Editing Minsk (section)

=== 20th century ===
[[File:minsk 1912.jpg|thumb|The [[Jesuit College in Minsk|Jesuit Collegium]] in 1912]]
[[File:Miensk,_BNR._Менск,_БНР_(1918).jpg|left|thumb|[[White-red-white flag|Belarusian national flag]] over the building of the People's Secretariat of the Belarusian People's Republic]]
[[File:Kurapaty 1989 meeting.jpg|thumb|Meeting in the [[Kurapaty]] woods, 1989, where between 1937 and 1941 from 30,000 to 250,000 Belarusian [[intelligentsia]] members were murdered by the [[NKVD]] during the [[Great Purge]]]]

In the early years of the 20th century, Minsk was a major centre for the worker's movement in Belarus. The [[1st Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]], the forerunner to the [[Bolshevik]]s and eventually the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]], was held there in 1898. It was also one of the major centres of the [[Belarusian national revival]], alongside [[Vilnius]]. However, the [[First World War]] significantly affected the development of Minsk. By 1915, Minsk was a battlefront city. Some factories were closed down, and residents began evacuating to the east. Minsk became the headquarters of [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|the Western Front]] of the Russian army and also housed military hospitals and [[military logistics|military supply]] bases.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}}

The [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]] had an immediate effect in Minsk. A Workers' Soviet was established in Minsk in October 1917, drawing much of its support from disaffected soldiers and workers. After the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], [[Belarusian-Polish administration of Minsk|German forces occupied Minsk]] on 21 February 1918.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 October 2013 |title=History |work=Belarusian Tour operator |url=http://www.belintourist.com/eng/learn_about_belarus/region/minsk/ |url-status=dead |access-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103093706/http://www.belintourist.com/eng/learn_about_belarus/region/minsk/ |archive-date=3 November 2013}}</ref> On 25 March 1918, Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the [[Belarusian People's Republic]]. The republic was short-lived; in December 1918, Minsk was taken over by the [[Red Army]]. In January 1919 Minsk was proclaimed the capital of the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]], though later in 1919 (see [[Operation Minsk]]) and again in 1920, the city was controlled by the [[Second Polish Republic]] during the course of the [[Polish–Soviet War|Polish-Bolshevik War]] between 8 August 1919 and 11 July 1920 and again between 14 October 1920 and 19 March 1921. Under the terms of the [[Peace of Riga]], Minsk was handed back to the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] and became the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, one of the founding republics of the [[Soviet Union|Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]].{{citation needed|date=December 2011}}

A programme of reconstruction and development was begun in 1922. By 1924, there were 29 factories in operation; schools, museums, theatres and libraries were also established. Throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, Minsk saw rapid development with dozens of new factories being built and new schools, colleges, higher education establishments, hospitals, theatres and cinemas being opened. During this period, Minsk was also a centre for the development of Belarusian language and culture.<ref>{{cite web
 |language     = ru
 |url          = https://minsk.gov.by/ru/freepage/minsk/history/history_2.shtml
 |title        = End of XVIII - 1941
 |publisher    = Official Site of Minsk Government
 |accessdate   = 2021-12-09
 |archive-date = 9 December 2021
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20211209195445/https://minsk.gov.by/ru/freepage/minsk/history/history_2.shtml
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>
[[File:RIAN archive 137811 Children during air raid.jpg|thumb|left|Children during the German bombing of Minsk on 24 June 1941]]

Before the [[Second World War]], Minsk had a population of 300,000 people. The Germans captured Minsk in the [[Battle of Białystok–Minsk]], as part of [[Operation Barbarossa]]; [[Bombing of Minsk in World War II|after it had been devastated]] by the [[Luftwaffe]]. However, some factories, museums, and tens of thousands of civilians had been evacuated to the east. The Germans designated Minsk the administrative centre of ''[[Generalbezirk Weissruthenien|Generalbezirk Weißruthenien]]''. Communists and sympathisers were killed or imprisoned, both locally and after being transported to Germany. Homes were requisitioned to house invading German forces. Thousands starved as food was seized by the German Army and paid work was scarce. Minsk was the site of one of the largest Nazi-run [[ghetto]]s in the Second World War, temporarily housing over 100,000 Jews (see [[Minsk Ghetto]]). Some anti-Soviet residents of Minsk, who hoped that Belarus could regain independence, did support the Germans, especially at the beginning of the occupation, but by 1942, Minsk had become a major centre of the [[Soviet partisans|Soviet partisan]] [[resistance movement]] against the invasion, in what is known in some post-Soviet states as the ''[[Eastern Front (World War II)|Great Patriotic War]]''. For this role, Minsk was awarded the title ''[[Hero City (Soviet Union)|Hero City]]'' in 1974.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.inyourpocket.com/minsk/Hero-City_136881v |title=Hero City &#124; Sightseeing &#124; Minsk |publisher=Inyourpocket.com |date= |accessdate=2022-02-26 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004024152/https://www.inyourpocket.com/minsk/Hero-City_136881v |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-137-1010-37A, Minsk, deutsche Truppen vor modernen Gebäuden.jpg|left|thumb|upright|German troops marching through Minsk]]

Minsk was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944 in [[Minsk Offensive]] as part of [[Operation Bagration]]. The city was the centre of German resistance to the Soviet advance and saw heavy fighting during the first half of 1944. Factories, municipal buildings, [[power station]]s, bridges, most roads, and 80% of the houses were reduced to rubble. In 1944, Minsk's population was reduced to a mere 50,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.roughguides.com/articles/minsk-belarus/ |title=Explore Minsk: the Belarusian capital |publisher=Rough Guides |date=2021-06-18 |accessdate=2022-02-26 |archive-date=5 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705193500/https://www.roughguides.com/articles/minsk-belarus/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Gates of Minsk (2016).jpg|thumb|Railway Station Square, an example of Stalinist Minsk architecture]]
[[File:Nacyjanalny akademičny teatar imia Janki Kupały.JPG|thumb|[[Janka Kupala National Theatre]]]]
The historical centre was replaced in the 1940s and 1950s by [[Stalinist architecture]], which favoured grand buildings, broad avenues and wide squares. Subsequently, the city grew rapidly as a result of massive industrialisation. Since the 1960s Minsk's population has also grown apace, reaching 1&nbsp;million in 1972 and 1.5&nbsp;million in 1986.
Construction of [[Minsk Metro]] began on 16 June 1977, and the system was opened to the public on 30 June 1984, becoming the ninth metro system in the Soviet Union.
The rapid population growth was primarily driven by mass migration of young, unskilled workers from rural areas of Belarus, as well as by migration of [[skilled worker]]s from other parts of the [[Soviet Union]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marples |first=David R. |date=1 November 2016 |title=The "Minsk Phenomenon:" demographic development in the Republic of Belarus |journal=Nationalities Papers |volume=44 |issue=6 |pages=919–931 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2016.1218451 |s2cid=131971740 |issn=0090-5992}}</ref> To house the expanding population, Minsk spread beyond its historical boundaries. Its surrounding villages were absorbed and rebuilt as ''mikroraions'', districts of high-density apartment housing.<ref>{{cite web
 |language     = ru
 |url          = https://minsk.gov.by/ru/freepage/minsk/history/history_4.shtml
 |title        = 1945-1991
 |publisher    = Official Site of Minsk Government
 |accessdate   = 2021-12-09
 |archive-date = 9 December 2021
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20211209151700/https://minsk.gov.by/ru/freepage/minsk/history/history_4.shtml
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>