The people of belarus

_{Have you ever thought what kind of person a Belarusian is? What kind of people are they? As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to give an answer to this question, for it is one that can hardly be answered at all.}

_{There is a certain something about his appearance - very elusive though. It lies in the shape of his nose, ears, eye sockets and the set of the eyes themselves, his manner of moving about, gesticulating, speaking and many other things.}

_{The general appearance is gentle, and the constitution may seem at first glance, a little delicate, but this is deceptive. The show of outward strength that might impress you for a moment and soon vanish is substituted here by endurance, wiriness, and staying power. Where another person might give up, the Belarusian will stick it out. Otherwise in ancient times they would not have survived in the midst of these thick forests and boundless swamps, on this unprolific land. This hardening has become a permanent part of their character. Not for nothing were Belarusians, even in old times, considered indispensable for such hard tasks as earth clearing and timber-drifting. Later also it was turned to good account, for instance in unbearably difficult war situations, and in partisan warfare.}

_{At the same time these people were, as always, instinctively conscious to the highest degree of the right and the wrong. Its main characteristics was a love of freedom.}

_{Belarusians are noted for their generosity, and their unfailing willingness to come to your aid when you are in trouble.}

_{Formerly, in time of famine, people from more prolific places used to come to Belarusians for help.}

_{True, many ancient customs of hospitality are slowly going out of use. A city dweller is often not acquainted with the person living next door. However, even today you would hardly find a home where they would hesitate to give a guest an open-handed welcome.}

_{Generally speaking, Belarusians are characterized by an innate respect for other peoples, and tolerance towards those who hold a different opinion. Naturally, there are deplorable exceptions but these are just exceptions, and nothing else.}

_{A practical-minded man in real life, a Belarusian is a great fantasy-weaver, romanticist and dreamer in his ambitions.}

_{This is why the Belarusian tales recorded by folk-lore collectors could not possibly be squeezed into even a hundred volumes. Such tales, by the way, are unparalleled by similar subjects in the folk-lore of the neighbouring peoples.}

Modern problem

Since these revolutions, the principal problem with respect to national liberty has arisen in connection with the struggles of small states and colonial areas to be free from foreign political or economic control and to achieve full sovereignty. Closely related to this problem has been that arising from the efforts of national or racial minorities, such as the French residents of Quebec, Canada, to win political and cultural autonomy within a country.

With respect to individual liberty in the modern era, the problem has been one of preserving and extending civil rights, such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press. As nations grew in size and social complexity, governments claimed greater powers to restrain individuals and groups, extending these powers over wider spheres. Those who criticize this development believe that it has gone so far as to threaten the very existence of individual liberty. Others believe that only if government is granted such powers can the complex problems of an increasingly automated, mobile, and populous world be solved. Most important, governments must be more concerned with individuals and groups that are actively demanding full exercise of the rights that constitute liberty in the 20^th century.

A challenge to traditional concepts of liberty was offered by the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Soviet state that resulted held, in accordance with Marxist theory on which it was based, that all previous codes of liberty were ideologies of the ruling classes or of classes aspiring to power, and did not benefit the vast majority of the population. True liberty was possible only by the elimination of class exploitation. The success of the revolution raised hopes for a new era of human freedom. But the subsequent evolution of a terrorist dictatorship under Joseph Stalin led many people to assume that socialism, which is based on collective ownership of the means of production, leads inevitably to dictatorship.

Other menaces to liberty arose in the first half of the 20^th century in the form of the totalitarian governments of Italy, Germany, and Spain. In these countries civil liberties were destroyed, the rights of the individual were completely subordinated to the requirements of the government, and those who did not agree with these policies were terrorized into submission. Freedom was restored in Italy and to West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany) at the end of World War II, and to Spain in 1975, after the death of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco.