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The Belarusian People's Republic (Belarusian: Белару́ская Наро́дная Рэспу́бліка, IPA: [bʲeɫa'ruskaja na'rodnaja rɛs'publʲika], translit. : Belaruskaya Narodnaya Respublika) was an independent Belarusian state, which declared independence in 1918. It is also called the Belarusian National Republic, in order to distinguish it from communist People's Republics, and the current BNR Rada refers to it as Belarusan Democratic Republic. The BNR was not recognized by the majority of other states, and ceased to exist since Belarus was taken under Soviets control and foundation of Belorussian SSR in 1919, though BNR authorities later formed a government in exile.
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History
The Belarusian People's Republic was declared on March 25, 1918 during World War I, when Belarus was occupied by the Germans according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, as part of the implementation of the German plan for buffer states within Mitteleuropa. The BNR did not become a real state: it did not have a constitution, armed forces (although the attempts to create them are documented[1]), definite territoriality, etc. After the German army retreated from the territory of Belarus and the Red Army started moving in to establish the Socialist Soviet Republic of Belarus, in December 1918 the Rada (Council) of the BNR moved to Hrodna, which was the centre of a semi-autonomous Belarusian region within the Lithuanian Republic.[1] During the subsequent 1919 Polish invasion Rada went into exile and facilitated anticommunist struggle in the country in 1920s. Though Rada as representative of Belarus was recognised by Germany, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia. The exiled government still exists. Similar governments-in-exile of the neighboring countries (Lithuania, Poland and others) handed back their "authorities" to the corresponding independent governments in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The BNR council has not done this because the BNR council views the current Belarusian government of president Alexander Lukashenka as an anti-Belarusian, anti-independence, and an anti-democratic power. [2]
Territory
In its Third Constituent Charter, the following territories were claimed for BNR: Mogilev guberniya (province), as well as Belarusian parts of Minsk, Hrodna (including Białystok), Vilnius, Vitebsk, and Smolensk Governorates, and parts of bordering governorates populated by Belarusians, rejecting the then split of the Belarusian lands between Germany and Russia.[3] The areas were claimed because of a Belarusian majority according to demographic research, although there were also numbers of Lithuanians, Poles and people speaking pidgins of Belarusian, Lithuanian and Polish, as well as many Jews, mostly in towns and cities (in some towns they made up a majority). Some of the Jews spoke Russian as their native tongue; others spoke Yiddish.
Presidents
Chairmans of the Council of BNR:
- Jan Sierada (1918–1919)
- Piotra Krečeŭski (1919–1928)
- Vasil Zacharka (1928–1943)
- Mikoła Abramčyk (1944–1970)
- Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič (1970–1982)
- Jazep Sažyč (1982–1997)
- Ivonka Survilla (1997–present)
Symbols
A national flag of three stripes — white-red-white — was adopted, as well as a state seal (Pahonia), which was based on an emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
 Postage stamp of BNR. 10 hr. |
 Postage stamp of BNR. 25 hr. |
 Seal of Ministry of Defense of BNR |
Archives
In 1998, Belarusian linguist and translator Siarhiej Shupa 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.
