Why did the Belarusians not want independence from the USSR? Why Belarusians and Ukrainians fought in the Time of Troubles against the Russians

And here is new round favorite dispute about "Belarus" and "Belarus". This time with an official response from the Russian Foreign Ministry. It seems you can not argue?.

What happened?

Director of the NGO "Akhova bird Batskaushchyny" Alexander Vinchevsky drew attention to the inscription at the entrance to the Russian embassy in Minsk. On the board is written: "Embassy Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus".

At first I found out about this plate and did not believe it, - Alexander told the site. - Then he went and checked himself: indeed, such signs hang both at the ambassador's residence and at the Russian embassy itself.

Alexander decided to apply to the Russian Foreign Ministry using an electronic form on the website. The man himself admits that he was surprised when he received a detailed and reasoned answer from the Deputy Director of the Personnel Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergei Baranov.

And what did the Russian Foreign Ministry say about the "Republic of Belarus"?

The answer took up two whole sheets of text. But in short: in Russia, it is legal to use two variants of the name of our state - both the Republic of Belarus (Belarus) and the Republic of Belarus (Belarus). And links to various acts are given.

Why did the name confusion arise at all?

Name " White Russia” entered the Western European cartographic and geographical tradition from the 15th century (there were also Red and Black Russia). Until that time, the territory of modern Belarus was called Lithuania and (or) Rus.

Approximately from the 18th century, the name "Belaya Rus" in some sources, especially Moscow and later Russian, was assigned to the territory of our country. And after part of the Commonwealth was captured by the Russian Empire, the word "Belarus" (and in Belmov "Belarus") finally replaced the name "Lithuania" in relation to our lands. The same tradition was continued in the 20th century: in 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic(abbreviated as "Belarus" in Russian sources), in 1919 - the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus (later the BSSR).

On September 19, 1991, the government of the Byelorussian SSR informed the UN that its name had been changed to "Belarus". The basis was the law No. 1085-XII “On the name of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic” adopted on the same day. In this law, the Supreme Council decided: “The Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic will henceforth be called “Republic of Belarus”, and in abbreviated and compound names - “Belarus”.

By the way, it is interesting: we ourselves still write the adjectives “Belarusian”, “Belarusian”, “Belarusian” in Russian as if our country is called “Belarus”. And this norm is enshrined in all dictionaries published in our country.

And why are we both “Belarus” and “Belarus” for Russia?

In its letter to Minsk resident Alexander Vinchevsky, the Russian Foreign Ministry referred to the fact that back in 1995 the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation issued Decree No. 1495 “On writing the names of states - former republics USSR and their capitals”, which is valid to this day.

According to this decision, in documents that are created in the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, in official correspondence and in official negotiations, “Republic of Belarus” and “Belarus” are used.

For about 15 years, the Belarusians languidly tried to defend the name of our country in Russian in accordance with the resolution of the Supreme Council of Belarus. At least in our country, the majority of citizens and institutions have learned to speak and write about their country "Belarus" instead of "Belarus". And we began to perceive the last option more than painfully.

In November 2009, Dmitry Medvedev, being at that time the President of the Russian Federation, met with Belarusian journalists. Then the correspondent Pavel Tukhto proposed to call our country "Belarus". Like, our country is called so in the UN and these are the recommendations of the Moscow Institute of the Russian Language. Then Medvedev said that he was doing just that: “You know, Belarus - and I insist on just such a pronunciation of the name of our fraternal state ...”

Linguists State Institute Russian language named after Pushkin took the initiative in September 2009 to use "Belarus" instead of "Belarus" in Russian. Rector of the institute Yuri Prokhorov declared that, when determining how to correctly name a particular country, the institute always turns to the protocol department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.

“And they say that the name of the country is the Republic of Belarus. Yes, we traditionally say “Belarus”, this has been going on since Soviet Union. But your state is called Belarus!” Prokhorov stressed.

But after 5 years, the opportunity to use both "Belarus" and "Belarus" was secured by the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow (by a decision of December 16, 2014). Then Belarusian Kirill Lapinsky filed a lawsuit against the Lenta.ru resource, RBC TV channel and news agency"Russia Today" - and lost.

In the Moscow court, the Belarusian was explained that the name "Belarus" for native speakers of the Russian language is generally accepted. Therefore, both "Belarus" and "Belarus" have the right to exist. The higher courts upheld this position.

As we can see, now the Russian Foreign Ministry adheres to the same position. Moreover, officials of the ministry refer to the fact that in many agreements between Russia and Belarus the phrase "Republic of Belarus" has already been used. In confirmation, they immediately cite a whole list of agreements with such wording.

And what does our Foreign Ministry say about "Belarus" in the documents?

In all bilateral documents, in those hundreds of bilateral agreements that exist between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, only official name of our state - the "Republic of Belarus", - the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus explained the website Dmitry Mironchik. - No other forms are used. Embassies, including the one that gave rise to the journalistic research, use the wording “Republic of Belarus” or “Belarus” in their official correspondence with us.

The wording "Belarus" can be used in internal documents Russian Federation. They are not bilateral. All bilateral and multilateral agreements within the framework of the Eurasian economic union, within the CIS - everywhere "Republic of Belarus" or "Belarus".

Well, let them say "Belarus", what does it matter to us?

Of course, we can't say anything, because it's a different state, Alexander Vinchevsky believes. - Many say: you don't tell the Germans or Lithuanians not to call us "White Russia". The problem is that for us Russian is one of the state languages, and a significant part of the population speaks Russian. Therefore, it is important for us how our country is called in this language.

Those Belarusians who are 100% Belarusian-speaking do not treat this problem so critically - they say, what difference does it make to us how it is in Russian. But the problem is not only in the rearrangement of letters or spelling, but in the imperial attitude. It's just disrespectful, ugly.

Of course, we cannot force Russia to speak differently. But we ask them. And not only at the level of Uncle Vasya or Petya, but at the state level - our government asks for them at the official level.

In light of the frequent statements that Russians and Belarusians are one people, I have an irresistible need to destroy this myth and prove the opposite, for the simple reason that this myth is destructive.

And the truth is among us and shines with living colors.

I will immediately note that as arguments I will not cite dubious texts from thick books about the history of the emergence of two peoples, but will share only subjective observations: common features characters, behavior patterns of Belarusians and Russians in natural working and living conditions.

The main difference between a Russian person and a Belarusian is a powerful emotionality, and as additions - maximalism and extreme judgments. Perhaps these properties are leading role in comparative analysis and are key. The Belarusian in this sense is the antipode of the Russian: he is pragmatic, calm, does not like extremes, is not subject to abrupt changes sentiments, like its eastern neighbor.

Blind adherence to ideas, slogans, "first doing, then thinking", carelessness very often take over the behavior of the Russian, leading to negative, destructive, irrational results. The Russian manner of “harnessing for a long time, but driving fast”, in my opinion, is less true than the ordinary “spontaneously jump up and rush into the unknown”. The impulsiveness of a Russian and the thoughtfulness of a Belarusian are also very noticeable in the public space.

The next, already positive quality, testifying to the dissimilarity of the Russian to the Belarusian, is the immense Russian openness to to a stranger(xenophilia), immediacy in dealing with him, talent for universal perception and acceptance different people. Still, it is worth recognizing that the Belarusian has absorbed Western patterns of social communication and is more prone to personalism and isolationism than to collectivism and synergistic returns.

At the same time, the Russian and Belarusian have a common “ birthmark"- kumirophilia. Belarusian love - to glorify leaders - is expressed more vividly, and has its own specific features, mean political system that consolidated the authoritarian consciousness.

Context

Migrants in the EU: how Belarusians, Moldovans and Ukrainians differ from each other

14.12.2014

The word "Russia" always causes alarm

Belarusian news 04.08.2017

Will Putin enter Minsk in a tank?

Belarusian news 28.02.2017

Belarusians will work to death

Belarusian partisan 12.04.2016

Multimedia

BELTA 26.08.2016 Russian is an anarchic, unstable idolist. He actively strives for outer space, with all his monarchical-religious understanding of the world, in the center of which even a stool can be. By the way, the monarchical aspect in no way conflicts with the anarchic, because Russian aspirations are directed to heaven (freedom and God), and not to the object (monarch, master). This explains, I believe, why Russian monarchists became anarchists a century ago, and vice versa.

Belarusian conservatism, love for inanimate paraphernalia, monuments symbolizing the “owner”, “guide”, “gaspadar”, reveal a unique phenomenon, less characteristic of Russians – fanatical fetishism.

Showing a reverent attraction to the built libraries, houses, lawns, sculptures, gardens, the Belarusian hides the spiritual emptiness here and now, creates a comfortable background that masks the truth about himself today. Belarusians are poseurs who consider it important to inspire the illusion of well-being and impress others. A Belarusian will drive an expensive foreign car for 10 thousand dollars, walk around in new shoes, a hat, but his apartment will be meager, without repairs and special conditions, in the “Back to the USSR” style.

Often plunging into melancholy from hopelessness, lack of prospects, the Belarusian, due to his cowardice, likes to cling to the spectacular speeches of banal populists, folk flatterers who say what the suffering wants to hear in this moment time. By by and large, Russians also like to engage in self-deception, putting liars and clowns in the spotlight.

Showing a huge credit of trust in managers, constantly repeating his mistakes, not finishing what he started to the end, and switching to new beginnings, the Russian person strengthens the nationwide lack of will, which, by the way, he is a hostage of voluntarily, although he can change this if he really wants to. But a patient Belarusian, unlike a Russian, slowly but scrupulously knows how to bring the work he has begun to its logical conclusion, even if this process no longer makes any sense.

Russians are very fond of destroying everything old and building new things on the ruins, they are prone to adventurism and a revolutionary method of solving problems. The Belarusian ability to remember and preserve one's history and the Russian ability to instantly forget the past, erasing painful pages from one's head, are radically different ideas about state building.

It is a mistake to say that laziness and slavery came to Belarus and Russia from Muscovites. For example, Belarusian suspiciousness, suspicion and Baltic phlegm, as regressive and purely local qualities, are generally not characteristic of Muscovites, Asians and Eastern peoples, and even more so - ethnic Russians. Slavery in Russia is a product of the church. And the lack of culture, tactlessness, spiritual darkness is a consequence of the lack of education of the peasant environment.

Submission, fear of the truth and latent xenophobia are the foundation on which autocratic power is built in Belarus. Infantilism dominates in the personality of a Belarusian and is immanent, and often he does not want to reveal his potential because of timidity and the same xenophobia.

Tomfoolery, the ability to publicly repent, rebelliousness - these Russian traits are absolutely alien to the Belarusian, incomprehensible and perceived with rejection. In this regard, how can we talk about a single people? Russians and Belarusians have never been like that, but simply lived under one big occupation roof. The myth of the unity of the International was invented by the invaders-Bolsheviks, who were not eager to delve into the details and particularities of ethnic groups, having at their disposal 1/7 of the land.

The emancipation of the Russian and the stiffness of the Belarusian is another proof that these two representatives of the Eastern European peoples are different from each other. Endurance, willpower are more characteristic of a Russian than a Belarusian. Affectionate, airy Belarusian language and horn, windy Russian speech affect the perception and evaluation of the interlocutor.

Sincere simplicity and hospitality is an organic, integral part of the Russian character, which is expressed more strongly than in the Belarusian. Belarusians were vaccinated in the form of Polish arrogance and Catholicism, which did not take root on Russian territory and suddenly disappeared.

Without a doubt, Belarusians and Russians are two different peoples, so the nationalists from Belarus are absolutely right when they talk about the cultural and social identity of their country, recalling the life history of their ancestors under the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Despite the significant difference, two geographically close neighbors, like opposites, are attracted, which is observed in the spasmodic, but stable Belarusian-Russian relations. Belarusians learn good and bad experiences from Russians, as in any society, they learn new words, dialects… unfortunately, they copy the negative trends of show business, the boorish habits of secular sharks. Much of what Russia imposes on Belarus through TV, demonstrating an unacceptable form of imperial conversation with other states, is still not accepted by its Western neighbor, although it is difficult to see this protest and rejection in full in Belarus.

Ultimately, Belarusians remain Belarusians, and Russians continue to be Russians. And this circumstance only reinforces the fact that these peoples have never been and never will be a single whole.

The materials of InoSMI contain only assessments of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the editors of InoSMI.

According to UNESCO, the Belarusian language is in a catastrophic state. “Potentially endangered” is the diagnosis of the language of the country’s indigenous population, which was even marked on a symbolic map called “World Languages ​​in Danger”. Why does he disappear? The answer is simple: they are almost never used in everyday communication. A small share of the intelligentsia, part of the conscious youth and the elderly - these are the main speakers of the language, which was used by millions 50 years ago.

"Nasha Niva" counted five dozen reasons why the current youth does not want to speak Belarusian. To do this, we interviewed about 300 students of the main universities of the country ( with someone talked in person, someone answered on Twitter and others social networks ).

We have selected the 50 most interesting answers: some of them are quite reasonable, others are primitive but sincere, some are obscure and even offensive. But it is these answers that best reflect the "achievements" of the authorities in the development of linguistic culture and national consciousness.

You will not find explanations in this material - only 50 answers to the question "Why don't you speak Belarusian?" Draw your own conclusions.

one). I don't know Belarusian at all.

2). Not taught from childhood.

3). No one speaks Belarusian to me, so I do the same.

4). I don't know enough to speak it easily.

5). Not enough time to study it.

6). I have been outside of Belarus for a long time. Belarusian language just not needed.

7). If I start talking, they won't understand me at work.

eight). School, university, family - everything is in Russian.

nine). Despite the fact that the language is beautiful, there is an opinion that only collective farmers speak it. It is unenviable to appear the same in the eyes of society.

ten). I do not fully feel like a Belarusian as a representative of the nation.

eleven). My parents never insisted that I take the Belarusian language seriously.

12). Do not know much. I am a perfectionist. Either I do great, or I don't do it at all.

thirteen). I have basic knowledge, I can even keep up the conversation. But somehow I find it easier to communicate in English.

fourteen). This is neither necessary nor meaningful.

fifteen). This language is more suitable for grandparents, but not for young people.

sixteen). There is no patriotism.

17). A system of communication in Russian or English, no matter what it is - a store or an office.

eighteen). I like the Belarusian language, but it is not the leading one for me (acting or alive).

nineteen). I like Russian better.

20). At school, he was allowed to play truant.

21). I'm afraid they will.

22). I do not like the sounds "g" and "h".

23). Has entered honey and has ceased.

24). I'm waiting for Apple to release IOS in Belarusian.

25). I'm shy.

26). I talked for about 2 months. Tired. Hard.

27). My parents won't understand me if I suddenly start speaking Belarusian. They have been educating me all my life in Russian, and I am here “in the language of the first”.

28). As soon as we enter the EU - so immediately.

29). Today it is the language of the opposition. If you speak Belarusian, then you are going against the system.

thirty). I have enough of it in the subway.

31). There is little modern literature, there is nowhere to draw knowledge from.

32). Don't know! I envy Ukrainians a little. Austria-Hungary helped them, as they still say in the West. And all of us have been weathered for a long time.

33). Politically unsafe language.

34). What will change if I start talking?

35). He's a little funny.

36). Today it has become artificial.

37). The language did not take root in modern society, I personally speak the language of the majority.

38). I don’t recognize Trasyanka for language, but I don’t know how to do it differently.

39). "Belarusian language" is a Polish anti-Russian project. He has little more than nothing to do with the Belarusian people.

40). It is difficult to speak Belarusian when everything around is in Russian.

41). Because it's not easy with anyone.

42). I often use obscene language, but there is none in Belarusian. Seriously, I just don't know.

43). It is difficult to speak your native language, since its use is minimal, and some look at you as if you were an alien.

44). To my shame, I can't. I think in Russian.

45). I don’t know well, but speaking half-Russian-half-Belarusian is not entirely decent.

46). I do not want to stand out, and there is little practice.

47). Understand correctly, but somehow from birth I feel more Russian, although I myself am a Belarusian with a Polish surname. Somehow I like that direction.

48). For 300 years we have actually been part of Russian Empire. How can one speak Belarusian in such a situation?

49). It's more comfortable for me.

fifty). Does anyone need it?

Leave your comment. Let's formulate 50 ways to bring life back to the Belarusian language!

26 years ago, on July 27, 1990, the Supreme Council of the BSSR adopted the Declaration "On State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic".

This short document (only 12 articles) has a huge historical meaning: Belarusians, like many other peoples of the USSR, first gained statehood.

As historical experience shows, such an event usually turns into a general holiday and a national victory, but Belarus is an exception.

There is no holiday in the minds of our people. With our usual gravity and caution, we rejected everything connected with this date.

Judge for yourself: in 1994, the Belarusians chose, perhaps, the most pro-Soviet presidential candidate, "rewarding" independents and Russophobes with only a few percent.

A year later, during a national referendum in 1995, they got rid of the dubious state symbols used by Nazi minions and post-Soviet nationalists in favor of the de facto Soviet one (the emblem and flag of today's Belarus differ from the symbols of the BSSR only in the absence of a hammer and sickle).

In addition, they again gave the Russian language the status of the state language and supported the president's foreign policy course towards integration with Russia, giving the head of state the authority to prematurely terminate the activities of the Supreme Council, which adopted this same declaration of independence.

During the next referendum, which took place in 1996, the people threw the very date of the adoption of the declaration into the dustbin of history: from now on, Independence Day began to be celebrated not on the day of its adoption, but on July 3, the day Minsk was liberated from the Nazi invaders. In the same year, the death penalty was returned as a form of punishment.

Let's see why the Belarusians perceived their own independence from Moscow as a tragedy and are still Russia's closest allies in the post-Soviet space.

Belarusians did not want independence

To begin with, it must be said that the Belarusian people simply did not want their republic to leave the USSR.

During All-Union referendum about its preservation, which happened, by the way, after the adoption of the declaration of sovereignty, 82.7% of the population voted for the preservation of a single country.

It is difficult to talk about the reasons for such a decision, but it can be said with certainty that the Belarusians did not feel themselves a people separate from Russians and Ukrainians.

After gaining independence, domestic independents, in alliance with Western strategists and sponsors, tried to brainwash our people, as they did in the Baltic states and Ukraine, but even their well-coordinated propaganda machine broke down and backed up.

Now this is evidenced by the results of sociological surveys: according to the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Research, today 66.6% of Belarusians agree that Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians are three branches of one people. Alternative point vision ( different nations) was supported by only 27.1%.

Why has no one succeeded in instilling hatred for Russia in Belarusians?

Our people feel a linguistic, mental and cultural identity with the Russians.

A Belarusian, coming to Russia, does not feel like a foreigner, a stranger, a visitor for a fraction of a percent.

Belarusian and Russian communicate in the same language, on the same topics, worry about similar problems, sing the same drinking songs, believe in the same signs, brought up on the same literary works, Soviet films, with mother's milk absorbed the wisdom of Russian folk tales.

In the end, they have been living in the same state for so long, more than once they saved each other and protected from external threats.

And suddenly they are offered to split into different states with different characters, build borders among themselves, almost introduce visas, and the most frostbitten nationalists, who were then eager for power, even declare each other enemies.

It is quite natural that the vast majority of Belarusians sharply rejected any ideas of separation from the Russians.

Belarusians felt cheated
Shushkevich and the Supreme Council

The smooth return to the Soviet period in history and the rejection of July 27 is also dictated by the complete disregard for the public opinion expressed in the referendum.

82.7% of Belarusians are for the preservation of the USSR, in the entire USSR this figure reached 89%, and the newly-minted "democrats" signed the Belovezhskaya Accords anyway.

In this regard, the people were led to believe that they were deceived. They spit on their opinion, trampling it into the dirt.

Already after December 1991, it was clear that Shushkevich signed the verdict of the loser, and the candidate with a more pro-Soviet or pro-Russian position would win the presidential election.

The Supreme Council. Photo: 90s.by

With regard to the declaration of sovereignty, it will be interesting that it enshrined the following provision:

“The right to speak on behalf of the entire people of the republic belongs exclusively to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus.”

Yes, this is the same Supreme Soviet that decided to secede from the USSR. Although the people expressed their opinion six months later, this did not affect the decision of the authorities to withdraw. Gentlemen, what about the holy of holies - democracy? People power?

Today, Article 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus provides that the only source state power and the bearer of sovereignty in the Republic of Belarus is the people. The referendum ensures the practical implementation of this provision. The importance of this institution is also evidenced by the fact that it stands out as an independent article of the Constitution.

In a democratic society, a referendum has a higher legal force than laws. It turns out that the newly-minted "democrats" came to power by no means democratically, which further undermined the confidence of the Belarusians in them.

Belarusians understood that the collapse of the USSR
will not solve their problems, but will exacerbate

Yes, in the late 1980s, the Soviet country was sick. Empty shelves, inefficient management practices, poverty. However, in this case, a clear and consistent plan for reforming the economy was needed without too abrupt and radical steps.

First of all, no separatism, all the republics at the negotiating table, the opinion of each should be taken into account;

Secondly, if they decide to curtail military plans, demand the same from the States - to dissolve NATO. Do not want? No concessions, regain control Eastern Europe and defend;

Thirdly, take into account the results of the referendum;

Fourth, gradually (gradually!) introduce elements market economy. Perhaps for a while. Perhaps on long time. But the planning model of the late USSR did indeed falter.

But everything turned out so that the country was cut along internal borders (not always fair, remember the Crimea), and the newly minted and never existed republics, not understanding how to live without the Kremlin, went home with their economic, military and territorial problems, instantly becoming hot dots.

When the body is sick, it is treated, not killed. It is a pity that then the people understood this much better than the politicians.

Including in Belarus.

findings

The day of the adoption of the declaration of sovereignty of the BSSR did not take root. Few people remember him today. And there are many objective reasons for this. I propose to briefly recall them again in order to consolidate:

The declaration was adopted against the will of the people, who in an absolute majority supported the preservation of the USSR;

Belarusians did not understand the meaning of the collapse united state mentally identical Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians;

Belarusians realized that sovereignty would not save them from social, economic and political problems but only exacerbate them.

The Belarusian people threw the date of July 27, 1990 into the dustbin of history, but we will sometimes remember it. To avoid repeating mistakes.

Soviet propaganda invariably spoke of the eternal brotherhood of the three East Slavic peoples that arose on the spot Kievan Rus- Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. At the same time, from the 1930s and 40s, the usual formula “Polish-Lithuanian interventionists” was established, which refers to the invaders who fought with Russia in Time of Troubles, who took possession of Moscow for a while and from which then the militia of Minin and Pozharsky liberated the Russian capital. It seems that Ukraine and Belarus have nothing to do with it. However, let's take a look at what the early XVII century Poland and Lithuania.

From the beginning of the XIV century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) began to expand sharply to the south and east, absorbing the western principalities of the disintegrated Kievan Rus. Russian population often she herself recognized the supremacy of the Lithuanian princes in order to gain protection from the violence of the Mongol-Tatars. So the current Belarus gradually became part of the GDL, most of Ukraine, part of the regions of present-day Russia (Smolensk, Bryansk, partially Tver, Kaluga, Tula and Oryol). The troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the end of the 14th century often clashed with the troops of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In the annals, all these clashes appear as wars with Lithuania. However, it must be taken into account that approximately 90% of the population of the GDL at that time were the direct ancestors of Belarusians and Ukrainians, and the language government documents ON until the end of the XVII century remained a dialect of Old Russian.

In 1385, the GDL concluded a dynastic union with the kingdom of Poland. From that moment on, the Catholic religion began to enjoy a privileged position in the GDL, but its Orthodox population fought for equality and more than once sought the lifting of restrictions on Orthodox subjects. Many Belarusian and Ukrainian magnates and gentry professed Orthodoxy for a long time. In 1569, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland agreed to unite "for all eternity" in the Commonwealth (Republic, because the king was elected by the nobility), and the border between them changed. Only Lithuania and Belarus were left in the GDL, while all of Ukraine became the land of the Polish crown.

In Russia, Lithuania was mainly called Belarus until the end of the 18th century, when, having annexed this country to Russia, Empress Catherine II officially renamed it. When from the end of the 15th century Moscow State led frequent wars with Lithuania for the "return of the inheritance of Rurik's house", then it was mainly Russians and Belarusians who fought in these wars among themselves. There were much fewer ethnic Lithuanians in the GDL army than there were Tatars in the Moscow army.

At the same time, the names “Belarusians” and “Ukrainians” were not at all common in those days. The dominant self-name of the Ukrainians was "Rusyns" (in Moscow, however, they were called "Cherkasy"), and the Belarusians were called by their state - "Litvins". Even in mid-seventeenth century, during the wars of independence with Poland and Russia, the Ukrainian Cossacks officially called their state "Russian Ukrainian Hetmanate". So it is called in the treaty of union with Poland in 1658.

Of course, Ukrainians and Belarusians, that is, "Cherkasy" and "Litvins", as good subjects of their kings, were obliged to fight at their call against the enemies of the Commonwealth. And they fought well - bravely, with skill, with no less ardor and passion than their Slav brothers from the Muscovite state. And the main enemy of the Commonwealth for several centuries was precisely Moscow.

We often find in the literature the words that the Polish-Lithuanian people besieged the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and Smolensk, defeated Russian army near Klushino, occupied Moscow, hunted for young Mikhail Romanov, that Ivan Susanin heroically led them into a swamp and killed them, etc. When we read this, it is not superfluous to remember that the vast majority of these Polish-Lithuanian people, in the ethnic sense, were Ukrainians and Belarusians, for the majority of the subjects of the Commonwealth belonged to these two peoples.

According to the Lithuanian hetman Stanislav Zholkevsky, during the siege of Smolensk by the Polish-Lithuanian army in 1609-1611. there were 30,000 Ukrainian Cossacks alone. The total number of Cossacks who entered the Muscovite state at that time, according to contemporaries, exceeded 40 thousand.

The Ukrainians and Belorussians were not only the rank and file of the troops, which, as it may seem to some, the Polish and Lithuanian magnates led against their Great Russian counterparts. Among them were major military leaders who fought hard on the Moscow land in the Time of Troubles. Ukrainian Cossack hetman Peter Sahaydachny in 1618 led 20 thousand of his Cossacks to Russia. While Polish army King Vladislav (pretender for royal throne) approached Moscow, the Ukrainian army of Sagaidachny took dozens of large cities south of Moscow, among them Kursk, Yelets, Ryazhsk, after which they came near Moscow to help the king. Sagaidachny's raid prevented Moscow from rebuffing Sigismund and forced him to agree to a truce, giving Smolensk to the Commonwealth. In Ukraine, at the same time, Sahaidachny became famous as the patron of Orthodox brotherhoods and schools, a fighter for the rights of the Orthodox.

Belarusians by origin, however, who had long since adopted Catholicism, were, for example, Sapieha and Lisovsky. Jan Piotr Sapieha, brother of the great Lithuanian chancellor, was one of the commanders of False Dmitry II, led the siege of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1608-1610, participated in the defense of Moscow by the Polish-Lithuanian garrison from the First Militia in 1611. Alexander Lisovsky, declared a criminal in Lithuania, also initially served as the second impostor, successfully fought with the troops of the Moscow Tsar Vasily Shuisky, after which, having earned forgiveness from King Sigismund III, he fought in his army near Smolensk. His most famous act dates back to 1615, when Lisovsky, at the head of a "flying" cavalry detachment of 600 people, made a thousand-mile raid around the whole of Moscow along the route Bryansk - Kaluga - Rzhev - Torzhok - Shuya - Murom - Aleksin and returned safely, with rich booty. in ON. Moscow governors were powerless against his speed and elusiveness.