During World War II from 1941 till 1945 the Belarus territory was completely occupied by the Nazi Germany troops. The Belarusan people didn't resign to the status of an enslaved nation and resisted Nazi occupants. There were over a thousand partisan detachments on the territory of Belarus. They paralyzed the communications as well as a great number of troops and thus made a great contribution to the victory over Nazism. The Nazis burned down a lot of villages and ruined many towns. In this war 25% of Belarusan population was lost. Numerous common graves all over Belarus remind us of the terrible tragedy of the last war. The apotheosis of this tragedy is to be seen in the memorial complex of Khatyn near Minsk. Before World War II the population of Belarus was 10 million and only 40 years later, by the end of the 80s it had reached the pre-war level.

A new stage in the history of Belarusan statehood began on the 27th of July 1990 when the BSSR Supreme Soviet adopted the Declaration "On the State Sovereignty of the BSSR". On the 25th of August 1991 the BSSR Supreme Soviet declared the political and economic independence of Belarus. On the filth of December 1991 The Supreme Soviet ratified the Agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, signed on the 8th of December 1991 by the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine in Viskuli in Belavezha Forest. Simultaneously the Supreme Soviet denounced the treaty on the creation of the USSR. The final legal act that pronounced Belarus a new democratic state in Eastern Europe was the new Constitution of the Republic of Belarus adopted by the Supreme Soviet on the 15th of March 1994.

The city of Minsk is the capital of Belarus. It is an ancient city known from 1067. During its long history it was several times ruined by foreign invaders. When the Red Army soldiers and partisans liberated the city during World War II, 95% of Minsk lay in ruins. Only after many years the Belarusans managed to restore the city. Now Minsk has a population of 1.8 million. After the USSR's collapse Minsk became the Coordination Center of the CIS, the headquarters of the Executive Secretariat of the CIS. This fact strengthens the reputation of Belarus as a state of social stability and economic reliability.

Copyright(c)1994 by Vladimir Novik
Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Belarus

Source http://www.belarusguide.com/as/archiv/web_pages/novik/history.htm