Editing Belarus (section)

===Kievan Rus'===
{{further|Kievan Rus'}}
[[File:001 Kievan Rus' Kyivan Rus' Ukraine map 1220 1240.jpg|thumb|upright|[[List of early East Slavic states|Principalities]] in Eastern Europe before the Mongol and Lithuanian invasions]]
In the 9th century, the territory of modern Belarus became part of [[Kievan Rus']], a vast East Slavic state ruled by the [[Rurikids]]. Upon the death of its ruler [[Yaroslav the Wise]] in 1054, the state split into independent principalities.<ref>{{cite book |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |title=The Origins of the Slavic Nations |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=0-521-86403-8 |pages=94–95}}</ref> The [[Battle on the Nemiga River]] in 1067 was one of the more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of [[Minsk]].

Many early principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major [[Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'|Mongol invasion]] in the 13th century, but the lands of modern-day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Charles Henry|title=The Conversion of Europe|url=https://archive.org/details/conversioneurop00robigoog|publisher=Longmans, Green|year=1917|pages=491–492|isbn=978-0-00-750296-7}}</ref> There are no sources of military seizure, but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of [[Principality of Polotsk|Polotsk]] and Lithuania for decades.<ref>{{cite book |author=NN |translator-last1=Michell |translator-first1=Robert |translator-last2=Forbes |translator-first2=Nevill |others=Introduction by C. Raymond Beazley. Text account by A.A. Shakhmatov |year=1914 |title=The chronicle of Novgorod, 1016–1471 |publisher=London, Offices of the society |page=41 |url=https://archive.org/details/chronicleofnovgo00michrich}}</ref>

Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political, and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ermalovich|first=Mikola|title=Pa sliadakh adnago mifa (Tracing one Myth)|publisher=Minsk: Navuka i tekhnika|year=1991|url=http://www.books-by-isbn.com/5-343/5343008763-Pa-sliadakh-adnaho-mifa-M-Ermalovich-5-343-00876-3.html|isbn=978-5-343-00876-0}}</ref> Of the principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the [[Belarusians]].<ref name="zaprudnik">{{Harvnb|Zaprudnik|1993|p=27}}</ref> During this time, the duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Poland]] against the [[Teutonic Knights]] at the [[Battle of Grunwald]] in 1410; the joint victory allowed the duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of [[Eastern Europe]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Lerski|first=George Jan|author2=[[Aleksander Gieysztor]]|title=Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]|year=1996|pages=181–82|isbn=0-313-26007-9}}</ref>

The [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovites]], led by [[Ivan III of Russia]], began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate the former lands of [[Kievan Rus']], including the territories of modern-day Belarus and [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Nowak |first=Andrzej |date=1 January 1997 |title=The Russo-Polish Historical Confrontation |url=http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/197/Nowak.html |access-date=22 December 2007 |work=Sarmatian Review&nbsp;XVII |publisher=[[Rice University]]}}</ref>