Enduring Belarus: yesterday, today and well into the future

Belarus is developing while pursuing social consolidation 

The ideology of the Belarusian state envisages a number of worldview values that set the reference points for our activity. They encompass the highest values that ultimately affect the development of strategic goals and the implementation of sustainable development programmes for the country. The date of September 17th, 1939, is significant for us in this context.

On September 17th, Belarus celebrates National Unity Day 

Focus of attention  

Amidst the growing global geopolitical instability and regional international tension, the need to protect and strengthen the foundations of sovereignty and national security comes to the forefront of state-building. One of the essential facets of our national idea can be formulated as follows: Belarus has a centuries-long history that will continue well into the future!  

The Head of State has repeatedly emphasised this paramount, value-based worldview principle in his strategic and operational activities — the presence of sovereign and prosperous Belarus in the modern global community must be consistently supported with due care for its territory and population, relying on strong authority and productive governance.  

This is where the factor of national unity manifests itself. September 17th serves as a symbolic focal point, capturing the substantial layer of memory about our historical past, presenting mechanisms for maintaining national consolidation, outlining paths to social well-being, ensuring political stability, and enhancing the country’s international prestige.  

Historical justice  

The inclusion of the western Belarusian lands into the BSSR (Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic) in 1939 became a symbol of historical justice. This holds enduring value for us. The slogan ‘There is only Poland — it is only for Poles’ was the leitmotif behind the political actions of the Polish authorities who followed their geopolitical ambitions during the interwar period. As a result, Belarusians faced various forms of discrimination, from socio-economic to national and religious.  
The decline in living standards for the overwhelming majority of peasants and workers in Western Belarus led to the emergence and strengthening of the national liberation movement. A fundamental desire — to be called humans and to remain Belarusians — arose from the depths of the people’s spirit. 
The programmes of all Belarusian political parties and public movements featured the reunification of our people as the major goal. The concluding act ensuring the reunification process was the liberation campaign by the Red Army.  
In October – November 1939, the Declaration of Entry and the law On the Incorporation of Western Belarus into the BSSR were adopted by the authorised representatives. This is how historical justice was legitimised, a fundamental historical goal — the restoration of territorial integrity — was achieved, and the Belarusian people was united as a whole. The reunification enabled Belarusians to mount serious resistance to the German fascist invasion and our country to take its rightful place in the post-war world order following the defeat of Nazi Germany.

National consolidation  

Our unity contains a valuable national code. We can determine our territorial borders. National consolidation allows bringing everyone together and showing what society and the state cherish about the past, what they strive for in the future, and how they contribute to unlocking the full potential of the nation. After all, no country may exist without a committed and cohesive people.  
During the interwar period, the Polish authorities, realising the significance of the national factor, did everything in their internal policy to quickly and permanently Polonise Western Belarusians, to deprive them of their national memory and obliterate Belarusian cultural heritage. The most visible and tangible denationalisation of Belarusians occurred in education and enlightenment.  
By the decision of the Polish government, teachers came from Poland, the vast majority of whom were Polish by birth. Thus, out of 275 teachers in the primary schools of Grodno District, only eight were Belarusians. They were faced with a choice — either to accept Catholicism and teach in Polish, or to lose their jobs and be left without means of existence.  
The events of September 1939, fortunately, interrupted the course of those absurd actions. We managed to avoid the Polonisation of a large part of the population and to preserve our nationhood.  
Belarusian-language periodicals appeared in all provincial cities and district centres. The interests of national minorities residing in the western territories were also taken into account. By 1941, there had been established 987 Polish schools, 173 Russian, 168 Jewish, 63 Lithuanian, and 43 Ukrainian ones there.  
What was achieved during that short-term period became a powerful foundation for the post-war socio-cultural and national-ethnic development of the region and the country as a whole.

Strong authority  

The reunification of Western Belarus with the BSSR revealed another facet of national unity as the highest value of our country — the presence of strong authority. Its significance in the unifying process manifested in two directions as the effectiveness at all levels of state administration and the patriotic support of authoritative decisions.
The effectiveness and patriotism of our authority have manifested in full at all stages of the post-war history. During the times of Soviet construction, authoritative management actions contributed to the country’s emergence at the forefront of industrial society.  

The attainment of independence marked a new phase in creating our modern statehood. The institution of presidency occupies a central place in this process. Its 30-year history has convinced us that this institution has taken on the functions of forming a system of state sovereignty and the foundations of national consolidation in society under new, post-Soviet conditions.  

The President of Belarus — Aleksandr Lukashenko — has become the epicentre of the collective and unifying work in the country. His will, energy, commitment, and skilled strategy and tactics have contributed to Belarus taking up contemporary, post-industrial positions and facilitated the smooth integration of the country into the emerging configuration of a multipolar world, asserting national consensus and cohesion within society. 

Fact

By the 1938–1939 academic year, there were no Belarusian schools left in Western Belarus. This was also Warsaw’s position regarding Belarusian organisations engaged in cultural and educational activities — by 1939, most of them had been closed or expelled. The essence of the entire educational policy was that the Polish authorities of that time did everything to deprive Belarusians of national identity and turn them into an impersonal resource for solving their geopolitical plans. 

To the point

Almost two years before the war, the necessary national-political and cultural potential was created in the western region — theatres were opened, and higher and secondary educational institutions were established. Teaching in schools largely began to be conducted in the Belarusian language, with intensified efforts to eliminate illiteracy.

By Viktor Vatyl, Doctor of Political Sciences, Chairman of the Belarusian Society of Political Scientists