Western Belarus in Soviet-Polish relations: from the Treaty of Riga to reunification with the BSSR

Abstract

The article aims to show the role of Western Belarus in the Soviet-Polish relations in 1939–1941. It is revealed that for both the USSR and Poland the Belarusian question had no independent value, and was part of the policy of each of these states, aimed at achieving broader foreign policy goals. For the Soviet leadership, it was a struggle to revise the order of things that was established in Eastern Europe within the framework of the Versailles-Riga system of international relations. This policy assumed the inclusion of Western Belarus in the Soviet state. For Poland, the possession of Western Belarus was one of the most important conditions for achieving great power status, without which it was difficult to resist the Russian-German «geopolitical grip». The outcome of the struggle between the USSR and Poland for the territory of Western Belarus was inextricably connected with the collapse of the Versailles system, which made it possible to reunite Western Belarus with the BSSR.