History Gomel

1 history

1.1 origin of name
1.2 gomel under kievan rus
1.3 gomel in great duchy of lithuania , polish-lithuanian commonwealth
1.4 gomel in russian empire
1.5 soviet period
1.6 world war ii
1.7 post-war period
1.8 chernobyl disaster
1.9 establishment of republic of belarus
1.10 population

1.10.1 jewish community

history
origin of name

there @ least 6 narratives of origin of city’s belarusian name. 1 of more plausible name derived name of stream homeyuk, flowed river sozh near foot of hill first settlement founded. names of other belarusian cities formed along these lines: example, name minsk derived river menka, polatsk river palata, , vitsebsk river vitsba. in historical sources 1142 16th century, city mentioned hom , homye, homiy, homey, or homyi. these forms tentatively explained derivatives of unattested *gomŭ of uncertain meaning. modern name city has been in use since 16th–17th centuries.

during soviet period, story city s name popular: raftsmen on river sozh supposedly warned each other danger of running sandy shallows shouting «ho! ho! mel!». more recent narrative, propagated modern researchers, name derived ancient belarusian greeting: «dats u homel», means «to pat on shoulder».

gomel under kievan rus

gomel s inner fortress in 12th century

gomel founded @ end of 1st millennium ad on lands of eastern slavic tribal union of radimichs. lays on banks of sozh river , homeyuk stream. sozh s high right bank, cut through canyons, provided natural fortification. time, gomel capital of gomel principality, before became part of principality of chernigov. gomel first mentioned in hypatian codex under year of 1142 being territory of princes of chernigov. time, gomel ruled prince of smolensk rostislav mstislavich before re-captured iziaslav iii davidovich, after death belonged sviatoslav olgovich , sviatoslav s son oleg. under oleg, gomel went principality of novhorod-siverskyi. next ruler igor svyatoslavich – hero of tale of igor s campaign . during period, town fortified point , centre of volost. in 12th–13th centuries city s area not less 40 ha, , had developed various crafts , connected trading routes cities of northern , southern rus . archeological data have shown city badly damaged during mongol-tatar assault in first half of 13th century.

gomel in great duchy of lithuania , polish-lithuanian commonwealth

gomel fortress in 16th century

in 1335, gomel region joined great duchy of lithuania algirdas. 1335 1406 under ownership of prince patricia narymuntovich , sons, 1406 1419 city ruled great duke s deputies, 1419 1435 belonged prince svitrigaila, 1446 1452 prince vasiliy yaroslavich, 1452 1483 mozhaysk prince ivan andreyevich, , 1483 1505 son semyon, transferred grand duchy of moscow.

during second muscovite-lithuanian war of 1500–1503 lithuania tried regain gomel , other lands transferred moscow, suffered defeat , lost one-third of territory. in 1535, lithuanian , polish forces under jerzy radziwiłł, jan tarnowski , andrzej niemirowicz re-captured city after surrender of moscow s deputy, d. shchepin-obolensky. in same year, great duke of lithuania sigismund kęstutaitis founded gomel starostwo. according peace agreement of 1537, gomel volost remained lithuanian possession. in 1535–1565 gomel centre of starostwo, , 1565 onwards gomel in rechytsa powiat of minsk voivodeship.

coat of arms of gomel, 1560

in 1560, city s first coat of arms introduced. in 1569, gomel became part of polish-lithuanian commonwealth. moment on, city became arena of numerous attacks , battles between cossaks, russia , polish-lithuania commonwealth. in 1572, gomel starostwo given b. sapega. @ beginning of 1570s, gomel captured forces of ivan terrible, in 1576 re-captured j. radziwiłł. in 1581, gomel again attacked russian troops, , in 1595–1596 in hands of severyn nalyvaiko s cossaks.

after beginning of struggle against orthodox christianity in lithuania, orthodox nikolayevskiy cathedral closed on order of greek catholic eparch josaphat kuntsevych in 1621. in 1633 city besieged cossaks of bulgakov , yermolin, in 1648 captured golovatskiy s cossack detachment, , in 1649 martyn nebaba s detachment. after that, gomel got through several sieges in 1651 in 1654 captured ivan zolotarenko s detachment. , sons held city until 1667 , began serve under alexis of russia, however, after truce of andrusovo gomel @ last returned polish-lithuanian commonwealth, first belonged m. k. radziwiłł , – till annexation russian empire – czartoryski family. during great northern war russian forces under aleksandr danilovich menshikov stood in gomel. in 1670, gomel got magdeburg rights. towards middle of 17th century, city fell crisis due struggles mentioned above. suffered significant damage, population decreased severely, , many crafts disappeared.

gomel in russian empire

the period when gomel part of russian empire marked rapid growth of population, urban infrastructure, , industrial capacity.

map of gomel in 1799

gomel became part of russian empire after first partition of polish-lithuanian commonwealth in 1772 , confiscated imperial treasury. in 1775, empress catherine ii gave gomel , gomel eldership in eternal hereditary possession of russian military commander pyotr rumyantsev.

the peter , paul cathedral, designed architect john clark, built in 1809–1819. nikolay rumyantsev opened first high school, hotel courtyard, glass, tile, distilleries, weaving , spinning factories, , built church, synagogue, pharmacy, hospice , permanent wooden bridge across sozh river.

after death of nikolay rumyantsev, city came in possession of brother sergei petrovich rumyantsev. however, due lack of money, sergei indebted gomel state treasury of russian empire. subsequently, after not being able pay off debt, treasury sold city. gomel palace acquired prince ivan paskevich, , rest of city nicholas (1838). paskevich had english garden made around palace, still in place today. in 1856, estate passed on son fyodor ivanovich paskevich.

by 1913, gomel major industrial city , counted 104.500 inhabitants.

soviet period

on 14 january 1919, gomel occupied red army, leading major revolt. insurgents took control of strategic objects , executed members of soviet leadership of city. rebels defeated.

in 1919, gomel became centre of gomel governorate in russian soviet federative socialist republic. after end of hostilities, restoration of industry , transport began. in 1920s, number of large businesses had been created: shipyards, factory named polespechat , shoe factory named trud , bakery, , first phase of municipal power plant.

by 1940, 264 industrial enterprises had been established

world war ii

during world war ii, gomel under nazi occupation august 19, 1941 until november 26, 1943. city liberated rokossovsky s belorussian front during gomel-rechitsa offensive. eighty percent of city destroyed. population of gomel had dropped dramatically. according data of registry, population of gomel numbered less 15,000 of inhabitants, compared 144,000 inhabitants in 1940.

the post-war period

after war, restoration of gomel began promptly. majority of pre-revolutionary buildings lost. city streets considerably expanded, , buildings in stalinist empire style erected. in 1950, of pre-war enterprises resumed work.

chernobyl disaster

as result of catastrophe @ chernobyl nuclear power plant on 26 april 1986, gomel suffered radioactive contamination. worsened both ecological situation , socio-economic crisis had struck ussr in late 1980s. caused sharp decline in living standards , gradual depopulation lasted until 21st century.

at beginning of 21st century, scientific centre , practice radiation medicine , human ecology built in gomel overcome , study consequences of catastrophe @ chernobyl. [1]

the development of radiological dose values varies between individual villages in severely contaminated regions, depending on surroundings , economic orientation. in general, life possible in these areas today, in parts of formerly closed-off zones, if appropriate behavioural rules observed.

establishment of republic of belarus

on 27 july 1990, declaration of state sovereignty of belarusian soviet socialist republic drafted. gomel became city in independent state of republic of belarus.

in first half of 1990s, gomel, whole of belarus, struck acute socio-economic crisis: living standards fell sharply, death rate exceeded birth rate, volume of industrial production fell sharply, , crime rate increased. 1996 onwards situation in country , in gomel began stabilize , improve gradually.

population

in 2013, city s population numbered 515,325, indicating positive population growth , hence reversal of demographic crisis began in 1993.

jewish community

after annexation of gomel russian empire , creation of pale of settlement, gomel gradually became centre of resettlement jewish population of russia. according 1897 census, 55% of population of gomel jews. in 1903, there violent pogrom against jewish population of city. moment on, gradual decrease of number of jews in city began. 40,880 jews lived in gomel in 1939, when comprised 29.4 percent of total population. jews had left city in anticipation of german occupation, still between 3,000-4,000 gomel jews fell victim holocaust. end of 1980s , beginning of 1990s saw mass emigration of jews gomel, @ same time restoration of jewish institutions in city remaining jewish inhabitants.