Belarusian People's Republic

The Belarusian People's Republic^[3][4][5] (BNR; Belarusian: Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, romanized: Biełaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, БНР), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was the first attempt to establish a modern Belarusian nation-state. It was proclaimed independent on 25 March 1918 in Minsk by the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.^[6][7]

Emerging from the chaos of World War I and the Russian Revolution, the BNR sought to secure the Belarusian territories against partition between Germany, Soviet Russia, and the newly independent Poland. Although it failed to maintain territorial control in the face of the Soviet advance, the BNR was instrumental in establishing the symbols of Belarusian statehood (the White-red-white flag and Pahonia emblem) and forcing the Bolsheviks to create the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as a concession to Belarusian nationalism.

Its government, the Rada BNR, continues to exist as the oldest active government in exile in the world. Unlike other Eastern European exile governments that dissolved after 1991, the Rada BNR maintains its mandate, arguing that the current regime of Alexander Lukashenko violates the sovereignty and democratic principles of the Belarusian state.^[8]

The government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic never had power over the whole territory of Belarus. In 1919, it co-existed with an alternative Soviet Russia-controlled Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (which later became part of the Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic), moving its seat of government to Vilnius and Hrodna,^[9] but ceased to exist due to the partition of the whole Belarusian territory between the Bolshevik Red Army and the Polish Armed Forces as a result of the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921.^[10]

The idea of creating a new Belarusian state was proposed in December 1917 by a group of delegates at the First All-Belarusian Congress in Minsk, but the congress was dispersed by the Bolsheviks. Just a few hours before Minsk was occupied by troops of the German Empire on February 21, the Executive Committee of the All-Belarusian Congress, through its First Constituent Charter, declared itself the authority in the region and formed a provisional government (the People's Secretariat). On March 25, under conditions of German occupation, the Third Constituent Charter proclaimed Belarus an independent and free state.

After Germany’s defeat in the World War and the annulment of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, German forces began to withdraw from the occupied territories. By December 1918, units of the Red Army had already entered Minsk. The government of the Belarusian People's Republic (BNR) continued its activities in exile. In October 1925, the All-Belarusian Political Conference in Berlin announced the dissolution of the BNR. Many prominent figures of the BNR — A. Smolich, V. Lastouski, A. Tsviakevich, J. Liosik, and others — returned to the Byelorussian SSR, only to be later repressed.

Currently, its government in exile, the Rada (Council) of the Belarusian Democratic Republic is the oldest still functioning government in exile.

In some historical documents, the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic phrase was used initially.^[11] In the current scholarship, Belarusian Democratic Republic and Belarusian National Republic names dominate.^[12][13] The Rada BNR uses the Belarusian Democratic Republic name.^[14] It also appears in the publications originating in Belarus.^[15] The Belarusian People's Republic appears in publications,^[16] however, its use is comparatively limited, e.g. it does not appear in the titles of scholarly publications.

After the 1917 February Revolution in Russia, active discussions started in Belarus about either gaining autonomy within the new Russian Republic or declaring independence. Deputies of most Belarusian regions and of different political powers, including the Belarusian Socialist Assembly, the Christian democratic movement and the General Jewish Labour Bund, formed a Belarusian National Council in late 1917. The Council started working on establishing Belarusian governmental institutions. Both the Bolsheviks and Germans refused to recognize it and interfered in its activity. However, the Germans saw an independent Belarus as part of the implementation of their plan for buffer states within Mitteleuropa. The Bolsheviks had negotiations with the Belarusian Democratic Republic regarding eventual recognition, but later decided instead to establish a pro-Soviet government of Belarus – the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia.

Parallel with negotiations that started between the Germans and Bolsheviks, the Belarusian Council started actively demanding recognition of autonomous status for Belarus, with continuing internal discussions on whether it should become an autonomous region within Russia or declare national independence.

On 21 February 1918, the German army captured Minsk. On the same day, the Belarusian Council passed the First Constituent Charter declaring the council the only legitimate power on the territory of Belarus. Neither the occupying authorities, nor its government in Berlin, however, were interested in the idea of an independent Belarusian state.^[17]: 26

On 3 March 1918, Germany and Soviet Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which divided the Belarusian lands without any Belarusian representation. In direct response to this partition, the Rada BNR passed the Third Constituent Charter on 25 March 1918. This charter officially declared the independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, repudiating the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and claiming sovereignty over all ethnically Belarusian territories.^[18] This charter officially declared the independence of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, repudiating the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and claiming sovereignty over all ethnically Belarusian territories.^[19]

On March 25, 1918, the All-Belarusian Congress proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic (Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, abbreviated as BNR). As the German army retreated and the Bolsheviks pushed westward, the Government of the BNR left Minsk in December 1918 for the Lithuanian Republic, and in the spring of 1919 went into exile.^[20]

The BNR claimed sovereignty over the ethnographic territory of Belarusians, largely based on the 1903 linguistic map by academician Yefim Karsky. This included the Mogilev Governorate and parts of the Minsk, Grodno (including Białystok), Vilna, Vitebsk, and Smolensk governorates. The state declared equal rights for all citizens, and its provisional government included ministries for the Jewish, Polish, and Lithuanian minorities.^[21]

There were attempts to create the armed forces of the newly established Belarusian People's Republic.^[22] Belarusian military units started to form within the disorganized Imperial Russian Army already in 1917.

According to the historian Oleg Łatyszonek, about 11,000 people, mostly volunteers, served in the Army of the Belarusian People's Republic.^[23]

General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz supported the Government of the People's Republic and openly positioned his army as a Belarusian national army. In 1920, his units became a part of the Russian People's Volunteer Army led by the Russian SR revolutionary Boris Savinkov which established the short-lived Belarusian State during its actions against the Red Army.

The major military action of the Army of the People's Republic was the failed Slutsk defence action in late 1920. The Council of the BNR, based at that time in Lithuania, sent officers to help organize armed anti-Bolshevik resistance in the town of Slutsk. These events served as the basis for Vasil Bykau's story and the film based on it, On Black Slash-and-Burn Fields.

During its short existence, the government of Belarus established close ties with the Ukrainian People's Republic, organized food supplies to Belarus from Ukraine and thereby prevented hunger in the country.^[24]

Beginning in 1918, Anton Łuckievič, the prime minister of Belarus, met with Vladimir Lenin hoping to gain recognition for the independence of Belarus by Soviet Russia. The Belarusian delegation even proposed the creation of a federation with the RSFSR and the adoption of the Soviet Constitution in Belarus in exchange for Russia recognizing the independent status of Belarus, but Lenin did not agree to these proposals.^[25]

In 1919, a delegation of the Belarusian People's Republic under Prime Minister Anton Łuckievič participated in the Paris Peace Conference, attempting to gain international recognition of the independence of Belarus. On the way to the conference, the delegation was received by Czechoslovak president Tomáš Masaryk in Prague. During the conference, Łuckievič had meetings with the exiled foreign minister of Admiral Kolchak's Russian government Sergey Sazonov and the prime minister of Poland Ignacy Jan Paderewski.^[26]

In October 1919 the Belarusian People's Republic was officially recognized by Estonia and in December 1919 by Finland.^[27][28] On November 11, 1920, the Belarusian People's Republic signed a treaty with the government of Lithuania in which both states declared to recognize each other and to cooperate together.^[29]

The government also managed to create between 150 and 350 schools and preparations for the creation of a university in Minsk were initiated.^[30]

In December 1918, the German army retreated from the territory of Belarus and the Red Army moved in to establish the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia. The Rada (Council) of the BNR moved to Hrodna, the center of a semi-autonomous Belarusian region within the Republic of Lithuania.^[22] During the subsequent 1919–1920 Soviet-Polish War, the Rada went into exile and facilitated an anti-Communist struggle within the country during the 1920s.

In 1925, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (Rada BDR) discussed relinquishing its authority in favor of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic controlling the eastern part of Belarus. Despite many members of the democratic government advocating this idea, the proposal was not approved.^[31]

During World War II, the Belarusian government-in-exile, based in Prague, refused to cooperate with Nazi Germany or with the Belarusian Central Rada, the pro-German puppet government and issued statements in support of the Western Allies.

The advance of the Red Army in 1945 forced the BNR's Rada to relocate to the western part of Germany, occupied by British and American troops. In February 1948, the Rada passed a special manifesto, by which it declared its return to activity. In April 1948, the Rada, together with deputies of the Belarusian post-war refugees, held a conference in Osterhofen, Bavaria.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, similar governments-in-exile of the neighboring countries (Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia) handed back their mandates to the corresponding independent governments.

Upon the declaration of independence of the Republic of Belarus in 1991, the Rada entered negotiations to transfer its mandate to the democratically elected parliament. However, after Alexander Lukashenko established an authoritarian regime in 1994, restored Soviet-era symbols in 1995, and returned to Soviet policies regarding the Belarusian language and culture, the Rada declared that the conditions for a democratic transfer of power had not been met. Consequently, the Rada BNR remains the oldest active government in exile in the world, viewing the current regime in Minsk as antithetical to the ideals of the 1918 republic.^[32][33]

The Rada BNR still exists as a government in exile and attempts to lobby for the interests of the Belarusian diaspora in countries where it has its deputies.

Since the late 1980s, March 25, the Independence Day of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, is widely celebrated by the Belarusian national democratic opposition as Freedom Day (Belarusian: Дзень волі). It is usually accompanied by mass opposition rallies in Minsk and by celebration events of the Belarusian diaspora organizations supporting the Belarusian government in exile.

A national flag of three stripes – white-red-white – was adopted, as well as a state seal (Pahonia) based on an emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

• 10-hrašoŭ postage stamp
• 25-hrašoŭ postage stamp
• A postage stamp of the Belarusian Democratic Republic

Chairpersons of the Council of the Belarusian People's Republic:

• Jan Sierada (1918)
• Jazep Losik (1918–1919; acting)
• Piotra Krečeŭski (1919–1928)
• Vasil Zacharka (1928–1943)
• Mikoła Abramčyk (1944–1970)
• Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič (1970–1980)
• Jazep Sažyč (1980–1997)
• Ivonka Survilla (1997–present)

In 1998, Belarusian linguist and translator Siarhiej Šupa published a two-volume collection of BNR archives (Архівы Беларускай Народнай Рэспублікі. Менск-Вільня-Прага-Нью-Ёрк). The total size of the two volumes is more than 1700 pages. Essentially these are the processed and re-organized documents from the Lithuanian archival fund #582 in Vilnius and they constitute roughly 60% of all the BNR official documents from 1918. Another 20% of BNR official documentation is located in the Minsk archives, and the fate of the remaining 20% is unknown.

• Freedom Day (Belarus)
• Ukrainian People's Republic

• The Rada of the Belarusan Democratic Republic in Exile website
• "The sorrows of Belarus: A government in exile, a country in a mess". The Economist. 16 November 2006.
• "Europe.view Heart of darkness". The Economist. 13 March 2008.
• Timeline of Belarusian People's Republic