Belarus and Belarusian Coins

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What is now Belarus was largely controlled by Poland-Lithuania until 1795, when it was conquered by Tsarist Russia. Polish influence had helped make the Belarusians culturally different to their Russian counterparts, and Catholicism was a strong influence in the country. In addition, the latin alphabet predominated over the Cyrillic one until the 19th Century, when a campaign for russification was initiated to make the Belarusians as Russian as possible.

20th Century
Russia lost World War One to the Central Powers before Russian’s former allies had a chance to beat their enemies. As a result, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk had specified that Belarus was to become an independent country known as the National Republic of Belarus, which was declared in March 1918. However, this republic did not last long, and was swallowed up by the Soviet Union, with the western half annexed by Poland following Poland’s victory in the Polish-Soviet War in 1921. Western Belarus was re-occupied by the Soviets in 1939 following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, but was overrun in 1941 when the Nazis invaded the USSR.

World War II
Belarus was devastated by the War, the Nazis destroyed most of its cities and such was the slaughter that the population of Belarus did not recover its pre-war levels until the 1970s. Upon ‘liberation’ by the Soviet Union in 1944, the Belarus Soviet Socialist Republic was reborn.

Independence
In 1990, as the Soviet Union Collapsed, Belarus declared independence as the Republic of Belarus. Whilst nominally a constitutional presidential republic, Belarus is effectively a dictatorship run by its president, Alexander Lukashenko, the last surviving dictatorship in Europe.

Belarusian Coins
No coins are issued for circulation in Belarus. However, commemorative 1 and 10 rouble coins are struck for commemorative and collectable issues. These commemorative issues often feature a coloured crystal embedded in them as a design feature. Bank notes however are issued for use.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Belarus please see our product index:-
Belarusian Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Belarus on our taxfreegold website:-
Belarusian Gold Coins