Belarusian Democratic Republic

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Belarusian Democratic Republic Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika
1918–1919 Exile: 1919–present
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Ваяцкі марш Vajacki marš " President of the Rada
• 1918	Jan Sierada
• 1918–1919	Jazep Losik (acting)
Mikoła Abramčyk
• 1970–1982	Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič
• 1982–1997	Jazep Sažyč
• 1997–present	Ivonka Survilla
Legislature	Rada
Historical era	World War I
• Established[1]	6 March 1918
• Independence proclaimed	25 March 1918
• Disestablished	Spring 1919
• In exile	1919–present
Currency	Ruble
Preceded by Succeeded by Russian Republic Russian SFSR Litbel SSR Poland Belarusian government-in-exile

The Belarusian People's Republic^[2][3][4] (BNR; Belarusian: Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, romanized: Biełaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, БНР), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The Council proclaimed the Belarusian Democratic Republic independent in its Third Constituent Charter on 25 March 1918 during the occupation of contemporary Belarus by the Imperial German Army.^[5]

The government of the Belarusian Democratic Republic never had power over the whole territory of Belarus. In 1919, it co-existed with an alternative

In some historical documents, the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic phrase was used initially.[8] In the current scholarship, Belarusian Democratic Republic and Belarusian National Republic names dominate.^[9][10] The Rada BNR uses the Belarusian Democratic Republic name.^[11] It also appears in the publications originating in Belarus.^[12] The Belarusian People's Republic appears in publications,^[13] however, its use is comparatively limited, e.g. it does not appear in the titles of scholarly publications.

History

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After the 1917

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.^[14]: 26

On 3 March, Germans and Bolsheviks signed the

On March 25, 1918, the All-Belarusian Congress proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic (Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, abbreviated as BNR). The Government of the BNR left Minsk in December 1918 for the Lithuanian Republic, and in the spring of 1919 went into exile.^[15]

Territory

In its Third Constituent Charter, the following territories were claimed for BNR:

There were attempts to create an

General Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz supported the Government of the People's Republic and openly positioned his army as a Belarusian national army.

The major military action of the Army of the People's Republic was the

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.^[19]

Beginning in 1918,

In 1919, a delegation of the Belarusian People's Republic under Prime Minister

In October 1919 the Belarusian People's Republic was officially recognized by Estonia and in December 1919 by Finland.^[22][23] 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.^[24]

Other actions

The government also managed to create between 150 and 350 schools and preparations for the creation of a university in Minsk were initiated.^[25]

Exile

In December 1918, the German army retreated from the territory of Belarus and the

In 1925, the exiled Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic (Rada BDR) discussed relinquishing its authority in favor of the

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 and others) handed back their mandates to the corresponding independent governments.

Upon declaration of independence of the

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.

Symbols

A national flag of three stripes –

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

Presidents

Chairpersons of the

• 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)

Archives

In 1998, Belarusian linguist and translator Siarhiej Šupa [be] 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.

See also

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

References

Further reading

Main article: Bibliography of the history of Belarus and Byelorussia

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Belarusian 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