For comedic value, Belarus’s
obsession with her brother is exaggerated. However, what you’ll find in the
series is that history and puns are often molded together. In particular,
Belarus’s name, Natalia/ Natalya, may serve as one of those puns.

History time! Falling back
to the late 17^th century, Russian ruler Peter the Great ascended to
power. He was known for, well, being great. A lot of it had to do with reforming
Russia’s culture, as due to previous oppressive Mongol rule, the nation had
missed out on a lot of the cultural and artistic achievements that occurred in
Western Europe during the Renaissance period. 

Basically, it was a
modernization project that involved bringing in Western ideas of art, politics,
and science. For example, many Russian aristocrats learned French dress and
spoke the language too.

What also made Peter great
was that he had transformed the Tsardom (the Russian kingdom) into an extremely
successful and powerful imperial empire. A lot of the structures in Russian political
institutions today still echo some of the traditions from these initial
reforms.

Peter arguably represents
the pinnacle of Russian achievement; again, all that is great.

Now, what’s interesting is
that Peter had a very supportive sister named Natalya (Kirillovna Naryshkina).
She and Peter shared a close
relationship, one where it’s reported that she would like anything that her
brother did. Sound familiar?

Side note: I’m aware that Peter
eventually co-ruled with his half brother, Ivan. For the purposes of this post,
it’s not that important. Given that the first part of a Russian name is their Christian
one, many males and females will share the names of Saints. It’s more about the
personalities of the figures who held the names that I’m looking at here.

Belarus, Natalya, is also extremely supportive of
her brother, going so far as to want their countries to unite into one. She
will agree with almost anything Russia says, perceiving him as the greatest
nation out there…

She wants to remain with him
forever.

This obsession with Russia
and its culture has even caused her to forget her own language at one point.

Notice how Belarus’s love
and devotion for Russia echoes the human Natalya’s love and devotion of Peter,
who’s highly regarded as representing the greatness of Russia.