 History of Belarus  |
|---|
| Early East Slavs |
| Principality of Polatsk |
| Kievan Rus' |
| Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
| Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Imperial Russia |
| Belarusian National Republic |
| Imperial Russia |
| Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic |
| Independent Belarus |
Lithuanian-Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (LBSSR, Litbel; Lithuanian: Lietuvos-Baltarusijos Tarybinė Socialistinė Respublika; Belarusian: Літоўска-Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка; Russian: Литовско-Белорусская ССР; Polish: Litewsko-Białoruska Republika Rad) was a Soviet controlled republic, that existed within the territories of modern Belarus and eastern Lithuania, for approximately seven months during 1919, before the western parts of the areas were annexed by Poland.
Following the end of World War I, after November 1918, the German Army left the area, and on 2 January 1919 the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus was declared, part of which, in combination with the Lithuanian SSR, formed the LBSSR from 27 February 1919. The leaders of the state were Kazimir Tsikhovsky (Kazimierz Cichowski, Казимир Генрихович Циховский), Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets (corresponds to head of parliament) and Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas (Винцас Симанович Мицкявичюс-Капсукас), Chairman of the Sovnarkom (corresponds to prime minister). Its capital was initially Vilnius. In April it was moved to Minsk, after Vilnius was seized by the Polish Army with the onset of the Polish-Soviet War, and then to Smolensk, in August 1919. The LBSSR was dissolved on 25 August 1919, when its entire territory was occupied by the armies of Poland, the Entente, Lithuania (led by Lietuvos Taryba), and Germany. In 1920, the remaining lands that had composed Litbel were divided between the Second Polish Republic and the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
