Belarusian Lands Research Articles

Belarusization in Russian Regions in the 1920s in Modern Russian Historiography

The article presents a historiographical review of publications on the policy of Belarusization carried out in the Russian regions in the 1920s. This work does not address the publications of Belarusian and foreign researchers on the practice of implementing the new Soviet national policy within the territorial borders of the Belarusian Republic. The main attention is paid to the three Russian provinces bordering Belarus – Pskov, Smolensk and Bryansk. At the same time, the eastern territories of the RSFSR – the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East, where Belarusians found themselves as a result of the resettlement policy, especially at the beginning of the 20th century during the Stolypin agrarian reform, were not ignored. Belarusization, as part of the general policy of Korenization, proclaimed in 1923 at the XII Congress of the Russian Communist Party (b), in modern research is closely linked to the need to show new principles and directions of Soviet national policy for the development of Belarusian statehood and culture in contrast to the all-out polonization carried out by the Pilsudski government in Western Ukrainian and Belarusian lands ceded to Poland by the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921. A significant role in this process was assigned to the expansion of the state borders of the BSSR at the expense of Russian territories, especially in 1924 and 1926. However, Belarusization did not find any real support from the local authorities, who considered Belarusians to be part of the Russian population until the end of the 1920s, as well as due to the significant self-Russification of the Belarusian population in the Russian regions that had already taken place by the middle of the decade. Formally, these tasks were constantly on the agenda of the party and Soviet authorities in the second half of the 1920s. But they have not received any significant practical implementation.

Transformation of the Model of State-Confessional Relations in Belarus at the End of the 19th Century – 1917

Introduction. The article describes the process of transformation of state-confessional relations in the Belarusian lands as part of the Russian Empire from the end of the 19th century to 1917. Methods and materials. To obtain verified results, the study is based on the analysis of administrative and regulatory materials, office documents of the Mogilev diocese, and domestic and foreign historiography. The study was conducted using an interdisciplinary methodology: historical-typological and historical-comparative methods, formal-legal, and the method of interpretation of legal norms were used. In addition, to identify the features of the socio-political discourse on the issue of changes in state-church relations, discourse analysis was used. Analysis. The historically established model of a religious state with the dominance of the Orthodox Church in the Russian Empire was established in the 19th century on Belarusian lands with a different confessional structure and traditions of state-church relations. The author noted a tendency to transition from the model of a religious state to the model of a secular state – in the period March – October 1917, the Provisional Government tried to establish an identification model of a secular state. This model corresponded to the religious system of Belarusian society with the dominance of the Orthodox Church and the expectations of socio-political actors and also ensured the implementation of religious rights and freedoms of adherents of other religions but was not fully implemented due to the transfer of power to the Bolshevik Party in October 1917. Results. Transformational processes in state-confessional relations in the Belarusian provinces took place in the direction from the model of a religious state to the model of a secular state as accompanying changes in the political system of the Russian Empire. Internal factors in the development of the state-confessional system of the Russian Empire, as well as the peculiarities of the confessional environment of the Belarusian provinces (diversification of the religious structure of Belarusian society, limitation of the rights of traditional actors rooted in the Belarusian religious environment, confessional dualism “Orthodoxy-Catholicism”), did not play a significant role in the transformation processes.

INTRODUCTION OF THE MILITARY-DISTRICT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ON BELARUSIAN LANDS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1850s – EARLY 1860s

This article examines a wide range of issues related to the specifics of the preparation and implementation of military reform in the Belarusian lands. The work identifies the main directions of activity of military department officials to develop options for improving the military command and control system. During the research, an in-depth analysis of the reasons that led to changes in government policy in the field of military control in the region was carried out. In chronological order, through the prism of normative legal acts, the processes of formation and legislative registration of district management institutions in the region are shown. Factors that had a negative impact on the formation of the district management structure were identified. The organizational measures of the War Ministry aimed at improving the structure of the Vilna Military District are shown. It is noted that the implementation of measures to create a military district system on Belarusian lands in the early 1860s. was carried out in a difficult international and socio-political situation associated with the consequences of the Crimean War and anti-government protests. Extraordinary circum-stances determined the repressive and punitive nature of its structure and powers. At the same time, along with general features, in the process of forming the Vilna Military District, local features emerged that reflected the level of military threats in the region. The results and conclusions of the study can be used in the preparation of textbooks, lectures and special courses on national and military history for students and cadets of higher educational institutions of the Republic of Belarus.

DESCRIPTION OF CLIMATIC PHENOMENA IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XVII–XVIII CENTURIES IN THE MOGILEV CHRONICLE OF T.R. SURTA AND TRUBNITSKY

The article discusses the features of the description of climatic phenomena in the Mogilev chronicle of T.R. Surta and Trubnitsky. The chronicle is a valuable historical source for reconstructing the climate of the second half of the XVII – XVIII centuries. It mentions, first of all, climatic disasters, which are reflected in records of abnormally cold winters and unstable weather in the spring and summer seasons. The chronicle pays great attention to the facts of famine, rising prices for bread and other food products, which was the result of low yields, caused by unfavorable climatic conditions. The authors of the Mogilev Chronicle also described cases of locust invasions, which have been observed again on Belarusian lands since the end of the XVII century and are a clear indicator of dry and warm weather.

SOCIAL PORTRAIT AND POSITION OF WORKERS OF PATRIMONIAL MANUFACTORIES IN THE TERRITORY OF BELARUS IN THE 18TH CENTURY

The article is devoted to the problem of working force in manufacturing-type enterprises that arrived on Belarusian lands in the 18th century. The author strives to paint a detailed portrait of the worker in patrimonial manufactories through an analysis of the gender, quantitative, and national composition of workers in enterprises. One of the features of manufactories on the territory of Belarus was the use of the labor of serfs, therefore the problem of the social composition of workers occupies a special place in the article. During a comprehensive examination of the portrait of a worker, the issue of nationality is important. The article not only lists the nationalities of the workers, but also makes a conclusion about the reasons for the rapid replacement of foreign craftsmen by local specialists. Particular attention is paid to the description and assessment of the conditions in which the workers worked.

Orthodoxy in the Belarusian Lands from 1839 to 1917: A Return to the Faith of Ancestors

Orthodoxy in the Belarusian Lands from 1839 to 1917: A Return to the Faith of Ancestors

Mechanism of State Direct Salary per Capita Taxation in the Belarusian Provinces of the Russian Empire in the First Half of the 19th Century

The article discusses the legal mechanism of state direct salary per capita taxation in the Belarusian provinces of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. The place and role of Belarusian lands in the per capita taxation system of the Russian Empire is determined. It has been established that, in general, the legal mechanism of per capita taxation on Belarusian lands in the first half of the 19th century for peasants and townspeople was identical to the taxation process in the European part of Imperial Russia. The regional specificity of the per capita taxation system in the Belarusian provinces of the Russian Empire boiled down to the presence of a number of categories of the population that were exempt from paying the per capita tax or had temporary tax breaks, and was characterized by a significant proportion of Jewish townspeople among the per capita tax payers. At certain periods of time, certain social and ethno-confessional (Jews) groups of the tax-paying population had special per capita salaries. In certain periods of time, certain social and ethno-confessional (Jews) groups of the tax-paying population had special per capita salaries. In addition, until 1851, the per capita tax of the rural population included a duty for the right to freely distill and sell wine. Differences are noted in the principles of allocation of per capita salaries in individual Belarusian provinces. The share of Belarusian provinces in the accrued per capita taxes of Imperial Russia has been revealed. t is concluded that on the eve of large-scale reforms in the 1860s. The Belarusian region had a low degree of burden with direct poll taxes within the vast Russian state. Attention is drawn to the fact that the state capitation taxation system gave rise to fiscal-serfdom oppression.

The connection between Holy Mount Athos and the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century

The connection between Holy Mount Athos and the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century

QUARTERMASTER'S INSTITUTIONS OF CARGO AND CLOTHING SERVICE IN BELARUSIAN LANDS IN THE YEARS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

The article discusses the work of military-political institutions to provide clothing for the Russian army on Belarusian lands during the First World War. The analysis of the previous historiography on the problem under consideration is carried out, the range of previously unresolved issues is determined. The main causes of problems with the provision of the army during the First World War are identified. The tasks assigned to the establishments of baggage and clothing service are disclosed. The factors that negatively influenced the activities of organizations are identified, and the measures taken to overcome them are considered. Based on the analysis of sources, the volumes of clothing provision in the Belarusian provinces are established, the state of affairs with the procedure for paying for work performed with manufacturers is disclosed.

Russian Ethnic Groups in the National Structure of Belarus

Based on statistical data and materials of the All-Union population censuses of 1959-1989, as well as national population censuses of the Republic of Belarus in 1999-2019. the development trends of ethnic processes in Belarus are analyzed. The characteristic of the ethnic structure of modern Belarusian society is given. An excursion into the history of the Russian ethnic group and the indigenous peoples of Russia in the Belarusian lands was made. The role and place of the Russian ethnos in the post-war period of Belarus is shown. The role of migration in ethnic processes is considered. An important place is given to the analysis of the push migration of the Russian-speaking population in the national republics of the period of the collapse of the unified demographic space of the USSR. An analysis of the features and problems of the Belarusian-Russian migration is given. The characteristic of individual indigenous Russian peoples in the national structure of Belarus is given. The ethnic ties of the border regions of Belarus and Russia are highlighted. The changes of the Belarusian ethnos in the national structure of the Russian Federation are reflected.

СМЕНА ПАРАДИГМЫ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННО-КОНФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ В БЕЛАРУСИ В ХХ В.

The article presents an analysis in the transformation of models for state-confessional relations in the Belarusian provinces of the Russian Empire (early 20th century – 1917), in the BSSR (1919–1991), in the Republic of Belarus (1991–2002). The author noted that during the twentieth century there was a transition from the model of the religious state of the period of the Russian Empire to the model of the secular state in the form of hostile separation in the BSSR and the cooperative model in the Republic of Belarus. The process of forming state-confessional relations and their transformation was highly dependent on the socio-political and state situation of the Belarusian lands. That conditioned the determining importance of external factors (political crisis, revolutions of 1905 and 1917, transformation of political systems of the Russian Empire and the USSR) for the paradigm shift of state-confessional relations in Belarus at the beginning of the twentieth century – 1991. At the same time, the formation of a model of state-confessional relations in the Republic of Belarus was predominantly influenced by internal factors – the dominance of traditional religious actors, a high degree of religiosity of the population and the intensification of religious activities, what contributed to the consolidation of the cooperative model, the most valid for the politicalconfessional sphere of Belarusian society.

The Land of the Sad Songs: Belarusian National Identity through Polish Documentary films in the 1930s

Belarusian national identity is a taboo subject in Belarus nowadays, unless identity is understood in a Soviet/Lukashenko way. So for Belarusians, who have gone through national destruction more than once, this issue is not just a usual research topic but a crucial question that can contribute to national survival. In the 1920s-30s a part of Belarusian lands belonged to Poland and Polish filmmakers shot some documentaries there, which turned out to be the sole materials since whatever was taken in Soviet Belarus at this time, got burned later. This research aims to determine what these visual materials communicate, how they can add to the Belarusian identity and why it is important for modern Belarus and its cinema.

Белорусская национальная идея сквозь призму исторического анализа: этапы, подходы, перспективы

Among the variety of functions of the national idea as an important part of the modernization processes, one can single out its significance as a historical constant, an imperative defining the goals of the national-state organism. From the position of the epistemological ideal, it is possible to analyze and evaluate various national ideas, since the true effectiveness of a national idea depends on its historical adequacy. Within the framework of five stages of the history of the formation and evolution of the Belarusian national idea during the late XVIII – first decades of the XXI century, the last of which is not completed, the cultural and civilizational confrontation of the Polish-Catholic (and later the entire Western) and the Russian-Orthodox world manifested itself. As a result, today there are three competing approaches to the definition of Belarusian national identity – the Western-Russian-pro-Soviet (which has an obvious advantage in terms of rational validity and historical authenticity), the Litvinist and hybrid (dualistic). The complex of the main myths of Litvinism, refuted within the framework of his-torical analysis, includes the concepts of the cultural and state development of Belarus isolated from the rest of the principalities of Ancient Russia in the XI – XIII centuries, the non-Slavic (Baltic) ethnic origin of Belarusians, the great cultural development and a high degree of legal democracy of the Belarusian society under the rule of Lithuania and Poland, its significant linguistic and the cultural difference from Moscow Rus, the decline of the Belarusian lands after their incorporation into the Russian Empire, the genocide of Belarusians on the initia-tive of Moscow in the XVII and XX centuries. The condition for completing the formation of a full-fledged na-tional idea in the Republic of Belarus is the rejection of the artificial construction of parallel history, the use of Western-centric cultural stamps, fetishization of what has no real relation to its national-state formation. A pro-ductive methodological principle of studying the past of Belarus can be the identification of the history of the Belarusian people and the history of Polish-Lithuanian subjects and institutions, as well as an objective as-sessment of the processes and consequences of foreign expansion into its territory.

The Polish Uprising of 1863 in the Social and Political Discourse of the Czech Kingdom

The article analyzes the views of leading Czech public and political fi gures and publicists on the prerequisites, course, features and potential consequences of the Polish uprising of 1863, which broke out on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland and the Belarusian-Lithuanian provinces of the Russian Empire. Most Czech newspapers, initially striving for objective coverage of the uprising, soon completely switched to pro-Polish positions. This was explained both by the infl uence of Polish propaganda and by the position of the Western European press, which supported the Polish insurgents. At the same time, a number of leading Czech politicians, including the famous historian F. Palacky and F. Rieger, criticized the Polish uprising, noting that the plans of Polish politicians to include vast Ukrainian and Belarusian lands in the future Poland are unfair. In addition, Palacky sharply criticized the Polish rebels for their radicalism and the use of terror methods. According to Palacky, the Polish uprising was initially doomed to failure and was a colossal misfortune for all Slavic peoples, since objectively only opponents of the Slavs and Russia benefi ted from it. Similar criticism of the Polish uprising was made by a number of Czech scholars and publicists, including F. Jezbera and J. Rank. The ideological struggle and controversy surrounding the Polish uprising politicized Czech public opinion and contributed to the split of the previously unifi ed Czech national party into Old Czechs and Young Czechs.

Church union: the quandaries over acceptance of the Union of Brest (1595–96)

ABSTRACT The Union of Brest of 1595–96 brought many of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Kyiv Metropolitanate into the Catholic Church. Yet from the first, large segments of the church in the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth rejected the Union. This paper poses the question of why there was resistance to the Union by presenting counterfactual premises of what the chances for the Union would have been 30 years earlier and 30 years later. It suggests that care must be taken in understanding terminology on religious issues within the context of the period and in taking into account varying usages by clergy and laity. It maintains that increasing attention to Catholicism and Orthodoxy as confessions transformed the environment in which attempts to carry out the Union occurred. Before the Khmel′nyts′kyi Uprising of 1648, many of the participants of the discussions on the Union sought to maintain the unity of all Ruthenians through compromise. After the violent uprising, the formation of the Cossack Hetmanate, and the decline of tolerance in the Commonwealth, attempts at union took place in an atmosphere of heightened confessional allegiance and the more forceful intervention of political authorities in religious affairs.

«Яко посуху пешешествовав Израиль» - воскресные ирмосы 6-го гласа в рукописях XVII-XVIII веков и современная практика исполнения

This article is dedicated to the history of the written form of the well-known church tune – the heirmoi of the Sunday canon of the 6th tone, from the manuscripts of XVII-XVIII centuries until present-day publications of the tune. While comparing different sources of this tune, differences in its variants were discovered, it was shown how the tune changed over time, as it was in different regions in the same time period – i.e., synchronic and diachronic methods of research were used in the study. For clarity, an analytical score of the heirmos of the first song of the canon was compiled, in which the similarities and differences of the tunes are visible, the tendency to reduce the melody of the tune over time. It is noteworthy that the chant has retained some similarity of variants in sources of different types: these are handwritten singing Obikhods, written in znamenny notation, and notolinear Irmologions that came from the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands; Synodal publications of Obikhod and the Octoechos of two editions: 1772 and 1890s, four-part singing editions of the early twentieth century and the present-day sources. In the reduced version of the melody of the znamenny chant, several melodic formulas have been preserved, which sound in a polyphonic presentation. The revealed similarity of the components of the chant in the sources of different times and localities allows us to speak about the continuity of the Orthodox liturgical singing tradition.

Развитие института отбывания наказания в виде лишения свободы на территории белорусских земель в XVIII веке

The article systematically examines the development of the institution of serving a sentence of imprisonment on the territory of the Belarusian lands in the XVIII century. Due to the fact that the Belarusian lands of this period were part of both the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire, the influence of the two legal systems of these states on the development of this institution is noted. The attention is focused on the fact that the main normative legal acts regulating the development of the institution of serving a sentence of imprisonment on the territory of the Belarusian lands at that time should be recognized as the statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russian and Zheimot of 1588, the Cathedral Code of 1649, the Military Article of 1715 and the manifesto "Institutions for the administration of provinces" dated November 7, 1775. Expanding the influence of Russian law, including criminal law (and its constituent penal enforcement rights), on the territory of the Belarusian lands occurred according to the rule of "soft influence", enshrined in various decrees and charters of the Russian rulers. It is concluded that the institution of serving a sentence in the form of imprisonment in the Belarusian territories began to develop actively both legally and organizationally only under the influence of a more systematic Russian criminal law in the last quarter of the XVIII century, in connection with the three sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the annexation of all Belarusian lands to the Russian Empire since 1795.

MEDICAL PROVISION FOR PRISONERS IN PRISONS ON BELARUSIAN LANDS IN THE LATE XIX – EARLY XX CENTURIES

Based on the study of archival data, the procedure for medical provision of prisoners in places of imprisonment on Belarusian lands after the prison reform of 1879 is being investigated. A set of measures is being determined, adopted by the General Prison Administration to improve the provision of medical care to convicts in prison hospitals in the late XIX – early XX centuries – increased funding for medical support, the construction of prison hospitals, the recruitment of medical personnel in penitentiary institutions, the implementation of measures to combat infectious diseases. The importance of this activity is assessed, and determine the results of the measures taken, as well as problematic issues of medical provision of prisoners in penitentiary institutions in Belarus at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Anthology of Old Belarusian Literature, Edited by Halina Tvaranovich, in the Context of the Problem of the Belarusian Literary Canon

The anthology Starabelaruskaâ lìtaratura XI–XVIII stagoddzâŭ (Bialystok 2004), edited by Halina Tvaranovich, is reviewed in the context of the literary canon and literary historiography (Literaturgeschichtsschreibung). The article presents a brief overview of the history of the arrangement of collections of texts of ancient Belarusian literature, beginning with the edition of Bronislav Epimach-Szypillo’s Belaruskaâ hrèstamatyâ. Separate considerations are devoted to the chrestomathy edited by Alexander Korshunov (1959), which was a landmark textbook that was simultaneously important for Belarusian historical-literary research and Belarusian literature didactics. The concept of the Bialystok textbook is compared with the scholarly approaches of Belarusian literary historians of the previous period, starting with Maksim Harecki. The innovativeness of Halina Twaranovich’s approaches in arranging the chrestomathy was emphasized, as well as the possibility of linking her scientific ideas with the theory of cultural memory, with Pierre Nora’s concept of “place of memory” in particular. The degree of correlation of the materials of this chrestomathy with the concepts of multilingualism (Adam Maldzis) and heterogeneity (Sergey Kovalev) of ancient writing, belonging to the Belarusian cultural space, was examined. The defining feature of Belarusian chrestomathy is considered to be its Belaruso-centricity, its focus on the anthropological dimension in literature, and its striving to maximally reveal the peculiarities of book culture in the Belarusian lands. The editor demonstrates a hermeneutic focus on the openness of literary narrative, offering not only literal translations of the original text but also creative translational adaptations.

Noble manors in Belarus lands in the pre-reform period: servitude exploitation and patriarchal care of the peasants

The article analyzes the traditions of patriarchal care of peasants in a noble estate on Belarusian lands in the prereform period. Patriarchal care is interpreted as a social mechanism that allows maintaining a minimum acceptable level of material security for peasants in conditions of increasing serf exploitation. The term “exploitation” is defined as the process of appropriation by landlords of the results of the labor of the serf peasantry. It is indicated that the mechanism of patriarchal guardianship functioned with significant limitations and was unable to stop the further degradation of labor resources and the economy of serfs.It is noted that the system of landlord farming, formed during the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and preserved in its main features on the lands of the “western provinces” of the Russian Empire, was in the process of transformation during the period under study. The local noble estate, under the influence of all-Russian socio-economic and political factors, acquired new characteristics, and at the same time retained its economic and cultural specifics, for example, a low degree of solidarity in inter-verbal communications, which affected the intensity of exploitation of serfs and the nature of care for them.