)
1906–1915 Nasha Niva was inspired by
Iskra, a political newspaper, published by the
RSDLP since 1901. At the
BSA conference in June 1906 Belarusian journalist
Anton Łuckevič announced his intention to create a party newspaper. The co-founders were his brother Ivan and
Alaksandar Ułasaŭ, a landowner from the Mihaŭka estate near
Minsk, who was for many years the newspaper's publisher and editor. The name for the publication was taken from a poem by
Janka Lučyna "Роднай старонцы" ("To Fatherland"). The first issue was published on 23 November 1906, under the editorship of titular counselor Zigmund Volsky. Since the fifth issue from 8 December 1906, the chief editor was
Alaksandar Ułasaŭ. In the first three years, the newspaper published 960 reports from 489 areas, 246 poems by 61 authors, and 91 articles by 36 special reporters. Only in 1910 "Nasha Niva" published 666 various correspondence from 427 people. "Nasha Niva" covered a wide range of political, economic, and cultural issues. Every issue included the following sections: government actions, political review, life of the countryside, life of the city, feuilletons, the newest literary works in Belarusian, correspondence, news from Russia and Lithuania, book digest, history notes, notes on agriculture, applied mechanics, personal ad. The newspaper saw as its main task the consolidation of a Belarusian political nation. It was also – as was observed at the time – the first source of information to be free of government interference. The editors office also strived to preserve and promote Belarusian culture. National civil society rallied around the newspaper; numerous agricultural initiatives, youth groups and publishing houses used it as a voice to promote their activities. In 1911 its circulation was about 3,000. Up to October 1912, the newspaper was printed both in Cyrillic and Latin scripts. From the 43 issue of 24 October 1912, the publication completely switched to the Cyrillic alphabet. A subscription for a year cost 5 roubles, the price for one issue was 5
kopecks. One of the major figures behind the formulation of the newspaper's political goals was Ivan Łuckevič from
Minsk, founder of the famous Belarusian Museum in Vilnius and sponsor of numerous political and cultural projects. Working alongside him was his brother,
Anton Łuckevič, whose ideas were decisive in the formation of the programme of the
Belarusian Socialist Party (Hramada). He would eventually become the Prime Minister of the
Belarusian People's Republic.
Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski, another future Prime Minister of the Belarusian People's Republic, became secretary of the newspaper in 1909 and in the years 1912—1913 acted as its de facto editor. He was in charge of the historical agenda, which was one of the main topics in
Nasha Niva.
Janka Kupała, a famous poet, became the newspaper's editor in March 1914. The editors office located on , 14. Kupała continued in this role until the Autumn of 1915 when Vilnius was occupied by the Germans and normal life in Belarus came to a standstill. In the Summer of 1909 they were joined by
Siarhiej Pałujan. However, the group was divided into two parts. Łuckevič brothers and Ułasaŭ were the so-called 'Upper House of Parliament', they used the separated room and communicated to others by notes that were put through a slot under the door. The 'Upper Parliament' strived to keep the publication alive and receive fees, while the 'Lower Chamber' performed all the everyday tasks. Their articles were published under pseudonyms, all their decisions could be overridden by the 'Upper House' veto. The tense relations between the collaborators are presumably the main reason of Siarhiej Pałujan's suicide in 1910. According to the archives, in 1909 the newspaper had subscribers even in
Prague,
Paris,
Lviv and
USA. Anton Łuckevič, Alaksandar Ułasaŭ,
Branisłaŭ Taraškievič, Źmicier Žyłunovič and
Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski all fell victims of the
Soviet repressions in the 1930s. It was also "Nasha Niva" that discovered the works of
Maksim Bahdanovič and
Źmitrok Biadula. It published the writings of many prominent intellectual figures, including
Janka Kupała,
Anton Łuckevič,
Maksim Bahdanovič and
Vacłaŭ Łastoŭski.
Nasha Niva realised the unpopularity of the Belarusian language among rural populations. As the main step to improve the issue it promoted education in Belarusian and advocated people's right to use their native language in schools and in church. Issues from 1906 to 1912 used both
Cyrillic and
Latin alphabets simultaneously (with the subheading: Printed weekly in Russian and in Polish letters (in Latin script: Wychodzić szto tydzień ruskimi i polskimi literami)).
Publishing The newspaper became the centre of intellectual life, it acted as the focal point for the independent cultural and social projects that grew up around it. Since 1907 the editors office has been engaged in book publishing. "Nasha Niva" performed the coordinating function of a publishing centre. Especially popular were the annual Belarusian Calendars, almanacs in which readers could find not only the usual kind of day-to-day information but also literary works. The publishing centre also published books, both original and in translation. A satirical magazine 'Krapiva' (Nettles) was published in Vilnia in 1912, and the agricultural department of Nasha Niva grew into the independent 'Sacha' (Wooden Plough) magazine published in Minsk from the end of 1913. Under the newspaper's auspices one of "Nasha Niva" founders,
Ivan Łuckevič, began to collect artefacts for the future Belarusian National Museum. Most of it is currently stored in the National History Museum of Lithuania. Staff of the newspaper helped
Ihnat Bujnicki form the first Belarusian theatre company. More than 1 mln copies of the newspaper were published between 1906 and 1915. The scale of the work accomplished by "Nasha Niva" has allowed historians and researchers of culture to define early 20th century Belarusian culture as the 'Nasha Niva period' when referring to the quantitative and qualitative changes in the development of modern culture and society.
First World War In 1914
Nasha Niva could no longer criticize the government that was at war because such opposition could be perceived as unloyalty to the state. The newspaper published articles and reports on patriotic actions of ordinary Belarusians, but its editorial position didn't demonstrate any support to the Russian military. The Russian army was described as alien as the German one. With the outbreak of war
Nasha Niva issues halved in volume. Since the Autumn of 1914, the blank spaces appeared on its pages, left by the state censors. The last issue was published in the Summer of 1915 when the majority of the staff were called to active military service. ==Revival attempt in 1920==