Early history The first mention of Pinsk comes from 1097. In the
High Middle Ages, Pinsk often passed between various principalities of
Kievan Rus', and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Pinsk was destroyed during the
Mongol invasion of Europe in 1240. In 1241, the
Orthodox diocese was moved from
Turov to Pinsk. Afterwards, it was captured by Lithuanian duke
Erdvilas, and Pinsk became a
fief of Lithuania. In 1274, Pinsk along with Ruthenian princes and Tatars fought against Lithuania. Bona Sforza ordered the construction of a canal connecting Pinsk and Stetyczów. In 1569, Pinsk became a county seat. In 1581 King
Stephen Báthory grants Pinsk
Magdeburg city rights and its coat of arms. In 1631,
Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł brought
Jesuits to Pinsk and established a Jesuit monastery and college. Poet
Adam Naruszewicz attended the college. In 1648, local Orthodox residents let the
Cossacks into the city and joined their rebellion. The rebels plundered local Catholic churches, and carried out a massacre of Catholic clergy and Jews. In 1690, the Karolin settlement was founded by Jan Karol Dolski. In 1695,
Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki built a church and castle in the Karolin suburb. During the
Swedish invasion of Poland, from May 5 to June 3 1706, Pinsk was captured by King
Charles XII of Sweden, and the castle of Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki was blown up. In 1707, the city was captured by the army of General Halast and General Hołowina. In 1709–1710 and in 1716, the city was hit by an epidemic with thousands of victims. The
Oginski Canal and Royal Canal was constructed in 1767 and 1775, respectively.
Late modern period In 1793, Pinsk was annexed by
Russia in the
Second Partition of Poland. In 1795, the Catholic Diocese of Pinsk was established (previously Pinsk was in the diocese of
Lutsk), however, it was dissolved in 1799, and the seat moved to
Minsk. In 1796, the
Uniate diocese of Pinsk was dissolved. In 1799, Karolina was included within Pinsk. In July 1812, Pinsk
was taken by Napoleon's army. In 1850, a
candle and
soap factory was established. In 1882, a
railway line was brought from
Żabinka and a
match factory was opened. In 1885, a river
shipyard was built in Leszcze. In 1907–1909, a provincial circle of the Polish Education Association in Minsk operated in the city, which organized lectures on Polish literature and vocabulary, which, according to a report by the Russian police, "increased Polish national consciousness". In 1909, during the local elections 22 Belarusians (Orthodox), 7 Poles (Catholics), 2 Jews and 1 representative of other nationalities were elected to the city council.
WWI and Polish–Soviet War in Pinsk (before 1926) During
World War I, in 1915, Russian authorities abandoned the city escaping
from advancing German forces. Pinsk was occupied by the
German Empire on 15 September 1915, during the
First World War. After the German defeat, Pinsk became the subject of dispute between the
Belarusian People's Republic and the
Ukrainian People's Republic, both short-lived. Pinsk was taken by the advancing Red Army on 25 January 1919, during the
Soviet westward offensive of 1918–19. It was retaken by Polish troops on 5 March 1919 during the
Polish–Soviet War but was retaken by the Red Army on 23 July 1920 and finally retaken by the Polish on 26 September 1920. Pińsk became part of the reborn
Poland in 1920 when the Polish-Soviet War ended with the
Peace of Riga, signed in March 1921. Like many other cities in Eastern Europe, Pinsk had a significant Jewish population before World War II. According to the
Russian census of 1897, out of the total number of 28,400 inhabitants, Jews were approximately 74% of the population (21,100 persons), making it one of the most Jewish cities under tsarist rule. During the Polish-Soviet War, 35 Jewish civilians from Pinsk were executed by the Polish Army in April 1919 after being accused of collaborating with Russian
Bolsheviks. The incident, known as the
Pinsk massacre, created a diplomatic crisis noted at the
Versailles Conference.
Interwar period Pińsk was the initial capital of the
Polesie Voivodeship, but it moved to Brześć-nad-Bugiem (now
Brest, Belarus) after a citywide fire on 7 September 1921. The population of the city grew rapidly in interwar Poland from 23,497 in 1921 to 33,500 in 1931. City limits were expanded in 1929 and 1939. Pińsk became a bustling commercial centre, and 70% of the population was
Jewish, in spite of considerable migration.
Second World War Following the
Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939, Pinsk and the surrounding area was annexed to the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was the seat of the
Pinsk Oblast from 1940. After
Operation Barbarossa, Germany
occupied Pinsk from 4 July 1941 to 14 July 1944, as part of the
Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Most Jews were killed in late October 1942 during the liquidation of the
Pińsk Ghetto by the German
Ordnungspolizei and the
Byelorussian Auxiliary Police, 10,000 being murdered in one day. In 1945, after postwar border adjustments of Poland, Pinsk again became part of the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Post-WWII and independence In 1954 it became part of the
Brest Voblast. Pinsk has formed part of
the Republic of Belarus since Belarusian independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991. ==Landmarks==