Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia or Soviet Socialist Republic of Belarus (SSRB) (Belarusian: Савецкая Сацыялiстычная Рэспублiка Беларусь Russian: Социалистическая Советская Республика Белоруссия, ССРБ) was an early republic in the historical territory of Belarusians after the collapse of the Russian Empire as a result of the October Revolution. The first time it was established by Bolsheviks on January 2, 1919 in Smolensk when the Red Army entered Belarusian lands following the retreated German army, which had been occupying the territory as a consequence of the World War I. The SSRB replaced the German puppet state Belarusian National Republic created as part of German plan of Mitteleuropa.
The head of the state was Belarusian writer Zmicier Zhylunovich (Dmitri Zhilunovich, Ciška Hartny, later repressed by Stalin). It consisted of Smolensk, Vitebsk, Mogilev, Minsk, Grodno, and Vilno guberniyas.
It was considered by Bolsheviks to be a buffer republic. In a month it was disbanded. Smolensk, Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces were included into the RSFSR, the rest was used to form the another buffer republic, Litbel.
The republic under the same name was re-established on July 31, 1920. However in traditional Soviet historiography it has been referred to under its name after the incorporation into the USSR - BSSR.
A number of Bolsheviks strongly opposed the re-establishment of SSRB arguing that there is no Belarusian nation, that Belarusian language is a dialect of Russian language, and that Belarusian culture is identical to the Russian one.
Eventually, the SSRB was re-established as a political move in the context of the Polish-Soviet War, in a minuscule territory of 52,400 sq. km. made of 6 uyezds of Minsk Guberniya, the rest of the Belarusian lands remaining split between Poland and RSFSR.
