Belarusian sociopolitical movement
The
Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"
(
BPF
,
Belarusian
:
Беларуск? Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ
;
Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adrad?e?nie"
,
BNF
) was a social and political movement in
Belarus
in the late 1980s and 1990s whose goals were national revival of Belarus, its democratization and independence from the
Soviet Union
. Its leader was
Zianon Pazniak
. It was similar to the Popular Fronts of
Latvia
and
Estonia
, and the
S?j?dis
movement in
Lithuania
.
Creation
[
edit
]
The predecessor of the BPF was the civic organization "
Martyrology of Belarus
[
be
]
", whose goal was to commemorate the victims of
Soviet political repressions in Belarus
. Among the significant achievements of the organization was the 1988 uncovering by Pazniak of the burial site of
Kurapaty
near
Minsk
, a major
NKVD
mass extermination site of Soviet political prisoners in the 1930s.
[2]
The Belarusian Popular Front was established in 1989, following the examples of the Popular Fronts in the Baltic states. Its founding conference had to be organized in
Vilnius
because of pressure from the authorities of the
Byelorussian SSR
.
[2]
Initially, the Popular Front united numerous minor organizations promoting the
Belarusian language
and history. However, soon the movement began voicing political demands,
[2]
supporting the
Perestroika
and democratization in the
Soviet Union
which would enable a Belarusian national revival. The Popular Front was the first political organization in Belarus to openly oppose the
Communist Party of Byelorussia
.
The prominent Belarusian writer
Vasil Byka?
became an active member of the Belarusian Popular Front. Writer
Ale? Adamovi?
was an active supporter of the Popular Front.
[3]
The Front had about 10 thousand activists in different regions of Belarus
[4]
as well as in
Moscow
,
Vilnius
and
Riga
. It published a newspaper, Нав?ны БНФ "Адраджэньне" (
News of the Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"
).
The Belarusian Popular Front actively protested against Soviet policies following the
Chernobyl accident
, after which a large territory of Belarus was contaminated by nuclear fallout.
[5]
In the parliament of Belarus
[
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]
In May 1990, 37 members of the Belarusian Popular Front were elected into the
12th Belarusian Supreme Council
and formed a dynamic opposition group in the parliament of the then Soviet-controlled
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
.
In July 1990, the Belarusian Popular Front initiated the passing of the
Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
. In August 1991, following the
1991 Soviet coup d'etat attempt
and supported by tens of thousands of protesters outside the parliament building, the Belarusian Popular Front managed to convince the Supreme Soviet to declare full independence of Belarus from the USSR.
[6]
The historical Belarusian national symbols: the
white-red-white flag
and the
Pahonia
coat of arms
were restored as state symbols of Belarus.
Opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko
[
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]
In 1994,
Alexander Lukashenko
was elected president of Belarus. From the very beginning, the Belarusian Popular Front became one of the main political forces opposing president Lukashenko.
[7]
In 1994 the BPF formed a
shadow cabinet
consisting of 100 BPF intellectuals.
In 1995, members of parliament from the Belarusian Popular Front went on a
hunger strike
as a protest against Lukashenko's controversial
referendum
to replace state symbols with slightly amended Soviet ones and to make
Russian language
official in Belarus. The hunger strike was violently interrupted by police forces who beat up the members of parliament.
[8]
In 1996, the Belarusian Popular Front was one of the main powers behind mass protests against Lukashenko's policies of
Russification
and integration with
Russia
, as well as against his second controversial
referendum
amending the
constitution
in a way to concentrate power in the president's hands. The protests were violently dispersed by the police. Two leaders of the Belarusian Popular Front,
Zianon Pazniak
and
Siarhiej Navum?yk
, fled the country and received political asylum in the
United States
.
Split
[
edit
]
In 1999, the Belarusian Popular Front split into two rival organizations. Its conservative wing under the exiled leader
Zianon Pazniak
formed the
Conservative Christian Party ? BPF
(Kanservaty?na-Chry?cijanskaja Partyja BNF), while the moderate majority formed the
BPF Party
(Partyja BNF, Партыя БНФ) led by
Vincuk Via?orka
.
Both parties claim to be the only legitimate successor of the Belarusian Popular Front established in 1989.
[2]
[4]
The
Malady Front
, formerly the Popular Front's youth wing, has also become an autonomous organization.
In 2011, following an internal conflict, more than 90 further members left
BPF Party
, including several veterans of the original Belarusian Popular Front, including
Lavon Bar??evski
,
Jury Chadyka
,
Vincuk Via?orka
. This was described by some as a "second split" of the Belarusian Popular Front.
[9]
[10]
Formally, the Belarusian Popular Front continued to exist as an NGO affiliated with the
BPF Party
.
[11]
In 2023 the BPF Party as well as the Conservative Christian Party ? BPF were both liquidated by the Supreme Court of Belarus.
[12]
Notable former members
[
edit
]
- Vasil Byka?
, writer, Nobel prize nominee
- Ryhor Baradulin
, poet and writer, Nobel prize nominee
- Siarhiej Navum?yk
, vice president of the
Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic
in Exile
- Ale? Bialacki
, human rights activist and political prisoner
- Piatro Sado?ski
, Belarus' first ambassador to
Germany
- Pavał Sieviaryniec
, Christian Democratic politician and political prisoner
- Ja?hien Kulik
, graphic designer, author of the
Coat of arms of Belarus
adopted in 1991
- Uładzimier Arło?
, writer
- Ja?hien ?atochin
, artist
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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