Imperial Russia. Though there were anti-Russian uprisings by the gentry in 1830 and 1863, they were quickly subdued by government forces.
The national cultures of Belarus were repressed greatly under Nicholas I and Alexander III, due to the policies of de-Polonization and Russification. The use of the term 'Belarusia', or 'White Russia', was forbidden, and Belarus was renamed 'The North-Western Territory'. The use of the Belarusian language in public schools was prohibited, as were Belarusian publications. Those who had converted to Catholicism under Polish-Lithuanian rule were pressured to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. A failed revolt incited the Russian government to reintroduce the use of the Cyrillic Alphabet to Belarus and ban the use of the Latin Alphabet.
Despite this, the emancipation of the Belarusian serfs had the peasants leaving Belarus for Russia in the half-century preceding the Russian Revolution of 1917.
World War I
During the first World War, German administration allowed schools with Belarusian Language, something that Russia had banned. A number of Belarusian schools were created, until the Polish Military re-banned them in 1919. The Belarus National Republic was pronounced on March 25, 1918, but quickly fell when the Germans withdrew from the territory. On January 2, 1919, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia was declared, and the next month it was disbanded. Part of it was joined to the Lithuanian SSR to form the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Belarus National Republic fought against this, and at the same time, Polish forces moved in from the West, while Russians did the same from the East.
The Red Army entered Minsk on January 5, 1919, and the Council of the Belarus National Republic went into exile- first to Kaunas, then to Berlin, and finally to Prague. Later, in August, the Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was also disbanded due to the pressure of the advancing Polish forces.
In 1920, the Polish-Soviet war was ended by the Treaty of Riga, which divided Belarus between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Polish part of Belarus was subject to Polonization policies (again), but Soviet Belarus was one of the original republics which would form the USSR. The Great Purge in the 1930s had many prominent Belarusians executed or deported to Asia. Once more, the Belarusian language, both written and spoken, was Russified, and for the most part the Belarusian language was discouraged as 'anti-soviet behavior'.
World War II
When the Soviet Union invaded Poland on September 17, 1939, much of what had been Easter Poland (including former Belarusian lands) was annexed to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. Much like in the beginning months of the first World War, Belarusian language began to flourish once more. After twenty months of Soviet rule, however, Germany and the Axis Powers invaded the Soviet Union, and the Soviet authorities evacuated only about 20% of the population of Belarus, destroying the remaining food supplies and leaving the rest of the Belarusians to suffer through starvation, fighting, and German occupation. All of Belarusian territory was occupied by the Germans by the end of August, 1941.
During the war, the Nazis attempted to establish a puppet Belarusian government, Belarusian Central Rada. However, in reality, the Germans imposed a brutal racist regime, burning down over nine thousand Belarusian villages, deporting over three hundred eighty thousand people for slave labor, and killing hundreds of thousands more civilians. Local police aided in many of the crimes. Nearly the whole (and very numerous) Jewish Population of Belarus that did not evacuate was killed.
Beginning in the early days of the occupation, a powerful and well-coordinated Belarusian Resistance movement emerged. Hiding in the woods and swamps, they inflicted heavy damage to German supply lines and communications, disrupted railways tracks, bridges, telegraph wires, supply depots, fuel dumps, and transports... basically, anything that they could get their hands on, as well as ambushing German soldiers. On June 22, 1944, the huge Soviet offense called "Operation Bagration" was launched, and by the end of August, the Soviets had regained all of the Belarusian lands.
However, not all anti-Germans were pro-Soviet, and a special unit of thirty local Belarusians, known as Čorny Kot (Black Cat) were airdropped behind the lines of the Red Army, where they experienced an intense but short-lived success due to the disorganization in the rear of the Red Army. This ended quickly, though, and only a few of the Belarusian Nationalists escaped. In total, Belarus lost a quarter of its pre-war population, including almost its entire intellectual elite. About 9,200 villages and 1.2 million homes were destroyed, and the major towns of Minsk and Bitsebsk lost over 80% of their city infrastructure.
1945-1990 and Chernobyl
After the end of the war, in 1945, Belarus became one of the founding members of the United Nations. Belarus was joined by the Soviet Union and the Republic of Ukraine. The Belarusian economy was completely ruined, most of the industry having been moved to either Russia or Germany. Control over Belarus post-war was always exerted from Moscow as the Soviet Union rebuilt the BSSR's economy, and Belarus became a major center of manufacturing in the USSR. Due to the huge industrial objects build in Belarus and the increase in jobs, a huge amount of Russians immigrated to Belarus. Russian, once more, became the official language of administration and the peasant class, traditionally the huge base for the Belarusian nation, completely ceased to exist.
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The plant was situated close to the border with Belarus, and about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus, and the effects were dramatic- about a quarter of Belarusian territory, formerly populated by 2.2 million people (a fifth of the Belarusian population) now requires permanent radioactive monitoring. 135,000 people were permanently resettled- many more were only resettled temporarily. After 10 years, the occurrences of thyroid cancer among children increased fifteenfold.
Republic of Belarus
On July 27, 1990, Belarus declared its national sovereignty. The BSSR was formally renamed the Republic of Belarus, and on December 8, 1991, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus met with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 1994, the first presidential elections were held, and Alexander Lukashenko was elected president of Belarus. Economic reforms were slowed, and Lukashenko was re-elected twice, in elections that were described as undemocratic. He was criticized of Authoritarianism, a form of social organization characterized by submission to one authority.
He remains president to this day, censoring press and media and making enemies out of many former Belarusian allies, in particular Russia.
Allies: Russia, Ukraine, Prussia (Sometimes), Iran, Syria, Poland (When he's not around Lithuania, that is)
Enemies: Russia (But only because her President said so!), United States of America, Lithuania, Georgia (Why? Who knows, the guy's crazy)
Sample Post: He had kissed her once. Well, no- he had kissed her a lot of times, when they were younger. Soft brushes of lips against her cheek, forehead, over closed eyelids when he thought she was asleep... When he had loved her too, even if only as a sister. But while she would cherish each tiny show of affection forever, the one that she remembered the most was on the worst night of her life. The moon was barely a sliver in the sky as they ran, fingers tangled together, and her sister's voice echoed in her ears. "Ivan! Take Natalya and run! Don't look back, don't stop, and don't let go of her hand, do you understand?"
He was taller than she was, nearly a pre-teen while she still retained the plumpness of childhood, cheeks round and fingers chubby inside her mittens. Her legs pumped, but she couldn't keep up with his long strides, and he couldn't carry her- no, his unnatural strength wouldn't come until years and years later, and she was heavy for her size. They could hear the thundering of hooves, only slightly muted by the snow that came nearly up to her hips, and beyond that, Yekaterina's sweet voice calling out, filled with something that they rarely heard from her- anger, with a healthy serving of fear mixed in.
Natalya wailed as her covered fingers slipped from her older brother's grasp, stumbling and falling to her knees, nearly engulfed in the drifts of snow. It was only a few moments, but those few moment seemed to stretch on forever, surrounded as she was by silence and blank white flakes. Her breath caught in her chest, and she flailed in the snow until her fingers caught on a thick fabric, and long fingers closed around her forearms, pulling her up. Sobbing, the girl clung to her brother, the sound of hooves louder and louder in her ears.
It was fleeting; his lips pressed to hers, then sliding to her ear. "Run. Go to Lithuania, and don't stop, no matter what you hear." And then she was set back on her feet and a hand pushed at her back, until she had to move again or fall, and she took one step, then another, and then she was running as fast as her little legs could go. She sobbed, freezing air stinging her lungs and freezing tears to her cheeks, and when a loud scream rent the air, her own high-pitched cry joined it.
It seemed like hours that she was running before her legs finally gave out and she collapsed back into a bank of snow, unable to run anymore. Curling into herself, she wrapped her arms around her stomach and pressed her forehead into her knees, trembling. The sounds of pursuit were far off, and she threw her head back, fighting not to scream.
"Brother...!"
Did you read the rules?
The universe's here because I'm here
The galaxy's here because I'm here
Endless awesomeness,
I am Prussia!
[THIS IS A LIE.
I AM NOT PRUSSIA.
WHY DO YOU MAKE ME DO THIS?
NOT COOL, MAN, NOT COOL.]