Conflict with the European Union after the elections
One of the first and most high-profile international scandals involving Belarus - after the 1996 referendum - occurred in 2001, when the next presidential election was held. Then Alexander Lukashenko showed an almost "elegant" result of 75.65% of the vote.
European observers suspected something was wrong and accused Belarusian officials of "falsifications, numerous violations and inconsistency with democratic standards." It was from that moment that Belarusian-European relations finally deteriorated, which led to political and economic sanctions against our country.
"Quarrel" with the United States
Until 2004, Belarusian-American relations developed quite calmly, although with varying degrees of success. However, Belarusian "problems with democracy" gradually accumulated, which resulted in the famous "Belarusian Democracy Act", which was adopted by the US Congress.
– We will fight to free Belarus from tyranny. The regime change of President Lukashenka is planned not by armed means, but with the help of international pressure, the senator said then John McCain.
Among other things, the adopted Act demanded that the Belarusian authorities release political prisoners, stop the persecution of opposition politicians and independent journalists.
"Showdown" because of the Union of Poles
Relations with Poland have long been among the priorities of Belarus - exactly until the moment when the Belarusian authorities in 2005 struck a blow at the public association "Union of Poles in Belarus".
The association, which was mainly engaged in the support of the Polish language and culture, was at the center of the scandal. The Belarusian Ministry of Justice then refused to recognize as the head of the organization Angelica Boris, elected by the delegates of the congress of the Union of Poles in Belarus, contrary to the recommendations from Minsk. As a result, with the support of Belarusian officials, an “alternative congress of Poles” in Belarus was held, which chose its leader, whom Warsaw, for obvious reasons, categorically refused to recognize.
The unwillingness of the two countries to compromise their principles led to a long cold war between Belarus and Poland.
Diplomatic conflict with Sweden
Following the expulsion of the American ambassador from the country in 2008, the Belarusian authorities a couple of years later decided to repeat this trick with diplomats from Sweden.
After the landing of the “plush landing”, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry issued a statement announcing that the staff of the Belarusian embassy in Sweden had been withdrawn from this country in full force. In turn, the Swedish side was invited to take similar measures and recall all their diplomats from Minsk.
Before that, the Ambassador of Sweden urgently left Minsk Stefan Ericsson, which the Belarusian authorities refused to renew accreditation, and also accused of "destructive activities".
Trade wars with Ukraine and beyond
As it recently became known, the Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade decided to introduce a special duty of 39.2% on a number of Belarusian goods from January 20, 2015, which will be a response to "unfriendly actions" on the part of Belarus.
In fact, this case illustrates well what has repeatedly happened in Belarusian-Ukrainian economic relations. For example, not earlier than in July, a similar dispute arose between Belarus and Ukraine, when Belarusian officials introduced licenses for the supply of certain types of Ukrainian products.
There were also difficult moments between the two countries in the political plane, for example, when Lukashenka did not come to the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and properly “walked” on the then Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.
- Unfortunately, the current leadership of Ukraine has enough lice. I'm not going to ask anyone. And I'm not going to be some kind of sing-along either, - the head of the Belarusian state said then.
Long-standing "friendship" with Russia
Surprisingly, Belarus is best able to quarrel with "brotherly Russia." Suffice it to recall regular gas, dairy and other food wars, as well as information wars with displays about the head of Belarus. Or a potash conflict with the arrest of a Russian. Even the position of Belarus on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict last year made our eastern neighbors seriously nervous.
Well, as they say at harsh Belarusian weddings, the main thing is that without stabbing.
"Shortly before my arrival, San Antonio was visited by a conservative senator,
known for his extremely advanced age and right-wing views.
In his speech, he made a marvelous Freudian slip, saying,
happy to be in the "city of the Alamo" where a handful of Americans fell in
unequal battle with three thousand Russians.
Russian teacher from memories of Texas
The Texas War of Independence was a clash between Mexican troops and settlers in part of the Mexican State of Texas. It lasted from October 2, 1835 to April 21, 1836, but sea clashes continued even into 1840.
Background of the conflict.
The Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) led to the loss of most of New Spain to the Spaniards, and Mexico was formed in these territories. On October 4, 1824, Mexico adopted a constitution declaring Mexico a federal state of 19 states and 4 territories. The former Spanish Texas became a new state with its capital in Saltillo, a city hundreds of miles from the former capital of San Antonio de Bejar.
The newly formed state had no funds. Meanwhile, the raids of the Indians forced, having no money for a regular army, to form self-defense units from the settlers. However, they were negligible - Texas was sparsely populated. To stimulate the influx of settlers, in 1821 Spain declared the vast, sparsely populated territory of Texas open to US settlers. Mexico, which gained independence the same year, continued this policy. Moreover, a campaign was carried out to attract settlers to Texas from Mexico itself.
In the first half of the 1820s, about 200 American families, led by Hayden Edwards, founded a colony near the town of Nacogdoches, in east Texas. Land disputes arose between American and Mexican settlers. The Mexican government sided with the Mexicans and demanded that Mexican territory be cleared. Then Edwards captured Nacogdoches on December 21, 1826, declared the independent republic of Fredonia, where the Mexican constitution of 1826 was in force. He managed to conclude an agreement with one of the Cherokee tribes. However, representatives sent from Mexico and the respected Sheriff Stephen Austin were able to convince the tribal leaders to annul the treaty. On January 31, 1827, 100 Mexican soldiers and 250 Austin Rangers set out at Nacogdoches to restore order. Edwards' army of 200 and some of his Cherokee Indians was routed. His supporters and he himself "made their feet" in the United States. The survivors were sentenced to death, but pardoned.
Stephen Austin
The uprising forced Mexican President Victorio Guadalupe to increase his military presence in the region, as a result of which attacks by the Indians subsided. The Comanche tribe made a treaty with the settlers. Fearing that using the instability, the United States will try to delay Texas, the Mexican government began to take measures to reduce the emigration of American settlers to Texas.
However, they already outnumbered the settlers from Mexico. To change the situation, President Anastasio Bustamante took a series of measures on April 6, 1830. Chief among these was the ban on emigration from the US to Texas, but the ban did not apply to other parts of Mexico. In addition, the law on property tax, which exempted emigrants from it for ten years, was repealed, and duties on goods from the United States were increased. Bustamante also demanded that the settlers enforce the ban on slavery and dueling. However, the settlers ignored his laws.
In Mexico itself, the political and economic situation was unstable, which contributed to the separatist mood of the Americans in Texas. The abolition of the liberal constitution of 1824, and most importantly, the abolition of slavery in Mexico in September 1829, became unacceptable living conditions for the American settlers, whose economy was agrarian. But they were not going to leave Texas either. Now everything depended on the position of Washington. It was enough for one word of the American president to break out a revolution, which was immediately supported by well-armed American volunteers.
By 1834, the number of English-speaking Texans reached 30,000. While there were 7,800 Hispanics. By 1834, the number of slaves was already almost 5,000.
Texans grew dissatisfied with the government. Many of the Mexican soldiers stationed in Texas were sent there to serve as punishment for crimes in their homeland. Many Texans were unhappy that the state capital, which alternately became Saltillo and Monclova, was in both cases too far south, near the Mexican borders; they wanted to create another state with their own capital. There were also religious contradictions - Mexico did not pass a law on freedom of religion, and tried to spread Catholicism. According to Mexican law, church tithes should also be paid.
Economic causes of the conflict.
Cotton was in great demand in Europe and was the most important source of US income. The lands of Texas met the requirements for growing cotton, but the most profitable way to cultivate cotton plantations was through slave labor.
The Mexican government attracted emigrants on the condition that they start producing food. The American settlers found this unprofitable and insisted on allowing slavery, ignoring their obligations. If they were forced to comply with the conditions, the Texas planters suffered serious losses. Although most English-speaking Texans did not own slaves, the few who did had control over the economy and politics, and were increasingly influential. So the current ban on slavery in Texas was essentially nominal.
Texans continued to lobby for the repeal of the 1830 laws. In April 1833 they called for a discussion of amendments to the emigration laws, the courts and other matters. In addition, the delegates demanded autonomy for Texas and sent Austin to Mexico City with this proposal. Many proposals were approved by the new president, Antonio López de Santa Anna, but rejected autonomy because it required a population of 80,000 and Texas had a population of 30,000. When Austin wrote a letter calling for Texas' unilateral secession from Mexico, he was arrested.
General Santa Anna has never been a scrupulous person. First he fought on the side of Spain against the Mexicans, then on the side of Mexico against the Spaniards. He swore allegiance to the Mexican emperor, and then organized an uprising against him. In 1833 he became "el presidente", the dictator of Mexico.
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
In 1834, Antonio López de Santa Anna, due to a crisis in the government, was forced to dissolve parliament. disarm the militia and repeal the Constitution of 1824. He closed the ports, began to collect land rents and took over the entire tax system and arrested many planters who refused to hand over the cotton crop intended for export.
Deployment
In early 1835, the Mexican government moved from a federal to a centralized model. Cautious Texans began to form mutual aid committees.
Their activities were coordinated by a central committee in San Felipe de Austin. Austin himself, released in July 1835, already took an active part in this in August. In June, the Texans staged a small revolution against the tariffs, and these Anahuac riots forced the president to send additional forces to Texas. In July, Colonel Condell led 200 soldiers to Fort La Baia. The following month, a detachment of soldiers with Colonel Domingo de Ugartea arrived in Béxar. Fearing that more serious measures would be needed, Santa Anna sent his son-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, to Texas, who landed at Copano on 20 September with 500 soldiers.
In accordance with Santa Anna's call for the civilian militia to disarm, Colonel Domingo Ugartea, stationed in San Antonio, demanded that the Texans return the cannon they had previously received from Mexico City. They refused. Ugartea sent Lieutenant Francisco Castaneda with 100 dragoons to take her away. When he arrived at the swollen Guadalupe River in the Gonzales area, there were only 18 Texans on the other side. Unable to cross, he encamped while the Texans hid the cannon and called for volunteers. This continued until reinforcements arrived for the Texans. On the morning of October 2, the Texans attacked. The Battle of Gonzales ended with the Mexicans retreating. The Mexicans lost two dead, the Texans had one wounded (accidentally fell off a horse). Over the following days, the Texans continued to concentrate in Gonzales.
Upon learning of the embarrassment, Kos hurried to Bexar. He set out with most of the force on October 5, but as he could not find carts, most of the supplies remained at La Bahia. Unaware of Kos' departure, on October 6 the Texans marched against the Mexican garrison at Fort La Bahia. They plotted to steal Kos and the $50,000 he was rumored to have. On October 10, the Texans attacked the fort, and it surrendered after a half-hour fight. One Texan was wounded and Mexican losses were 3 killed and several wounded. 20 soldiers fled; they alerted the Copano and Refugio garrisons of the Texans' advance. These garrisons left their posts and joined the forces of Fort Lipantitlán, near San Patricio.
The Texans seized $10,000 worth of food, blankets, clothing, and other supplies. Over the next three months, these supplies were distributed among the Texan units. Austin ordered a hundred men to station themselves at Goliad under Captain Philip Dimmit, and the rest to join the Texian army and advance on Bexar. Dimmit proposed attacking Fort Lipantitlán, arguing that taking it would protect the frontier and inspire the Mexican federalists. The Mexicans in this fort kept the locals from openly siding with the Federalists.
On October 31, Dimmit sent a detachment led by Ira Westwehr to capture the fort. On November 3, they suddenly appeared at the target and took the fort without firing a shot, and the next day razed it to the ground. Just as they were about to leave, a squad of Mexicans returned from a patrol. After a short fight, the Mexicans retreated. As a result, only the detachment of Kos in Bexar remained. Since the Texans controlled the coast, reinforcements could only come in bypassing through the interior of the territory. That deprived Kos of hope to quickly wait for reinforcements.
While Dimmit held the coast, Austin managed to organize from the Texans gathered in Gonzales. regular army. On October 13, he led his newly formed army to Bexar. A week later, they reached Salado Bay and began the siege of Bexar. Seeing that there was a gap between the Texan forces when they were stationed in Concepción, Kos sent 275 soldiers and two cannons with Ugartea to Concepcion. On October 28, a battle took place in which the Mexicans were defeated and fled, losing their guns, 14 killed and 39 wounded. It was the first real fight.
Meanwhile, in San Philipe de Austin, in November, a Provisional Government was created, which did not set as its goal the final separation from Mexico, but only opposition to the centralists. Henry Smith became governor and Sam Houston became commander in chief. Since there was still no regular army, Sam Houston began to create one. Those who joined the army were given land. The US was asked for a loan of $100,000. Hundreds of copies of military textbooks were also issued.
Sam Houston
On November 18, a group of volunteers from the United States joined the besiegers. They wore uniforms, had excellent guns and military discipline, standing out sharply among the Texans. Meanwhile, Austin left the post of Commander and went as plenipotentiary to the States, and Edward Burleson advanced to the post of commander. Meanwhile, winter had come, and the morale of the besiegers, forced to suffer from the cold, plummeted. The question arose of lifting the siege. At the military council. listening to the bickering, old Colonel Ben Millam yelled - "Who will go on the assault with me, an old man?" - and several hundred soldiers, including the entire detachment from the United States, agreed to go on the attack, which began on December 5th. For the next few days, the attackers made their way in two columns, from house to house, to the fortified plaza where the Mexicans settled .. On December 7, the colonel was killed. On December 9, Kos and most of his men withdrew to the Alamo mission, on the outskirts of Vejar. Kos offered to counterattack, but the officers refused. Approximately 175 cavalry rode south. On December 11, the Texans surrounded the Alamo and demanded that Kos surrender. Under the terms of the surrender, Kos and his men left Texas and refused to participate in the war. Many Texans believed that the war would end there. Burleson resigned. People dispersed to their homes, only 400 fighters remained. Soon, however, a new detachment of Texans and Americans arrived with heavy artillery. There were many plans to take the war to Mexican territory, but none came to fruition. Small expeditions ended in failures, and for a serious one there was not enough strength and unity of commanders.
The President of Mexico and the Mexican Congress have issued a formal warning to foreigners in or planning to land in Texas:
Foreigners landing on the coast of the Republic or invading its territory by land, armed, and with the intent of attacking our country, will be considered pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag.
All foreigners who shall import, by either sea or land, in the places occupied by the rebels, either arms or ammunition or any kind for their use, will be considered pirates and punished as such.
Caught pirates, as usual, were immediately subject to hanging. The resolution gave the Mexicans the right not to take prisoners. Santa Anna also informed about this in a letter from Andrew Jackson.
Invasion
In December 1835, 6,000 soldiers were mustered at Sal Luis Protos for the invasion of Texas. Some commanders suggested advancing along the bay, which would make it possible to replenish from the sea. Instead, Santa Anna ordered an attack on Bexar, the political and recruiting center. Santa Anna wanted to restore his reputation, tarnished by the shameful capitulation of his son-in-law. A long march would also give time for the drill of recruits.
We were moving slowly. There weren't enough mules, and civilian drivers left if their pay was delayed. The large number of female soldiers and children accompanying the army exacerbated the situation. The ration was depleted. Out of Saltillo's reach, the army stopped for two weeks - Santa Anna fell ill. Trained recruits. Many recruits had no idea what a scope was for and were afraid of the recoil of a shot. January 26 again set off. February 12 crossed the Rio Grande. The temperature has gone low. Some recruits from the tropical Yucatan died of hypothermia. Dysentery spread. As they advanced, the locals abandoned their homes and moved north. The Mexicans who strayed were waylaid and killed by the Comanches.
General José Urrea moved into Texas from Matamoros, keeping to the coast and preventing foreign ships from assisting the Texans and leaving the Mexican Navy to resupply the army. Having defeated several small detachments of Texans, Urrea headed for Goliad, where there were 450 Texan fighters led by Colonel Fanning. The latter divided his forces, sending 148 people to Refugio, but this detachment was also destroyed by Urrea's troops, and the survivors were taken prisoner.
Fanning was ordered to leave Golead and retreat to Victoria, but he delayed until 19 March. His force of 300 was intercepted on the open prairie near Coleto Creek. The Texans lined up in a square, and in three attacks the Mexicans could not break through it. During the night, Mexican snipers killed many Texans with their fire. Lacking enough water for the wounded and for cooling the guns, the Texans found themselves in a stalemate and surrendered on the morning of March 20.
342 prisoners captured by Urrea were shot by order of President Santa Anna on Palm Sunday.
Combat map
Alamo
Meanwhile, the Mexican army arrived at San Antonio de Bejar on February 23. The Texas garrison was decidedly unprepared for an attack and began to rapidly carry food and supplies to the Alamo. By nightfall, Bexar was occupied by 1,500 Mexicans. The Mexicans besieged the Alamo for the next 13 days.
Alamo can only be a stretch to call a fort - this is a Catholic mission, which by 1835 was already over 100 years old. Before the uprising, there was a small Mexican garrison here. The fortifications of the Alamo would rather protect from an Indian raid, but no more. The Alamo is protected by mud walls 800 meters long. Their height in some places reaches 180 cm, and in some places even 4 meters. The north side of the fort collapses and the defenders decide to fill the space between the wooden palisade with earth. The same picture at the southeast wall.
Assault on the Alamo
The main building of the Alamo is a dilapidated church. The thickness of its walls is 120 cm, but everything sank and dilapidated. An earthen ramp and nave give access to a platform on which artillery is mounted. Two rooms on both sides of the entrance to the church have a roof and are protected from the weather. There the rebels keep stocks of gunpowder. A little further into the church there are rooms where 14 women and children are accommodated.
The most combat-ready part of the Alamo garrison were Tennessee volunteers, led by Davy Crockett. It was they who covered the southeastern wall.
Davy Crockett was by that time a very famous person - his exploits during the company of Andrew Jackson in the war against the Creek Indians brought him fame, as well as various tales: Davy himself claimed that somehow he shot 47 bears in one month, that he eats an alligator at a time etc. Unable to get into the senators, Crockett swore allegiance to the Texas government and signed up as a volunteer for 6 months.
Jim Bui was born in Louisiana, where he made his fortune in the slave trade with pirate Jean Lafitte. In 1828 Bui moved to Bexar and married the daughter of a Texas lieutenant governor. He began to invest in mythical lost silver mines, but his wife soon died, the fortune melted, and he began to drink heavily. Three months before the start of the siege, Bui took part in the capture of the Alamo. However, his health left much to be desired and Bui would spend the last 11 of the 13 days of the siege in bed, dying of a fever.
William Travis was born and raised in South Carolina. Then he moved to Alabama, where he practiced law, taught at the school and published in the newspaper. In 1831, he unexpectedly left his wife and young son and left for Texas. There he organized a detachment of local police, and he himself became a captain. In January 1836, he arrived with his detachment for reinforcements at the Alamo. Soon, Travis will become a garrison commander and a colonel.
On the morning of February 24, a Mexican battery of two 8-pounders and one mortar opened fire on the fort. But the Mexican guns are weak - Santa Anna is waiting for the 12-pounders. As night falls, Travis sends a messenger to Gonzales, 70 miles away, to appeal to "the people of Texas and Americans all over the world":
“I am besieged by thousands of soldiers of Santa Anna, artillery shells me for days, but I have not lost a single person. I will never give up or retreat. And now I call on all Americans, for the sake of freedom, patriotism and everything most dear to Americans, to help and send troops. If this does not happen, I will die like a soldier, remembering my honor, duty and my country. Freedom or death!!!"
On the night of February 25, a few of the besieged sallyed out and set fire to the village of La, the only place where troops could be secretly concentrated for an attack, on a table-top prairie.
Time past midnight March 1, 1836. Each Alamo sentry carries 4-5 long-barreled rifles - one of them fired. The wounded man was one of 32 Texans who filtered through the Mexican patrols from Gonzales.
On March 2, 1836, in Washington-on-the-Brasos, the Texas House of Representatives, consisting of 59 delegates, declared the independence of Texas. David G. Burnet became Interim President of the Republic of Texas, Stephen Austin became US Commissioner for Strategic Assistance and Volunteer Recruitment. Sam Houston was appointed commander-in-chief, he was supposed to go on a campaign, but the speech was postponed because. Houston wanted to be present at the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, scheduled for March 6.
On March 4, his best battalions approached Santa Anna, now the general had almost 3 thousand people. Santa Anna decided to prepare for the assault without waiting for the heavy artillery to arrive.
On March 5, according to legend, Colonel Travis lined up a garrison in Alamo Square, then drew a line in front of the formation with his broadsword, called for rallying before the last battle and crossing the line. Those who wanted to could leave the fort. The only person who did this was Louis Rose, on whose stories the legend is based. At night, Travis sends out a final call for help, carried by Jim Allan, a Kentucky college student. So, the Alamo is surrounded by 6 Mexican batteries. The battery in the northeast is only 240 meters from the wall. At 3 am on March 6, General Santa Anna is among the troops. By 5 a.m., Mexican troops moved into position.
At 5.30 the assault began. 2 thousand soldiers went on the assault. The main blow falls on the weakly fortified North Wall. The defenders managed to repulse two attacks, in the confusion of the battle the Mexicans opened fire on each other, creating a real blockage of corpses at the North Wall, but Travis was soon killed, and the Mexicans regrouped and, climbing the palisade, broke into the Alamo Square. The buoys are killed right in bed, while trying to set fire to the powder warehouse, they will kill a certain Andrew Evans. By half past seven on the morning of March 6, it was all over. The Mexicans lost 600 killed and wounded, and many more would die later from lack of medical care. 7 defenders of the fort were taken prisoner, including Davy Crockett. Santa Anna ordered everyone to be shot. All the defenders of the Alamo were killed: either 183 or 189 people.
After Behar, Santa Anna divided the army, and sent three flying squads inland. General José de Urrea advanced east, Sata Anna and General Eaquin Ramirez y Sesma advanced in the center, and General Antonio Gaona advanced north on Nagaidoches, and then had to prevent the enemy from retreating to Louisiana.
Sam Houston immediately realized that his small army could not face Santa Anna in open battle. The Texans were especially afraid of the experienced Mexican cavalry. He had only one option - to retreat to the east. He ordered to advance to the US border. and many of the inhabitants also followed him. According to one of the possible scenarios, he was going to leave Texas and go to the territory of Louisiana - this is what one of the versions claims. On the way to Louisiana, a scorched earth policy was implemented. Soon the roads became impassable from the rains. And the cold and damp weakened both armies.
The army of Santa Anna was advancing on the heels of Houston. The city of Gonzalez was not defended and was set on fire. The same fate befell San Felipe de Austin. Desperation grew in the ranks of the Texans, and part of their hostility was directed at the commander. Small streams stood in the way of Santa Anna, which gave Houston the opportunity to rest and train soldiers. The retreat was preceded by crowds of refugees.
Gaona's army changed its original direction and, turning to the southeast, linked up with the forces of General Sesma at San Felipe, unaware that they had missed the Houston camp on the march. For two weeks the Texans remained undetected, training soldiers and recruiting volunteers. In early April, the Mexican army had no idea where Houston's main force was, while the Texans knew every move the Mexicans made. In the end, in Harrisburg, Santa Anna received information about the location of the Texans, but Houston learned about this from scouts and crossed the Brazos River and moved due east. However, here Santa Anna acted recklessly. He sought to take over the Texas Provisional Government, and with only his best troops, leaving most of the army behind, he hastened to San Jacinto. At the same time, Houston suddenly turned back to the southeast, towards Harrisburg. Houston is coming!
San Jacinto
Battle of San Jacinto
Houston learned of Santa Anna's unexpected maneuver. Santa Anna's column of 700 moved east of Harrisburg. Without Houston's approval, 900 Texans followed. Houston had no choice but to follow them. On April 20, the armies met on the San Jacinto River. They were separated by a slope covered with tall grass, which the Texans used for cover. Santa Anna happily seeing the Texan army at last, awaited reinforcements led by General Cos. To the great alarm of the Texans, the latter managed quickly and brought in another 540 soldiers, increasing Santa Anna's forces to over 1,400 soldiers. Embittered by Houston's indecisiveness and the lost chance, the Texan army decided to attack. On April 21, at 4:30 am, the Texans set fire to the bridge, which was the only way for both armies to get reinforcements or escape, and rushed to the front, covered with tall grass. Their appearance took the enemy by surprise. Driven back by an unexpected blow to their camp, in an 18-minute skirmish, the Mexicans were killed or captured. Losses amounted to 700 Mexicans killed and the same number captured. Santa Anna disappeared during the battle, taking off his presidential uniform. Unfortunately for Santa Anna, he wore silk underwear, and he was identified from it. He was taken to Houston, wounded in the leg. Santa Anna agreed to end the war.
On May 14, 1836, Santa Anna signed the Treaties of Velasca. The signatories were represented by Texas interim President David Burnet and Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna. The treaties marked the end of hostilities between the warring parties and offered the first steps towards official recognition of the independence of the fallen Republic of Texas. Open and secret treaties were signed. The treaties were not ratified by the Mexican government.
Although General Vicente Filisola began withdrawing troops on May 26, the government of President José Justo Corro in Mexico City decided on May 20 to withdraw from all commitments made by Santa Anna while he was in captivity. Mexico's position was that Santa Anna had no legal right to accept those terms; Santa Anna's position - or at least what he later claimed when he returned to Mexico - was that he signed the documents under duress as a prisoner of war, and not as a capitulating general under the laws of war. Indeed, under the Mexican constitution he did not have the authority to sign the treaty, and in any case the treaty was not ratified by the Mexican government.
Santa Anna was not released to Veracruz. He remained a prisoner of war (“shackled for 6 months”, he later said) in Velasco and later in Orizimbo before being sent to Washington, USA to meet with President Andrew Jackson (ostensibly to discuss a lasting peace between Mexico and Texas, in which the United States acted as an intermediary). Sailing on the American frigate Pioneer, a guest of the American fleet, Santa Anna did not return to Veracruz until February 23, 1837.
In the United States, military exercises will be held, the legend of which shocked the population of the country. According to it, the US military during the maneuvers will "fight" ... with the state of Texas, which in this case is the main enemy of the United States, according to the German edition "Deutsche wirtschafts nachrichten" (German economic news).
The US military will conduct large-scale exercises in various US states from July 15 to September 15, 2015. They will simulate combat operations in the environment of various states that are marked as “hostile”, “generous”, “unsafe with a tendency to hostility”, “unsafe with a tendency towards friendship. California has already deployed National Guard troops.
The state of Texas plays the role of the main enemy of the United States in the exercises. More than 1,200 American soldiers are participating in the exercises. This is the so-called. Green Berets, Navy SEALs, US Air Force, National Guard and others.
That is, in the legend of the exercises, the American military leaders departed from the traditional "color identification of the parties" ("green" versus "blue") or from the designation of some abstract "enemy state", appointing their own state as the "adversary", and even one in which the ratio to Washington and to the "feds" in general has always been ambiguous.
Some experts see this legend as the main idea of opposing separatism and "hybrid war" in Eastern Europe, such as Ukraine or the Baltic states, pointing out that the organizers of the maneuvers sought to simulate the complex administrative and ethnic division of several small states.
However, a significant part of US civil society sees what is happening a little differently. They believe that the federal authorities are preparing to suppress unrest in a possible civil war in their country, which may arise in the event of attempts by the US government to replace the federal model with a de facto unitary one, and to restrict a number of freedoms and rights, both Americans and states, as sovereign formations.
It should be noted that in Texas and a number of southern states that constituted the Confederation during the war years of the North and South, there is a very strong distrust of Washington, which, in their opinion, is building a fascist police state, encroaching on the constitutional structure of the country, founded by the Founding Fathers.
In addition, religious traditions are very strong in these regions, hostile to the liberal "innovations" introduced by Obama and his predecessors, such as homosexual "marriages" and the legalization of marijuana.
In these states, the positions of "civil militia" or minutemen, voluntary associations of armed citizens who consider it their duty to protect the American constitution, traditional values and Christianity, are very strong. And the news of the impending "war with Texas" disturbed them greatly.
You can also add that a number of "confederate" associations have great sympathy for the fighting Donbass, seeing in this some analogy with the Civil War in the United States (fortunately, the battle flag of Novorossia is very similar to the banner of the Confederation). Not so long ago, rallies and pickets were held in a number of southern states in support of Novorossiya and against Obama's policy in Ukraine.
In Texas itself, which entered the United States as an independent state, separatist sentiments have always been present. To this we can add that a significant part of the Spanish-speaking population dreams of creating "Atzlana" - the country of the Aztecs, which should include all the states that were taken by the United States from Mexico. In this sense, they consider their resettlement beyond the Rio Grande, into the territory of the invader, as the beginning of the reconquista.
It should be noted that dreams of "Atzlan" are becoming almost the "official" ideology of the developing alliance of Mexican drug cartels, nationalists and ultra-left associations. In the US, there is a fear that as Russia strengthens its position on the continent and its military bases appear, this trend may be used by Moscow, and a "hybrid war" will begin in their own South. It is clear that all these fears are based solely on the delusional fantasies of American strategists and analysts.
It should come as no surprise that the United States, under the leadership of a black liberal, is rapidly moving out into the era of Forrestal and McCarthy. The White House scares its own citizens with paranoia.
Until recently, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, begging Russia for all sorts of economic benefits, often stressed that the Belarusian army allegedly held back NATO divisions in the western direction, which were about to move on Moscow. In the Russian capital, the "father" was believed, and therefore generously endowed him with cheap energy and irrevocable loans (so that, God forbid, the tank division "Merkel - Dead Head" did not invade the Russian Federation).
However, after the start of a real confrontation between Russia and the West, it became clear that Alexander Grigoryevich was not in the mood to derail the NATO echelons. On the contrary, Belarus very defiantly opposed itself to Russia: the Ukrainian army, fighting against the Novorossiya militia, began to receive Belarusian diesel fuel and trucks; in the Russian Federation, through the territory of the Republic of Belarus, a stream of food prohibited for import to the Russian market from Western countries poured (in fact, this nullified the food embargo introduced by the Russian government); finally, the President of Belarus did not give his consent to the deployment of a Russian air base in Bobruisk.
Having inflicted a vile stab in the back on the “strategic ally”, suspicious Lukashenka apparently considered that Moscow would take revenge on him in full, and therefore, no matter how absurd it may sound, he began to prepare for war with Russia. “They scare us: tomorrow Putin will come and take over. I repeat once again: no matter where anyone comes from, we will fight for our country. And in response to some I say: if Putin comes here, then it is not known on which side the Russians will fight. And I know which one. Therefore, do not scare us with Putin and Russia!” - Lukashenko said on April 22, 2014, answering questions after his speech with the annual message to the Belarusian people and parliament. Subsequently, the Belarusian president returned to this topic more than once.
For example, on January 29, 2015, at a press conference for Belarusian and foreign media, the “father” said: “We have always been hospitable to any person, but we will force anyone to respect our sovereignty and independence, who thinks that there is no such country - Belarus, there was no and so on. It was not - but now it is, and this must be reckoned with. And we will not give our land to anyone. This is my task. No matter how difficult and difficult it is, I will solve it. I will complete my mission, no matter the cost. And behind my back are hundreds, thousands of such armed people.
Of course, the trend set by President Lukashenko was immediately picked up by all the cogs of the Belarusian power vertical. So, at the beginning of 2015, a portrait of the Polish rebel Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who fought against Russian troops under the command of Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, was posted on the website of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus in the “Our Heroes” section. In May 2015, in the conference hall of the main Belarusian newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya, a round table was held on the topic “Sovereignty in the context of national security”. On it, answering the question of opposition journalist Iosif Seredich about whether the Belarusian military has the opportunity to repel the “little green men” (meaning Russian troops), State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Mezhuev said: “The method of hybrid war has not left our eyes . I want to assure you that if, God forbid, these “little green men” ever appear here, they will immediately cease to exist.”
A few months before Mezhuev's statement, amendments to the law on martial law were adopted in Belarus, which unequivocally testify to the Belarusian leadership's paranoid fear of a repetition of the "Ukrainian scenario" in Belarus. From now on, the military threat that serves as the basis for the introduction of martial law is considered to be “the concentration of the armed forces of another state (other states) along the State border of the Republic of Belarus, indicating a real intention to use armed force against the independence, territorial integrity, sovereignty and constitutional order of the Republic of Belarus”, and "an attack, regardless of the declaration of war by another state" is recognized as "the sending by another state (other states) or on behalf of another state (other states) into the territory of the Republic of Belarus of armed bands (groups), irregular forces, mercenaries or units of regular troops using armed force against The Republic of Belarus".
The report of the pro-government Belarusian Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies “Belarus in the Context of Russia-NATO Confrontation: Threats and Challenges for Sovereignty, Independence and National Security” is also very indicative. Strategic Conclusions and Recommendations”, published in the summer of 2016. The essence of the report is expressed in this marvelous passage: “The extreme manifestation of Moscow’s pressure on Minsk was the deployment of Russian troops on the border with Belarus in a number potentially sufficient to implement measures of a “hybrid war” on Belarusian territory, similar in scale to those that were implemented in the east of Ukraine”.
You ask, how is Lukashenka's army of 50,000 going to fight against Russia, which has nuclear weapons and an army of 800,000, which has brilliantly shown itself in a number of recent armed conflicts? Well, let's start with the fact that Belarusian craftsmen have made such a formidable weapon, which, according to Lukashenka, is capable of "causing irreparable or unacceptable damage to an aggressor dreamer." We are talking about the Polonaise multiple launch rocket system, the name of which refers to the famous Oginsky Polonaise, written by one of the leaders of the anti-Russian uprising Tadeusz Kosciuszko - Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky (in the early 1990s, shtetl nationalists even suggested making Oginsky’s Polonaise an anthem Belarus). The first successful test of the Polonaise took place on June 16, 2016. As Lukashenka said, the new MLRS is a gift to the delegates of the fifth All-Belarusian People's Assembly and the whole country.
In addition to the anti-aircraft missile system named after the Polish dance, Commander-in-Chief Lukashenka has another trump card up his sleeve - useful idiots from among the radical nationalists who previously hated the "dictator" fiercely and were subjected to repression by the "regime". In February 2015, the nationalist resource "1863.com" published an anonymous article "Last Chance Before the War", which stated: "It is impossible not to notice that after a long evolution and under the influence of the conflict in Ukraine, Lukashenka is not just objectively interested in strengthening the national consciousness of the inhabitants countries, but is also taking certain - albeit not yet very bold and decorative - steps in this direction. And if he clearly knows and understands his goal - to keep and strengthen the state and his position in it, then many patriots and nationalists are either in a stupor from breaking their own stereotypes, or they act according to a pattern developed over 20 years: the regime cannot be good, but Lukashenka wants to keep power. Of course he does. Nobody will argue with this.
But the preservation of Lukashenka's power is possible only if the independent Belarusian state is preserved. He understands it. It is time for us, too, for those who care about this state, to understand. If this task is more important for us than disagreeing with the authorities, then we may get a historical chance to realize it. Once this fact is understood, several questions arise. The first of them is the most important. The authorities are already successfully maintaining their independence - albeit a flawed one in the eyes of a part of the population. Do they need helpers? Yes, they are needed. Lukashenka and Belarus need those who are ready to defend the state at a crucial moment not for money and material goods and not under duress. We need people who are ready to die for the independence of the country.”
A month and a half after the publication of this article, the former Belarusian “political prisoner”, a member of the Young Front organization, Eduard Lobov, said in an interview with Nasha Niva about the possibility of “uniting with Lukashenka against Putin” and readiness to “defend the independence of the motherland with arms in hand.” After that, Lobov went to Ukraine, in order, as he put it, "to help the fraternal people in the fight against a common enemy - the Muscovites."
At the end of November 2015, Young Front activists announced the creation of the Vayar military-patriotic club, where people with combat experience were invited as instructors. The leader of the Young Front members Dmitry Dashkevich formulated the goal of this club as follows: “Opposition to the fifth pro-Kremlin column in Belarus and the Russian aggression that this fifth column is preparing.” Judging by the pages of the Vayar club on social networks, its members regularly hold military-sports camps, and the state authorities of Belarus do not interfere with this in any way. At the same time, the participation of teenagers from Belarus in similar training camps in Russia causes an extremely negative reaction from the Belarusian media and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
President Lukashenko expressed his attitude to the military and sports activities of the nationalists in his speech at the All-Belarusian People's Assembly on June 22, 2016: captured. God forbid, something happens, we will give them the right to attack first.” That is, the "father" unambiguously made it clear to his "holy" lads that in which case they could, following the example of their Ukrainian brothers, create volunteer battalions to fight the "Muscovites".
It seems that the games of the Belarusian president in "war" have nothing to do with reality. Moscow does not and never has any aggressive plans for Belarus. On the contrary, Russia has been the main sponsor of the Belarusian “independence” for 25 years, in spite of everything. It is Russian taxpayers who pay for the existence of independent, but not self-sufficient Belarus in the west of historical Russia. At the same time, ordinary Belarusians suffer from Lukashenka's paranoia, whose material well-being is rapidly deteriorating against the backdrop of increasing costs for a mythical war with Russia. In addition, the flirtations of the “father” with small-town nationalists can only destabilize the Belarusian society, which is mostly pro-Russian.
Kirill Averyanov-Minsky
The most terrible wars in Belarus.
In Soviet times, propaganda called the Great Patriotic War "the most terrible war in the history of Belarusians." This is not true. The "most terrible" - in terms of human losses and demographic consequences - was the war of 1654-1667.
Although the truth about the war of 1654-1667 was hushed up in the USSR, some Belarusian historians even then tried to say at least a few words about it.
“For the Belarusians, this war turned out to be disastrous…. The war and the accompanying famine and epidemic carried away half of the population to the other world: out of 2.9 million people, by 1667, 1.4 million remained alive. Never before have the Belarusian lands suffered such a terrible loss in people. Huge damage suffered economy and culture. The most active part of the people died on the battlefields.
This is a quote from Konstantin Tarasov's article "The darkness of ignorance is the adversary", dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the birth of Simeon Polotsky and published in 1979 in the Neman magazine (No. 12, page 166).
And here is what the Belarusian historian Vladimir Orlov wrote about that war in the book “Invisible Belarus”:
“In 1654, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich unleashed another war for the “originally Russian lands.” Hiding behind the words about the protection of Orthodoxy from the yoke of the "damned Poles", Belarus was invaded by three huge armies with a total number of up to 100 thousand. The royal governors Trubetskoy, Sheremetyev and the Cossack ataman Zolotarenko occupied Vitebsk, Polotsk, Orsha, Krichev, Mstislavl, Gomel, Shklov and other cities. Those who refused to surrender and bravely defended themselves were destroyed by order of the king, and their population was killed or taken prisoner. The saddest fate awaited Mstislavl, where, as Russian historical documents testify, "more than ten thousand gentry, Lithuanians and other service people were beaten." Rechitsa, Zhlobin, Rogachev turned into ruins. Vilnia was occupied in 1655. All the guarantees given by Alexei Mikhailovich that he would preserve the rights and property of the Belarusian gentry and provide the Orthodox Belarusians (who had renounced the Union under the threat of death and converted to the Moscow faith. - Approx. Aut.) A quiet life (promises that , I must say, had a rather significant impact on the border lands with Russia), were forgotten. On the occupied lands, the tsarist warriors carried out outright robbery and violence.
In response, a mass partisan movement began, especially active in the Mstislav region (by the way, the world-famous Belarusian partisan tradition originates from that war) ... The people's liberation movement in the occupied Belarusian lands made it possible for the troops of the Commonwealth to move on to successful military operations. As a result of the Andrusovo truce of 1667, the Smolensk and Chernihiv provinces were ceded to the Russian state, but Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich had to return the entire north of Belarus.
Our country came out of that war, having suffered heavy losses. Belarus missed more than half of the inhabitants who died in battles, starved to death, and resettled in Russia. In absolute terms, it looked like this: out of 2 million 900 thousand, about 1 million 350 thousand survived, and in the east of Belarus not even a third of the population survived. Captured Belarusians were sold by Moscow archers in Astrakhan markets into Persian slavery for three rubles per capita.
As the researcher of those events Gennady Saganovich writes, the war of 1654-1667. like changing our land. Almost everything has changed: from living conditions to the national gene pool. Belarusians have almost lost their elite, citizens, entrepreneurs. It was as a result of this war in a foreign land, in Moscow and other Russian cities, that thousands and thousands of educated and skilled Belarusians, which were discussed above, ended up. And it was incredibly difficult for the peasant people to rise to national consolidation. Just in that economic, cultural, demographic catastrophe are the origins of many national complexes and troubles of today's Belarusians.
Soviet propaganda liked to illustrate "the monstrous losses of Belarus in the Great Patriotic War" by the fact that the pre-war population of the BSSR reached only 25 years later. But after the war of 1654-1667, the former population was restored after 122 years! This alone shows what kind of war really was the most terrible in the history of Belarus.
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