Minsk Spring

Minsk Spring
Date	24 March 1996 (1996-03-24) — 26 April 1997 (1 year, 1 month and 2 days)
Location	Minsk, Belarus
Caused by	Creation of Union State, authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko
Goals	Cancellation of the agreement "On the Community of Belarus and Russia", resignation of Lukashenko
Methods	rally, peaceful marches
Resulted in	Adjustment of the Union State treaty, refutation of the unification of Belarus and Russia into a single state
Parties
Presidency of Belarus Presidential Administration Police OMON Union State supporters Belarusian opposition: Belarusian Popular Front UNA-UNSO
Lead figures
Alexander Lukashenko Mikhail Myasnikovich Vsevolod Yanchevski with the support of: Boris Yeltsin Zianon Pazniak Vasil Bykaŭ Mikola Statkevich
Number
Unknown 50-70 thousand

The "Minsk Spring" or "Belarusian Spring" (Belarusian: "Мінская вясна", romanized: "Minskaja viasna", "Беларуская вясна", "Biełaruskaja viasna") was a series of mass street protests in 1996 and 1997 against the increasingly-authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.