Editing Mogilev (section)

== History ==
{{stack|[[File:Mahiloŭ, Dniapro. Магілёў, Дняпро (1879).jpg|thumb|19th-century view of the city]]}}
The city was first mentioned in historical records in 1267. From the 14th century, it was part of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]], and since the [[Union of Lublin]] (1569), it has been part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], where it became known as ''Mohylew''. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the city flourished as one of the main nodes of the east-west and north-south trading routes.

In 1577, Grand Duke [[Stefan Batory]] granted it [[Magdeburg law|city rights under Magdeburg law]]. In 1654, during the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)]], the townsmen negotiated a treaty of surrender to the Russians peacefully, if the Jews were to be expelled and their property divided up among Mogilev's inhabitants. [[Alexis of Russia|Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovitch]] agreed. However, instead of expelling the Jews, the Russian troops massacred them after they had led them to the outskirts of the town.<ref>Russia's First Modern Jews, NYU Press 1995, David Fishman, p.2</ref> During this war, the city was besieged twice by the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuanian army]]: [[Siege of Mogilev (1655)|in 1655]], and {{ill|Siege of Mogilev (1660)|ru|Осада Могилёва (1660)|lt=in 1660}} In 1661, residents started  {{ill|Mogilev uprising (1661)|lt=an uprising|ru|Могилёвское восстание (1661)}} against the Russian military occupation. The city was set afire by [[Peter the Great]]'s forces in 1708, during the [[Great Northern War]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Катлярчук |first=Андрэй |date=2007 |title=Швэды ў гісторыі й культуры беларусаў |publisher=Ėntsyklapedyks |url=http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:860434/FULLTEXT01.pdf |isbn=978-9856599586 |language=belarusian}}</ref> After the [[Partitions of Poland|First Partition of Poland]] in 1772, Mogilev became part of the [[Russian Empire]] and became the centre of the [[Mogilev Governorate]]. In 1938 it was decided Mogilev was to become the capital of Belarus because Minsk was too close to the then-Polish-Soviet border.

In the years 1915–1917, during [[World War I]], the [[Stavka]], the headquarters of the [[Russian Imperial Army]], was based in the city <ref>Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, {{ISBN|978-80-87173-47-3}}, pages 36 - 39, 41 - 42, 111-112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–199.</ref> and the Tsar, [[Nicholas II]], spent long periods there as Commander-in-Chief.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.belarus.by/en/press-center/press-release/mogilev-invites-tourists-to-take-a-stroll-with-emperor-nicholas-ii_i_0000051069.html |title=Mogilev invites tourists to take a stroll with Emperor Nicholas II |publisher=Official website of Belarus}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Massie |first1=Robert |title=Nicholas and Alexandria |date=1967 |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |isbn=9780345438317 |pages=300}}</ref>

Following the [[Russian Revolution]], in 1918, the city was briefly occupied by [[Germany]] and placed under their short-lived [[Belarusian People's Republic]]. In 1919, Mogilev was captured by the forces of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] and incorporated into the [[Byelorussian SSR]]. Up to [[World War II]] and the [[Holocaust]], like many other cities in Europe, Mogilev had a significant [[Jewish diaspora|Jewish]] population: according to the [[Russian census of 1897]], out of the total population of 41,100, 21,500 were Jews (i.e. over 50 percent).<ref>Joshua D. Zimmerman, ''Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality'', Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004, {{ISBN|0-299-19464-7}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=6sbr9cZyw_4C&dq=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA16 Google Print, p.16]</ref> In 1938 the leadership of Soviet Belarus decided to move the capital of the country from Minsk to Mogilev. Due to that, the now-[[:ru:Дом Советов (Могилёв)|Mogilev City Council building]] was built in 1938–1940 to be the government building. It was designed to resemble the [[Government House, Minsk|Minsk Government building]].

{{stack|[[File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-138-1091-06A,_Russland,_Mogilew,_jüdische_Frauen_auf_Dorfstraße.jpg|thumb|[[Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops|Wehrmacht propaganda]] photograph of Jewish women in Mogilev, July 1941; Mogilev Jews were murdered by Nazi [[Police Battalion 322]] in October.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Breitman
|first1=Richard
|author-link1=Richard Breitman
|title=Official Secrets: What the Nazis Planned, What the British and Americans Knew
|publisher=Hill and Wang/Farrar Straus & Giroux
|location=New York
|year=1998
|isbn=9780809001842
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g9g5M2Nf1DgC&q=%22police+regiment+center%22&pg=PA46
|page=66}}</ref>]]}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-138-1091-29A, Russland, Mogilew, Ansicht.jpg|thumb|Mogilev in July 1941]]
During [[Operation Barbarossa]], the city was conquered by [[Wehrmacht]] forces on 26 July 1941 and remained under [[Nazi Germany|German]] occupation until 28 June 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/mogilev.html |title=Mogilev The fate of the Jews under the German Invasion & Occupation |publisher=Holocaustresearchproject.org |access-date=2014-08-09}}</ref> Mogilev became the official residence of [[SS and police leader|High SS and police leader]] (HSSPF) [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski|Erich von dem Bach]]. During that period, the Jews of Mogilev were [[Mogilev Ghetto|ghettoized]] and systematically murdered by ''[[Ordnungspolizei]]'' and [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] personnel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jhrgbelarus.org/AboutBelarus_articles.php |title=Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus |publisher=Jhrgbelarus.org |access-date=2014-08-09 |archive-date=2018-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002103123/http://www.jhrgbelarus.org/AboutBelarus_articles.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Heinrich Himmler]] personally witnessed the executions of 279 Jews on 23 October 1941. Later that month, several mentally disabled patients were poisoned with car exhaust fumes as an experiment; the method of killing was thereafter applied in several Nazi [[extermination camp]]s. Initial plans for establishing a death camp in Mogilev were abandoned in favour of [[Maly Trostenets extermination camp|Maly Trostenets]].

In 1944, with the [[Mogilev offensive]], the devastated city was liberated by the [[Red Army]] and returned to Soviet control. Mogilev then was the site of a labour camp for [[German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union|German POW soldiers]].

Since [[Belarus]] gained its independence in 1991, Mogilev has remained one of its principal cities.