🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992May5.132944.20236@timessqr.gc.cuny.edu> dlv@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu writes:
>In article <1992Apr26.225050.3546@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, abrodnik@watdragon.waterloo.edu (Andrej Brodnik (Andy)) writes:
>>In article <1992Apr26.010634.2687@timessqr.gc.cuny.edu> dlv@cunyvms1.gc.cuny.edu writes:
>1. Bel- / Bil- / Byal- / B{\yat')l- ... does mean 'White' in many Slavic
>languages. I'm impressed with your knowdlege of 'most' of them :).

It does mean white... but the white is used for quite a different reason
than you would suspect. The place we now call Belarus, was white Ruthenia
for a long time in contrast to Black Ruthenia and Red Ruthenia. And up
untill the fall of the second Polish Republic Ruthenia was a recognized place
and the ruthenes were a recognized people. I suspect that they became White
Russians so Stalin could jusitfy annexing them. Czechoslavakia controlled
Red Ruthenia up until Munich, and it was called Ruthenia. Stalin annexed it 
to the SU after the War.

-John Grossi
 

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