Precedents Certain Belarusian nationalists, among them
Mikola Yermalovich, have cited the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the first Belarusian state. This pseudohistorical theory, commonly referred to as
Litvinism, emerged from efforts by the Russian Empire in order to propagate the idea of a Lithuania which was more favourable to Tsarist interests in the aftermath of the
partitions of Poland. These ideas were co-opted by Belarusian nationalists following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union. Some members of the
Belarusian opposition, among them
Zianon Pazniak, have sought to cast Litvinism as a movement artificially inflated by the Russian government in an attempt to vilify Belarusian nationalism. Moreover, Belarusian President
Alexander Lukashenko, Belarusian scientists and even members of the
anti-Lukashenko opposition narrated that the Lithuanian capital
Vilnius historically was Belarusian and was established by the Belarusians.
Francysk Skaryna, a 16th-century book printer, has become a unifying figure of Belarusian nationalists since efforts began to establish his significance as a Belarusian figure in the 1920s. Skaryna, who was the first to translate the Bible into the "
Simple speech" of the time, was initially rejected as a member of the "Polotsk bourgeoise" in the 1930s. However, following World War II, Skaryna's image saw a renaissance in Belarus, particularly in the face of unsuccessful efforts to transfer Polotsk to the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1944. The 1969 film additionally brought recognition of Skaryna as a uniquely Belarusian figure. In a 2002 poll, he was regarded as a prominent Belarusian by 61.6%, strongly leading against
Yanka Kupala, who placed second with 41.7% of respondents calling him a prominent Belarusian. Another figure which has become associated with Belarusian nationalism is
Tadeusz Kościuszko, leader of the
Kościuszko Uprising. In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, recognition of Kościuszko, born near the southwestern Belarusian city of
Kosava, as a Belarusian national hero began. Debate over the extent to which Kościuszko can be recognized as a Belarusian national hero has intensified since 2014, with monuments to Kościuszko being erected both within Belarus and by members of the
Belarusian diaspora. In 2019, a claim by the
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus that Kościuszko was Polish and American, rather than Belarusian, prompted widespread criticism and ridicule, leading the National Academy of Sciences to eventually walk back its former statement and note that he was a politician in Belarus, Poland, and the United States. Debate over Kościuszko's nationality has additional political dimensions, with pro-western groups generally taking the position of him being Belarusian and pro-Russian groups, among them the Belarusian government, casting him as Polish. Interest in the Belarusian nation and language among intellectuals began in the early 19th century, as part of the
Belarusian national revival. Among the leading figures of this period were
Jan Barszczewski,
Jan Czeczot, and
Vintsent Dunin-Martsinkyevich, who developed the basis of the modern
Belarusian language. Barszczewski and Czeczot were among the first to develop the idea of Belarusians as a group separate from Poles. At this time, however, Belarusian nationalism did not emerge; instead, two competing schools of thought variously sought to place Belarus alongside Russia or Poland. The former school was referred to as
West-Rusism. Konstanty Kalinowski, himself a follower of the Polonophile section of Belarusian intelligentsia, was the first to promote the idea of Belarus as an independent nation. Counter to him were some of the Belarusian language's most prominent linguists, among them
Yefim Karsky. Belarusian nationalists historically have placed blame on the 1839 dissolution of the
Ruthenian Uniate Church during the
Synod of Polotsk as having had a strongly detrimental effect on the Belarusian nation. However, historian
Grigory Ioffe has debated this, noting that while a separation exists between those whose families historically held Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox views and President
Alexander Lukashenko has promoted anti-Catholic views, there is little to no open conflict between the two churches. Additionally, Ioffe has placed Belarusians' atheism and the relatively-fast growth of
Protestantism as diluting historical religious tensions.
Konstanty Kalinowski and the January Uprising (), one of the leaders of the ill-fated
January Uprising, was an early Belarusian nationalist leader Belarusian nationalism began to emerge in the early 1860s, during the prelude to the
January Uprising. The publishing of
Mużyckaja prauda, the first newspaper written in the modern
Belarusian language, began in 1861 under the leadership of
Konstanty Kalinowski (). The newspaper advocated against the
Russian Empire, called for the restoration of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and
Eastern Catholicism (which became unpopular after the large-scale return to the historical Belarusian faith of Eastern Orthodoxy), and spoke in support of land reform. In contrast, the
West-Rusists, led by
Mikhail Koyalovich (Kalinowski's primary political rival within Belarus), believed the Belarusians were a subset of the Russian nation, and advocated for the conversion of Catholics to Eastern Orthodoxy. When the January Uprising began, Kalinowski sought to foment rebellion in Belarus. According to his later writings, he aligned himself with Poland because, "the Polish cause is our cause, the cause of freedom." A total of 260 battles were fought in the territory of what is now Belarus and Lithuania, according to Imperial Russian data. An estimated 67,957 people participated in the Uprising from Belarus and Lithuania, of whom at least one third were from the peasantry (forming the
Reds, the left wing of the Uprising), in contrast to the Uprising's aristocratic leadership (making up the
Whites, the right wing). However, the January Uprising was swiftly crushed by the Russian Army. A total of 180 people were executed by Tsarist authorities for participation in the January Uprising, though the percentage of whom were peasants is disputed. Just over a year after the Uprising's beginning, Kalinowski himself was hanged in
Vilnius. Kalinowski's
Letters from Beneath the Gallows became a rallying cry for Belarusian nationalists, with its condemnation of the "
Muscovites" and call to fight alongside Polish rebels. A portion of one of the letters is included below: In spite of his later prestige, Kalinowski was a polarising figure at the time of his death, with Kalinowski's political opponent describing him as a "Lithuanian separatist." , on the other hand, a member of the Uprising's
Polish National Government, called Kalinowski, "a true apostle of the Belarusian people." Kalinowski was also idolized by Polish rebels as a supporter of
Polish nationalism. Regardless of differing views on his legacy, Kalinowski began to emerge as a Belarusian national hero during the 1930s, as Soviet educational institutions emphasized his role in history. Following the defeat of the January Uprising, Belarusian nationalism faded from consciousness, amidst competition between Lithuanian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian nationalists. == The Russian Revolution and Belarusian Democratic Republic ==