Information AboutSlonim |
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Slonim ( in the Hrodna Voblast and Slonim Rayon , located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa River s, 143 km southeast of Hrodna . The population in 1995 wss 53,100. GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE HISTORY Early history The earliest record is of a wooden fort on the left bank of the Shchara river in the 11th century, although there may have been earlier settlement. Lithuanian and Polish rule The Slonim area was disputed between the Lithuania ns and the Kievan Rus' amd it changed hands several times. In 1040, the Kievans won control of the area after a battle but lost Slonim to the Lithuanians in 1103. The Russians retook the area early in the 13th century but were expelled by a Tartar invasion in 1241 and the town was pillaged. When, later in the year, the Tartars withdrew, Slonim became Lithuanian again. In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united and Slonim became an important regional centre within greater Poland. From 1631 to 1685 the city flourished as the seat of the Lithuanian Diet . Russian rule Poland was dismembered in 1569 and divided between its neighbours, Germany , Austria and Russia . Slonim was in the Russian portion. The wars had damaged Slonim, but in the 18th century, a local landowner, Graf Oginski, encouraged the recovery of the area]; a canal was dug to connect the Shchara with the {Link without Title} . 20th century Russian control lasted until 1915, when the German army captured the town. After the war, the Slonim area was disputed between the Red Army and the new state of Poland. The town suffered badly, but in 1920 the Poles established possession. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union resulted, in 1939, in the invasion of Poland by the two powers and its division between them. Slonim was in the Soviet part, within the Byelorussian SSR . |
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