Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

Coordinates: 54°00′00″N 29°00′00″E / 54.0000°N 29.0000°E / 54.0000; 29.0000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic
)

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка (Belarusian)
Белорусская Советская Социалистическая Республика (Russian)[a]
1920–1991
1941–1944: German occupation
Flag of Byelorussian SSR
Flag
(1951–1991)
State emblem (1981–1991) of Byelorussian SSR
State emblem
(1981–1991)
Motto: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся! (
Yiddish[b]
Religion
State atheism
Demonym(s)Byelorussian, Soviet
Government
First Secretary
 
• 1920–1923 (first)
Vilgelm Knorin
• 1988–1990 (last)[2]
Yefrem Sokolov
Head of state
 
• 1920–1937 (first)
Alexander Chervyakov
• 1991 (last)
Stanislav Shushkevich
Head of government
 
• 1920–1924 (first)
Alexander Chervyakov
• 1990–1991 (last)
Vyacheslav Kebich
LegislatureCongress of Soviets (1920–1938)
Sovereignty declared, partial cancellation of the Soviet form of government
27 July 1990
• Independence declared
25 August 1991
• Renamed Republic of Belarus
19 September 1991
10 December 1991
• Internationally recognized (Dissolution of the Soviet Union)
26 December 1991
15 March 1994
Area
• Total
207,600 km2 (80,200 sq mi)
Population
• 
1989 census
10,199,709
Currency
Soviet rouble (Rbl) (SUR)
Calling code+7 015/016/017/02
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia
Second Polish Republic
Reichskommissariat Ostland
Bezirk Bialystok
Reichskommissariat Ukraine
Republic of Belarus
Today part ofBelarus
Lithuania[c]
Poland
Russia

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR;[d] Belarusian: Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, romanizedByelaruskaya Savyetskaya Satsyyalistychnaya Respublika; Russian: Белорусская Советская Социалистическая Республика, romanizedByelorusskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika), also known as Byelorussia, Belarusian SSR, Soviet Belarus, or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1991 as one of fifteen constituent republics of the USSR, with its own legislation from 1990 to 1991. The republic was ruled by the Communist Party of Byelorussia and was also referred to as Soviet Byelorussia or Soviet Belarus by a number of historians.[3] Other names for Byelorussia included White Russia or White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.[4]

To the west it bordered

Russian SFSR to the east, and the Ukrainian SSR
to the south.

The

Transcaucasian SFSR, and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Byelorussia was one of several Soviet republics occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II
.

Towards the final years of the Soviet Union's existence, the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussian SSR adopted the

Republic of Belarus. The Soviet Union was dissolved
on 26 December 1991.

Terminology

The term Byelorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия), derives from the term Belaya Rus' , i.e.,

White Rus'. There are several claims to the origin of the name White Rus'.[5] An ethno-religious theory suggests that the name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by early Christianized Slavs, as opposed to Black Ruthenia, which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts.[6]

The latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я (Russia), first rose in the days of the Russian Empire, and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great, Little, and White.[7] This asserted that the territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, that they were variants of the Russian people.[8]

Following the

1936 Soviet Constitution
, the republic was renamed to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

On 19 September 1991 the

Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR renamed the Soviet republic to the Republic of Belarus, with the short form "Belarus". Conservative forces in the newly independent Belarus did not support the name change and opposed its inclusion in the 1991 draft of the Constitution of Belarus.[11]

History

A 2019 stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the BSSR

Beginning

Prior to the

Alexei Evert's inconclusive thrust around the city of Baranavichy in summer of that year, during the Brusilov offensive
further south, in Western Ukraine.

The abdication of

General Jewish Labour Bund
, formed a Belarusian Central Council.

Towards the autumn political stability continued to shake, and countering the rising nationalist tendencies were the Bolshevik

Aleksandr Myasnikyan as head of the Western Oblast's Military Revolutionary Committee, who passed this duty on to Kārlis Landers. Myasnikyan took over as chair of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party's (RSDRP(b)) committee for Western Oblast and Moses Kalmanovich [ru
] as chair of the Obliskomzap.

Countering this the Belarusian Central Council reorganised itself as a Belarusian National Council (Rada), started working on establishing governmental institutions, and discarded the Obliskomzap as a military formation, rather than governmental. As a result, on 7th (20th) of December, when the first All-Belarusian congress convened, the Bolsheviks forcibly disbanded it.

German involvement

The Russo-German front in Belarus remained static since 1915 and formal negotiations began only on 19 November (2 December N.S.), when the Soviet delegation traveled to the German-occupied Belarusian city of

Brest-Litovsk
. A cease-fire was quickly agreed and proper peace negotiations began in December.

However, the German party soon went back on its word and took full advantage of the situation, and the Bolsheviks' demand of a treaty "without annexations or indemnities" was unacceptable to the Central Powers, and on 18 February hostilities resumed. The German Operation Faustschlag was of immediate success and within 11 days, they were able to make a serious advance eastward, taking over Ukraine, the Baltic states and occupying Eastern Belarus. This forced the Obliskomzap to evacuate to Smolensk. The Smolensk Governorate was passed to the Western Oblast.

Faced with the German demands, the Bolsheviks accepted their terms at the final

buffer states, called Mitteleuropa. Support of local nationalist groups alienated by Bolsheviks was key, thus, when four days after Minsk was occupied by the German Army, the disbanded Belarusian National Council declared itself as the sole authority in Belarus, the Germans stood by, and recognised the declared Belarusian Democratic Republic
on 25 March.

Creation

The initial and provisional borders of the SSRB (dark green)

After Germany was defeated in the First World War, it announced its evacuation from the occupied territories of Belarus and Ukraine. As the Germans were preparing to depart, the Bolsheviks were keen to enter the territory to re-claim Belarus, Ukraine, and the Baltics to realise Soviet premier Vladimir Lenin's advocacy to seize the territories of the former Russian Empire and advance the world revolution.

On 11 September 1918, the

Western army. It began an initially bloodless advance westward on the 17th. The Belarusian National Republic barely resisted, evacuating Minsk on 3 December. The Soviets maintained a distance of about 10–15 kilometres (6.2–9.3 mi) between the two armies,[12]
and took Minsk on the 10th.

Encouraged by their success, in Smolensk on 30–31 December 1918, the Sixth Western Oblast Party conference met and announced its split from the Russian Communist Party, proclaiming itself as the first congress of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB(b)). The next day, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia was proclaimed in Smolensk, terminating the Western Commune, and on 7 January it was moved to Minsk.

Aleksandr Myasnikyan emerged as head of the All-Byelorussian Central Executive Committee and Zmicier Zhylunovich
as head of the provisional government.

The new Soviet republic initially consisted of seven districts:

Russian SFSR and renaming as the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB). This was conferred by the First Congress of deputies, composed of workers, soldiers and Red Army men, which met on 2–3 February 1919, to adopt a new Socialist constitution. The Red Army continued its westward advance, capturing the city of Grodno on New Year's Day 1919, Pinsk
on 21 January, and Baranovichi on 6 February 1919, thereby enlarging the SSRB.

Litbel

The Litbel was a Soviet attempt to justify its irredentist ambition by drawing on a historic parallel.

The western winter offensive described above was not limited to Byelorussia; Soviet forces similarly moved to the north into Lithuania. On 16 December the Lithuanian Socialist Soviet Republic (LSSR) was proclaimed in Vilnius.

The

Bug
rivers. However, the region to the east of those lines was historically mixed among a population of Belarusians, Poles and Lithuanians, with a sizeable Jewish minority. The local communities of each respective group wanted to be part of the respective states that were establishing themselves.

After their 1918–1919 winter conquest of Byelorussia, Ukraine and Lithuania, Soviet forces faced Poland as a competing power in the region.

In the

first clash
between regular armies took place and a front emerged.

Eager to win support, the Bolshevik government decided to restore the

Suwalki and Minsk. The Vitebsk and Mogilev guberniyas were transferred to the Russian SFSR, and were soon joined by the Gomel Governorate
, which was created on 26 April.

The operations in Lithuania brought the front close to East Prussia, and the German units that had withdrawn there began to assist the Lithuanian forces to defeat the Soviets; they repelled the Red offensive against Kaunas in February 1919.

In March 1919, Polish units opened an offensive: forces under General

Bobruysk
fell to the Poles.

By late summer of 1919, the Polish advance was also exhausted. The defeat of the Red Army allowed the outbreak of another historic disagreement over territory between Poland and Lithuania; their competition to control the city of Vilnius soon erupted into a military conflict, with Poland winning. Facing Denikin and Kolchak, Soviet Russia could not spare men for the western front. A stalemate with localised skirmishes developed between Poland and Lithuania.

Pawn on a chessboard

The stalemate and the occasional (though fruitless) negotiations gave Russia a much needed pause to concentrate on other regions. During the latter half of 1919 the Red Army successfully defeated Denikin in the South, taking over the Don, North Caucasus and Eastern Ukraine, pushed Kolchak from the Volga, beyond the Ural mountains into

People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of Soviet Russia, Georgy Chicherin, sent a note to Lithuania with a proposal for a peace treaty. It was a de facto recognition of the Lithuanian state.[13] Similar negotiations with Estonia and Latvia
, gave way for a peace treaty with the former on 2 February 1920 and a cease-fire agreement with the latter a day earlier.

Having secured several frontiers and breaking the "Ring of Fronts" the Soviet government began building up its forces for the massive offensive westwards, bringing the

Międzymorze
, which would include Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and push the eastern border as far as possible into Russia.

War continues

Nieman River
.

In April 1920, Poland initiated its major offensive. However the Soviet Red Army was much more organised than it was a year earlier, and though Polish troops managed to make several gains in Ukraine, notably the capture of Kiev, in Byelorussia, both of its offensives towards Zhlobin and Orsha were thrown back in May.

In June, the RSFSR was finally ready to open its major Western advance. To preserve the neutrality of Lithuania (though the peace treaty was still being negotiated), on 6 June the exiled government of Litbel was disbanded. Within a few days, the 3rd Cavalry Corps under command of

Hayk Bzhishkyan
broke the Polish front, causing a collapse and a retreat. On 11 July Minsk was re-taken, and on 31 July 1920 once again the Soviet Socialist Republic of Belorussia was re-established in Minsk.

As the front moved west, and more Belarusian lands were adjoined to the new republic, the first administrative decrees were issued. The entity was divided into seven

Western Belarus
too. However early autumn rains halted the Polish advance, which exhausted itself by October. A cease-fire agreed on 12 October, came into effect on 18 October.

Slutsk uprising

A Belarusian caricature showing the division of their country by Poles and Bolsheviks.

As the negotiations between the Polish Republic and the Russian Bolshevik government took place in Riga, the Soviet side saw the armistice as only a temporary setback in its western advance. Seeing the failure of overcoming the Polish nationalist rhetoric with Communist propaganda, the Soviet government chose a different tactic, by appealing to the minorities of the Polish state, creating a fifth column element out of Belarusians and Ukrainians. During the negotiations, RSFSR offered all of BSSR to Poland in return for concessions in Ukraine, which were rejected by the Polish side. Eventually a compromising armistice line was agreed, which would see the Belarusian city of Slutsk handed over to the Bolsheviks.

News of Belarus' upcoming permanent division angered the population, and using the town's Polish occupation, the local population began self-organising into a militia and associating itself with the Belarusian Democratic Republic. On 24 November the Polish units left the town, and for nearly a month the Slutsk partisans resisted Soviet attempts to re-gain control of the area. Eventually the Red Army had to mobilise two divisions to overcome the resistance, when the last units of Slutsk militia crossed the Moroch River and interned by the Polish border guards.

Early Soviet years

BSSR between the two World Wars

In February 1921, the delegations of the Second Polish Republic and the Russian SFSR finally signed the

Western Belarus
) now belonged to Poland. Eastern Belarus (Gomel, Vitebsk and parts of Smolensk guberniyas) were administered by the RSFSR. The rest was the SSRB, a republic with 52,400 square kilometres and a population of a mere 1.544 million people.

An interesting paradox arose in the status of SSRB within the future Bolshevik state. On one hand its small geographic, population and almost negligent economic indicators did not warrant it much political weight on Soviet affairs. In fact the leader of the Communist Party of Byelorussia (Bolshevik),

Central Committee
. Moreover, the weak national sentiment of the Belarusian people would easily have allowed SSRB to be disbanded and annexed to the RSFSR, unlike for example Ukraine.

On the other hand, the region's strategic role decided its fate, as a full

Treaty on the Creation of the USSR that was signed on 30 December 1922. SSR Byelorussia became a founding member of the Soviet Union in 1922 and became known as BSSR.[e]

However the politics in Moscow took a different course of events, and eventually the accession of

Socialism in One Country. In accordance with which, expansionist and irredentist claims were removed from Soviet ideology, which instead would focus on making regions economically viable. Thus in March 1924, by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee
, Russia returned most of territories that made up the Vitebsk and Mogilev Governorates, as well as parts of Smolensk. The passing of land that largely survived the destruction of war not only doubled the SSRB's area to 110,600 square kilometres, but also raised the population to 4.2 million people.

SSRB in the mid-1920s

Minsk Railway Station (1926), with the city's name given in Belarusian, Russian, Polish and Yiddish (or interwar Belarus's 4 official languages)

According to its entry in the

Mozyr, Orsha, Polotsk and Slutsk; all of which contained a total of 100 raions and 1,229 selsoviets
. Only 25 towns and cities and an additional 49 urban settlements.

Trotsky's plan for the SSRB to act as a future magnet for the minorities in the

Yakov Gamarnik
, was a Jew.

Yet, the titular nation of the SSRB were the

Korenizatsiya was widely implemented. Belarusian language, folklore and culture was put at front of everything else. This went on par with the Soviet policy of liquidation of illiteracy (likbez
).

Economically the republic remained largely self-centred, and most of the effort was put into restoring and repairing the war-damaged industry (if in 1923 there was only 226 different fabrics and factories, then by 1926 the number climbed to 246. However, the employed manpower jumped from 14 thousand to 21.3 thousand workers). The majority was food industry followed by metal and wood working combines. A lot more was centred in local and private sector, as allowed by the New Economic Policy of the USSR, in 1925 these number 38.5 thousand who employed almost 50 thousand people. Most being textile workshops and lumber yards and blacksmiths.

On 6 December 1926, the SSRB was once again enlarged, in order to make the republic prosperous and continue the

1926 Soviet census
that was held at the same time reported a population of 4,982,623. Of the latter 83% was rural, and Belarusians made up 80.6% (though only 39.2% of urban, yet 89% of rural).

On 11 April 1927, the republic adopted its new Constitution, bringing its laws in tie with those of the USSR and changing the name from the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.[citation needed] The head of government (chairman of the Soviet of People's Commissars) was by now then newly appointed Nikolay Goloded, whilst Vilhelm Knorin remained the first secretary of the Communist Party.

Stalinist years

Byelorussian SSR Oblasts (1938-1939)
The Byelorussian SSR prior to the invasion of Poland
Byelorussian SSR Oblasts (1939-1941)
The Byelorussian SSR after the invasion of Poland

The 1930s marked the peak of

MGB). Excluding those sentenced in the 1920s–1930s, over 250,000 Belarusians were deported as kulaks or kulak family members to regions outside the Belarusian Soviet Republic. The scale of Soviet terror in Belarus was higher than in Russia or Ukraine which resulted in a much stronger extent of Russification in the republic.[citation needed
]

A

Polish Autonomous District
was founded in 1932 and disbanded in 1935.

In September 1939, the Soviet Union, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, occupied eastern Poland after the 1939 invasion of Poland. The former Polish territories referred to as West Belarus were incorporated into the Belarusian SSR, with an exception of the city of Vilnius and its surroundings that were transferred to Lithuania. The annexation was internationally recognized after the end of World War II.

Nazi German occupation

Members of the Soviet resistance in Belarus hanged by the German army on 26 October 1941

In the summer of 1941, Belarus was occupied by Nazi Germany. A large part of the territory of Belarus became the General District Belarus within the Reichskommissariat Ostland.

Khatyn were totally annihilated.[19] Altogether, over 2,000,000 people were killed in Belarus during the three years of German occupation, almost a quarter of the region's population.[20][21]

Belarus-born Andrei Gromyko (right) served as Soviet foreign minister (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1988)

After World War II, the Byelorussian SSR was given a seat in the United Nations

President of the United Nations Security Council
from January–February 1975.

Dissolution

In its last years during perestroika under Mikhail Gorbachev, the Supreme Soviet of Byelorussian SSR declared sovereignty on 27 July 1990 over Soviet laws.

On 25 August 1991, after the

Republic of Belarus.[27] On 8 December 1991 it was a signatory, along with Russia and Ukraine, of the Belovezha Accords, which replaced the Soviet Union with the Commonwealth of Independent States
. Belarus received independence on 25 December 1991. A day later the Soviet Union ceased to exist. However, the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Republic of Belarus of 1978, was retained after independence.

Politics and government

The Supreme Soviet of Byelorussia met for its legislative sessions in Minsk.

Until 1990, Byelorussia was a

Supreme Soviet of Byelorussia
, also dominated by the Communist Party.

Belarus is the legal successor of the Byelorussian SSR and in its Constitution it states, "Laws, decrees and other acts which were applied in the territory of the Republic of Belarus prior to the entry into force of the present Constitution shall apply in the particular parts thereof that are not contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus."[29]

Foreign relations

On the international stage, Byelorussia (along with Ukraine) was one of only two republics of the Soviet Union to be separate members of the United Nations. Both republics and the Soviet Union joined the UN when the organization was founded with the other 50 states on 24 October 1945. In effect, this provided the Soviet Union (a permanent Security Council member with veto powers) with another 2 votes in the General Assembly.

Apart from the UN, the Byelorussian SSR was a member of the

as a Union Republic.

Demographics

According to the

1959 Soviet Census
, the population of the republic were made up as follows:

Ethnicities (1959):

The largest cities were:

Culture

Cuisine

Draniki, the national dish

Whilst part of the Union, the

stewed. Typically, Byelorussians eat a light breakfast and two hearty meals, with dinner being the largest meal of the day. Wheat and rye breads are consumed in Belarus, but rye is more plentiful because conditions are too harsh for growing wheat. Many of the cuisines within Byelorussia also shared its cuisine with Russia and Poland
.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Historical names:
    • 1920–1936: Byelorussian Socialist Soviet Republic (Беларуская Сацыялістычная Савецкая Рэспубліка; Белорусская Социалистическая Советская Республика
  2. ^ In interwar Soviet Belarus, between 1924 and 1938, four languages were official, namely, Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish.[1]
  3. ^ Some parts, e.g., Švenčionys, Šalčininkai, Dieveniškės, Adutiškis, Druskininkai, were annexed in 1939 from Poland to Byelorussia, but passed to Lithuania in 1940
  4. ^ Belarusian: Беларуская ССР, romanizedByelaruskaya SSR;
    Russian: Белорусская ССР, romanized: Belorusskaya SSR
  5. Soviet historiography the term "SSRB" was suppressed, but there is documentary evidence of the usage of the term SSRB rather than BSSR, see, e.g., A 1992 cancellation of a 1921 SSRB laws[permanent dead link
    ]

References

  1. .
  2. ^ 28 July 1990 from Art. 6 of the Constitution of the Byelorussian SSR, the provision on the monopoly of the Communist Party of Byelorussia on power was excluded
  3. ^ L. N. Drobaŭ (1971). Art of Soviet Byelorussia. Avrora.
  4. ^ Webster's (1978). Webster's Encyclopedia of Dictionaries New American Edition. Webster's.
  5. .
  6. ^ Язэп Юхо (Joseph Juho) (1956) Аб паходжанні назваў Белая і Чорная Русь (About the Origins of the Names of White and Black Ruthenia).
  7. .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. .
  12. .
  13. .
  14. ^ a b Great Soviet Encyclopedia 1st edition, Volume 5, p.378-413, 1927
  15. ^ В. Ф. Кушнер. Грамадска-палітычнае жыццё ў БССР у 1920—1930–я гг. Гісторыя Беларусі (у кантэксьце сусьветных цывілізацыяў) p. 370.
  16. ^ 600 000 ахвяраў — прыблізная лічба Archived 11 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine: з І. Кузьняцовым гутарыць Руслан Равяка // Наша Ніва, 3 кастрычніка 1999.
  17. ^ Ігар Кузьняцоў. Рэпрэсіі супраць беларускай iнтэлiгенцыi і сялянства ў 1930—1940 гады. Лекцыя 2. Archived 3 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine // «Беларускі Калегіюм», 15 чэрвеня 2008.
  18. ^ "Belarus". European Jewish Congress. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  19. ^ a b (in English) "Genocide policy". Khatyn.by. SMC "Khatyn". 2005. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  20. ^ Vitali Silitski (May 2005). "Belarus: A Partisan Reality Show" (PDF). Transitions Online: 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2006.
  21. ^ "The tragedy of Khatyn – Genocide policy". SMC Khatyn. 2005. Archived from the original on 25 February 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  22. ^ a b ПОСТАНОВЛЕНИЕ ВЕРХОВНОГО СОВЕТА БЕЛОРУССКОЙ ССР от 25 августа 1991 г. № 1019-XII «Об обеспечении политической и экономической самостоятельности Белорусской ССР»
  23. ^ ЗАКОН БЕЛОРУССКОЙ ССР от 25 августа 1991 г. N 1018-XII «О внесении изменений и дополнений в Конституцию (Основной Закон) Белорусской ССР»
  24. ^ Постановление Верховного Совета Республики Беларусь от 18 сентября 1991 г. № 1078-XII «О делегировании народных депутатов БССР и народных депутатов СССР в состав Совета Республик Верховного Совета СССР от Белорусской ССР»
  25. ^ Постановление Верховного Совета Республики Беларусь от 19 сентября 1991 г. № 1087-XII «О делегировании народных депутатов СССР в состав Совета Союза Верховного Совета СССР от Республики Беларусь»
  26. ^ Постановление Верховного Совета Республики Беларусь от 20 сентября 1991 г. № 1101-XII «О таможенной службе Республики Беларусь»
  27. ^ Закон Республики Беларусь № 1085-XII от 19 сентября 1991 года № 1085-XII «О названии Белорусской Советской Социалистической Республики и внесении изменений в Декларацию Верховного Совета Белорусской Советской Социалистической Республики о государственном суверенитете Белорусской Советской Социалистической Республики и Конституцию (Основной Закон) Белорусской ССР»
  28. ^ Закон Белорусской ССР от 28 июля 1990 г. №212-XII "Об изменениях и дополнениях Конституции (Основного Закона Белорусской ССР)"
  29. ^ Constitution of Belarus, Art. 142.

Further reading

External links