Opinion: Belarus does not erase RzechPospolita period from its history, but views it objectively
History is a powerful weapon that can equally serve to consolidate society and to split it by imposing alien ideological and political postulates – as stated by the Rector of the Academy of Management under the President of the Republic of Belarus, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Vyacheslav Danilovich
“A denial of the common roots of Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians is now a popular method to distort the historical past of our people. It is obvious to any competent historian who adheres to the principle of objectivity that Belarusians, Russians and Ukrainians are very close nations, sharing a single East Slavic root. Meanwhile, modern pseudo-historians are now trying to deny the role of the ancestors of modern Belarusians in formation and development of the Polotsk land, the Turov Principality, Kievan Rus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Russian Empire. Facts and events of the wars between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Moscow state, as well as between the RzechPospolita and Russia, are used to contrast Belarusians and Russians. At the same time, nothing is said that it was not the peoples who fought, but the states – with an aim of conquering new territories,” Mr. Danilovich said.
As noted by the historian, the RzechPospolita history is now presented exclusively in a positive light from pro-Polish positions, and the Poles’ civilising mission is strongly emphasised. Meanwhile, the RzechPospolita partitions are interpreted as a tragedy of the loss of Belarusians’ statehood.
“Belarusian historians view statehood as an internal potential of people, and we can lose it when the nation dissolves among others and ceases to exist,” Mr. Danilovich stressed. “Therefore, such statements are a definite distortion of history.”
Moreover, the uprisings of 1794, 1830-1831, 1863-1864 are presented as a liberation movement of the Belarusian people, although their main purpose was to restore the RzechPospolita within the borders of 1772 as primarily the Polish state.
“We should not erase the RzechPospolita period from our history. Moreover, we do not reject any historical period, since this is our history. At the same time, we view them objectively and see all positive and negative sides. Unfortunately, the RzechPospolita is a vivid example of how a union state should not be built, since the RzechPospolita was actually a union state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Kingdom. During the RzechPospolita times, active Polonization was taking place on Belarusian lands, and it accelerated social disintegration, significantly slowed down the formation of the Belarusian nation and the process of national-state construction. We must remember that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was actually the historical form of Belarusian statehood. It was based on Belarusian lands, and the Old Belarusian language was official: our ancestors spoke it, and the main state laws were written in it. It was in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that the Belarusian nationality was formed. During his lecture on September 1st, 2022, President Aleksandr Lukashenko clearly outlined the point that the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was 80 percent Slavic state.”
