The modern history of Belarus began with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The new Belarusian country struggled with many problems, including post-Soviet debt, nuclear arsenal, and inflation. These factors contributed to the current history of the Republic of Belarus, especially to the current leadership under Alexander Lukashenko, under whom the country's democracy backslided and later turned into a full authoritarian dictatorship.

Historical context

The lands of present-day Belarus have been part of many states over the centuries, including the Kievan Rus' (especially the Duchy of Polotsk, which is considered the predecessor of Belarusian statehood) from 9th to early 14th century, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 14 to 16th century, whose elites, despite being of Lithuanian origin, became ruthenized (or belarusianized), then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16th to 18th century, which caused polonisation of the nobility and parts of burghers, the Russian Empire in the 19th century, which began russification (especially after November and January Uprisings, in which Belarusians fought alongside Poles and Lithuanians against the tsarist occupation). Belarusian territory became a centre of the World War I, Polish-Soviet War, and World War II, during which Belarusians tried either to create their own state (which they briefly established in 1918-1919 as a Belarusian People's Republic), collaborated with Poland, with the Soviet Union, or with Nazi Germany. Ultimately, the USSR managed to incorporate it into its borders as a Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, ruled by the Communist Party of Byelorussia, a regional branch of the only legal Soviet Communist Party (CPSU) in the entire Soviet Union. The region experienced repression from the communist regime, especially under Stalin in 1937-1938, 1940-1941, and from 1945 to mid-1950s.

Perestroika The political changes in Belarus began in the era of Perestroika, a Soviet political reform movement promoted by the First Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. Censorship became relaxed, the new Soviet authorities freed political prisoners, and the cultural renewal together with the emerging opposition movements.

In 1988, archaeologist Zianon Pazniak discovered the bodies of people killed during the Stalinist Great Purge of 1937-1938. On 19 October 1988, Pazniak convened a meeting with other nationalists at the Minsk House of Cinema (now the Red Church) to create an organizing committee of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) and also the movement "Martyrology of Belarus" to document repressions in the USSR. The BPF was modeled after popular fronts in the Baltics. Soon after this, thousands of people in Minsk marched to Kurapaty in what came to be known as Dziady-88, spurred by the committee's revelations. During the events of Dziady-88, Pazniak proposed the idea of a cross procession with a requiem being performed for the victims, which was implemented. Though the rally ended with arrests and tear gas, Pazniak managed to read the Front's declaration before being detained by Soviet police. The founding congress of the BPF took place in Vilnius from 24 June to 25 June 1989, as it was not permitted in Minsk, which was attended by about 400 delegates. A year later, the Belarusian Popular Front, a pro-Perestroika organization that later became clearly anti-communist.

After a modification of Article 6 of Soviet constitution that removed a line about a leading role and monopoly of the Communist Party, the USSR (including Soviet Belarus) officially ceased to be a one-party state. From March to May 1990, elections to the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussia took place. The opposition Belarusian Popular Front, led by Pazniak, won around 25–37 seats. Pazniak advocated for a clear separation of the democratic faction.

The Byelorussian Communist Party itself also experienced changes. On 27 July 1990, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic declared sovereignty, which was a part of the so-called "parade of sovereignties", in which many other Soviet republics, including Russian Soviet Federatice Socialist Republic, declared sovereignty from the Gorbachev's central authority. On 28 November 1990, Yefrem Sokolov was replaced by Anatoly Malofeyev in the position of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia.

In April 1991, anti-government workers' strikes took place. Originally in opposition to price increases and a tax on goods from republics sold in another republic (which heavily affected the export-based Belarusian economy), the protests later turned into a broadly anti-Soviet movement, calling for the resignation of Soviet leadership, a reduction of the economic role of the Soviet government, and fresh elections to the Supreme Soviet. In result, wages increased and trust in the Communist authorities has fallen.

Against the backdrop of these economic crises, the Belarusian national revival began to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Independence

During the August Coup in 1991, the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic's branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union supported the putsch. However, once the coup failed, Chairman of the Supreme Council Nikolai Dementey (who was also first secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia) was forced to resign from his post, leading to the election of Stanislav Shushkevich, a scientist, who while a member of the CPSU, was not directly tied to the Apparats. Alongside this, he was known previously for his criticism of the Soviet government's disregard for the Chernobyl Disaster.

On August 25, 1991, the BSSR declared independence from the Soviet Union, becoming the Republic of Belarus. The White-red-white flag was re-adopted, alongside the Pahonia. The CPB was banned, alongside the larger Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while the USSR ceased to exist after Belovezha Accords on 8 December of the same year.

This period of a flawed democracy was known for tensions between reformist social democrats under Shushkevich who wanted a slow but successful transition to capitalism, hardline post-communists, pro-Russian Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich, and nationalist opposition under Pazniak.

Belarus experienced inflation and a crisis involving nuclear weapons, which were transferred to Russia as a part of the deal for neutralization of Belarus.

Due to many of the political structures of Belarus being inherited from the BSSR, minus the CPSU's party politics, Belarus between 1991 and 1994 acted as a parliamentary republic with the Speaker as head of state. This position was held by Stanislav Shushkevich at first, but was later taken up by Myechyslaw Hryb, a pro-Russian conservative aligned with the Supreme Council.

In early 1992, the Belarusian Popular Front petitioned the government for early elections, but the Supreme Council rejected the petition, claiming massive irregularities, despite showcasing no evidence for such. As a concession to the opposition, parliamentary elections were set for March 1994. However, electoral reform failed to pass led to an ambiguous state for elections. Concerns stated by other countries, including the United States over continued delays in new elections were dismissed by the largely conservative Supreme Council as "interference in Belarusian affairs."

A new constitution was adopted on 15 March 1994, which remains in force to this day, establishing the country as a semi-presidential republic and ending the validity of the amended constitution of Soviet Belarus.

On 15 April 1994, Hryb, as head of state and ex officio member of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States, on behalf of Belarus signed the Agreement on the creation of a free trade area as "the first stage of the creation of the Economic Union" (which is still as of 2024 used by Belarus for foreign trade, in particular, with Azerbaijan and Georgia), as well as the "Agreement on Ukraine's accession to the Economic Union as an associate member" (which has never entered into force).

1994 presidential election

The first presidential election took place on 23 June and 10 July. The candidates were: Alexander Lukashenko, a populist, former anti-corruption commission chairman whose charges led to dismissal of Shushkevich as a Chairman of the Supreme Council in January 1994 Vyacheslav Kebich, the incumbent Prime Minister of Belarus Zianon Pazniak, a nationalist leader of the Belarusian Popular Front and a parliamentary deputy Stanislav Shushkevich, former Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus and de facto leader of Belarus from 1991 to 1994 Alaksandar Dubko, a former chairman of the Grodno Regional Executive Committee , a communist parliamentary deputy

The results Lukashenko achieved 45.76% and Kebich gained 17.69%. Other candidates received 13.09% (Pazniak), 10.12 (Shushkevich), 6.11 (Dubko) and 4.38 (Novikov). In the second round, Lukashenko won with 80.61% of the votes, while Kebich achieved 14.22%. This election is considered the only free election held in Belarus since it broke away from the Soviet Union.Why Does The “Last Dictatorship In Europe” Hold Elections? Belarus Digest, 26 March 2012Profile: Europe's last dictator? BBC News, 10 September 2001

Lukashenko era

First term Lukashenko's presidential inauguration took place on 20 July 1994. After becoming a president, Lukashenko signed the Budapest Memorandum on 5 December 1994 along with Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States acting as guarantors and thereby denuclearized the nation.

Belarusian constitutional crisis

After his election, Lukashenko began to consolidate power. In March 1995, he proposed a referendum on strengthening his power and changing national symbols from the white-red-white flag and Pahonia to those based on Byelorussian SSR.

On 11 April 1995, Parliament considered the questions for the referendum, approved the date, but approved only the question regarding economic integration with Russia. Lukashenko declared that he would not change his decision and would accept personal responsibility for the referendum, and left the Parliament, announcing that it would be his last discussions with Parliament in its current form. Nineteen MPs from the Belarusian Popular Front, including Zianon Pazniak, Piatro Sadoŭski and others, decided to carry out a hunger strike within Parliament, protesting against the president organizing the referendum despite the parliament's decision. They were beaten and forcibly removed by OMON.10 years agomembers of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front, who were holding a hunger strike in Parliament House, were beaten Radio Liberty12 April 2005 The parliamentarians sued the special forces for battery but were unsuccessful.

In the 1995 parliamentary election, the Supreme Council became dominated by the opposition, and Syamyon Sharetski was elected its chairman.

In the summer, opposition initiated an impeachment against Alexander Lukashenko with 73 of 199 members of the Supreme Council supporting the procedure, citing as a reason constant violating of the constitution and ignoring the ruling of the Supreme Court. The crisis peaked in November, when Lukashenko surrounded the building with units subordinated to him, and the Supreme Court endorsed an impeachment while even Prime Minister Mikhail Chyhir revolted against President Lukashenko. Then, Russia intervened with Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and some State Duma members acting as mediators between parliamentarians and Lukashenko. They brokered a compromise that led many deputies to withdraw their signatures, effectively halting the impeachment process.