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Maladzechna (Template:Lang-be, also Maładečna (in Lacinka), Template:Lang-ru, Template:Lang-pl), is a city in the Minsk Voblast (province) in central Belarus, an administrative center of the Maladzechna Raion (disctict) (and formerly of the Maladzechna Voblast). It has 98,514 inhabitants (2006 estimate). It is located 72 km northwest of Minsk, at 54°19′N 26°51′E / 54.317°N 26.850°E / 54.317; 26.850. Located on the Usza River, it has been a settlement since 1388 when it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

History

The fortification on the right bank of the Usza was first mentioned in 1388, although it is probable it was erected even before that date. Rectangular earthworks with stone walls 3,5 metres high and 11 metres wide formed the basis of the future castles and military camps formed on that location. The town itself was first mentioned the following year in a document issued by Dymitr Korybut, Prince of Severian Novgorod, who on December 16 assured his tributary fidelity to his cousin, King Wladyslaw II Jagiello and Jadwiga of Poland.

In 1501 the place was donated by King Sigismund I of Poland to certain Michael of Mstislav, on the condition that the latter provided a safe river passage for the nobles and hunters dwelling in the area. The privilege was further confirmed on July 12, 1511

After Michael's heirless death, the locality passed through different hands until finally in 1567 it was acquired by Prince Nastasi Zbaraski, the voivod of Troki. In 1568, that is the following year, a battle took place in the vicinity of the castle, in which the 40,000 men strong army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth defeated the Russian forces. In 1617 it was bought by Lew Sapieha, the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania. Around that time the village had 1000 inhabitants. On August 20, 1631 Sapieha sold it to Stanisław Siemiott, the chamberlain of Samogitia, who then divided the villages surrounding Maladzechna among his sons. Following a testament conflict between the descendantd of Siemiott and Aleksander Gosiewski, the Voivod of Smolensk, the town remained a property of the Gosiewski family. During their ownership of Maladzechna the fortifications were extended and strengthened significantly by addition of several bastions. Around that time Maladzechna started to be referred to as a town, eventhough it was officially a village and was not granted with a city charter. Nevertheless, it served as a centre of trade and commerce for the surrounding villages and also gained significant profits from transit between Lithuania and Poland. In 1708 the castle was one of the headquarters of the Swedish Army of King Charles XII of Sweden, which led to its partial devastation in the effect of a battle between the Swedes and the Russian forces.

On September 18, 1711 Bishop Bogusław Gosiewski, sold the town to the mighty Ogiński family. Among the owners of the area were Kazimierz Ogiński and Tadeusz Ogiński, the Castellan of Troki. The Ogiński family became the main benefactors of the area, as they made it one of the main centres of their domain. They erected a new, classicist palace with notable frescoes, as well as a late renaissance church. It was also them to ask the king Augustus II of Poland to grant the town with a city charter. Although it was not granted, in 1730 the monarch granted the town with the privilege of organization of two fairs a year and 2 markets every week. In mid-18th century the Ogiński's also founded a monastery of the Trinitaries there.

Following the Partitions of Poland, the was passed to the Imperial Russia and the palace was abandoned soon afterwards. The castle was also neglected. During the final stages of Napoleon's invasion of Russia it was there that the Grande Armee made its last stand in former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In early November of 1812 Napoleon Bonaparte gave his last orders to his marshals there, after which he left for Wilno. On November 21 of that year the Russian-Polish general Yefim Chaplits arrived at the French camp there and defeated the already-routed French forces led by Marshal Victor. In the effect of the town suffered badly, while the monastery and the castle had to be demolished. The town declined economically and its population in the mid 19th-century did not exceed 500.

It was not until the later part of the century that the town started to gradually recover. In 1864 a Russian-language school was opened there and in 1871 an Orthodox church of Intercession of Our Most Holy Lady was built at the main town square. In 1873 it was linked to the world by the Minsk-Vilna railway, which sparked a period of economic recovery of the entire region. In early 20th century an additional rail line was opened, linking Sankt Petersburg and Polotsk with Lida and Siedlce. This made the town a major railway junction and attracted many new settlers, in large part Jewish. By the outbreak of the Great War the town had already over 2,000 inhabitants.

During the war, the town was the headquarters of the Russian 10th Army of the Western Front. Between February and December of 1918 it was under German occupation, but the Germans were expelled by the Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War. On July 4, 1919 the town was taken by the Polish Army units led by Gen. Stanisław Szeptycki, during their advance towards Minsk. However, the town was again briefly captured by the Russian forces in the course of the Soviet-Polish War. Following the Riga Peace Treaty it was granted to Poland, but the border between Poland and the Soviet Union was only 30 kilometres to the east, which cut Mołodeczno, as the town was known in Polish, from much of its natural economical background. To counter the threat of economic decline, on April 26, 1929 the town was granted with city rights and became a capital of a separate powiat within the Wilno Voivodship.

In the effect of the 1939 Nazi attack on Poland to which Soviets soon joined in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the town and the area were annexed to the Soviet Union where they became part of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic. The NKVD set up one of its labour camps there in a local teachers' school. After the German invasion of USSR the camp was set free, but at the same time the new German authorities sent most of the local Jewish inhabitants to the German concentration camps throughout the occupied Europe. In addition, the German Wehrmacht has set up the infamous Stalag 342 for the Soviet prisoners of war there, in which at least 30,000 people were killed. On June 5, 1944 the town was liberated by the Red Army. Following the World War II it was a part of the Byelorussian SSR. Since 1991 it belongs to the Republic of Belarus.

Sights

Near Maladzechna there is a VLF-transmitter for transmitting time signals.

Notes and references

In-line:

1. ^ Template:Pl icon Piotr Bielerzewski (2004). "Mołodeczno". Rzeczpospolita Wirtualna. Retrieved 2006-05-16.
2. Template:En icon Template:Pl icon Filip Sulimierski, Bronisław Chlebowski, Władysław Walewski, ed. (1885). Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich. Vol. VI. Warsaw: Wł. Walewski. p. 960. Retrieved 2006-05-16. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

General:

External links

• Photos on Globus Belarusi
• Photos on Radzima.org
• Template:Ru icon Official website

54°19′15″N 26°51′26″E / 54.32083°N 26.85722°E / 54.32083; 26.85722

• Towns in Belarus