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The Belarusian People’s Republic, known locally as Belarus (Belarusian: Беларусь) but internationally as White Ruthenia, is a nation in Eastern Europe. It borders Ukraine to the south, Lithuania to the west, the United Baltic Duchy to the northwest, and Russia to the north and east. Formed during the chaos of the Russian Civil War, White Ruthenia is a German satellite, a member of the Reichspakt and the Mitteleuropa economic bloc.

History[]

The Belarusian awakening[]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of a distinct Belarusian identity was just starting to take hold. Its supporters were various. The Krajowcy movement, a group of mostly Polish liberals from the landowning class, sought to revive the idea of Poland-Lithuania and its multicultural state. The Zapadnorusists, or West-Russianists, advocated for Belarus as an integral part of the Russian Empire. After the Revolution of 1905, the Belarusian Socialist Assembly, or Hramada, was founded, which saw Belarusian nationhood as rooted in socialism and the liberation of the peasant class, and it quickly became by far the largest Belarusian political organization. However the idea of Belarusian nationhood remained the province of a very small intellectual minority, with little grasp on the overwhelmingly rural and illiterate Belarusian population.

This situation began to change with the Weltkrieg. As German forces began to occupy parts of the Russian Empire, they took to supporting separatist movements as a means of weakening their enemies: First and foremost of course Russia, but also indirectly Poland, which Germany planned to isolate by especially backing ethnicities living on former Polish-controlled territory. When the February Revolution occurred in early 1917, most of Belarus was still under Russian control. Belarusian nationalists welcomed the new republic, as most of them supported Belarusian autonomy within Russia and not outright independence. In April, the various organizations formed the Congress of Belarusian National Organizations and appointed the Belarusian National Committee, headed by Raman Skirmunt, which in turn created the Regional Peasants’ Congress. They were rivaled by the Minsk Soviet (which was temporarily led by Mikhail Frunze), also known as the Regional Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants Deputies of Western Front, or Obliskomzap.

In July, the National Committee was reorganized by the Second Congress into the Central Rada (council) of Belarusian Organizations and in November it was reorganized again into the Great Belarusian Rada, absorbing the Central Belarusian Military Council. The very next day, the October Revolution broke out in Petrograd, and the Bolshevik coup was swiftly denounced by the Rada. On December 18th, the First All-Belarusian Congress was convened. Dominated by the Hramada, it proclaimed Belarusian self-determination and democratic government. The very next day, however, the Congress was violently shut down by the Obliskomzap; the Bolsheviks enjoyed strong support in the Belarusian territories.

Under German auspices[]

Undeterred, the All-Belarusian Congress met underground on January 3rd, 1918, electing a Rada and Executive Committee. It was at this time that peace talks between the Germans and Soviets broke down, causing the Germans to launch Operation Faustschlag and bring most of the Belarusian lands under their control. Now with some breathing room, on February 21st the Rada enacted the First Constituent Charter to the Peoples of Belarus, which created the People’s Secretariat, chaired by Jazep Varonka, as the provisional government of the country. It further called for the convention of an All-Belarusian Constituent Assembly as soon as possible.

The next month saw the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk making peace between Germany and the Soviets. The Germans agreed to evacuate most of the Belarusian lands, the status of which remained undefined. On the 9th, the Rada passed the Second Constituent Charter, declaring the Belarusian People’s Republic. It promised to uphold civil rights, to uphold national personal autonomy, to enact progressive labor laws, and most radically to abolish private land ownership. Several weeks later, the Third Constituent Charter was passed by the new Rada of the BNR, declaring unequivocally that it was an independent nation and cutting all ties with Soviet Russia.

The German position on Belarus was ambiguous. It did not recognize the BNR as an independent state, nor would it allow the Rada to raise armed forces, but it did approve of its efforts to take control of Belarusian territory, allowed autonomy in cultural matters, and provided financial support. In an effort to curry favor with their primary benefactor, the Rada voted to send a letter of gratitude to Wilhelm II in hope of receiving recognition (the Kaiser did not respond). This caused the Hramada, which had dominated the Rada since its beginning, to split in three ways. The Social-Democratic Party and Party of Socialist-Federalists were willing to work with the Germans in order to secure independence. The Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries decried the submission to German influence and left the Rada, with many of its members engaging in guerilla warfare against the Germans.

Despite the split, the BNR continued its work nation-building. A number of German officials, most notably Quartermaster-general Erich Ludendorff, became interested in the idea of a Belarusian nation, as they saw it as a means of weakening Polish influence and as a future part of the Oststaaten, a string of German satellites that would secure their power in Eastern Europe. They looked with suspicion at the largely socialistic composition of the Rada, but this was mollified when the BNR increased the representation of landowners in the second and third cabinets. In October, an interim constitution was passed that detailed the composition of a future parliament, the Sojm.

The BNR remained on the sidelines of the Russian Civil War, though in early 1919 the Western Volunteer Army encamped in Belarusian territory before launching its assault on Vitebsk. Slowly, the Germans weakened their restrictions on the Rada, eventually allowing the formation of the Belarusian National Army and German officers to train them. The Treaty of Minsk in 1920 finally recognized the BNR as a sovereign and independent state, though according to German preferences it would be referred to as White Ruthenia. To the dismay of some nationalists, White Ruthenia’s borders were much smaller than had been hoped, but the Germans wanted to create a defensible line between the Dnieper and Dvina Rivers, and the Belarusian position was simply too weak to object.

The early republic[]

With the international situation finally stabilized, the All-Belarusian Constituent Assembly was free to convene and draft a permanent constitution for the country. The first elections for the Sojm were held on September 25th. Although the left-wing parties predictably won by a large margin, it was agreed to form a broad, coalition government led by Raman Skirmunt to keep the Germans at ease. Nation-building began in earnest, with the founding of the Belarusian Institute of Culture (Inbelkult), the Central Military Academy, and the Belarusian State University all within the year. In 1924, realizing that the new government was here to stay, the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries gave up the armed struggle and returned to parliamentary politics, though its radical wing refused to give in and continued to work underground.

Though most of the political parties were in agreement on the basic goals of government policy, the reality of White Ruthenia’s situation presented major problems. The country had been born from a nationalist uprising, but one that commanded the attention of only a small, educated minority. Even once independence had been achieved, the national consciousness of the average Belarusian was practically non-existent, and solving that was not easy as the population was majority illiterate. Land reform, by far the most popular and important policy in an overwhelmingly agrarian nation, was stymied by knowledge that the German Empire would consider radical reform a dangerous sliding towards syndicalism. Therefore, the socialist-dominated government would have to adhere to a much more modest program than that which the Hramada had originally advocated.

In 1925, the BSDP reformed the Hramada as a coalition of left-wing parties including the BPS-F and BPS-R and with the support of the Jewish Labor Bund. The Hramada won an easy victory and Branisłaŭ Taraškievič became prime minister of the new socialist government. The administration continued to pursue improving education, land reform, and industrialization, though the slowness of reforms continued to provoke criticism on the more radical left. The center-right opposition of liberals and Christian democrats formed the National Democratic Association, but they proved unable to compete with the Hramada’s electoral supremacy, and the left carried the elections of 1928 and 1933.

Politics[]

The Belarusian People’s Republic is a parliamentary republic. Elections to the Sojm, the unitary legislature, are held every four years. The party or coalition with a majority of parliamentarians selects the prime minister. Though the president is head of state, his powers are almost entirely symbolic.

Political parties[]

Bielaruskaja sacyjal-demakratyčnaja partyja (BSDP; Belarusian Social-Democratic Party) - The principal successor to the old Hramada, the BSDP is the leading member of the new Hramada and has dominated politics since the country’s independence. Though espousing Marxism and agrarian socialism, it has evolved into a more moderate western-style social democratic party and has proven willing to maintain White Ruthenia’s reliance on Germany. However, the BSDP also contains a more radical wing that has grown unhappy with the slow pace of land reform.

Bielaruskaja partyja sacyjalistaŭ-fiederalistaŭ (BPS-F; Belarusian Party of Socialist-Federalists) - Formed from the centrist faction of the old Hramada, the BPS-F has been part of the ruling coalition with the new Hramada since 1925. During the Russian Civil War, the Federalists idealistically hoped for the formation of a World Federation though it ultimately opposed the brutal rule of the Soviets. Its members are notably supportive of rapprochement with the Russian Republic, though only one under democratic rule.

Bielaruskaja partyja sacyjalistaŭ-revaliucyjanieraŭ (BPS-R; Belarusian Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries) - Formed from the radical faction of the old Hramada, the BPS-R has arguably remained closest to its original platform. Its anti-German attitude forced it underground during the Russian Civil War, and although it eventually renounced revolutionary tactics and reentered politics, it remains the party most critical of White Ruthenia’s German overlords. The most radical part of the current Hramada, it is rumored that the party has been significantly infiltrated by the far-left Belarusian Revolutionary Organization.

Bielaruskaja narodnaja partyja (BNP; Belarusian People's Party) - The unofficial successor to Belarusian People’s Party of Socialists, the BNP is the ideological heir of the now-defunct Krajowcy movement, and one half of the National Democratic Association. A party of moderate democrats, liberals, and landowners, its leader Raman Skirmunt was twice prime minister, and its moderate attitude toward land reform ended up prevailing as it was the most pleasing to both Germany and the party’s landowning, minority-Polish base.

Bielaruskaja khryscijanskaja demakratyja (BKhD; Belarusian Christian Democracy) - One of the newest parties on the scene, the BKhD bases its ideology on the encyclical Rerum novarum and Catholic social teaching. As such, it supports progressive land reform and unionization but opposes the secularism of the left. Its base of power lies among the Catholic minority in the western part of the country, though its alliance with the Belarusian Peasants’ Union has increased its popularity in the Orthodox-majority east. It is the leading member of the center-right National Democratic Association.

Bielaruskaja sialianskaja partyja - zialionaha duba (BSP-ZD; Belarusian Peasant Party - Green Oak) - Originally a minor agrarian party founded by Viačaslaŭ Adamovič, the BPS-ZD was transformed into a radical nationalist party by Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski after he left the BPS-R. Though still maintaining its peasant roots, under Łastoŭski the party has become intensely pro-German, anti-socialist, and especially anti-Russian.

Algemeyner yidisher arbeter-bund (General Jewish Labor Bund) - Founded in the late nineteenth century, the Bund was the primary political organization of the Russian jewry. After the breakup of the empire the various local organizations continued to operate in the Oststaaten, and White Ruthenia was no exception. Socialist and secularist, the Bund seeks to protect Jewish cultural autonomy and promote the welfare of the Jewish working class, and it has been a strong ally of the Hramada throughout the republic’s existence.

Military[]

The Belarusian People’s Army is the sole branch of the armed forces. Though deriving originally from defectors from the old tsarist army, since independence the People’s Army has become the most thoroughly Germanized institution in White Ruthenia, largely dependent on the German military mission for officer training and equipment. Strategically, it is expected to bear the brunt of the initial offensive in any hypothetical conflict with Russia.

Economy[]

White Ruthenia is the poorest and least-developed member of Mitteleuropa. Most of the population is engaged in agriculture, and although most of the largest estates have been broken up, the agrarian situation remains a far cry from the ambitious promises of the original Hramada. When the new Hramada came to power in 1925, minister of agriculture Jan Sierada proposed a more ambitious program, but it has been very slow to take off despite Sierada’s expectation that it could be completed by 1939. Industry is minimal and largely financed with German capital. The All-Belarusian Congress of Trade Unions is the country’s national trade union centre, though in actuality the Jewish Labor Bund is the most powerful labor organization, as Jews make up a disproportionate amount of White Ruthenia’s urban-dwelling working class.

Foreign relations[]

White Ruthenia is a member of the Reichspakt and Mitteleuropa, and a steadfast if small part of Germany’s continental hegemony. The general leftward tendency of White Ruthenia’s politics has caused some tensions with the Kaiserreich ever since independence, but the ruling BSDP government has always kept steadfastly pro-German.

Relations with the Russian Republic are generally poor, mostly because of the suspicion that White Ruthenia would be one of the first targets of Russian revanchism.

Culture[]

The majority of the population of White Ruthenia is ethnic Belarusian, though the assertion of Belarusian identity is quite a recent phenomenon. The two noteworthy minority groups are Poles, who make up the majority of the traditional landowning class, and Jews, who dominate the country’s few modest urban centers. The Christian population is mostly Orthodox, with minorities of Roman Catholic (mostly Poles) and Greek Catholics concentrated in the western part of the country. A substantial number of Belarusians live outside of White Ruthenia’s borders in the neighboring parts of Russia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

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