Exactly 30 years ago, towards the end of 1990, one of the two superpowers of that time – the Soviet Union – was facing an existential crisis. Though the Soviet Communist Party was in power, it was about to lose its control. Now towards the end of 2020, one of the erstwhile republics of the USSR is facing a similar situation.
Since our mainstream media hardly gives any coverage to that region, this two-part article is an attempt to shed some light on the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the current situation in Belarus. Belarus is a country in Eastern Europe with less than 10 million people, but being located between the European Union and Russia it has some significance for the politics of Europe. Just three decades earlier, this country was part of the Soviet Union and it still has some deep economic and social remnants of the socialist system.
Before discussing the current political crisis in Belarus, some background is in order. Belarus literally means White Russia. Historically, Russian and Slavic ethnic groups lived in the region that now has three independent countries: Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Tradition has it that among those groups, the fairest of them all were dubbed as White Russian – Byelorussians. The region of present-day Belarus remained – at various times in history – part of the German, Polish, or Russian empires. For a century or so before World War I, Belarus was under the Russian Empire.
During WWI, Germany occupied it and after the war Belarus declared its independence because the Allied powers had defeated Germany. But then a war started between Poland and Soviet Russia as after the Soviet revolution of 1917 in Russia, Soviet forces were extending their sphere of influence. After the establishment of Soviet Russia, communists had established a Soviet government in Ukraine too, and both were defending themselves against the Polish invasion supported by the Western powers that were trying to topple the soviet system. After two years of fighting, in 1921 under an agreement Poland annexed western Belarus whereas the eastern part aligned with Soviet Russia.
The communists of Belarus in 1919 had already announced the establishment of a Belarus Soviet government. After the war, Belarus was one of the earliest states supporting Vladimir Lenin’s plan to set up the Soviet Union that came into being in 1922. The Belarus soviet government with the Russian, Transcaucasian, and the Ukrainian soviet governments merged to form the Soviet Union. At the beginning of WWII, the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to enter Poland; and Western Belarus that had been with Poland since 1919 became part of the Soviet Union in 1939.
When Hitler violated the agreement and attacked the Soviet Union in 1941, Belarus was the most affected area as the Soviet forces retreated and Belarus came under Nazi occupation. Out of the nearly 300 cities and towns of Belarus, the Nazis destroyed 200, and razed to the ground a million or so industrial and residential buildings. According to some estimates, over two million citizens of Belarus lost their lives during the Nazi occupation. After the war, till 1990 – for exactly 45 years – Belarus was under the influence of the Soviet Communist Party.
In 1990, when it became clear that the Soviet Union could hardly survive, in July 1990 Belarus declared its autonomy but till the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union a year later, Belarus nominally remained part of it. During the 70-year association with the Soviet Union, the republics of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine were very close to each other. Their historical evolution had taken place together and their languages were also alike. Along with living standards, they also shared the same religion – the Russian Orthodox Church. In the Soviet power structure too, the leaders of Belarus and Ukraine had a substantial share.
After WWII, the longest serving Soviet foreign minister, Gromyko, was from Belarus. One can see the significant role that Gromyko played in Soviet foreign policy for nearly three decades from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. In 1985, Gorbachev appointed him the head of state of the Soviet Union. Although a ceremonial post, it was still an honor for Belarus. That was the reason when people talked about the disintegration of the Soviet Union, almost nobody imagined that even Belarus and Ukraine would become separate countries.
In June 1990, the largest province or republic of the Soviet Union – Russia – led by the rebel leader Boris Yeltsin declared its autonomy from the Soviet Union. It declared that Russian laws would be superior to the laws of the Soviet Union. This announcement paved the way for other Soviet provinces to declare similar autonomy; gradually all 15 provinces did the same and Belarus was one of them. Ironically, one year before the Soviet Union broke up, in July 1990 the Supreme Soviet or the provincial assembly of Belarus also declared its autonomy. It initiated the process of independence from the Soviet Union which culminated after the failed putsch in the Soviet Union in August 1991.
In August 1991, some hardline communist leaders of the Soviet Union tried to remove Gorbachev and restore the old system. The then communist leader of Belarus, Nikolay Dementey, supported the putsch. The rebellion failed within two days and the assembly of Belarus removed not only its leader but also abolished the post of the first secretary of the Belarus Communist party. In September 1991, the restored Soviet government of Gorbachev recognized the independence of the three Baltic republics. It was an indication that the remaining 12 provinces could also go their own way.
Interestingly, those who led the August-1991 putsch included the Soviet Vice-President Yanayev, Soviet Defence Minister Yazov, the head of the Soviet KGB Kryuchkov, Interior Minister Pugo, and PM Pavlov, but still the rebellion could not withstand the response of the Russian people who came out on streets in droves, led by Yeltsin. Then the Soviet military also refused to take action against the protesters as that could have resulted in bloodshed. After the secession of the Baltic republics in September-1991, the leaders of the remaining ones led by Yeltsin embarked on a mission to completely dissolve the Soviet Union.
In early December 1991, at Belovezh in Belarus they signed an accord that put paid to the Soviet Union. During his last months in power, Gorbachev himself was working to transform the Soviet Union into a loose confederation and the August putsch was a last-ditch attempt by the old guard to stymie the process. Conversely, the putsch left the Soviet Communist Party in a bruised state and matters slipped from the hands of Gorbachev. Nearly all federating units announced through their assemblies that the provinces were autonomous and no more bound under the Soviet constitution and laws.
Dr Naazir Mahmood, "Crisis of dictatorship: Part – I," The News. 2020-12-21.Keywords: History , Historical evolution , Communist leaders , Socialist system , Russian Empire , Soviet constitution , Political crisis , Belarus , Russia , Ukraine , Germany