Misplaced Pages

#191808

156-569: The government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic never had power over the whole territory of Belarus. In 1919, it co-existed with an alternative Soviet Russia -controlled Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (which later became part of the Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic ), moving its seat of government to Vilnius and Hrodna , but ceased to exist due to the partition of

312-745: A constitutional crisis , completely abolished the Soviet form of government and replaced it with a semi-presidential system . Under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) and Leon Trotsky (1879–1940), the Bolsheviks established the Soviet state on 7 November [ O.S. 25 October] 1917. This happened immediately after the October Revolution toppled the interim Russian Provisional Government (most recently led by opposing democratic socialist Alexander Kerensky (1881–1970)) which had governed

468-509: A glacial plain formed of sediments deposited by meltwater at the terminus of a glacier , are covered by forests. The highest point of the city lies at a height of 175 m (574 ft) on the Pietrasze Forest. The lowest point lies at a height of 118 m (387 ft) on the river valley of the Biała . A characteristic element of the relief of the city area are clear depressions in

624-494: A warm summer continental climate , characterized by warm summers and long frosty winters. Forests are an important part of Białystok's character and occupy around 1,846 ha (4,560 acres) (18% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth-most forested city in Poland. The first settlers arrived in the 14th century. The town grew and received its municipal charter in 1692. Białystok has traditionally been one of

780-539: A Belarusian majority or large minority (as in Grodno and Vilna Governorate ), although there were also numbers of Lithuanians , Poles and people speaking mixed varieties of Belarusian , Lithuanian and Polish , as well as many Jews , mostly in towns and cities (in some towns they made up a majority). Some of the Jews spoke Russian as their native tongue; others spoke Yiddish . There were attempts to create an armed forces of

936-682: A Belarusian national army. In 1920, his units became a part of the Russian People's Volunteer Army  [ ru ] led by the Russian SR revolutionary Boris Savinkov which established the short-lived Belarusian State  [ ru ] during its actions against the Red Army. The major military action of the Army of the People's Republic was the failed Slutsk defence action in late 1920. The Council of

1092-580: A Nazi prison in the city, and a forced labour camp for Jewish men. Since 1943, the Sicherheitspolizei carried out deportations of Poles including teenage boys from the local prison to the Stutthof concentration camp . The 56,000 Jewish residents of the town were confined in a ghetto. On August 15, 1943, the Białystok Ghetto Uprising began, and several hundred Polish Jews and members of

1248-639: A delegation of the Belarusian People's Republic under Prime Minister Anton Łuckievič participated in the Paris Peace Conference , attempting to gain international recognition of the independence of Belarus. On the way to the conference, the delegation was received by Czechoslovak president Tomáš Masaryk in Prague . During the conference, Łuckievič had meetings with the exiled foreign minister of Admiral Kolchak's Russian government Sergey Sazonov and

1404-512: A great noble, which was frequently visited by Polish kings and poets. In 1745 the first military technical school in Poland was founded in Białystok, and in 1748, one of the oldest theaters in Poland, the Komedialnia , was founded in the city. New schools were established, including a ballet school in connection with the foundation of the theater. In 1749, King Augustus III of Poland extended

1560-457: A housing estate and connect with it the unique green areas around the city with new tree plantings. The Second World War prevented the comprehensive implementation of this plan. In addition, in 1919 the city's territory was significantly expanded, incorporating the surrounding villages with plans of expanding the city. The average height of buildings in the city is not high. The center is dominated by buildings not exceeding 25 meters in height, and

1716-453: A little cooler than in most of Poland. More rain falls in summer months than in any other period of the year. The centre of Białystok, as most urban areas, experiences the urban heat island effect , therefore for most of the time, the city is warmer than the surrounding countryside. The temperatures in the city centre are, on average, 2.3 °C (4.1 °F) higher than in the surrounding villages, with greater differences at night and during

SECTION 10

#1732844646192

1872-830: A new Constitution of Russia was adopted. On 29 May 1990, at his third attempt, Boris Yeltsin was elected the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR . The Congress of People's Deputies of the Republic adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian SFSR on 12 June 1990, which was the beginning of the " War of Laws ", pitting the Soviet Union against the Russian Federation and other constituent republics. On 17 March 1991, an all-Russian referendum created

2028-571: A result in the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807 the area was transferred to the Russian Empire , which organized the region into the Belostok Oblast , with the city as the regional center. Schooling and higher learning in Białystok, which was intensively developed in the 18th century, was stopped as a result of partitions. Białystok received city rights the latest from all of Podlasie's cities, but at

2184-562: A return to Soviet policies in regards to Belarusian language and culture . The Rada BNR still exists as a government in exile and attempts to lobby for interests of the Belarusian diaspora in countries where it has its deputies. Since the late 1980s, March 25, the Independence Day of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, is widely celebrated by the Belarusian national democratic opposition as Freedom Day ( Belarusian : Дзень волі ). It

2340-452: A total of 9 parks in the city (on municipal plots), of which 5 are historic parks with a total area of about 59.06 ha, entered into the municipal register of monuments, and 4 are city parks with an area of about 21.68 ha. Part of Knyszyn Forest is preserved within the city limits by two nature reserves —a total area of 105 ha (260 acres). The Zwierzyniecki Forest Nature Reserve ( Polish : Rezerwat przyrody Las Zwierzyniecki ), which

2496-551: A two-volume collection of BNR archives ( Архівы Беларускай Народнай Рэспублікі. Менск-Вільня-Прага-Нью-Ёрк ). The total size of the two volumes is more than 1700 pages. Essentially these are the processed and re-organized documents from the Lithuanian archival fund #582 in Vilnius and they constitute roughly 60% of all the BNR official documents from 1918. Another 20% of BNR official documentation

2652-401: Is 97% Polish, 2.5% Belarusian and 0.5% of a number of minorities including Russians, Lithuanians, and Ukrainians. Most of the modern-day population growth is based on internal migration within Poland and urbanization of surrounding areas. Białystok, like other major cities in Poland, is a city county ( Polish : Miasto na prawach powiatu ). The Legislative power in the city is vested in

2808-534: Is contained within the city limits, is a fragment, 33.48 ha (82.7 acres), of the riparian forest with a dominant assemblage of oak and hornbeam . The Antoniuk Nature Reserve ( Polish : Rezerwat Przyrody Antoniuk ) is a 70.07 ha (173.1 acres) park in the city that preserves the natural state of a forest fragment characteristic of the Białystok Upland, with a dominant mixed forest of hazel and spruce . The 40 ha (99 acres) of forests lying in

2964-449: Is divided into 29 administrative units, known in Polish as osiedla . The first 27 of these were created on October 25, 2004. The 28th, Dojlidy Górne , was created by on October 23, 2006, out of three settlements which had been incorporated into the city: Dojlidy Górne , Kolonia Halickie, and Zagórki. A new district called Bagnówka was created at the beginning of 2021. The center of

3120-790: Is located in the Białystok Uplands of the Podlachian Plain on the banks of the Biała River , 200 km (124 mi) northeast of Warsaw . It has historically attracted migrants from elsewhere in Poland and beyond, particularly from Central and Eastern Europe . This is facilitated by the nearby border with Belarus also being the eastern border of the European Union , as well as the Schengen Area . The city and its adjacent municipalities constitute Metropolitan Białystok . The city has

3276-647: Is located in the Minsk archives, and the fate of the remaining 20% is unknown. Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR or RSFSR ), previously known as the Russian Soviet Republic and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , and unofficially as Soviet Russia , was an independent federal socialist state from 1917 to 1922, and afterwards

SECTION 20

#1732844646192

3432-646: Is usually accompanied by mass opposition rallies in Minsk and by celebration events of the Belarusian diaspora organizations supporting the Belarusian government in exile. A national flag of three stripes – white-red-white – was adopted, as well as a state seal ( Pahonia ) based on an emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Chairpersons of the Council of the Belarusian People's Republic : In 1998, Belarusian linguist and translator Siarhiej Šupa  [ be ] published

3588-584: The Anti-Fascist Military Organisation ( Polish : Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa ) started an armed struggle against the German troops who were carrying out the planned liquidation of the ghetto with deportations to the Treblinka extermination camp . Ultimately the ghetto was liquidated, and the vast majority of its remaining 40,000 occupants including men, woman and children, were murdered by

3744-496: The Arctic ( Siberian High ), which, due to the city's northeasterly location, are more frequent than in other parts of Poland. Winters thus tend to be several degrees colder than elsewhere in Poland. Freezing conditions below −20 °C (−4 °F) are possible in winter but are rare. Snow cover is present on the ground for more than half of winter. Summers tend to be warm, sunny and pleasant and are occasionally hot, but they are still

3900-560: The Azerbaijan SSR ( Azerbaijan ), Georgian SSR ( Georgia ) and Kazakh SSR ( Kazakhstan ) to the south. Roughly 70% of the area in the RSFSR consisted of broad plains, with mountainous tundra regions mainly concentrated in the east of Siberia with Central Asia and East Asia. The area is rich in mineral resources, including petroleum, natural gas, and iron ore. The Soviet government first came to power on 7 November 1917, immediately after

4056-536: The Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1990, it was stated then that the Rada was ready to hand its status to a democratically elected parliament of Belarus. The parliament of Belarus of that time had been elected under Soviet rule. However, these plans were dropped after president Alexander Lukashenko , elected in the 1994 presidential election , established an authoritarian regime accompanied by

4212-524: The Belovezh Accords . The document, consisting of a preamble and fourteen articles, stated that the Soviet Union no longer existed "as a subject of international law and geopolitical reality". However, based on the historical community of peoples and relations between the three states, as well as bilateral treaties, the desire for a democratic rule of law, the intention to develop their relations based on mutual recognition and respect for state sovereignty,

4368-705: The Communist Party of the Russian SFSR in the territory of Russia. On 6 November, he went further, banning the Communist Parties of the USSR and the RSFSR in the RSFSR. On 8 December 1991, at Viskuli near Brest (Belarus) , Yeltsin, Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk and Belarusian leader Stanislav Shushkevich signed the "Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States", known in media as

4524-637: The Constitution of the Russian SFSR . By 1918, during the Russian Civil War , several states within the former Russian Empire had seceded, reducing the size of the country even more, although some were conquered by the Bolsheviks. The Russian famine of 1921–22 , also known as Povolzhye famine, killed an estimated 5 million, primarily affecting the Volga and Ural River regions. The economic impact of

4680-580: The European Parliament . There are thirteen consulates in Białystok, a Consulate General of Belarus and Honorary Consulates of Romania , Finland , Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria , Croatia , Estonia , Kazakhstan , Latvia , Lithuania , Luxembourg , Malta and Serbia . The City of Białystok is a member of several organizations such as Union of Polish Metropolises ( Polish : Unia Metropolii Polskich ), Euroregion Niemen, Polish Green Lungs Foundation, and Eurocities . Białystok

4836-761: The Fall of Communism in the 1980s, and the Soviet NKVD and SMERSH continued the persecution of the Polish resistance in the following months. From November 1944 to January 1945, the Russians deported nearly 5,000 Poles from the local prison to the Soviet Union. Later on, the Soviet-appointed communists held political prisoners and other members of the Polish resistance in the local prison, and until 1956, they also carried out burials of executed Polish resistance members there. After

Belarusian Democratic Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue

4992-688: The First Congress of the Soviets of the USSR approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR , by which Russia was united with the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic and Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic into a single federal state, the Soviet Union. The treaty was included in the 1924 Soviet Constitution , adopted on 31 January 1924 by

5148-635: The German Army on 27 June 1941, during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk , and the city became the capital of Bezirk Białystok , a separate region in German occupied Poland , until 1944. The Great Synagogue was burnt down by Germans on June 27, 1941, with an estimated number of 2,000 Jews inside. From the very beginning, the Nazis pursued a ruthless policy of pillage and removal of the non-German population. The Germans operated

5304-729: The Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan ) and Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic ( Kyrgyzstan ). The former Karakalpak Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic was transferred to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic ( Uzbekistan ). The final name for the republic during the Soviet era was adopted by the Russian Constitution of 1937, which renamed it the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Just four months after Operation Barbarossa ,

5460-627: The Kuril Islands off the coast of East Asia, north of Japan , making them part of the RSFSR. The status of the southernmost Kurils, north of Hokkaido of the Japanese home islands remains in dispute with Japan and the United States following the peace treaty of 1951 ending the state of war. On 17 April 1946, the Kaliningrad Oblast – the north-eastern portion of the former Kingdom of Prussia ,

5616-684: The Russian flag , the USSR was self-dissolved by the Soviet of the Republics on 26 December, which by that time was the only functioning parliamentary chamber of the All-Union Supreme Soviet (the other house, Soviet of the Union , had already lost the quorum after recall of its members by the several union republics). After the dissolution, Russia took full responsibility for all the rights and obligations of

5772-654: The Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR . One of the early ambitious economic plans of the Soviet government was GOELRO , Russian abbreviation for "State Commission for Electrification of Russia" ( Го сударственная комиссия по эл ектрификации Ро ссии), which sought to achieve total electrification of the entire country. Soviet propaganda declared the plan was basically fulfilled by 1931. The national power output per year stood at 1.9 billion kWh in Imperial Russia in 1913, and Lenin's goal of 8.8 billion kWh

5928-609: The Soviet form of government ), established citizenship of Russia and stated that the RSFSR shall retain the right of free secession from the USSR. On 12 June 1991, Boris Yeltsin (1931–2007), supported by the Democratic Russia pro-reform movement, was elected the first and only President of the RSFSR, a post that would later become the Presidency of the Russian Federation . The August 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt in Moscow with

6084-401: The St. Roch's Church and the Białystok Cathedral , which are on one axis. Each of the districts also has its dominant, which is usually a church or an Orthodox church. The most important space in the city is Kościuszko Square - the main square in the shape of a triangle. The space is delimited by two axes, one is part of the axis connecting the two largest churches, and the other runs towards

6240-505: The Ukrainian SSR . On 8 February 1955, Malenkov was officially demoted to deputy Prime Minister. As First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Nikita Khrushchev's authority was significantly enhanced by Malenkov's demotion. The Karelo-Finnish SSR was transferred back to the RSFSR as the Karelian ASSR in 1956. On 9 January 1957, Karachay Autonomous Oblast and Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic were restored by Khrushchev and they were transferred from

6396-413: The Wehrmacht was quickly advancing through the Russian SFSR, and was approximately 10 miles (16 km) away from Moscow. However, after the defeat in the Battle of Moscow and the Soviet winter offensive , the Germans were pushed back. In 1942, the Wehrmacht entered Stalingrad . Despite a deadly five-month battle in which the Soviets suffered over 1,100,000 casualties, they achieved victory following

Belarusian Democratic Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue

6552-410: The mayor , who may sign them into law. If the mayor vetoes a bill, the Council has 30 days to override the veto by a two-thirds majority vote. The current President of Białystok, elected for his first term in 2006, is Tadeusz Truskolaski won the elections as the Civic Platform 's candidate, however, he has no official connection with the party. In the first round of the elections he received 49% of

6708-400: The then existing Constitution of 1978 , and were retained as such in the subsequent 1993 Constitution of Russia . At a total of about 17,125,200 km (6,612,100 sq mi), the Russian SFSR was the largest of the fifteen Soviet republics, with its southerly neighbor, the Kazakh SSR , being second. The international borders of the RSFSR touched Poland on the west; Norway and Finland on

6864-429: The unicameral Białystok City Council ( Polish : Rada Miasta ), which has 28 members. Council members are elected directly every four years, one of whom is the mayor , or President of Białystok ( Polish : prezydent ). Like most legislative bodies, the City Council divides itself into committees which have the oversight of various functions of the city government. Bills passed by a simple majority are sent to

7020-411: The 0 °C (32 °F) isotherm for the average temperature of the coldest month, or an oceanic climate ( Cfb ) if the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm is used. The city would have been classified as being in the Dfb zone regardless of the accepted isotherm for climatological normals as recent as 1981–2010, but as a consequence of climate change , the winters have warmed up so that the climate in

7176-500: The 1917 February Revolution in Russia, active discussions started in Belarus about either gaining autonomy within the new Russian Republic or declaring independence. Deputies of most Belarusian regions and of different political powers, including the Belarusian Socialist Assembly , the Christian democratic movement and the General Jewish Labour Bund , formed a Belarusian National Council in late 1917. The Council started working on establishing Belarusian governmental institutions. Both

7332-399: The 1922 Treaty on the Creation of the USSR) and established the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a loose replacement confederation. On 12 December, the agreement was ratified by the Supreme Soviet (the parliament of the Russian SFSR); therefore the Russian SFSR had renounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and de facto declared Russia's independence from the USSR itself and

7488-448: The BNR, based at that time in Lithuania , sent officers to help organize armed anti-Bolshevik resistance in the town of Slutsk . These events formed the basis of Vasil Bykau 's story and the film based on it " On Black Slash-and-Burn Fields ". During its short existence, the government of Belarus established close ties with the Ukrainian People's Republic , organized food supplies to Belarus from Ukraine and thereby prevented hunger in

7644-495: The Bolsheviks and Germans refused to recognize it and interfered in its activity. However, the Germans saw an independent Belarus as part of the implementation of their plan for buffer states within Mitteleuropa . The Bolsheviks had negotiations with the Belarusian Democratic Republic regarding eventual recognition, but later decided instead to establish a pro-Soviet government of Belarus – the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia . Parallel with negotiations that started between

7800-412: The Catholic religion, 43% (42,880) to Judaism, 8.2% (8,177) to Eastern Orthodoxy and 2.9% (2,892) to Evangelicalism . World War II changed all of this: in 1939, around 107,000 people lived in Białystok, but by 1946, the population had dropped to 56,759, with much less ethnic diversity than it had had previously, due primarily to the murder of its large Jewish population. Currently the city's population

7956-422: The Civil War was devastating. A black market emerged in Russia, despite the threat of martial law against profiteering. The ruble collapsed, with barter increasingly replacing money as a medium of exchange and, by 1921, heavy industry output had fallen to 20% of 1913 levels. 90% of wages were paid with goods rather than money. 70% of locomotives were in need of repair , and food requisitioning, combined with

SECTION 50

#1732844646192

8112-415: The Congress of People's Deputies of Russia approved the renaming of the RSFSR into the Russian Federation, by making appropriate amendments to the Constitution, which entered into force since publication on 16 May 1992. The Government was known officially as the Council of People's Commissars (1917–1946) and Council of Ministers (1946–1991). The first government was headed by Vladimir Lenin as Chairman of

8268-518: The Congress. At the same time, a number of prominent members of the Left Socialist Revolutionaries had assumed positions in Lenin's government and lead commissariats in several areas. This included agriculture ( Kolegaev ), property ( Karelin ), justice ( Steinberg ), post offices and telegraphs ( Proshian ) and local government (Trutovsky). Lenin's government also instituted a number of progressive measures such as universal education , healthcare and equal rights for women . On 25 January 1918, at

8424-407: The Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR and the last by Boris Yeltsin as both head of government and head of state under the title of president. The Russian SFSR was controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union until the 1991 August coup , which prompted President Yeltsin to suspend the recently created Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . In

8580-434: The Georgian SSR back to the Russian SFSR . In 1964, Nikita Khrushchev was removed from his position of power and replaced with Leonid Brezhnev . Under his rule, the Russian SFSR and the rest of the Soviet Union went through a mass era of stagnation . Even after Brezhnev's death in 1982, the era did not end until Mikhail Gorbachev took power in March 1985 and introduced liberal reforms in Soviet society. On 12 April 1978,

8736-426: The German Army from the city. During the 1919–1920 Polish–Soviet War , possession of the city by the Red Army and the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee occurred during the lead up to the Battle of Warsaw . During the resultant counteroffensive, the city returned to Polish control after the Battle of Białystok . After the wars and the reestablishment of independent Poland, Polish education in Białystok

8892-407: The Germans and Bolsheviks , the Belarusian Council started actively demanding recognition of autonomous status for Belarus , with continuing internal discussions on whether it should become an autonomous region within Russia or declare national independence. On 21 February 1918, the German army captured Minsk . On the same day, the Belarusian Council passed the First Constituent Charter declaring

9048-438: The Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Kęstutaitis , a wilderness area along the river Biała that marked the beginning of Białystok as a settlement. Thereafter, Białystok was part of Lithuania for 132 years until the Union of Lublin in 1569, when it was restored to Poland but remained very close to its border with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the last partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. Białystok

9204-407: The Nazis and their collaborators, primarily at the Treblinka death camp. The city fell under the control of the Red Army on 27 July 1944. The Soviets carried out mass arrests of Polish resistance members in the city and region, and imprisoned them in Białystok. On 20 September 1944 the city was transferred back to Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until

9360-523: The Podlaskie Plain ( Polish : Nizina Północnopodlaska ), part of what is known collectively as the Green Lungs of Poland . It is situated 197 kilometres (122 mi) by road northeast of Warsaw . It is the biggest Polish city close to Belarus and Lithuania . The Biała River, a left tributary of the Supraśl River , passes through the city. The landscape of the Białystok Upland is diverse, with high moraine hills and kame in excess of 200 m (660 ft) above sea level . Vast areas of outwash ,

9516-434: The RSFSR became an integral part of the economy of the USSR. The economic program of the RSFSR (NEP) was continued in all union republics. The Gosplan (State General Planning Commission) of the RSFSR, which replaced GOELRO, was reorganized into the Gosplan of the USSR. His early task was to develop a unified national economic plan based on the electrification plan and to oversee the overall implementation of this plan. Unlike

SECTION 60

#1732844646192

9672-472: The Rada passed a special manifesto, by which it declared its return to activity. In April 1948, the Rada, together with deputies of the Belarusian post-war refugees, held a conference in Osterhofen , Bavaria . After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, similar governments-in-exile of the neighboring countries (Lithuania, Poland and others) handed back their mandates to the corresponding independent governments. Upon declaration of independence of

9828-403: The Rada went into exile and facilitated an anti-Communist struggle within the country during the 1920s. In 1925, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (Rada BDR) discussed relinquishing its authority in favor of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic controlling the eastern part of Belarus . Despite many members of the democratic government advocating this idea, the proposal

9984-399: The Russians, and about 80 wounded. The first anarchist groups to attract a significant following of Russian workers or peasants were the anarcho-communist Chernoe-Znamia groups, founded in Białystok in 1903. During World War I the Bialystok-Grodno District was the administrative division of German -controlled territory of Ober-Ost . It comprised the city, as the capital, and

10140-527: The USSR under the Charter of the United Nations, including the financial obligations. As such, Russia assumed the Soviet Union's UN membership and permanent membership on the Security Council , nuclear stockpile and the control over the armed forces; Soviet embassies abroad became Russian embassies. The 1978 constitution of the Russian SFSR was amended several times to reflect the transition to democracy, private property and market economy. The new Russian constitution , coming into effect on 25 December 1993 after

10296-428: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Many regions in Russia were affected by the Soviet famine of 1932–1933 : Volga , Central Black Soil Region , North Caucasus , the Urals , the Crimea , part of Western Siberia , and the Kazakh ASSR . With the adoption of the 1936 Soviet Constitution on 5 December 1936, the size of the RSFSR was significantly reduced. The Kazakh ASSR and Kirghiz ASSR were transformed into

10452-420: The area of present-day Białystok occurred during the Stone Age . Tombs of ancient settlers can be found in the district of Dojlidy . In the early Iron Age , people settled in the area producing kurgans , the tombs of the chiefs in the area located in the current village of Rostołty . Since then, the Białystok area has been at the crossroads of cultures. Trade routes linking the Baltic to the Black Sea favored

10608-402: The city center, gave it its name. Due to changing borders and demographics over the centuries, the city has been known as Belarusian : Беласток ( Byelastok , Biełastok [bʲeɫaˈstok] ), Yiddish : ביאַליסטאָק ( Byalistok , Bjalistok ), Lithuanian : Balstogė , and Russian : Белосток ( Belostok , Byelostok ). Archaeological discoveries show that the first settlements in

10764-428: The city edges. Metropolitan Białystok was designated by the Voivodeship of the Regulation No. 52/05 of 16 May 2005 to help develop the region economically. In 2006, the metropolitan area population was 450,254 inhabitants. The municipalities adjacent to Białystok are slowly losing their agricultural character, becoming residential suburban neighborhoods with single-family housing and small businesses. In June 2020,

10920-399: The city limits. In 1770, under the auspices of Izabella Poniatowska , a midwifery school was founded, based on which the Institute of Obstetrics was established in 1805. Białystok was a regional brewing center with 33 breweries as of 1771, with the Podlachian Beer now listed as a protected traditional beverage by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland . The end of

11076-446: The city may be classified as oceanic. Białystok is one of the coldest cities in Poland by annual temperature and one with the climate having the most continental characteristics, as is the case for much of north-eastern Poland, with the mean yearly temperature of 7.7 °C (46 °F) and the length of the growing season amounting to 205 days, shorter than elsewhere in Poland. While winters are rather mild compared to other cities on

11232-632: The city on September 20–21, 1939 to commit crimes against the population . Afterwards, the Germans handed the city over to the Soviet Union, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact . Under Soviet occupation, it was incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR from 1939 to 1941 as the capital of Belastok Region . Polish people were subject to deportations deep into the USSR ( Siberia , Kazakhstan , Far North ). Pre-war mayor Seweryn Nowakowski

11388-404: The city's territory was about 50 hectares. In its early days Białystok was located at the intersection of two local roads and had two most important monuments: a church (with the current brick church from 1626) with an accompanying market square and a Gothic castle owned by the noble Wiesiołowski family, the former owners of the town. The project which was aimed at rebuilding the layout of the city

11544-463: The city, Osiedle Centrum , surrounds Lipowa Street , the main street of the city. Lipowa Street extends from Rynek Kościuszki (the corner of Spółdzielcza Street) to Plac Niepodległości im. Romana Dmowskiego (the corner of Krakowska Street). Over the centuries the name of this street has taken on a number of different names; Choroska , Nowolipie, Lipowa, Józef Piłsudski , Joseph Stalin , Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, once again, to return, after

11700-459: The competition, to become a finalist for European Capital of Culture in 2016. Although nowadays "stok" is translated as "slope", the initial name of the settlement came from the river flowing through it. In old Polish, biały stok was white river ( biały - white, stok - stream; river that "slides" down the slope). So inconspicuous today, the Biała River (usually called Białka), flowing through

11856-590: The council the only legitimate power on the territory of Belarus. Neither the occupying authorities, nor its government in Berlin, however, were interested in the idea of an independent Belarusian state. On 3 March, Germans and Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk . On 6 March, the Belarusian Council passed the Second Charter declared the establishment of the Belarusian People's Republic. The Council became

12012-564: The country. Beginning in 1918, Anton Łuckievič , the prime minister of Belarus, met with Vladimir Lenin hoping to gain recognition for the independence of Belarus by Soviet Russia. The Belarusian delegation even proposed the creation of a federation with the RSFSR and the adoption of the Soviet Constitution in Belarus in exchange for Russia recognizing the independent status of Belarus, but Lenin did not agree to these proposals. In 1919,

12168-573: The creation of a university in Minsk were initiated. In December 1918, the German army retreated from the territory of Belarus and the Red Army moved in to establish the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia . The Rada (Council) of the BNR moved to Hrodna, the center of a semi-autonomous Belarusian region within the Republic of Lithuania . During the subsequent 1919–1920 Soviet-Polish War ,

12324-479: The current scholarship, Belarusian Democratic Republic and Belarusian National Republic names dominate. The Rada BNR uses the Belarusian Democratic Republic name. It also appears in the publications originating in Belarus. The Belarusian People's Republic appears in publications, however, its use is comparatively limited, e.g. it does not appear in the titles of scholarly publications. After

12480-433: The denunciation of the union treaty was meaningless since it became invalid in 1924 with the adoption of the first constitution of the USSR . Although the 12 December vote is sometimes reckoned as the moment that the RSFSR seceded from the collapsing Soviet Union, this is not the case. It appears that the RSFSR took the line that it did not need to follow the secession process delineated in the Soviet Constitution because it

12636-399: The development and concentration of Białystok's production plants at that time. Along with the administrative function, Białystok received many economic institutions. In the second half of the 19th century, Białystok grew into a significant center of the textile industry , the largest after Łódź in then-partitioned Poland. Białystok was the largest industrial center between Warsaw and Łódź in

12792-479: The development of settlements with Yotvingia - Ruthenian -Polish cultural characteristics. The city of Białystok has existed for five centuries and during this time the fate of the city has been affected by various political and economic forces. Surviving documents attest that around 1437 a representative of the Raczków family, Jakub Tabutowicz of the coat of arms Łabędź , received from Michael Žygimantaitis , son of

12948-501: The effects of seven years of war and a severe drought, contributed to a famine that caused between 3 and 10 million deaths. Coal production decreased from 27.5 million tons (1913) to 7 million tons (1920), while overall factory production also declined from 10,000 million roubles to 1,000 million roubles. According to the noted historian David Christian, the grain harvest was also slashed from 80.1 million tons (1913) to 46.5 million tons (1920). On 30 December 1922,

13104-644: The eighteenth century saw the division of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in three partitions, among Poland's neighboring states. The Kingdom of Prussia subjugated Białystok and the surrounding region during the third partition . The city became the capital of the New East Prussia province in 1795. Napoleon Bonaparte 's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition freed the territory but as

13260-545: The electricity produced in the USSR. By 1961, it was the third largest producer of petroleum due to new discoveries in the Volga-Urals region and Siberia, trailing in production to only the United States and Saudi Arabia. In 1974, there were 475 institutes of higher education in the republic providing education in 47 languages to some 23,941,000 students. A network of territorially organized public-health services provided health care. The economy, which had become stagnant since

13416-511: The end of World War II, to its original name – Lipowa Street. The city covers 10,213 ha (25,240 acres) of which 3,210 ha (7,900 acres) is agricultural land , 4,889 ha (12,080 acres) is urbanized areas , 85 ha (210 acres) is surface waters and 65 ha (160 acres) is wasteland. The composition of the districts vary from residential near the city center, with a combination of multi-story apartment buildings and individual houses on small parcels, to industrial and agricultural at

13572-626: The end of the 19th century it outgrown all the surrounding cities. The rapid development in the 19th century is related to two historical events: the creation of a customs border between the Russian Empire and the Congress Kingdom of Poland, and the opening in 1862 of the Warsaw Saint Petersburg railway line , connecting Białystok with Warsaw , Grodno , Vilnius and Saint Petersburg . Very convenient communication conditions influenced

13728-514: The end of the nineteenth century, as a result of the influx due to Russian discriminatory regulations , the majority of the city's population was Jewish. According to Russian census of 1897 , out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (so around 63% percent). This heritage can be seen on the Jewish Heritage Trail in Białystok . The Białystok pogrom occurred between 14 and 16 June 1906 with some 81 to 88 Jews killed by

13884-475: The enlargement of the city after the World War I . According to the 1931 census, the population of Białystok totalled 91,101: 45.5% (41,493) Roman Catholics , 43% (39,165) Jews (by religion), and 8.2% (7,502) Eastern Orthodox believers. In 1936, Białystok had a population of 99,722, of whom: 50.9% (50,758) were Poles, 42.6% (42,482) Jews, 2.1% (2,094) Germans and 0.4% (359) Russians; 46.6% (45,474) adhered to

14040-415: The factory was also determined by the price of the plot. The layout of the city, in accordance with the 18th century palace and park layout, emphasizing the magnificence of the residence, hindered the development of the city in width. Two railway lines: Białystok-Suwałki and Białystok-Słonim, separated its northern and eastern parts from the rest of the city: Dziesięciny, Wygoda, Zacisze, Pieczurki. Originally,

14196-504: The fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted both the new name, Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR), and the Constitution of the Russian SFSR . Internationally, the Russian SFSR was recognized as an independent state in 1920 only by its bordering neighbors ( Estonia , Finland , Latvia and Lithuania ) in the Treaty of Tartu and by the short-lived Irish Republic of 1919–1922 in Ireland. On 30 December 1922, with

14352-505: The first attempts were made to organize the city, which had so far developed without plans - between the palace grounds and arable land. At the request of the Association of Polish Cities, in the years 1938-1939 a general urban concept of the city was created by Ignacy Tłoczek. The plan called for the creation of new communication routes, relieve the center, demolish the Chanajki district, create

14508-456: The first years of the existence of the RSFSR, the doctrine of war communism became the starting point of the state's economic activity. In March 1921, at the X Congress of the RCP (B), the tasks of the policy of "war communism" were recognized by the country's leadership as fulfilled, and a new economic policy was introduced at Lenin's suggestion. After the formation of the Soviet Union, the economy of

14664-423: The following territories were claimed for BNR: Mogilev Governorate (province), as well as Belarusian parts of Minsk Governorate , Grodno Governorate (including Belastok ), Vilna Governorate , Vitebsk Governorate , and Smolensk Governorate , and parts of bordering governorates populated by Belarusians, rejecting the then split of the Belarusian lands between Germany and Russia. The areas were claimed because of

14820-633: The formation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Tenth All-Russian Congress of Soviets , the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, being a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, devolves to the Union the powers which according to Article 1 of the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are included within the scope of responsibilities of the government bodies of

14976-468: The founding state of the German Empire (1871–1918) and later the German province of East Prussia including the capital and Baltic seaport city of Königsberg – was annexed by the Soviet Union and made part of the Russian SFSR. After the death of Joseph Stalin on 5 March 1953, Georgy Malenkov became the new leader of the USSR. In January 1954, Malenkov transferred Crimea from the Russian SFSR to

15132-615: The interim Russian Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky , which governed the Russian Republic , was overthrown in the October Revolution , the second of the two Russian Revolutions . The state it governed, which did not have an official name, would be unrecognized by neighboring countries for another five months. The initial stage of the October Revolution which involved the assault on Petrograd occurred largely without any human casualties . On 18 January 1918,

15288-403: The largest ethnic group . The capital of the Russian SFSR and the USSR as a whole was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad (Petrograd until 1924), Stalingrad (Volgograd after 1961), Novosibirsk , Sverdlovsk , Gorky and Kuybyshev . It was the first socialist state in history. The economy of Russia became heavily industrialized, accounting for about two-thirds of

15444-533: The largest and most populous constituent republic of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1922 to 1991, until becoming a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with priority of Russian laws over Union-level legislation in 1990 and 1991, the last two years of the existence of the USSR. The Russian SFSR was composed of sixteen smaller constituent units of autonomous republics , five autonomous oblasts , ten autonomous okrugs , six krais and forty oblasts . Russians formed

15600-561: The late 1970s under General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev , began to be liberalized starting in 1985 under Gorbachev's " perestroika " restructuring policies, including the introduction of non-state owned enterprises (e.g. cooperatives). On 7 November 1917 ( O.S. 25 October), as a result of the October Revolution , the Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed as a sovereign state and the world's first constitutionally socialist state guided by communist ideology . The first constitution

15756-458: The leading centers of academic, cultural, and artistic life in Podlachia , and the most important economic center in northeastern Poland. Białystok was once an important center for light industry , which was the reason for the substantial growth of the city's population. The city continues to reshape itself into a modern middle-sized city. Białystok, in 2010, was on the short-list, but ultimately lost

15912-447: The market square and creating a new viewing corridor. This design decision made it possible to erect new buildings so that the old part of the settlement and the Jewish quarter were no longer visible. The second viewing corridor was created by shifting the existing route leading towards Choroszcz to the northern corner of the market square. The communication system serving the entire city

16068-603: The mocking label Sovdepia ( Russian : Совдепия ) for the nascent state of the Soviets of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies. Speakers of colloquial English coined the term "Bololand" to refer to the land of the Bolos (a term identified from 1919 onwards with the Bolsheviks). On 25 January 1918 the third meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets proclaimed the establishment of the Russian Soviet Republic . In July 1918,

16224-542: The new Russian Republic after the abdication of the Russian Empire government of the Romanov imperial dynasty of Tsar Nicholas II the previous March (Old Style: February). The October Revolution was thus the second of the two Russian Revolutions of the turbulent year of 1917. Initially, the new Soviet state did not have an official name and was not recognized by neighboring countries for five months. Anti-Bolsheviks soon suggested new names, however. By 1919 they had coined

16380-489: The newly elected Constituent Assembly issued a decree, proclaiming Russia a democratic federal republic under the name "Russian Democratic Federal Republic". However, the Bolsheviks dissolved the Assembly on the following day and declared its decrees null and void. Conversely, the Bolsheviks also reserved a number of vacant seats in the Soviets and Central Executive for the opposition parties in proportion to their vote share at

16536-480: The newly established Belarusian People's Republic. Belarusian military units started to form within the disorganized Imperial Russian Army already in 1917. According to the historian Oleg Latyszonek , about 11,000 people, mostly volunteers, served in the Army of the Belarusian People's Republic. General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz supported the Government of the People's Republic and openly positioned his army as

16692-680: The northwest; and to its southeast in eastern Asia were the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ( North Korea ), Mongolian People's Republic ( Mongolia ) and the People's Republic of China (China, formerly the Republic of China ; 1911–1949). Within the Soviet Union, the RSFSR bordered the Slavic states: Ukrainian SSR ( Ukraine ), Belarusian SSR ( Belarus ), the Baltic states: Estonian SSR ( Estonia ), Latvian SSR ( Latvia ) and Lithuanian SSR ( Lithuania ) (Included in USSR in 1940) to its west and

16848-478: The onset of World War II the city's territory amounted to 40 km . The reconstruction of the city following the end of World War II and establishment of the People's Republic of Poland saw further expansion: the villages Bacieczki , Bacieczki Kolonia, Korycin and part of the village Klepacze , Krupniki , Fasty , Zaścianki and Zawady were incorporated into the city. The 70s saw another wave of expansion with

17004-471: The outskirts of the city are mainly occupied by low-rise single-family houses. Taller buildings dominate in some residential districts such as the districts of Piasta I and II (located to the south of the city center), Dziesięciny I and II estates (located to the northwest of the city center) as well as Wysoki Stoczek and Słoneczny Stok . Dominants in Białystok are located mainly in the center and they are also there located two most important city icons:

17160-537: The park, covered a substantial area. The residence palace was designed on a European scale and created new development opportunities for Białystok. Following the handover of the city from the Prussian Kingdom to the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, the city began growing in a very fast pace as a result of intensive industrialization, losing its original Baroque composition. After the First World War ,

17316-527: The parties agreed to the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States . On 12 December, the agreement was ratified by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR by an overwhelming majority: 188 votes for, 6 against and 7 abstentions. The legality of this ratification raised doubts among some members of the Russian parliament, since according to the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978 consideration of this document

17472-463: The population of Białystok grew from 22.4% (761) in 1765 to 66.6% (6,000) in 1808 and 76% (47,783) in 1895. According to the Russian census of 1897 , out of the total population of 66,000, Jews constituted 41,900 (around 63% percent). According to the German census of 1916, Jews comprised about 72% of the inhabitants (no less than 40,000). The demographic situation changed due to the influx of Polish repatriants, intelligentsia and civil servants, and

17628-410: The population of the city was 296,958. Among the cities of Poland, Białystok is second in terms of population density, tenth in population, and thirteenth in area. Historically, Białystok has been a destination for internal and foreign immigration, especially from Central and Eastern Europe . In addition to the Polish minority , there was formerly a Jewish majority in Białystok. The Jewish share in

17784-412: The population was approx. 3.5 thousand. The entire urban area was closed with 6 loose-fitting gates and buildings situated on regular plots. Compact buildings were found only in the market square, the frontages of which were 1- 2-storey buildings with brick front elevations. Choroska and Zamkowa Streets were built up with only brick houses. The city was dominated by the palace complex, which, together with

17940-524: The post of President of the RSFSR and on 12 June, Boris Yeltsin was elected president by popular vote . During the unsuccessful 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt of 19–21 August 1991 in Moscow , the capital of the Soviet Union and Russia, Yeltsin strongly supported the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. On 23 August, Yeltsin, in the presence of Gorbachev, signed a decree suspending all activity by

18096-564: The previous Russian constitutions, the 1978 Constitution devoted an entire chapter (Chapter II) to the description of the economic system of the RSFSR, which defined the types of property and indicated the goals of the economic tasks of the state. Bia%C5%82ystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship . It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok

18252-505: The prime minister of Poland Ignacy Jan Paderewski . In October 1919 the Belarusian People's Republic was officially recognized by Estonia and in December 1919 by Finland . On November 11, 1920, the Belarusian People's Republic signed a treaty with the government of Lithuania in which both states declared to recognize each other and to cooperate together. The government also managed to create between 150 and 350 schools and preparations for

18408-647: The provisional government of Belarus and was renamed the Council of the Belarusian People's Republic . On March 25, 1918, the All-Belarusian Congress proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic (Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, abbreviated as BNR). As the German army retreated, the Government of the BNR left Minsk in December 1918 for the Lithuanian Republic, and in the spring of 1919 went into exile. In its Third Constituent Charter,

18564-512: The rights and obligations of the USSR under the Charter of the United Nations, including the financial obligations, and assumed control over its nuclear stockpile and the armed forces; Soviet embassies abroad became Russian embassies. On 25 December – just hours after Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union – the Russian SFSR was renamed the Russian Federation (Russia), reflecting that it

18720-504: The same borders of the old Tsardom of Russia before the Great Northern War of 1700 to 1721. The RSFSR dominated the Soviet Union to a significant extent. For most of its existence, the Soviet Union was commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as "Russia". While the RSFSR itself was only one republic within the larger union, it was the largest, most powerful and most highly developed of the 15 republics. According to Matthew White it

18876-544: The similar latitude, such as Samara , Barnaul , or Edmonton , they are colder than in Western Europe (in cities like Bremen and Dublin ). Winters usually have little sunshine, with weather patterns changing from those influenced by the low-pressure systems generated by the Icelandic Low (when the weather is often cloudy, cool, damp, rainy and/or snowy) to the occasional intrusions of cold air masses from Siberia or

19032-531: The son of Jan Klemens Branicki, obtained city rights for Białystok from King John III Sobieski . He constructed the Branicki Palace on the foundations of the castle of the Wiesiołowski family. In the first half of the eighteenth century the ownership of the city was inherited by Field Crown Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki . It was he who transformed the palace built by his father into a magnificent residence of

19188-412: The surface of the moraine plateau, which are used by the rivers Biała, Horodnianka, and Czaplinianka. Forests are an important part of the city character, they currently occupy approximately 1,846 ha (4,560 acres) (18% of the administrative area of the city) which places it as the fifth most "wooded" city in Poland; behind Katowice (38%), Bydgoszcz (30%), Toruń (22.9%) and Gdańsk (17.6%). There are

19344-610: The surrender of the last German troops near the Volga River , ultimately pushing German forces out of Russia by 1944. In 1943, Karachay Autonomous Oblast was dissolved by Joseph Stalin (1878–1953), General Secretary of the Communist Party , later Premier, when the Karachays were exiled to Central Asia for their alleged collaboration with the invading Germans in the Great Patriotic War ( World War II , 1941–1945), and territory

19500-475: The surrounding Podlaskie region, roughly corresponding to the territory of the earlier Belostok Oblast. At the end of World War I the city became part of the newly independent Second Polish Republic , as the capital of the Białystok Voivodeship . Białystok and the surroundings areas regained independence only on February 19, 1919, three months after the rest of Poland, due to delay in the departure of

19656-483: The temporary brief internment of President Mikhail Gorbachev destabilised the Soviet Union. Following these events, Gorbachev lost all his remaining power, with Yeltsin superseding him as the pre-eminent figure in the country. On 8 December 1991, the heads of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed the Belovezha Accords . The agreement declared dissolution of the USSR by its original founding states (i.e., renunciation of

19812-492: The third meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets , the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR) was proclaimed. On 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, giving away much of the westernmost lands of the former Russian Empire to the German Empire , in exchange for peace on the Eastern Front of World War I. In July 1918, the fifth All-Russian Congress of Soviets adopted

19968-576: The ties with the other Soviet republics. On 25 December 1991, following the resignation of Gorbachev as President of the Soviet Union (and former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ), the Russian SFSR was renamed the Russian Federation . The next day, after the lowering of the Soviet flag from the top of the Senate building of the Moscow Kremlin and its replacement by

20124-674: The treaty on the creation of the Soviet Union , Russia (the RSFSR), alongside the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR, formed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . The final Soviet name for the constituent republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was adopted in the later Soviet Constitution of 1936 . By that time, Soviet Russia had gained roughly

20280-583: The vicinity of the Dojlidy Ponds are administered by the Białystok Central Sports and Recreation Center( Polish : Białostocki Ośrodek Sportu i Rekreacji – BOSiR). The Dojlidy Ponds recreation area includes a public beach, walking trails, birdwatching and fishing. The city has a warm-summer humid continental or hemiboreal climate ( Dfb ) according to the Köppen climate classification system under

20436-425: The villages of Bagnówka , area of Zakłady Silikatowe, areas of state forests, Dojlidy ponds and the orthodox cemetery at Dojlidy. At the onset of the millennium, in 2002, the village Zawady was included in the city's limits and at the last enlargement, in 2006, the villages Dojlidy Górne, Zagórki and Kolonia Halickie were incorporated and the city reached its current territory of 102 km . The city of Białystok

20592-407: The votes (42,889 votes altogether). In the later runoff he defeated his rival candidate Marek Kozlowski from Law and Justice ( Polish : Prawo i Sprawiedliwość ), receiving 67% of the votes cast (53,018 votes). For the 2010–2011 fiscal year the city received revenue (taxes levied + investments) of 1,409,565,525 zł, expended 1,676,459,102 zł leaving a budget deficit of 266,893,577 zł. The deficit

20748-403: The war, the city became capital of the initial Białystok Voivodeship of the People's Republic of Poland . After the 1975 administrative reform , the city was the capital of the now smaller Białystok Voivodeship . Since 1999 it has been the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship , Republic of Poland . Białystok is situated in the Białystok Uplands ( Polish : Wysoczyzna Białostocka ) of

20904-464: The warmer half of the year, particularly in spring. See or edit raw graph data . Białystok is roughly circular, centered around the Central market square and Branicki Palace . The decisive influence on the development of the city was exerted by natural and human factors - the course of roads, the Biała and its tributaries and the layout of railway lines. The choice of land for the construction of

21060-506: The west of the Center district along Suraska Street and ends at Młynowa Street. An important spatial arrangement in Białystok is the Branicki Palace complex. The Baroque layout of the palace complex is symmetrically shaped according to one compositional axis with a coherent garden layout. Throughout the years it expanded to include nearby villages: In the mid-eighteenth century Bojary which

21216-472: The west, Saint Petersburg in the north and Moscow in the east, and was nicknamed " Manchester of the North". After the failed November and January uprisings, Russification policies and anti-Polish repressions intensified, and after 1870 a ban on the use of Polish in public places was introduced. In 1912, a Tsarist prison was built, which also served as a transit prison for Poles deported to Siberia . At

21372-706: The whole Belarusian territory between the Bolshevik Red Army and the Polish Armed Forces as a result of the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. Currently, its government in exile, the Rada (Council) of the Belarusian Democratic Republic is the oldest still functioning government in exile . In some historical documents, the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic phrase was used initially. In

21528-537: The work of Job Bretfus . Extension of the castle was continued by Krzysztof Wiesiołowski , starost of Tykocin, Grand Marshal of Lithuania since 1635, and husband of Aleksandra Marianna Sobieska. In 1637 he died childless, and as a result, Białystok came under the management of his widow. After her death in 1645 the Wiesiołowski estate, including Białystok, passed to the Crown to cover the costs of maintaining Tykocin Castle . In

21684-668: The years 1645–1659 Białystok was managed by the starosts of Tykocin . In 1661 it was given to Stefan Czarniecki as a reward for his service in the victory over the Swedes during the Deluge . Four years later, it was given as a dowry of his daughter Aleksandra, who married Marshal of the Crown Court Jan Klemens Branicki, thus passing into the hands of the Branicki family . In 1692, Stefan Mikołaj Branicki  [ pl ] ,

21840-497: Was a member of the local Polish resistance and was arrested in the city by the NKVD in 1940. Initially the Soviets sentenced him to death, but eventually he was sentenced to 10 years in forced labor camps and deported to Kolyma , from where he was released in 1942, when he joined the Anders' Army . In the course of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Białystok was occupied by

21996-399: Was administratively part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship , after 1569 also part of the Lesser Poland Province of the Kingdom of Poland. From 1547, the settlement was owned by the Wiesiołowski family, which founded the first school. The first brick church and a castle were built between 1617 and 1826. The two-floor castle, designed on a rectangular plan in the Gothic - Renaissance style, was

22152-458: Was adopted in 1918. In 1922, the Russian SFSR signed a treaty officially creating the USSR. The Russian SFSR's 1978 constitution stated that "[a] Union Republic is a sovereign [...] state that has united [...] in the Union" and "each Union Republic shall retain the right freely to secede from the USSR". On 12 June 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty , established separation of powers (unlike in

22308-405: Was an open secret that the country's federal structure was "window dressing" for Russian dominance. On 25 December 1991, during the collapse of the Soviet Union , which concluded on the next day, the RSFSR's official name was changed to the Russian Federation , which it remains to this day. This name and "Russia" were specified as the official state names on 21 April 1992, in an amendment to

22464-460: Was arrested by the NKVD in October 1939 and probably also deported to the USSR, however his fate remains unknown. The NKVD took over the local prison. The Polish resistance movement was active in the city, which was the seat of one of the six main commands of the Union of Armed Struggle in occupied Poland (alongside Warsaw , Kraków , Poznań , Toruń and Lwów ). Białystok native and future President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski

22620-450: Was covered by short-term borrowing of 166,893,577 zł and the issuance of 100 million zł in municipal bonds . Other levels of governmental representation It is also the seat of government for the Podlaskie Voivodeship . The city is represented by several members of both houses of the Polish Parliament ( Sejm and Senat ) from the Białystok constituency . Białystok is represented by the Podlaskie and Warmian-Masurian constituency of

22776-428: Was in the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR . However, by this time the Soviet government had been rendered more or less impotent, and was in no position to object. On the same day, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and recalled all Russian deputies from the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. A number of lawyers believe that

22932-402: Was incorporated into the Georgian SSR . On 3 March 1944, on the orders of Stalin, the Chechen-Ingush ASSR was disbanded and its population forcibly deported upon the accusations of collaboration with the invaders and separatism . The territory of the ASSR was divided between other administrative units of Russian SFSR and the Georgian SSR. On 11 October 1944, the Tuvan People's Republic

23088-418: Was initiated by Stefan Mikołaj Branicki at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries. He established a new market ( Polish : Nowy Rynek ) (part of the western side of Kosciuszki Square with the town hall, located on the western side of Sienkiewicza Street ). The route leading towards Suraż was moved to a new location (today's Suraska Street) forming straight road section ending in the southern corner of

23244-427: Was joined with the Russian SFSR as the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast , becoming an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1961. After reconquering Estonia and Latvia in 1944, the Russian SFSR annexed their easternmost territories around Ivangorod and within the modern Pechorsky and Pytalovsky Districts in 1944–1945. At the end of World War II Soviet troops of the Red Army occupied southern Sakhalin Island and

23400-433: Was located on the right bank of the Biala River was incorporated to it. On May 10, 1919, in accordance with the decision of the Sejm, Bialostoczek , Horodniany , Zwierzyniec-Letnisko, Starosielce , Słoboda (which was founded at the end of the 17th century, between the current Pogodna and Świerkowa Streets), Ogrodniki, Pieczurki, Wysoki Stoczek were incorporated also, as well as two mill villages Marczuk and Antoniuk . By

23556-402: Was made of streets radiating out from the central market square . An inventory plan made by Becker in 1799 was needed by the Prussian authorities in connection with the negotiations on the acquisition of Białystok for a royal residence. The plan is of fundamental importance as it shows the development of the city in the first period of its creation. The area of the city did not exceed 1.5 km2, and

23712-437: Was not approved. During World War II , the Belarusian government-in-exile, based in Prague , refused to cooperate with Nazi Germany or with the Belarusian Central Rada , the pro-German puppet government and issued statements in support of the Western Allies . The advance of the Red Army in 1945 forced the BNR's Rada to relocate to the western part of Germany , occupied by British and American troops. In February 1948,

23868-400: Was not possible to secede from a country that no longer existed. On 24 December, Yeltsin informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations that by agreement of the member states of the CIS the Russian Federation would assume the membership of the Soviet Union in all UN organs (including the Soviet Union's permanent seat on the UN Security Council ). Russia took full responsibility for all

24024-437: Was now a sovereign state with Yeltsin assuming the Presidency . That same night, the Soviet flag was lowered and replaced with the tricolor . The Soviet Union officially ceased to exist the next day. The change was originally published on 6 January 1992 ( Rossiyskaya Gazeta ). According to law, during 1992, it was allowed to use the old name of the RSFSR for official business (forms, seals, and stamps). On 21 April 1992,

24180-420: Was reached in 1931. National power output continued to increase significantly. It reached 13.5 billion kWh by the end of the first five-year plan in 1932, 36 billion kWh by 1937, and 48 billion kWh by 1940. Paragraph 3 of Chapter 1 of the 1925 Constitution of the RSFSR stated the following: By the will of the peoples of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, who decided on

24336-404: Was restored and the textile industry was revived. A municipal public library was established, sports clubs were founded, including Jagiellonia Białystok , and in the 1930s a drama theater was built. With the beginning of World War II , Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union . Initially Białystok was briefly occupied by Germany, and the German Einsatzgruppe IV entered

#191808