{"id":348346,"date":"2014-12-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/?page_id=348346"},"modified":"2014-12-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T00:00:00","slug":"history-of-the-war-overview","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/archives.gov.by\/en\/welcome-to-the-archives-of-belarus-website\/subject-guides-to-archival-records\/historical-events\/archival-documents-and-materials-2\/history-of-the-war-overview","title":{"rendered":"History of the war (overview)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\r\nBackground
\r\nDevelopment of the military conflict <\/a>
\r\nEntry of the Russian Empire in the war, military operations in \r\nBelarusian lands <\/a>
\r\n Situation in the unoccupied territory of Belarus<\/a>
\r\n Situation in the occupied territory of Belarus<\/a>
\r\n Consequences of the war <\/a>
\r\n Memory of the war <\/a>\r\n<\/div>
\r\n

At the beginning of the 20th century, two opposing \r\nalliances were formed in Europe: the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy\r\n(the Central Powers)<\/b> and the\r\nTriple Entente of Great Britain, France and Russia\r\n(the Allies)<\/b>. The alliance members strove for supremacy in Europe and around \r\nthe world. The \r\ncolonial division of the globe had already been completed. Europe entered the phase when \r\nthe economic and political differences \r\nbetween \r\nthe countries with major colonial holdings (Great Britain and France) and the German Empire, \r\nwhich was founded in the second half of the \r\n19th century and sought for dominance, and her allies reached their \r\npeak.<\/p>\r\n

Each country pursued its \r\nown interests and sought to accomplish its goals at the cost of neighbours. \r\nGermany, who found herself deprived of territories and markets during their \r\ndivision, strove to defeat her economic rivals: to strip Great Britain of \r\ncolonial power and mighty navy, to weaken long-time rival France and seize its colonies as well, and to capture a \r\nsubstantial part of Poland and the Baltics from Russia. \r\nAustria-Hungary sought to strengthen its position in the Balkans at the cost of \r\nSerbia and Montenegro. Germany’s ally Turkey targeted to reconquer some areas in \r\nTranscaucasia taken by Russia previously. Bulgaria, supported by \r\npowerful player on the European scene Germany, strove to strengthen its \r\nposition in the Balkans and settle its territorial claims in Serbia. <\/p>\r\n

The Russian Empire had long dreamed of getting control over the Straights of \r\nBosporus and Dardanelles and had plans for Galicia, then part of \r\nAustria-Hungary. Small Serbia targeted to gain Russian support and \r\nprotect itself against the invasion of powerful neighbours Austria-Hungary and Turkey. \r\nRomania targeted to solve problems in relations with its neighbour \r\nAustria-Hungary.
\r\n
\r\nThe different geopolitical position forced each nation to choose which side to support \r\nin the increasing confrontation. The mass of \r\ncontradictions between the states led to the outbreak of the \r\nlargest war in \r\nhistory which affected dozens of \r\ncountries across the whole globe. It is noteworthy that in most \r\nbelligerent countries the desire to pursue goals by means of war \r\nwas strong not only in the ruling circles \r\nbut was supported by the public opinion \r\nas well. Patriotic enthusiasm was observed in almost all countries. All sides \r\nexpected the conflict to be a short one and would solve many arising problems. <\/p> \r\n

\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n<\/p>\r\n

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n

The immediate trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz \r\nFerdinand, heir to \r\nthe throne of Austria-Hungary, in the Bosnian town of Sarajevo. He \r\nwas shot on 15 (28 N.S.) June 1914 by Serbian nationalist Gabrilo Princip, member of an \r\nillegal organisation that aimed to liberate the South Slavic peoples from the \r\nAustro-Hungarian dominance and to unite them into a single state. <\/p>\r\n

Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia of supporting the organisers of the \r\nassassination and on 9 (23) July issued her an ultimatum demanding to stop anti-Austrian propaganda, \r\ndismiss all officers and officials involved in the plot and \r\nallow Austro-Hungarian police to search and trial \r\nterrorists in Serbia. Germany strongly pressed her ally for anti-Serbian actions and on 11 \r\n(25) July started a secret mobilisation of reservists, without a public \r\nannouncement. <\/p>\r\n

The Serbian government accepted all terms of the ultimatum, except the \r\none claiming that Austrian police visit the country. Despite this, \r\nAustria-Hungary announced war on Serbia on 15 (28) July 1914. In support of \r\nSerbia, her ally Russia ordered partial mobilisation and then general \r\nmobilisation on\u00a018 (31) July. At the same time, partial mobilisation was \r\nannounced in France. Austria-Hungary’s ally Germany demanded Russia to stop \r\nmobilisation. After receiving a refusal, Germany declared war on Russia on \r\n19 July (1 August) 1914 <\/b>and on France on 21 July (3 August). Great Britain \r\nannounced a state of war with Germany on 22 July (4 August) and with Japan on 10 \r\n(23) August. Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia on 24 July (6 August). \r\nTurkey joined the war on the side of Austria-Hungary and Germany on 16 (29) \r\nOctober 1914. Italy, previously allied with Austria and Germany, joined the \r\nTriple Entente in May 1915 and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers in the autumn of 1915, \r\nwhile Romania joined the Allies in the summer of 1916 and the United States \r\njoined the Allies in 1917. <\/p>\r\n

The combat operations in Western Europe spread mainly in Belgium and northern \r\nFrance. In Eastern Europe the fighting took place in Poland, \r\nWestern Ukraine and later in Romania. On the Caucasian theatre the war spread \r\nin the area of Kars, then part of the Russian Empire. <\/p>\r\n

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n

As the international situation worsened, the Council of Ministers of the \r\nRussian Empire on 13 (26) July 1914, a few days before the outbreak of war, adopted a resolution “On the introduction of the period preparatory to war”. \r\nThis document started mobilisation activities and conscription of recruits and \r\nreservists into the active army, particularly in the provinces of Vilna, Grodno, Minsk, \r\nVitebsk and Mogilev, which was the first \r\nsign of the increasing military conflict. <\/p>\r\n

On 19 July (1 August) 1914, the day when Germany declared war on \r\nRussia, certain measures were taken to improve control of the troops: the \r\nVilna Military District was divided into Minsk \r\n(headquarters in Minsk) and Dvinsk (headquarters in Dvinsk, \r\nnow Daugavpils, Latvia) military districts, which\u00a0included Belarusian lands. On 20 July (2 \r\nAugust) 1914, Emperor Nicholas II signed a manifesto on the beginning of hostilities between Russia and \r\nGermany. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In the beginning of war, the Russian armed forces in the western \r\ndirection formed the Northwestern Front on the border with East Prussia, then part of Germany, and the Southwestern Front on the border with Galicia, then \r\npart of Austria-Hungary. The General Headquarters of the Supreme \r\nCommander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces the Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich Romanov, \r\nuncle of Emperor Nicholas II\u00a0was located in the town of Baranovichi. <\/p> \r\n

The military operations of Russian troops in 1914-1915 in East Prussia \r\nand Poland were unable to stop the advance of enemy into the Russian interior. In the summer of 1915, during the so-called \r\ngreat retreat, the Russian troops \r\nleft Galicia, Lithuania and most of Poland. On 22 July (4 August) they left \r\nWarsaw. In this period Belarus was still behind the enemy line. However, in \r\nFebruary 1915 the German aeroplanes and dirigibles\u00a0already bombarded the environs \r\nof Grodno and the German artillery shelled the town from the River Nieman. The \r\nwar approached Belarusian lands. <\/p>\r\n

On 4 (17) August 1915, the Northwestern Front was divided into Western \r\nFront <\/b>(headquarters in Minsk, the front troops occupied large part of \r\nBelarusian lands – from the Lake Naroch to the River Pripiat) and \r\nNorthern Front <\/b>(the troops in the area of modern-day Belarus were \r\npositioned to the south of Braslav). A small part of Belarusian territory in the \r\nsouth, on the right bank of the River Pripiat was in the zone of \r\nSouthwestern Front. <\/p>\r\n

The German troops advanced in the various sections of Western Front. On 13 \r\n(26) August, the Russian army left Brest-Litovsk and on 21 August (3 September) \r\nGrodno. <\/p>\r\n

As the enemy approached, General Headquarters moved from \r\nBaranovichi to Mogilev. On 23 August (5 September) 1915, Russian Emperor \r\nNicholas II assumed the post of the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army. <\/p>\r\n

In late August – September 1915, <\/b>the Russian troops conducted Vilna Operation<\/b>. On 27 August (9 September), \r\nthe German troops advanced towards Sventsiany into the gap between \r\nRussian armies (the so-called Sventsiany Breakthrough). On 1 (14) September, German cavalry \r\ndivisions captured Vileika, approached Molodechno and cut the railway line \r\nPolotsk-Molodechno. On 2 (15) September the Germans captured Smorgon and on\u00a05 \r\n(18) September Vilna.\u00a0On the approach to Molodechno on 3 (16) \r\nSeptember 1915 \r\ntheir advance was however stopped.\u00a0In a counterattack the Russian troops defeated \r\nthe German cavalry and threw it back from Molodechno to the Lake Naroch, on 7-8 \r\n(20-21) September they pushed \r\nthe Germans to the outskirts of Smorgon and on 10 (23) September liberated Vileika.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

On 2 (15) September, the Russian troops left Slonim and Pinsk and on 9 (22) \r\nSeptember Novogrudok. <\/p>\r\n

In October 1915 near Smorgon the Russian troops were attacked\u00a0for the \r\nfirst time in Belarusian territory by poison gas. Later the belligerents occasionally used chemical weapons \r\nin combat operations. The effective means of personal protection against \r\ngas attacks were quickly created, such as gas masks. However, thousands of \r\nmen died or were injured by poison gas. <\/p>\r\n

The basic small arms of Russian soldiers was the 1891 Mosin rifle. New types of \r\nmodern weapons were machine guns\u00a0and flamethrowers. Automobiles were rather \r\nwidely used. Telephone \r\ncommunication was common. <\/p>\r\n

In October 1915, German dirigibles bombarded Minsk. Russian aviation, \r\naeroplanes and aerostats were extensively used as well. The largest aircraft \r\nin the First World War was \r\nbomber “Ilya Muromets” which was effective on the Russian Western Front. <\/p>\r\n

In late October 1915,<\/b> the front stabilised on the line \r\nDvinsk\u2013Postavy\u2013Smorgon\u2013Baranovichi\u2013Pinsk and <\/b>settled into a battle of attrition and trench warfare<\/b>.\r\n

However, several other large battles took place in Belarus. In support of the French allies, who \r\nfiercely fought Germans in \r\nnorthern France, the Russian troops on 5 (18)\u201315 (28) March 1916 <\/b>conducted \r\nNaroch Operation<\/b>. \r\nThe troops of the Northern left flank and the Western right flank attempted an \r\noffensive in the area of Dvinsk – \r\nLake Naroch. They faced terrible weather conditions, \r\nno roads and poor\u00a0support from the artillery. As a result, they \r\nachieved small tactical success but suffered heavy losses (78,500 men were killed \r\nor \r\nwounded only in one of the Russian armies that took part in the battle). German \r\ncasualties were 30,000 to 49,000. Nevertheless, this \r\noperation diverted substantial German forces from fighting in Western \r\nEurope. <\/p>\r\n

To support the Russian offensive against Austro-Hungarian troops on the Southwestern Front, the \r\ntroops of the Western Front on 19 June \u2013 16 July (2\u201329 July) 1916 <\/b>\r\nconducted Baranovichi Operation<\/b>. The strike was blown in the area \r\nof Gorodishche-Baranovichi. However, a weak artillery support, lack of ammunition \r\nand rifles and bad administration of troops made it impossible to break a well-equipped defensive line of the enemy. \r\nThe killed, wounded \r\nand prisoners were nearly 80,000, over three times exceeding \r\nthe losses of Germany and Austria-Hungary. <\/p>\r\n

The Provisional Government that came to power after the February Revolution \r\nsupported the continuance of war to a victorious end. However, by Order\u00a0 \u2116 \r\n1 issued by the Petrograd Soviet on 1 (14) March 1917 the army units were placed under \r\nthe control of Soviets and soldier committees. The principle of the unity of command was abolished, \r\nsoldier committees focused their attention on political rather than \r\nmilitary issues, all weapons were handed to the company and battalion \r\ncommittees. In May 1917, soldiers received a right of membership in \r\npolitical parties and participation in rallies.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

In the Russian army, renamed as “the revolutionary army of free Russia” \r\nthe fighting efficiency dropped. Soldiers often refused \r\nto fight. Fraternisation between the combatants increased. <\/p>\r\n

On 18 June (1 July) 1917,<\/b> the troops of the Russian Western Front attempted an \r\noffensive in the direction of Oshmiany (Krevo Operation)<\/b>. The artillery \r\nintensively bombarded for several days and completely destroyed the defensives line of the enemy \r\nin some areas. But out of 14 divisions, \r\nassigned for the offensive, only seven went to attack, out of which only four were fully combat ready. One of the \r\nunits who showed especial courage and bravery \r\nduring the operation was a female shock battalion \r\ncommanded by woman ensign M. Bochkaryova. Their efforts were however not \r\nsupported by other Russian units, who refused to continue the \r\noperation and returned to their positions. <\/p>\r\n

Five supreme commanders were replaced in the Russian army between \r\nMarch and November 1917. <\/p> \r\n

In late August – early September 1917, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief L. \r\nKornilov moved his troops against the Petrograd garrison pierced \r\nwith \r\nanti-government propaganda. This was agreed, according to his word, with \r\nthe Provisional Government who later, in fear of the loss of power, removed \r\nGeneral Kornilov \r\nfrom the post of supreme commander, accusing him of an attempt to establish \r\nmilitary dictatorship. Kornilov and his trusted generals were arrested and put under custody in the town of Bykhov. <\/p>\r\n

After the October Revolution, one of the first resolutions taken by the new \r\nauthorities was the Decree on Peace, adopted by the Second All-Russian Congress of \r\nSoviets on 26 October (8 November) 1917, which proposed to start negotiations for peace with \r\nno\r\nannexations and indemnities. The \r\nSupreme Commander-in-Chief N. Dukhonin did not support this decision and was \r\nremoved from the post. These proposals were also not accepted by the Entente \r\nPowers and the Soviet government began separate talks with the \r\nAustro-German\u00a0coalition. <\/p>\r\n

Between 7 \r\nand 14 November (20 November – 1 December) 1917,<\/b> \r\nthe Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian sides agreed to suspend hostilities in order to start negotiations \r\nfor peace<\/b>. \r\n<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0The negotiations started in \r\nthe German-occupied \r\ntown of Brest-Litovsk on 20 November (3 December) 1917. At the same time, \r\nnegotiations were held at the township of Soly, Oshmiany district, Vilna province \r\n(now Smorgon district, Grodno region, Belarus) to conclude an armistice between \r\nthe Russian and German troops for two months<\/b>. The \r\narmistice took effective on 23 November (6 December) 1917 on the whole line \r\nof Russia’s Western Front<\/b> (from Vidzy to the River Pripiat). <\/p>\r\n

Ten days later, on 2 (15) December 1917 <\/b>an armistice \r\nwas signed at Brest-Litovsk between Soviet Russia and all countries of the \r\nGerman alliance. On 9 (22) \r\nDecember 1917, negotiations started at Brest-Litovsk to conclude a full peace \r\nagreement <\/b>between Soviet Russia on the one \r\nside and Germany, \r\nAustria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey on the other.\u00a0The discussion of \r\npeace terms lasted about two months but the \r\nSoviet government did not agree to the annexation of Western \r\nterritories from Russia (Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia,\u00a0and part of Belarus). The \r\nCentral Powers repudiated the armistice on 18 February 1918 <\/b> (according \r\nto the new calendar \r\nintroduced in Soviet Russia on 14 February 1918) and the German and \r\nAustro-Hungarian troops resumed an offensive on the whole front. <\/b>On 21 \r\nFebruary the German troops captured Minsk.\u00a0In this situation, though the Soviet \r\ngovernment later accepted the proposed terms, the enemy’s advance continued. The 10th German Army occupied \r\nmost of Belarus and stopped on the line \r\nRossony-Polotsk-Senno-Orsha-Mogilev-Rogachev-Zhlobin-Gomel-Novozybkov. <\/p> \r\n

The common desire of all sides to resolve the existing contradictions led \r\nto the resumption of negotiations at Brest-Litovsk and the \r\nconclusion of a peace agreement on 3 March 1918 known as the Treaty of Brest\r\n<\/b>(took effective on 26 March 1918). As a \r\nconsequence, Russia lost Finland, \r\nUkraine, Latvia, Lithuania,\u00a0Estonia and part of Belarus, about 1 \r\nmillion sq km with the population over 50 million people. The \r\nagreement terms \r\nincluded complete demobilisation of the Russian army. <\/p>\r\n

The Belarusian lands were subject to division on the line \r\nDvinsk-Sventsiany-Lida-Pruzhany-Brest. The German command planned to create a \r\nLithuanian state, including the regions of Vilna and Grodno. The remaining \r\npart of German-occupied lands in Belarus was intended to supply material resources \r\nas part of reparations. It is noteworthy that Belarusian representatives were not \r\naccepted to the negotiations and Belarusian \r\ninterests were not considered by either side. <\/p>\r\n

At this time, the General Headquarters moved \r\nfrom Mogilev to the Russian town of Oryol. On 5 March 1918, the post of supreme \r\ncommander-in-chief was abolished and on 16 March the General \r\nHeadquarters were liquidated. <\/p>\r\n

German troops in Belarus were opposed by the Red Army units which formed the \r\nWestern Sector of Screen Detachments, reorganised in September 1918\u00a0as the Western \r\nDefence District. <\/p>\r\n

On 27 August 1918, an additional agreement was signed between Soviet Russia \r\nand Germany to withdraw German troops from the area between the \r\nDnieper and the Berezina, while the issue on lands west of the Berezina depended on \r\nthe completion of financial obligations by the Russian side. In late \r\nOctober 1918, German troops began their withdrawal <\/b>\u2013 they left Orsha and \r\nMogilev and by early November a number of village districts in the area of \r\nLepel, Mogilev, Orsha, Polotsk and Senno. <\/p>\r\n

In the autumn of 1918, Germany’s allies were defeated on the other theatres. Bulgaria, Turkey and Austria-Hungary capitulated. On 11 November 1918,<\/b> \r\nafter the German revolution and the signature of the Armistice of Compiegne<\/b> \r\nbetween Germany and the Allies\r\nthe hostilities in Europe ceased<\/b>. \r\nThe terms of the Treaty \r\nof Brest-Litovsk were cancelled. <\/p>\r\n

On 13 November 1918, <\/b>the Soviet government annulled the Treaty \r\nof Brest-Litovsk. The<\/b> withdrawal of German troops from Belarusian \r\nterritory<\/b> continued for \r\nanother half year until the spring of 1919<\/b>. On 6 November 1918, the Germans left \r\nBykhov, 21 November \u2013 Zhlobin and Polotsk, 22 November\u00a0\u2013 Rogachev, 28 \r\nNovember \u2013 Bobruisk, 2 December \u2013 Borisov, 10 December \u2013 Minsk, 14 December \u2013 \r\nVileika, 18 December \u2013 Molodechno, 27 December \u2013 Novogrudok, 5 January 1919 \u2013 \r\nBaranovichi, 10 January \u2013 Lida, 12 January \u2013 Rechitsa and Mozyr, 14 January \u2013 \r\nGomel, 25 January \u2013 Pinsk, 24 April \u2013 Grodno. <\/p>\r\n

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n

From the first days of the war, a state of martial law was imposed in \r\nBelarus. The number of police, gendarmerie and counter-intelligence \r\nconsiderably increased. Court martials resumed their work. Armed resistance to \r\nauthorities and criminal offences were severely punished, including death penalty. \r\nMeetings, marches, manifestations and strikes were prohibited. Distribution of information was strictly regulated \r\n\u2013 military censorship was \r\nimposed and by order of the army or front commander any newspaper or \r\nmagazine could be closed, transmission of mail and telegraph messages \r\nstopped. Publication of \r\nconfidential military data and public appeals to end the war were subject to imprisonment. Revolutionary parties were banned in the area of \r\ncombat. The sale of alcohol \r\nwas prohibited until the very end of war. <\/p> \r\n

Despite the measures taken by authorities, many excesses were however \r\ncommitted. So, during peasants’ mobilisation in Belarus about 60 landowners’ \r\nestates were plundered in July 1914 within one week alone, the unrest spreading \r\nacross 20 \r\nout of 35 Belarusian districts.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The whole population in the front-line area, especially rural residents, were \r\nemployed \r\nin defensive works (digging of trenches, construction of bridges, road works, \r\nguarding of military facilities etc). Enterprises and institutions were \r\nevacuated into the interior of Russia, as well as the financial assets, cultural \r\nvaluables and archives. Families of servicemen, policemen and government employees \r\nleft their homes. <\/p>\r\n

The industry was redirected to the needs of the army. This mainly concerned \r\nthe metalworking industry, as well as textiles, shoemaking and \r\nbread production, in which the number of factories and workers considerably increased. \r\nAs a result of the ban on alcohol in early 1915 all the distilleries ceased \r\ntheir work. In 1916, three quarters of all workers served the needs of the army, \r\nproducing military equipment and weapons. Many new temporary factories and \r\nworkshops were created to support the war effort. <\/p>\r\n

In all, in the period 1914-1917, the number of major enterprises in Belarus \r\ndecreased from 829 to 297 and the number of workers from 37,700 to 25,100. Part of \r\nskilled workers were evacuated together with \r\nenterprises. In 1917, the produce of local enterprises intended for \r\nthe civilian population comprised no more than 16 % of its pre-war level. With \r\nthe outbreak of war, restrictions were lifted for working hours and \r\nlabour of women and children who replaced the men mobilised for the war. In early 1917, the women, teenagers and children made up 58,4 % of all factory workers \r\nin Belarus.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The war inflicted severe damage on the transport. Many sections of the road \r\nwere in the enemy-occupied territory, railway stations \r\nand lines were bombarded, many buildings were burned down. Almost half of \r\nthe \r\ntransport served the military needs. The movement of passengers was disorganised. \r\nAn additional burden on the transport were enormous masses of refugees. <\/p>\r\n

Agriculture in Belarus was in extremely poor condition. Working hands did not \r\nsuffice, for more than a half of all capable \r\nmen in Belarusian provinces were mobilised for the war. 634,400 men \r\nwere conscripted in Minsk, Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces alone. Peasants were \r\nemployed on \r\nthe construction of fortifications, digging of trenches, road \r\nworks, transportation of military cargoes. Cattle, food and forage were \r\nrequisitioned from peasants on a mass scale. The total number of livestock \r\nin peasant households in Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev provinces from 1914 to \r\n1916 decreased by 11,4 %. <\/p>\r\n

Landowners who remained without labourers demanded the government allow them \r\nto use war prisoners as workforce and exempt agricultural workers \r\nfrom military service.\u00a0By decision of the \r\ncommander of the Minsk Military District, rural workers, refugees and other \r\nmen “free of work” were obliged to assist in harvesting the private crops whose owners lacked working hands. Those who refused were \r\narrested or fined. In the spring of 1916, over 8,000 refugees \r\nwere sent to work on landowners’ estates in Minsk province. During the war \r\nthe sown area on landowners’ estates decreased by 72,3 %, especially for \r\nsuch crops as potatoes, flax and hemp. <\/p>\r\n

Prices for food and clothes in Belarus by 1917 increased five to eight times \r\nwhat they had been in 1913. <\/p>\r\n

A struggle was launched against so-called German dominance, \r\nwhen the nationals of the states at war with the Russian \r\nempire were obliged to resettle into Russia’s interior. Persons of foreign \r\norigin, in particular Germans, were ousted from Russian territory, despite the \r\nsocial status and the fact that many of them had lived in the Russian empire for \r\nmany centuries. All of them were considered potential spies capable to help \r\nthe enemy. Both the men of military age as well as women and children were deported \r\nelsewhere. Along with the activity of government institutions, a society \r\nfor\u00a0struggle against German dominance was created to mobilise the public forces. <\/p>\r\n

Already at the beginning of the war, a system of social relief was organised to aid \r\nfamilies of\u00a0men called to the war and killed at the front. The relief \r\nwork was conducted by government institutions, members of the Imperial House, civic organisations, the \r\nChurch and private persons, who contributed \r\nmoney for the arrangement of hospitals and purchase of medicines and gathered donations \r\nfor the relief effort. Families of the men killed \r\nin action received an allowance and families of recruits a salary. Students were organised into special labour groups to aid families of soldiers. <\/p>\r\n

Various epidemic diseases \u2013 typhus, cholera etc. spread in the front-line \r\ndistricts in conditions of extreme poverty, hunger and overcrowding. <\/p>\r\n

With the advance of the German army, a huge flood of refugees moved eastward \r\nfrom Poland, Lithuania and western Belarus. Official sources \r\nexplained this as a purely voluntary escape from German crimes. \r\nHowever, an uncontrollable mass of people ousted from \r\ntheir homes were also a result of the military orders for \r\nforced resettlement. In early June 1915, General Headquarters issued an order \r\ndirecting that all left territories be cleared from the population and \r\nall valuables that could be taken by the enemy be destroyed. <\/p>\r\n

Yet in July 1915, the Supreme Commander was reported of the \r\ndiscontent among the population caused by “unsystematic evacuation \r\ninstructions”, often seen by local residents as repressions. Food was requisitioned \r\nfor the army needs, cattle was removed into the rear, the \r\ncrops were destroyed. There were instances of the “destruction of private \r\nproperty” meaning that houses of refugees were burned by military squads. <\/p>\r\n

In the beginning, the majority of refugees stayed in the front-line area. \r\nBut on 4 (17) August 1915, a decision was taken for their mass resettlement into \r\nthe interior parts of the Russian empire. The task of their relief was placed on \r\nlocal authorities in the provinces they arrived. <\/p>\r\n

Refugees suffered great hardships\u00a0\u2013 hunger, cold, diseases, dozens of \r\nmen died every day. This was a heavy burden on the local authorities and \r\nresidents in places where a huge \r\nmass of fugitives arrived. <\/p>\r\n

Almost from the beginning of the war, a system of social aid to war victims \r\nwas organised by the government, the Imperial House, \r\ncivic organisations and private persons. A special council was founded to \r\nsupervise the protection and placement of refugees and \r\nsoldiers’ families, which was active under \r\nboth the Tsar and the Provisional Government. <\/p>\r\n

A network of government institutions for refugee relief, called “Severopomoshch” \r\n(Northern Aid Agency) functioned in all the unoccupied territory of Belarus from August 1915 to \r\nthe autumn of 1916. Food and medical points were \r\ncreated. However, due to lack of funds, the Northern Aid managed to fulfil only \r\nthe basic needs of refugees and compensate a small part of losses they incurred.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The so-called Tatiana’s Committee under the patronage of the Grand Duchess \r\nTatiana Nikolaevna provided one-time aid to war sufferers, assisted \r\nin the \r\nreunification of families, transportation of refugees to places of permanent \r\nresidence and their employment, arrangement of invalids in hospitals and almshouses, admission of children \r\nto schools, organisation of asylums. The arriving \r\nrefugees were met at the railway station, registered and given food cards. <\/p>\r\n

In April 1915, the Belarusian Society for Assistance to War Victims was \r\ncreated in Vilna (Vilnius). The Society provided aid to refugees, organised food \r\npoints, dining rooms, hostels, and medical assistance. The society’s \r\ndivisions were created in Minsk, Vileika, Disna, Polotsk and other places. The \r\nMinsk division founded several night asylums, an orphanage, three dining \r\nrooms and two workshops for refugees. From January 1916 the Belarusian Society for \r\nAssistance to War Victims was active in Petrograd. <\/p>\r\n

Despite the war, the workers’ movement was on the rise in Belarus. In April 1915, a \r\nmanifestation was organised by workers and employees at the Gomel railway junction \r\nand in \r\nthe summer of the same year the workers of the Libava-Romny railway went on strike in Gomel. In 1916, the strike movement \r\nencompassed 11 localities in Belarus, in which 1800 men participated. \r\nThe main demand of the protesting workers was to increase wages. The organisers of \r\nstrikes were arrested and sent to the front. Later they often spread revolutionary propaganda \r\namong the troops and called for an end to the war.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The peasants’ revolts were also common in Belarus during the war. \r\nThey plundered landlords’ estates, food stores and shops. Already at the \r\nbeginning of the war, such incidents were reported in 20 districts in Belarus. \r\nIn 1915, nearly 100 peasant revolts took place. <\/p>\r\n

The defeats of the Russian army and enormous human losses aroused discontent among \r\nthe soldiers. Poor supply of food and \r\nequipment, lack of weapons and ammunition increased unrest and mutinies. In all, 62 major actions were \r\norganised by soldiers in Belarus during the war; the largest mutiny took place at the Gomel transportation point in October 1916, in which \r\nover a thousand men participated. Desertion increased. The whole army units \r\nand formations refused to fight. Anti-government propaganda among the troops \r\nintensified, which was conducted by \r\nrepresentatives of different revolutionary forces.

\r\nIn the difficult war conditions \r\nthe social sector was nevertheless developing and various events took \r\nplace in the sphere of education, culture and public life. Many educational \r\ninstitutions were evacuated, but new ones were also created – a teachers \r\nseminary in Boruny, Oshmiany district in 1915, a female teachers seminary in \r\nBobruisk in 1916. An important event in September 1917 was the opening of the \r\nBelarusian college in Slutsk with the teaching of the Belarusian language and the \r\nhistory and geography of Belarus. <\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe shop of Belarusian books was opened in Polotsk, the Belarusian \r\npublishing house and the Belurusian choir were founded in Minsk, \r\nthe church archaeological \r\nmuseum was created in Mstislavl. <\/p>\r\n

The major centers of Belarusian national movement outside Belarus were \r\nPetrograd, Moscow and other Russian cities in which Belarusian refugees created \r\ntheir organisations. The Belarusian political figures who scattered across the Russian \r\nempire focused their work on the establishment of refugee \r\ncommittees and relief organisations. <\/p>\r\n

Nearly two million people entered Russian captivity in WWI. In 1917 in Belarus they numbered \r\n70,000 in the Minsk Military District alone. Prisoners of war were \r\nemployed in metal-working, \r\nwood-working, food production, agriculture, road works etc. They \r\nreceived wages but its one third was transferred to a special \r\nfund and the maintenance costs were deducted from the remaining part. The captured \r\nsoldiers were fed according to the norms for the rank and file in the Russian \r\narmy. These requirements were at times violated, provoking protest \r\nactions, strikes, refusal to work and escapes. <\/p>\r\n

The growth of economic problems and political contradictions as well as the tsar’s \r\nfailure to cope with the situation led to the bourgeois-democratic February \r\nRevolution <\/b>in the Russian Empire. After the general strike in Petrograd on \r\n23 February (8 March) 1917, caused by food shortages and workers \r\nmanifestations which turned into the armed revolt, Emperor Nicholas II abdicated \r\non 2 (15) March 1917. <\/p>\r\n

The Provisional Committee of the State Duma (Parliament) was reorganised into a \r\nProvisional Government which assumed all power in the state. A number \r\nof legal acts were adopted to extend citizens’ rights and \r\nfreedoms. Provincial, district and rural executive committees \r\n(also called commissariats), food committees and other executive bodies were created \r\nacross the country. In general, however, the Provisional Government failed \r\nto keep the economic and socio-political situation under its control. <\/p>\r\n

Along with the Provisional Government, the Soviets (Councils) of Workers’, Soldiers’ and \r\nPeasants’ Deputies were created in most cities \u2013 social political organisations which \r\nsought to assume control of the country. The leaders \r\nof many Soviets were members of the Socialist-Revolutionary and \r\nSocial-Democratic Labour parties, mainly the Mensheviks. <\/p>\r\n

In Belarus, the Soviets expressed support to the Provisional Government. \r\nThis was approved at the congresses of Belarusian national representatives, soldiers, officers, \r\nworkers of the military enterprises of the Western Front, peasants’ deputies \r\nfrom \r\nMinsk, Vilna, Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces, as well as at the Congress of \r\nthe Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the Western Region. <\/p>\r\n

The congresses of Soviets demanded that the Government \r\nestablish a democratic republic, terminate the war, transfer land \r\nto peasants, introduce an 8-hour work day etc. The Provisional Government, \r\nhowever, did not fulfil these demands. <\/p>\r\n

In March 1917, the All-Russian Conference of Soviets adopted a resolution \r\nunder which the Congress of Soviets in June 1917 approved the formation of the \r\nWestern Region \u2013 a temporary union of Vilna, Minsk and Mogilev provinces with center \r\nin Minsk. <\/p>\r\n

On 25-27 March (7-9 April) 1917, the Congress of Representatives of \r\nBelarusian National Organisations was held in Minsk. The congress supported the autonomy of \r\nBelarus as part of the Russian Federative Republic and elected an organ of \r\npolitical representation of Belarusian national movement \u2013 Belarusian National \r\nCommittee (BNK). The Provisional Government agreed to establish contacts with \r\nthe Belarusian National Committee and appointed its special representatives. As \r\na whole, however, the proposals of the congress did not find understanding. In \r\nthe conditions of political confrontation the Belarusian National Committee failed \r\nto fulfil the assumed tasks in full. The congresses of peasants’ deputies in \r\nMinsk and Vilna provinces and congresses of teachers in Minsk province did not \r\naccept the Committee’s proposals on the future governmental and cultural status of \r\nBelarus. <\/p>\r\n

The First Congress of Soldiers’ and Workers’ Deputies of the Western Front \r\nArmy and Rear with the participation of deputies from the front army units and \r\nworking organisations in Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev and Smolensk provinces, which \r\ntook place on 7-17 (20-30) April 1917, adopted a resolution on\u00a0the continuation of the war \r\nand support \r\nto the Provisional Government and elected the \r\nFront Committee of the Western Front. <\/p>\r\n

On 22-25 May (4-7 June) 1917, the Congress of Workers’ and Soldiers’ \r\nDeputies of the Western Region took place in Minsk, with the majority of the \r\nSocialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. The congress supported the Provisional \r\nGovernment, spoke against the transition of power to Soviets, condemned the \r\ncontinuation of the war.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

In July 1917, the Polish Corps was formed in the Russian army under the command \r\nof \r\nGeneral Yu. Dovbor-Musnitsky, which was located in the provinces of Vitebsk, Minsk, Mogilev and Smolensk. <\/p>\r\n

In July 1917, the Congress of Belarusian National Organisations and Parties \r\nsupported a political autonomy of Belarus as part of the Russian Federative \r\nDemocratic Republic and protested against the claims of the Polish State Council \r\nto the Belarusian lands. The Belarusian National Committee was abolished, the \r\nCentral Council (Rada) of Belarusian Organisations was formed, and its executive \r\ncommittee was elected. The \r\nCentral Council was shortly reorganised as the Belarusian \r\nGreat Council. <\/p>\r\n

The political situation worsened. Anti-government protests increased. In July \r\n1917, the Government\r\nordered troops to shoot at the mass demonstration of workers and soldiers in \r\nPetrograd which took place under the slogan “All power to Soviets”. \r\nPublic discontent with the Provisional Government led to the growth of radical attitudes \r\namong the masses who demanded speeding up social reforms, while the Bolsheviks \r\nincreasingly gained more influence. The Congress of the Russian Social Democratic \r\nLabour Party, held in late July-early August, marked the final split between the \r\nMensheviks and the Bolsheviks, who took a course for the \r\nSocialist revolution. Their task, in particular on the Western Front, was to \r\nsupport the spontaneous growth of revolutionary masses of soldiers, \r\ndestruction of the army hierarchy, propaganda of the revolutionary \r\ntermination of the war. <\/p>\r\n

In August-September 1917, the Temporary Revolutionary Committee of the \r\nWestern Front was formed with the aim \r\nof combating the possible actions in support of General \r\nKornilov, created by the initiative of the Western Front Executive Committee, the Minsk Soviet \r\nof Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies, Council of Peasants’ Deputies of Minsk and \r\nVilna Provinces and the Minsk City Council. <\/p>\r\n

Though the High Command refused a petition to convene \r\na congress of Belarusian military organisations, the event nevertheless took \r\nplace. On 31 October-6 November (13-19 November), the Congress of \r\nBelarusian Soldiers of the Western Front, 12th Army of the Northern Front and \r\nthe Baltic Fleet formed the Belarusian Central Military Council with the goal to \r\ncreate Belarusian army \r\nunits, which was approved by the Supreme Commander N. Dukhonin. Due to \r\nthe efforts of the Council, the Belarusian Uhlan Regiment was formed in Pskov, \r\nwhich was later \r\ntransferred to Orsha, the Infantry \r\nRegiment was formed in Vitebsk, and the Minsk Regiment started to form. <\/p>\r\n

The Bolsheviks demanded the transfer of all power to the Soviets, though the \r\nmajority of local Soviets supported the transfer of power to the Constituent \r\nAssembly due to be elected at the beginning of 1918. <\/p>\r\n

The increasing crisis and political confrontation led to the \r\nOctober Revolution,<\/b> which took place in Petrograd on 25 October (7 November) 1917. \r\nThe armed revolt of workers, soldiers and Baltic Fleet sailors, led by \r\nthe Bolshevik Party, overthrew the Provisional Government. The power transferred \r\nto the newly created government \u2013 the Council of People’s Commissars (SNK). <\/p>\r\n

On 26 October (8 November) 1917, the General Headquarters \r\nat Mogilev called upon the army to oppose the Bolsheviks. On 20 November (3 \r\nDecember), the Headquarters were seized by revolutionary troops and the former \r\nSupreme Commander N. Dukhonin was killed. <\/p>\r\n

On 27 October (9 November) 1917, the Belarusian Great Council and the Belarusian \r\nCentral Military Council made an address to the Belarusian people, in which they \r\ndescribed the October events in Petrograd as anarchy and called for \r\nresistance to the new authorities. <\/p>\r\n

The struggle for Soviet power in Belarus and at the Western \r\nFront was headed by the Northwestern regional organisation of the Russian \r\nSocial Democratic Labour Party (of Bolsheviks). The Minsk Soviet, led by \r\nBolsheviks, issued an order for transition of power to the Soviets. The \r\nMilitary Revolutionary Committee of the Western Front proclaimed itself a \r\nsupreme body in the unoccupied territory of Belarus. <\/p>\r\n

The defenders of the Provisional Government set up the Committee for Salvation of Revolution \r\nof the \r\nWestern Front, which was supported by the Belarusian Great Council. However, soon the Committee \r\nfor Salvation of Revolution was dissolved by order of the Military Revolutionary Committee. <\/p>\r\n

The Soviet Government began to implement significant reforms in the social, \r\neconomic and political life. The Decree on Land, the first legal act of the new \r\nauthorities abolished landed proprietorship and declared the land as state \r\nproperty. All citizens were granted equal rights to use land, without the \r\nemployment of hired labour. Many soldiers hoped to receive the land confiscated from landowners, the tsar and the church and this increased a mass \r\ndesertion from the front. <\/p>\r\n

The majority of Soviets in Belarus took the October Revolution as a \r\nBolshevik coup d’etat and did not recognise the decrees issued by the Council of \r\nPeople’s Commissars. As a result, the new government dissolved the old Soviets and \r\nthe new ones were formed mainly from the Bolsheviks and members of the \r\nparties loyal to them. On 19-21 November (2-4 December) 1917, the Congress of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies of the \r\nWestern Region, which consisted two-thirds of the Bolsheviks and one-third of the left \r\nSocialist-Revolutionaries, recognised the power of the Council of People’s \r\nCommissars and called upon all Soviets to assist in implementing the Decree \r\non Land. <\/p>\r\n

After the October Revolution, the Western Region, then part of Soviet Russia, \r\nincluded the provinces of Vilna, Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev. The legislative \r\nbody of Soviet power in this territory was the Regional Executive Committee of \r\nthe Soviets of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies of the Western Region and \r\nFront (Obliskomzap). <\/p>\r\n

In November 1917, the Belarusian Regional Committee was formed in Petrograd \r\nto lead the national movement. <\/p>\r\n

On 2 (15) December 1917, the Obliskomzap adopted a \r\nresolution banning the creation of Belarusian army units. A new supreme \r\ncommander, ensign N. Krylenko issued an order on the ban of national congresses in the \r\nfront-line area. <\/p>\r\n

On 5-8 (18-31) December 1917 in Minsk the Belarusian Great Council and the \r\nBelarusian Regional Committee organised the All-Belarusian Congress<\/b>\u00a0 \r\n\u2013 the first national representative forum of the Belarusian people. The Council \r\n(Rada) was elected to address political issues, including the future status of \r\nthe enemy-occupied provinces of Vilna and Grodno, the inadmissibility of \r\ndivision of Belarusian lands etc. The Congress adopted a resolution on the \r\nformation of the All-Belarusian Soviet of Peasants’, Soldiers’ and Workers’ \r\nDeputies as a temporary governing body in Belarus. The All-Belarusian Soviet was \r\nto shortly convene the All-Belarusian Constituent Assembly in order to finally legalise \r\nthe right of Belarus to self-determination and to create a permanent \r\ngovernment. However, the Bolshevik leaders actively sought to take control of the power. By order of the Council of People’s Commissars of \r\nthe Western Region and Front on the night of 18 (31) December 1917 the Congress \r\nwas dispersed by the soldiers. On 21 December 1917 (3 January 1918), the Congress’s Council, which went underground, formed the Executive Committee of the Council of All-Belarusian Congress. <\/p>\r\n

After the October Revolution, the Soviet government permitted the Dovbor-Musnitsky \r\nCorps to be stationed in Belarus. The Polish circles expected these troops \r\nto be used in the annexation of Belarusian lands to Poland. Dovbor-Musnitsky \r\nwas also supported by the Entente Powers. The Corps’ command refused to fulfil \r\nthe Soviet orders for the election of army commanders, introduction of \r\nthe post of political commissar in troops, etc. They opposed the \r\nconfiscation of private property and nationalisation of enterprises by \r\nSoviets. \r\nConsequently, in January 1918<\/b> an order was issued to \r\ndisband the Corps. In response, Dovbor-Musnitsky declared war on Soviet Russia<\/b>. \r\nThe Corps captured Rogachev, was in a few days pushed out by \r\nthe Red Guards, and then captured Bobruisk. On 20 February 1918, the Corps \r\ncaptured \r\nMinsk. On 26 February 1918, the Corps was \r\nplaced under German command and was later disbanded. <\/p>\r\n\t

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n\t

The German-Russian front in the autumn of 1915 divided Belarus into two parts. \r\n\tThe occupied territory <\/b>was nearly 50,000 sq km, \r\n\tapproximately 25 % of today’s area of Belarus. <\/p>\r\n\tIn the autumn of 1915, a military-administrative entity of the Ober Ost was \r\nformed from part of the Germany-occupied lands in Belarus, Lithuania, \r\nLatvia and Poland with an area 109,000 sq km. After repeated internal changes, this territory was divided in the spring of \r\n1917 into \r\nthree administrative units: Courland and also Lithuania and Belostok-Grodno \r\nDistrict which included lands inhabited by Belarusians. Belostok-Grodno \r\nDistrict comprised one third of all occupied Belarusian lands with an area about \r\n17,000 sq km and included the towns of Grodno, Lida, Volkovysk and Shchuchin. In \r\n1916, the local population in the Ober Ost was 2.9 million people. <\/p>\r\n\t

The remaining part of the occupied territory in Belarus (approximately 33,000 sq km) was in the military-operational zone between the Ober \r\n\tOst and the front line. This included the towns of Baranovichi, Kobrin, \r\n\tNovogrudok, Oshmiany, Pinsk, Pruzhany and Slonim. The town of Brest was \r\n\tin special position under the command of the army group \r\n\tlocated there. <\/p>\r\n

The movement of local residents was restricted and a \r\ncurfew was imposed. Special permission was required to travel outside the \r\ndistrict or to move by any transport. <\/p>\r\n

The German military authorities conducted requisitions of horses, cows, food, \r\nforage, clothes, footwear from local residents and organised forced \r\nlabour for the needs of the front. Prices rose dramatically and there was shortage of food.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

Various taxes were imposed on local residents like personal tax, taxes on land, trade, \r\nindustry, animals, including dogs, a number of indirect taxes and taxes in \r\nkind. Special militarised squads were created to collect taxes. <\/p>\r\n\t

To support Germany’s economy and the \r\n\toccupation army the Germans cut down forests and made attempts to produce peat and other raw materials \r\n\ton the occupied territory. <\/p>\r\n\t

For work in military facilities, agriculture and logging, the local \r\n\tresidents, both men and women, were forcibly assembled into labour companies \r\n\tand battalions, in which the conditions were extremely hard, food \r\n\twas insufficient and payment was poor.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n\t

In the countryside the main figure was a German commandant who had unlimited powers \r\n\tand rights. \r\n\tAll the land was strictly registered by the \r\n\tdistrict administration, who gave instructions where and what should be \r\n\tcultivated and what kind of cattle to raise. Estates of landowners who moved \r\n\tto Russia were subject to confiscation. The remaining landowners were \r\n\tobliged to strictly watch their field to be sown, the harvest collected \r\n\ton time and with no losses. They ought to collect a fixed amount of \r\n\tproduce in their district. For this purpose, about 10 to 30 German \r\n\tsoldiers were appointed to each large\u00a0household, who also performed \r\n\tthe functions of the police. <\/p>\r\n

The center of public life in the occupied territory was Vilna. The Belarusian \r\nSociety for Assistance to War Victims and the Belarusian People’s Committee, \r\nboth founded in 1915, were active here, as well as the Belarusian Club, the \r\nBelarusian Scientific Society, the Belarusian library and book store. <\/p>\r\n\t

The German side, interested in isolating the local population \r\n\tfrom Russian influence, pursued a policy of equal attitude to \r\n\tdifferent nationalities that inhabited Ober Ost. In early \r\n\t1916, by the German order for schools the Belarusian language \r\n\twas declared equal to Polish, Lithuanian and Jewish languages. Teaching in Russian \r\n\tin elementary schools was prohibited and Belarusian became an obligatory \r\n\tlanguage for many subjects, including religion lessons. It was allowed to \r\n\tuse Belarusian in various cultural and entertaining events, publishing of \r\n\tbooks, newspapers and magazines. The most popular newspaper was Homan, \r\n\twhich was printed in Vilna.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

In 1916, the Belarusian teachers courses were opened in Vilna. Later the Ober \r\nOst authorities opened a teachers’ seminary in Svisloch, which trained 144 teachers for Belarusian schools in the period \r\n1916-1918. <\/p>\r\n

In late 1915 – early 1916, the Belarusian People’s Committee started developing \r\nthe idea of the Belarusian-Lithuanian statehood, in particular the Confederation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This \r\nidea was rejected by representatives of the Polish movement. \r\nAgainst a united Belarusian-Lithuanian statehood were also many Lithuanian politicians, who \r\nsought for the creation of a Lithuanian national state.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

In this situation, some representatives of the Belarusian national movement \r\nwere forced to rethink \r\ntheir attitude to the union of Lithuania and Belarus. In the summer of 1917, an illegal \r\norganisation was founded under the name “The bond of independence and \r\nindivisibility of Belarus”, which aimed to create an independent Belarusian state \r\nwithin its ethnographic boundaries. <\/p>\r\n

In September 1917, the Lithuanian State Council (Tariba) was founded at the \r\nconference in Vilna as a supreme body of Lithuania with a purpose to create an \r\nindependent Lithuanian state. The Belarusian \r\nrepresentatives had only two places in the Tariba. <\/p>\r\n

In January 1918, the Vilna Belarusian Council (Rada) was created as a coordination center \r\nfor Belarusian political and social organisations. <\/p>\r\n

On 20 February 1918, when the Soviet leadership of the Western Region abandoned Minsk \r\nin view of the German advance, the Executive \r\nCommittee of the Council of All-Belarusian Congress resumed its work. The Committee \r\nadopted the First Constituent Charter to the peoples of Belarus and set up its executive body, the People’s Secretariat of Belarus. \r\nOn the following day, the German troops captured the city and expelled members of \r\nthe Council and \r\nPeople’s Secretariat from their offices. <\/p>\r\n

After the Bolsheviks signed the Peace Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which \r\nignored interests of Belarus, the Executive Committee of the Council of \r\nAll-Belarusian Congress adopted the Second Constituent Charter, which declared the \r\nBelarusian Democratic Republic<\/b>. This action was supported by the Vilna \r\nBelarusian Council. Germany refused to recognise the document and considered \r\nBelarus as occupied part of Russia.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The Council of All-Belarusian Congress was reorganised into the Council of \r\nBelarusian Democratic Republic, in which several members of the Vilna \r\nBelarusian Council were incorporated. The plenary session of the Council of Belarusian \r\nDemocratic Republic on 25 March 1918 adopted the Third Constituent Charter. This \r\ndocument proclaimed Belarus as a sovereign state. <\/p>\r\n

In April 1918, the Germans announced a ban on the People’s Secretariat. \r\nLater they however softened their position and the commander of the10th German \r\nArmy accepted members of the Council and People’s Secretariat. <\/p>\r\n

In these conditions, members of the Belarusian Democratic Republic acted within the limits of the possible. \r\nMuch success was achieved in the sphere of \r\nculture and education. There were Belarusian schools, several Belarusian \r\ncolleges, teachers training \r\ncourses. Books and newspapers were published in \r\nthe Belarusian language. A preparation commission was set up to open a University in \r\nMinsk. Trade, industry and social welfare were placed under the command of the People’s \r\nSecretariat. However, the occupation authorities opposed the creation of the police \r\nand armed formations. <\/p> \r\n

On 11 October 1918, the Council adopted a temporary constitution of the \r\nBelarusian Democratic Republic. <\/p>\r\n

In the German-occupied area in Belarus, a partisan movement<\/b> was \r\norganised under the leadership of \r\nthe Bolsheviks and left \r\nSocialist-Revolutionaries, especially in \r\nthe southern districts. There were over 100 partisan units in Bobruisk, Bykhov, \r\nGomel, Mogilev, Minsk, Rechitsa and Slutsk districts alone, the largest \r\nof them consisted of several hundred men. The Northwestern regional committee of the \r\nRussian Communist Party (as the Russian Social Democratic \r\nLabour Party was called from March 1918) elaborated a plan of \r\npartisan actions in the German rear. The Minsk district conference of the Bolshevik \r\nparty, held underground on \r\n19 July 1918, announced the preparation of the armed revolt on the occupied \r\nterritory as a major task of the party organisations with the aim to \r\nrestore the Soviet power. <\/p>\r\n

As the Red Army advanced across Belarus after the cancellation of \r\nthe Treaty of Brest, members of the Council and Government of \r\nthe Belarusian Democratic Republic moved to Vilna on 3 December 1918 and then to Grodno \r\non 27 December. <\/p>\r\n

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n

The First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles \r\non 28 June 1919<\/b>. <\/p>\r\nThe global military conflict of 1914-1918 involved 38 countries, in which nearly 70 % \r\nof the world population lived. The armed struggle lasted 1568 days, with the front \r\nline \r\nstretching for 2500 – 4000 km. New weapons and equipment were used: \r\nanti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mortars, flame-throwers, chemical \r\ngases, airplanes, tanks, submarines. The war brought about great destruction and \r\nhuge human losses. During more than four years of the war, about 73.5 million \r\npeople were mobilised, over 9.5 million of them were killed in action or died of \r\nwounds, over 20 million were injured, 3.5 million became permanently disabled. \r\nBy some estimates, over 5 million civilians were killed during military operations \r\nor died from disease, famine and epidemics. <\/p>\r\n

Casualties of the Russian army in 1914-1918 were about 4 million killed \r\nand wounded. 340,000 civilians were killed and 730,000 civilians died. <\/p>\r\n

The world map was significantly redrawn. The colonial system collapsed. \r\nFour great empires ceased to exist. New states appeared in Europe and \r\nAsia. In some of the countries the monarchy was replaced by a republic.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

The Russian statehood underwent radical changes, both territorial and \r\npolitical, and the political system changed twice during \r\nthe year. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which appeared \r\non the site of the \r\nRussian Empire and the Russian Republic, produced a completely new form of public \r\nrelations, which had no precedent in history. <\/p>\r\n

The area of Belarus was one of the main theatres of operations. For two and a half \r\nyears, a 400-km front line stretched across Belarus, with over 2.5 million \r\npeople concentrated on both sides. The consequences of the war were extremely severe. Over 800,000 Belarusian residents were mobilised, nearly 70,000 \r\nwere killed on the fronts fighting in the Russian army, about\u00a0 60,000 civilians \r\nwere killed or died from disease. <\/p>\r\n

According to incomplete data, about two million Belarusians became \r\nrefugees who scattered across the Russian empire. Over \r\n400,000 of them never returned home and stayed in new places of \r\nresidence forever. <\/p>\r\n

The war caused huge economic damage. In Belarus, the \r\nsown area of rye dicreased by 18,7 %, wheat 22,1 %, potato 34,2 %. 432 enterprises were moved eastward \r\nor demounted in the German-occupied territory alone. 201 \r\neducational institutions were evacuated, many cultural valuables were lost. <\/p>\r\n

At the same time, the First World War fuelled the process of national \r\nself-identification in the Belarusian people (mainly the \r\nrefugees), accelerated the Belarusian \r\nnational movement and the formation of political parties \r\nand organisations with Belarusian national orientation. As a result of \r\ncomplex historical collisions, Belarus received opportunity to obtain national \r\nsovereignty. However, its implementation had significant difficulties \r\nand negative sides: its forms repeatedly changed within a short time and the \r\ndeclared independence found no confirmation in practice. <\/p>\r\n

On 1 January 1919 <\/b>in Smolensk the Soviet Socialist Republic of \r\nBelarus (SSRB)<\/b> was declared, which included the provinces of Vitebsk, \r\nGrodno, Minsk and Mogilev and Belarusian districts in the provinces of Vilnius, Kaunas \r\nand Smolensk. But already on 16 January 1919 <\/b> the Central \r\nCommittee of the Russian Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) adopted a resolution on \r\nthe inclusion of Vitebsk, Mogilev and Smolensk provinces into the Russian \r\nSoviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In February 1919 <\/b>the \r\nSoviet republics of Belarus and Lithuania were joined into the \r\nLithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel), <\/b>which lasted \r\nanother half year. This was replaced by the Belarusian Soviet Socialist \r\nRepublic (BSSR)<\/b>, proclaimed on 31 July 1920<\/b>. <\/p>\r\n

At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919-1920, which concerned with the \r\npostwar reorganisation of the world,\u00a0representatives of the Belarusian \r\nDemocratic Republic demanded the discussion of the right of \r\nindependence for the Belarusian people. The Entente governments, however, \r\nignored their efforts.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

In Belarus the military actions de jure ceased only after \r\nthe signature of the Peace Treaty of Riga on 18 March 1921<\/b>. But the formal \r\njuridical act which finally ended the First World War in Belarus was the \r\nTreaty of Rapallo <\/b>concluded with Weimar Germany in 1922<\/b>. Here the \r\nBelarusian\u00a0 state (BSSR), which signed this document, appeared for the \r\nfirst time in modern history as an independent\u00a0subject of the international \r\nlaw. It should be noted that despite the declared independence Belarus had no \r\nreal opportunity to take decisions on its government \r\nsystem up to the 1990s. <\/p>\r\n

<\/a>* * *<\/font><\/center>\r\n

In the post-Soviet area the First World War has been called a forgotten \r\nwar, as it was declared imperialistic and unjust by Soviet ideology and \r\nthe war events were often silenced. In Belarus the memory of this tragic \r\ntime nevertheless survives and has been reflected in works by writers and \r\nscholars, public initiatives and \r\nmeasures taken by the State. <\/p>\r\n

First-hand accounts of the war were written by participants and witnesses of \r\nthe events. \r\nYanka Kupala, Zmitrok Biadulia, \r\nAles Garun and Yakub Kolas wrote and published many of their poetic and prosaic works \r\nin the war years. In the 1920s-1930s, the memoirs of M. \r\nGoretsky “At the imperialistic war” came out; Tishka Gartny, Kondrat Krapiva \r\nand Mikhas Lynkov turned to this topic. Later the theme of the war was continued by Mikola Khvedorovich. Among \r\nthe works \r\nof modern authors is the novel \r\n“The East” by V. Gnilomedov, who showed one of the most tragic pages \r\nof the war in Belarus \u2013 the refugees. <\/p>\r\n

In Belarus there are many cemeteries of Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian \r\nsoldiers. The work is now underway on their restoration and cataloging (the area \r\nis being improved, new monuments are being erected, several hundred registration cards have been compiled). \r\nUntil recently this was done mainly by individual enthusiasts and regional specialists, but from \r\nthe early 1990s the process accelerated. The Belarusian Public \r\nOrganising Committee was set up to perpetuate the memory of WWI soldiers. The \r\nPeople’s Union of Germany for the Care of Military Graves takes part in the \r\nmaintenance of burial grounds in Belarus together with the Belarusian side. In \r\nrecent years these issues have been given special attention by the Department for Commemoration of Fatherland Defenders and War \r\nVictims of the Belarusian Armed Forces, which runs a special search battalion.\u00a0 <\/p>\r\n

A large memorial complex was created in Minsk on the site of the former common \r\ncemetery of \r\nWWI soldiers. A memorial ensemble “On the confrontation line of 1915-1917 in \r\nthe First World War” is being constructed at Smorgon. <\/p>\r\n

Materials relating to the First World War are exhibited at the State Museum \r\nof the Military History of the Republic of Belarus. <\/p>\r\n

A museum of the history of the \r\nFirst World War was created in the village of Zabrodye, Vileika district by the efforts of the Belarusian artist B. \r\nTsitovich. <\/p>\r\n

From the beginning of the 1990s, Belarusian historians significantly expanded \r\nresearch on \r\nthe First World War. This is the topic of many scholarly dissertations, \r\nconferences, workshops and exhibitions. WWI documents have been published in a \r\nnumber of monographs, Encyclopaedia of the History of Belarus, Belarusian \r\nEncyclopaedia, scholarly magazines, a series of documented chronicles “Memory”. The \r\ntheme of refugees was further developed. \r\nIts research started in 1917-1918 by the Belarusian scholars F. \r\nKudrinsky and E. Kancher and was later\u00a0 investigated by N. Ulashchik. In \r\nthe 1990s-2000s several studies devoted to Belarusian refugees were published in Poland, as well as the reminiscences by participants in those \r\nevents. <\/p>\r\n

By order of the President of Belarus, an organising committee was set up for \r\npreparing and holding events to mark the centenary of the \r\noutbreak of the First World War. The plan includes a national day of \r\nunpaid work to raise funds for improvement of war \r\nmemorials, field search for WWI military graves, development of tourist routes, \r\norganisation of exhibitions, conferences, patriotic actions, \r\nan international requiem meeting, theatrical shows, etc. <\/p>\u00a0\r\n

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