Belarusian nationalism refers to the belief that Belarusians should constitute an independent nation. Belarusian nationalism began emerging in the mid-19th century, during the January Uprising against the Russian Empire. Belarus first declared independence in 1918 as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, but was subsequently invaded and annexed by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1919, becoming part of the Soviet Union in 1922. Belarusian nationalists both collaborated with and fought against Nazi Germany during World War II, and protested for the independence of Belarus during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Belarusian nationalism has historically been divided into two groups; pro-western and pro-Russian. These different groups have continually sought to take control from the other since the early 1860s. These groups are additionally divided along religious lines, with Catholics belonging to the pro-western camp and Eastern Orthodox Christians belonging to the pro-Russian. Various historical attempts have been made to unite Belarus under a singular religion, including the Ruthenian Uniate Church before 1917 and Protestantism in the 1920s, though these efforts all fell flat.
In Belarus, Belarusian nationalism is a controversial position. The government of Alexander Lukashenko has vacillated between promoting pro-Russian Belarusian nationalism and unification with Russia. Pro-western Belarusian nationalists have been tied to Axis collaboration with Nazi Germany by the government in an effort to discredit the Belarusian opposition and legitimize Lukashenko's rule. The pro-western group has countered Lukashenko's claims by associating themselves with the Belarusian resistance during World War II.
Origins Precedents
Certain Belarusian nationalists, among them Mikola Yermalovich, have cited the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the first Belarusian state. This theory is commonly called Litvinism. These ideas were co-opted by Belarusian nationalists following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Some members of the Belarusian opposition, among them Zianon Pazniak, have sought to cast Litvinism as a movement artificially inflated by the Russian government in an attempt to vilify Belarusian nationalism (precisely so that Belarusians would quarrel with Lithuanians about this, but he did not abandon the idea of the GDL as a Belarusian state). Moreover, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian scientists and even members of the anti-Lukashenko opposition narrated that the Lithuanian capital Vilnius historically was Belarusian and was established by the Belarusians.
Francysk Skaryna, a 16th-century book printer, has become a unifying figure of Belarusian nationalists since efforts began to establish his significance as a Belarusian figure in the 1920s. Skaryna, who was the first to translate the Bible into the "Simple speech" of the time, was initially rejected as a member of the "Polotsk bourgeoise" in the 1930s. However, following World War II, Skaryna's image saw a renaissance in Belarus, particularly in the face of unsuccessful efforts to transfer Polotsk to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1944. The 1969 film additionally brought recognition of Skaryna as a uniquely Belarusian figure. In a 2002 poll, he was regarded as a prominent Belarusian by 61.6%, strongly leading against Yanka Kupala, who placed second with 41.7% of respondents calling him a prominent Belarusian.
Another figure which has become associated with Belarusian nationalism is Tadeusz Kościuszko, leader of the Kościuszko Uprising. In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, recognition of Kościuszko, born near the southwestern Belarusian city of Kosava, as a Belarusian national hero began. Debate over the extent to which Kościuszko can be recognized as a Belarusian national hero has intensified since 2014, with monuments to Kościuszko being erected both within Belarus and by members of the Belarusian diaspora. In 2019, a claim by the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus that Kościuszko was Polish and American, rather than Belarusian, prompted widespread criticism and ridicule, leading the National Academy of Sciences to eventually walk back its former statement and note that he was a politician in Belarus, Poland, and the United States. Debate over Kościuszko's nationality has additional political dimensions, with pro-western groups generally taking the position of him being Belarusian and pro-Russian groups, among them the Belarusian government, casting him as Polish.
Interest in the Belarusian nation and language among intellectuals began in the early 19th century, as part of the Belarusian national revival. Among the leading figures of this period were Jan Barszczewski, Jan Czeczot, and Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich, who developed the basis of the modern Belarusian language. Barszczewski and Czeczot were among the first to develop the idea of Belarusians as a group separate from Poles. At this time, however, Belarusian nationalism did not emerge; instead, two competing schools of thought variously sought to place Belarus alongside Russia or Poland. The former school was referred to as West-Rusism. Konstanty Kalinowski, himself a follower of the Polonophile section of Belarusian intelligentsia, was the first to promote the idea of Belarus as an independent nation. Counter to him were some of the Belarusian language's most prominent linguists, among them Yefim Karsky.
Belarusian nationalists historically have placed blame on the 1839 dissolution of the Ruthenian Uniate Church during the Synod of Polotsk as having had a strongly detrimental effect on the Belarusian nation. However, historian Grigory Ioffe has debated this, noting that while a separation exists between those whose families historically held Catholic and Eastern Orthodox views and President Alexander Lukashenko has promoted anti-Catholic views, there is little to no open conflict between the two churches. Additionally, Ioffe has placed Belarusians' atheism and the relatively-fast growth of Protestantism as diluting historical religious tensions.
Konstanty Kalinowski and the January Uprising
Belarusian nationalism began to emerge in the early 1860s, during the prelude to the January Uprising. The publishing of Mużyckaja prauda, the first newspaper written in the modern Belarusian language, began in 1861 under the leadership of Konstanty Kalinowski (). The newspaper advocated against the Russian Empire, called for the restoration of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Eastern Catholicism (which became unpopular after the large-scale return to the historical Belarusian faith of Eastern Orthodoxy), and spoke in support of land reform. In contrast, the West-Rusists, led by Mikhail Koyalovich (Kalinowski's primary political rival within Belarus), believed the Belarusians were a subset of the Russian nation, and advocated for the conversion of Catholics to Eastern Orthodoxy.
When the January Uprising began, Kalinowski sought to foment rebellion in Belarus. According to his later writings, he aligned himself with Poland because, "the Polish cause is our cause, the cause of freedom." A total of 260 battles were fought in the territory of what is now Belarus and Lithuania, according to Imperial Russian data. An estimated 67,957 people participated in the Uprising from Belarus and Lithuania, of whom at least one third were from the peasantry (forming the Reds, the left wing of the Uprising), in contrast to the Uprising's aristocratic leadership (making up the Whites, the right wing).
However, the January Uprising was swiftly crushed by the Russian Army. A total of 180 people were executed by Tsarist authorities for participation in the January Uprising, though the percentage of whom were peasants is disputed. Just over a year after the Uprising's beginning, Kalinowski himself was hanged in Vilnius. Kalinowski's Letters from Beneath the Gallows became a rallying cry for Belarusian nationalists, with its condemnation of the "Muscovites" and call to fight alongside Polish rebels. A portion of one of the letters is included below:
In spite of his later prestige, Kalinowski was a polarising figure at the time of his death, with Kalinowski's political opponent describing him as a "Lithuanian separatist." , on the other hand, a member of the Uprising's Polish National Government, called Kalinowski, "a true apostle of the Belarusian people." Kalinowski was also idolized by Polish rebels as a supporter of Polish nationalism. Regardless of differing views on his legacy, Kalinowski began to emerge as a Belarusian national hero during the 1930s, as Soviet educational institutions emphasized his role in history. Following the defeat of the January Uprising, Belarusian nationalism faded from consciousness, amidst competition between Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian nationalists.
The Russian Revolution and Belarusian Democratic Republic
Beginning in the 1890s, Belarusian nationalism began to re-emerge. Francišak Bahuševič's 1891 call for Belarusians to identify with their nation was followed by the foundation of Nasha Niva in Vilnius in 1909. The Belarusian Socialist Assembly, a left-wing political party calling for the independence of Belarus, was founded in 1902. Attempts were also made to restore the Uniate Church, with Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Andrey Sheptytsky making a secret visit to Belarus at the behest of nationalist leaders Ivan Luckievič and Anton Luckievich, though nothing developed from it. Belarusian nationalism found particular growth in northern and central Belarus, where religious plurality was more common than the Catholic West and Orthodox East. However, nationalists faced the problems of apathy and hostility from their countrymen: With the majority of the intelligentsia becoming convinced of Belarusian nationalism only in the 1890s, few Belarusians, the majority of whom were peasants, had any unique Belarusian national consciousness, and primarily identified with Poland or Russia, depending on their religion. Nationalists were also opposed by the local intellectuals of peasant and clerical origins; those who were not rooted in the old Polonized aristocracy or gentry. These intellectuals are referred to as West-Rusists or . One of the leading voices of the West-Rusists was historian and journalist Lukyan Solonevich, the father of anti-Soviet dissident and Tsarist philosopher Ivan Solonevich, as well as author Boris Solonevich.
World War I initially brought little in terms of growth for Belarusian nationalism. However, following the February Revolution, public discussion began to take place on the future of the Belarusian nation. Left- and right-leaning groups, among them the Belarusian Socialist Assembly and the Belarusian Christian Democracy. Following the October Revolution, the First All-Belarusian Congress was held, bringing together representatives from throughout Belarus. At the Congress, it was agreed to pursue independence, but disagreements between the left and right wings emerged over when to declare independence. The right, informally referred to as radaŭcami and consisting of delegates from the Belarusian Christian Democracy and Western Belorussia, sought immediate independence. On the other hand, the left, called the ablasnikami and made up of delegates from the Belarusian Socialist Assembly and Eastern Belorussia, sought temporary confederation with Russia as a more realistic alternative within the context of World War I and widespread poverty in Belarus. At the Congress' conclusion, a compromise was reached. However, following the compromise, supporters of the Bolsheviks stormed the building, brawling with delegates.