A group of Varangians known as the Rus' settled in Novgorod in 864, under the leadership of Rurik. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882. He made the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Ruriks descendants. The name of the Rus' is the origin of the name Russia.
Varangians did trade, piracy and mercenary activities. They move around using the river systems and portages of Gardariki. The Gardariki was the areas north of the Black Sea. They had trade routes that connected Dark Age Europe with rich Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire. Wanting the riches of Constantinople, Rus' Varangians started a number of Rus'-Byzantine Wars. Most of them, both in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from paganism into Orthodox Christianity. The Varangians were slowly taken over by East Slavs by the late 11th century.
Yaroslav the Wise
Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus<nowiki>'</nowiki>, known as Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 – February 20, 1054) was Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev. He brought together the two principalities for a time under his rule.
A son of the Varangian (Viking) Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father’s death in 1015. His oldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his other brothers and took power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk. He became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019. Yaroslav started to write down the legal customs. This served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Russian Justice"). During his long reign, Rus' reached the height of its cultural flowering and military power.
Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic or Litbel was a Soviet socialist republic. It was in the territories of modern Belarus and eastern Lithuania. It existed for about seven months during 1919. It was formed after the merger of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia. The republic was went away after the Polish Army took over its claimed territory of eastern Lithuania during the Polish–Soviet War.
Belarusian People's Republic
The Belarusian People's Republic, historically called the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic, was a self-declared independent Belarusian state. They said they were independent in 1918. It is also called the "Belarusian Democratic Republic" or the "Belarusian National Republic". This is to be separate from the Communist People's Republics. The BNR was recognized by several Central Powers and former Russian countries. It was not recognized by most of the international community. They country ended when Belarus went under Soviet control. The Belorussian SSR was founded in 1919.
The leaders of the government went into exile. They still say the Belarusian People's Republic is a country.
Chairmans of the Council of BNR:
William Haines (Australian politician)
William Clark Haines (1810–3 February 1866) was the first Premier of Victoria. He served two terms as premier, the first from 30 November 1855 to 25 August 1856, and a second term from 29 April 1857 to 10 March 1858.
Born in London, Haines attended Charterhouse school, and then Cambridge University where he studied surgery. He moved to Victoria in 1842, and started farming around Geelong. After selling the farms in the 1850's he became a magistrate and was appointed to Victoria's Legislative Council. He helped to write the Victorian Constitution. In December 1854 he became the Colonial Secretary, and assisted the Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham.
The British government passed the Victorian Constitution Act in 1855. Hotham was convinced to hand his power over as soon as possible. Haines and three other council members were made government ministers with the job of organizing the change to self-government. Haines was appointed by Hotham to be the Chief Secretary of Victoria and act as Premier until the elections could be orgaized. He resigned when several of the ministers wanted the elections by secret ballot. He thought this would increase corruption and bribery. He was reappointed when the Council decided that it, not the ministers should make the decision. He was the Chief Secretary until the first election in November 1856. After the election, as a member of the new Legislative Assembly, Haines became Premier until his government was defeated in 1857 by a group led by Sir John O'Shanassy. The O'Shanassy government was soon defeated and Haines again became Premier. In 1858 he was defeated during arguments about how the electorates should be divided.
Haines traveled to the USA and Europe. On his return to Victoria in October 1860, he was again elected to the parliament, and became Treasurer in O'Shanassey's government. After losing his seat in 1863, he was appointed to the Legislative Council.
Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic. It was for control of what is present day Ukraine and parts of present-day Belarus.
A formal peace treaty, the Peace of Riga, was signed on 18 March 1921. It divided the land between Poland and Soviet Russia. Much of the land given to Poland became part of the Soviet Union after World War II.
West Belarus
West Belarus is the name used to mean to the land of modern Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic between 1919 and 1939.
The land is Hrodna and Brest voblasts. It is also parts of today's Minsk and Vitsebsk oblasts. The historical population of West Belarus included Belarusians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, and Russians.
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas is a major Eastern European river. It starts in Belarus and flows through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches. It also very briefly forms part of the border between Lithuania and Belarus. It is the largest river in Lithuania and the 3rd largest in Belarus. People are able to travel on it for most of its 900-kilometer length. Its depth varies from one meter to five meters.
The Neman tributaries are:
the rivers Neris (Viliya), the Shchara, and the Šešupė, Svisloch, Nevėžis River, Dubysa, Jūra, Minija, Western Berezina, Zelvyanka, Molchad, Roś, Servech, Losha, Gorodnichanka and others.
The following fish have been found in the Neman: perch, pike, zander, roach, tench, bream, rudd, ruffe, and bleak. Its tributaries also contain stone loach, the three-spined stickleback, minnows, trout, sculpins, gudgeon, dace and chub.
Atlantic salmon used to migrate upstream to spawn. The dams on the river made there be less. The dam at Kaunas does not provide fish ladders.
Pripyat River
The Pripyat River or Prypiat River is a river in Eastern Europe. It is about long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine again. It drains into the Dnieper.
The Pripyat passes through the zone of alienation around the Chernobyl reactor, site of the nuclear disaster. It is polluted with radionuclides. The amount of caesium-137 in river sediments continues to go up. The city of Prypiat, Ukraine (population 45,000) was completely evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster.
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara is the highest point in Belarus. The hill is 345 meters (1,130 ft) above sea level. It is west of Minsk, near Dzyarzhynsk, in the village Skirmuntava. The original name of the hill was Svyataya Hara. In 1958 the hill was renamed "Hara Dzyarzhynskaya", after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the NKVD/KGB.
SMK Jalan Damai
Jalan Damai Secondary School or simply SMK Jalan Damai, is a national secondary school located in Kampung Baru, Penang, Malaysia. It has about 2370 students and 120 teachers.