The military history of Belarus encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending hundreds of years. This stage of military development is characterized by the emergence of new branches of the armed forces, updating the military doctrine, streamlining the military-industrial complex and ideological work, improving the system of command and staffing of troops, reforming most associations, formations, military units and institutions, as well as overcoming the crisis phenomena of the 1990s.
Kievan Rus'
According to Western historiography, two Scandinavian dynasties ruled Rus': the Rurikids and the Rogvolodovichs.Stender-Petersen А. Varangica. Aarhus, 1953. Р. 130—131.Duczko W. Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastem Europe. Leiden, 2004. Р. 126—127. The former were based in Novgorod and Kyiv, while the latter reigned in the modern Belarusian city of Polotsk. Both dynasties competed with each other and waged armed struggle. The following military campaigns stand out during their conflict:
872 — Askold's campaign against the Polotsk people. 977 — Vladimir Svyatoslavich's campaign against Polotsk. 1021 — Bryachislav's attack on Novgorod, . 1065 — Vseslav's attack on Pskov. 1066 — Vseslav's attack on Novgorod, capture and destruction of Novgorod. 1067 — Battle on the Nemiga. 1069 — Vseslav's attack on Novgorod. 1071 — . 1077, spring — Vseslav's campaign against Novgorod. 1077, summer — Vsevolod's campaign against Polotsk. 1077/78, winter — Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, Vladimir Monomakh, and the Polovtsians' campaign against Polotsk. 1078 and 1084 — Vseslav's campaign against Smolensk, Vladimir Monomakh's campaigns to Lukoml and Logoisk and to Drutsk. 1084 and 1086 — Vladimir Monomakh's campaign with the Polovtsians against Minsk. 1104 — Vladimir Monomakh's campaigns against Gleb Vseslavich of Minsk. 1116 — Gleb Vseslavich of Minsk's campaign against Slutsk. 1117 — Vladimir Monomakh's campaign against Gleb Vseslavich of Minsk. 1127 — .
At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, against the backdrop of feudal fragmentation, the Belarusian lands became the object of aggression by the crusaders. During this period, the German knights from the Order of the Sword began to conquer the Baltics. Local tribes asked Polotsk for help. At that time, the power of the Principality of Polotsk extended to the lower reaches of the Western Dvina, and the Baltic tribes of the Livonians and Latgalians paid him tribute. There were also two fortresses here — Gertsike and Kukeynos, which belonged to Polotsk. The appearance of the German crusaders in the region began to threaten the loss of these lands. Therefore, in the summer of 1203, Prince Vladimir's troops besieged the German fortresses of Uexküll and Golm. That same year, Prince Vsevolod of Gercike marched on Riga. But these campaigns did not bring success to Polotsk. Vladimir's campaign against the crusaders together with the Livs was also unsuccessful in 1206, when the Polotsk people unsuccessfully besieged Golm for 11 days and were forced to retreat.
In 1208, the crusaders captured Kukeinos, and in 1209 they burned . The following year, an agreement was concluded between the Bishop Albert of Riga and Prince Vladimir, according to which Polotsk retained its right to receive tribute from the Livs. But the bishop was obliged to pay it. Two years later, new negotiations began. Vladimir demanded that the crusaders renounce the baptism of the Livs, threatening to burn all their castles. But he was unable to achieve his goal. In addition, the Lithuanians began to raid the Polotsk land, which significantly weakened the military forces of the Polotsk people. The negotiations ended with Vladimir being forced to give up the Lower Dvina, having only achieved free trade along the Western Dvina. But the struggle of the Polotsk people against the crusaders did not stop after this. In 1214, the Germans, having violated the agreement, again attacked Gertsike, but were defeated by the Lithuanians, called by Polotsk. The city with part of the principality still belonged to Polotsk for some time. In 1216, the Polotsk people, together with the Estonians and Lithuanians, prepared a new campaign against the crusaders. But on the eve of it, the Polotsk prince Vladimir suddenly died. There is an assumption that he was poisoned by German spies.
In addition to the crusaders, a threat also appeared from the Mongol-Tatars. In 1240-1242, Batu Khan's troops, led by Guyunk and Keidan, passed through the southern part of Belarus, plundering Mozyr, Turov, Pinsk, and Brest. In the middle and second half of the 13th century, they repeatedly carried out campaigns against Belarusian and Lithuanian lands. Invasions were repeated in 1275, 1277, 1287, 1315, 1325, and 1338.
Late 15th — late 18th centuries
At the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th centuries, wars with the Muscovite state resumed. Military clashes were provoked by Orthodox princes of the border lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The confrontation led to an undeclared border war of 1487-1494, as a result of which the entire Lithuanian border strip was broken. In 1500-1503, hostilities moved to eastern Belarus. The next major conflict began in 1512, during which the Lithuanians won a major victory near Orsha in 1514, although it did not lead to victory in the entire war.
Tatar raids on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania continued, but they were stopped. However, in the second half of the 15th century, the threat from the Crimean Khanate grew. From 1500 to 1569 alone, it carried out 45 raids on Belarusian lands. To protect against attacks on the southern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Cossack barriers were created. Michael Glinski, who defeated the raiders near Klyetsk, distinguished himself in the fight against the Crimean raids. He would later raise an uprising that engulfed Mozyr, Drutsk, Turov, Krichev, Gomel and other Belarusian cities.
In the middle of the 16th century, the country entered the Livonian War. During the conflict, the most fierce struggle was for Polotsk. The difficult military situation forced the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to conclude the Union of Lublin with Poland, forming the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The struggle with Russia continued during the Time of Troubles and the Smolensk War. The most destructive events for the Belarusian lands were the events of 1654-1667, during which the Russians occupied almost all of Belarus. This was preceded by the Khmelnytsky Uprising, which engulfed Ukraine, central and southern Belarus. Both conflicts had devastating consequences, seriously affecting the economic development of the Belarusian lands. The war of 1654-1667 is called the most tragic in the history of the country by some Belarusian historians.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Belarus was affected by the Northern Wars. Russian and Swedish troops fought on the territory of the country. It was here, near the village of Lesnaya, that the Swedes suffered their first major defeat. Peter the Great would later call the battle at Lesnaya "the mother of the Poltava victory". This war exacerbated social contradictions in the Belarusian lands. The number of peasant and urban uprisings increased. The war and the accompanying plague reduced the population from 2,200 thousand people in 1700 to 1,500 thousand people in 1717.
In the second half of the century, the Belarusian lands were drawn into the struggle of noble confederations. One of these, Slutsk, arose in Belarus itself. In 1768, the War of the Bar Confederation began. On September 2 (13), 1769, the Battle of Orekhov took place in the Belarusian territories, in which the Russian detachment under the command of Brigadier Alexander Suvorov defeated the detachment under the command of Casimir Pulaski. As a result of the defeat of the confederates in 1772, the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occurred.
In 1792, as a result of the Targowica Confederation, the Polish–Russian War of 1792 began, which also affected the Belarusian territories. In June of the same year, King Stanisław August Poniatowski joined the confederation and ordered an end to military action against the Russian troops. This war led to the Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1794, the region was affected by the Kościuszko Uprising, which was suppressed by the Russian Empire and Prussia. The events led to the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the disappearance of the state.
Russian Empire
In June 1812, Napoleon's army invaded the territory of modern Belarus. Russian troops managed to defeat the Grande Armée at Vitebsk, Mir, Kobrin, and Klyastsitsy. However, Napoleon continued to advance deep into the country. In July, his troops reached the Dnieper. The local Polish Catholic gentry, who sought to revive the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, went over to the French side. In October, the French army began to retreat from Russia. On October 7, the French left Polotsk, on October 26, Vitebsk, on November 4, Minsk, on November 9, Borisov, and on November 12, Mogilev. In November, near the village of Studenka, not far from Borisov, Napoleon's army was dealt a crushing blow by Russian troops. The Grand Army effectively ceased to exist.
In early April 1831, Lithuania and northwestern Belarus were engulfed in the events of the November Uprising. The rebels operated in the Ashmyany, Braslaw, Dzisna and Vileyka districts. Somewhat later, the uprising spread to the southern part of Belarus, namely the Rechitsa, Mozyr and Pinsk counties. The Vilnius Central Insurgent Committee was in charge of overseeing the uprisings in the Belarusian-Lithuanian lands. However, by the beginning of August, the tsarist army restored order in the region.
In 1863, Belarus was engulfed in the January Uprising. The rebellion was overseen by the Lithuanian Provincial Committee headed by Konstanty Kalinowski, subordinate to the Central National Committee in Warsaw. In January and February, the rebels were active only in the western regions. In the spring, their units appeared in the rest of Belarus. In May, the Imperial Russian Army restored order in the Minsk, Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces. Thus, the Grodno region became the main center of the uprising. However, even there the rebel activity gradually petered out, especially after the repressions of Mikhail Muravyov-Vilensky. The last rebel detachment was liquidated in the summer of 1864 in Novogrudok.
In 1915, during the Great Retreat of the Imperial Russian Army, the Eastern Front of the World War I moved to the territory of Belarus. In August, the German offensive began in the direction of Kovno-Vilno-Minsk. After an unsuccessful attempt to take Vilnius, German troops launched a new offensive and on September 9 broke through the front in the vicinity of Sventsyany, penetrated the Russian rear, captured Vileika and approached Molodechno. Separate German units reached Smalyavichy and Borisov. The headquarters of the Russian Supreme Commander-in-Chief was transferred from Baranavichy to Mogilev. In mid-September, the Kaiser's forces were stopped. The Germans retreated to the area of the Naroch-Svir lakes. At the same time, stubborn battles for the city of Smorgon were fought for 810 days, which was completely destroyed and went down in history as a "dead city". Chemical weapons were used here repeatedly. In October 1915, the front stabilized on the line Dvinsk - Smorgon - Baranovichi - Pinsk.
Interwar period