For people unfamiliar with history of Bielarus, it might seem that since day one, Soviet communists tried to suppress ideas of national revival in this country. In the way, they are right; the ideology of communism could not co-exist peacefully with ideas of nationalism, not in the same boat at least. Numerous examples of the Red Terror nourished by communists are well researched and documented. However, they did not always follow unmerciful and bloody policies prescribed by doctrines of communism. At some point in time, communists did consider and even strived to revive nationalistic sentiments on the territories under their rule.

At the Seventh Party Congress in March 1919, an idea was promoted to

“…use national questions as a vital factor of revolutionary dynamics in exploding and breaking up the socialists’ society.”

In the words of Nickolas Vackar

“…both Lenin and Pilsudski considered Belarusian national self-determination as a revolutionary dynamic and an expedient”.

Today, we know that by playing with idea of national revival, Communists strived to promote “World revolution”, to turn local population against Whites and as U.M. Ihnatouski, a historian and political activist of that time noted, “to Bolshevize the Belarusian masses.”

But all these said with historical hindsight in mind. Back than, not many could fully predict what would be born from a hotbed of the October Revolution. Ideas of revival so “open-heartedly” sponsored by Bolsheviks felt like a wind of change for many who cared about true cultural revitalization in Belarus. Yes, some of them understood hidden agendas behind Bolshevik’s promises but, at the same time many hoped that Bolshevism won’t last forever. And most importantly, a territory proclaimed as Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic was recognized as an official state equal in rights with other members of the USSR. The grounds of the future Belarusian state were laid down and even expanded by Bolsheviks who returned Mogilev, Vitebsk, Gomel and Rechica districts to BSSR, boosting its population from 1,5 million to 5 million. Having sharply defined borders and recognized nationhood, appealed to many Belarusian nationalists even though the Bolsheviks system of government was imposed on them. And they were eager to jump into an action…

Thus, starting in the early twenties, Belarussification rapidly took off in BSSR. Usievalad Ihnatouski, now a commissar of education, argued that:

“Belarusian culture is the culture of the working masses of Belarusians. It is a culture of the significant majority of these masses…We have to develop and strengthen the courts, administration, and organs of the economy and government, where use of Belarusian and familiarity with Belarusian culture and every-day life would agree with the needs of the majority of Bielarus’s working masses.”

His words supplemented plans of communists and all of sudden, Belarusian language was set as the official language of the Republic while Belarusian nationality announced predominant. The motions about “younger brothers of Russians”, “North-western district” and “inseparable cultural ties” were gone with a wind. An unthinkable happened; the Russian language was nearly totally banned from use in schools, offices and courts. N. Vakar mentions that people who spoke mixed dialects were denounced as “Muscovites”. It seems to me that had Alexander Lukashenka, a current President of Belarus, lived back in the yearly twenties, he would be denounced as the “Muscovite of all the times”. Well…anyway, granted that they show adherence to Bolshevism, Belarusian leaders were given a “go-ahead” signal to revive nationalistic sentiments among population.

While, Belarusification stumbled a bit in some rural areas of Belarus, the cities and towns were grasped by it. An Institute of Belarusian Culture was founded in Minsk in 1921. Later it became the Belarusian Academy of Science with seven departments and eight committees dedicated to research in fields such as archeology, history, folklore, language. The next followed Belarus State University, State Publishing Office, National Theater, Agricultural academy, School of Medicine, Veterinarian Institute, teachers colleges, museums and so on and forth.

In 1925, there were 4000 elementary and 261 secondary schools attended by 350,000 children. All subjects were taught in Belarusian language and Russian language was giving a status of the foreign language just like German, Polish or French. The numbers are stunning because I can recall only one “all-Belarusian” secondary school in Belarus since this Republic gained its Independence in yearly 1990’s. In my own school, all but Belarusian Language and Literature classes were taught in Russian, even history of Belarus…

In 1928, there were four Belarusian institutions of higher education, six worker’s colleges, thirty technical schools, thirty-four trade schools and 277 eight-year public schools. While some historians question quality of education at these institutions, many note that youth responded with enthusiasm for learning various subjects in Belarusian language. And it might be considered as a big break through for Belarusian nationalism.

Although Russian communists controlled Armed Forces (98.3 per cent of man-power was non-Belarusians) and law enforcement units, they rigorously participated in denouncing everything Russian-like from Bielarus. As it was mentioned before, new legislation required state employees to be fluent in Belarusian and scientific terms or words of Russian origin were replaced by western synonyms. The history books were rewritten in a manner that would appeal to Belarusian nationalists and steps were made to promote an idea that Belarusians had never had any cultural or historical ties with Russia or Russians!

The success of Belarusification was stunning and Soviet government in Moscow nourished another idea: “The Mongol Project”. The idea was to ignite Belarusian uprising in Poland, dismiss Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Soviet Union and start a war with Poland for Western districts of Belarus which were under Polish rule at that time. At the end, Soviets intended to create Belarusian Socialist Democratic Republic under protection of the Soviet Union, just like Mongol Republic, hence the name of the project. The idea had never been realized but it spurred Belarusification in even greater temps.

Economically, BSSR was getting better as a result of the new economic policy promoted by Lenin. While many things were nationalized, the private sector developed productive trade with the cities. In general, it was much better than ever before and hopes for brighter future were flying high among middle and lower classes. At the same time, radio stations were built in Minsk and Gomel, new buildings were built along with 171 power plants. Industrial output, although not as successful as agricultural industry, surpassed the pre-war level by 230 per cent in 1928. Electric light became a less or more common commodity in rural areas where not long ago it would be an unthinkable luxury. At the same time, collective farming did not do well. Only 0.7 per cent of the arable land belonged to collective farms in 1925.

However, with all said and done, it would be naïve to assume that a process of Belarusification did not see its share of violence and excesses. After all, life under the Soviets could not be separated from political surveillance and censorship. A detailed post regarding Red Terror and Soviet purges will be posted a bit later, however, let me mention some of them here:
In 1921, Soviet authorities deported to the Northern Russia inhabitants of Belarusian villages Zafrantcuskaya greblya, Repishcha, Ganutava, Semkava Slabada. Residents of these villages were suspected in collaborating with anti-Bolshevik guerrilla group called “Green Oak”. These were the first mass deportations on the territory of the BSSR.
In 1922, Soviet secret police executed 1691 priests, 1962 monks and 3447 nuns. About 15 000 people serving different religious sects and cults were executed without any, even symbolical, court hearings. And here, we are talking about Belarus alone!
Reflecting on the changes, Janka Kupala was equally critical of Polish and Soviet policies in his play “Tuteshni” (Common Folk). Jakub Kolas denounced Moscow treachery in Riga. And many other writers and intellectuals demanded freedom for all classes, not only workers or peasants.

To be continued…

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