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About Independence DaysOver two centuries ago the United States of America declared their independence from Great Britain. Years of the Revolutionary War followed, and the American people succeeded in defending their declaration and thus a new and thriving country was formed. The traditional celebration of 4th of July as the American Independence Day became well established over the years. It is celebrated officially by the White House and the Congress, in the capital, and less formally throughout the country with parades and patriotic gatherings. Multitudes of family picnics and barbecues complete the day.American Declaration of Independence (an excerpt) We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies, are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States;... Philadelphia, 1776 Ninety years ago the Russian Empire fell apart as the result of the Bolshevik Revolution and the war losses. Many peoples of that multinational empire declared their determination to be independent. The empire's break-up provided some hope for Belarusians, after more than hundred years of brutal occupation that nearly caused their nation's extinction. Some of the new states maintained their independence for a few years, some for two decades, others did not survive the post-war years. Belarus, having declared its independence as the Belarusian Democratic Republic on March 25, 1918, was among the latter. During WW I the territory of Belarus was a continuous battleground, first between Russia and Germany, later between Poland and the new Soviet state. The 1921 truce line became the official border between them for nearly twenty years until the next World War. Belarus was thus divided between the warring states and its fledgling government was forced to go into exile. The March 25 date was to be celebrated for decades by the exiles and later by the growing diaspora as the Belarusian Independence Day. Belarusian Declaration of Independence (an excerpt) A year ago the peoples of Belarus, together with the peoples of Russia, threw off the yoke of Russian tsarism, which had oppressed Belarus most of all, and without asking the people, precipitated our land into the conflagration of war which totally destroyed Belarusian cities and villages. Now we, the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, have cast off from our native land the last vestige of national dependence which the Russian Tsars imposed by force upon our free and independent land. From this time on, the Belarusian Democratic Republic is proclaimed an independent and free state…. Minsk, 1918 The yearly celebrations by the Belarusian diaspora outside of the Soviet Union stressed national revival and the hope for freedom and democracy in Belarus. Patriotoic speeches were followed by concerts and usually concluded by resolutions calling for the restoration of independence. They were staged by the local communities with support from national organizations and the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in Exile. Staging such events in the Soviet Union would have resulted in immediate arrests of the participants and a sentence to a gulag for the organizers. The historical memory of Belarusians in the Soviet republic, the BSSR, was being thoroughly eradicated. The achievements of their ancestors were either ascribed to other nations, or deleted from encyclopedias and textbooks. At the break up of the Soviet Union, Belarusians took a two step approach toward renewed independence. The first was the declaration of sovereignty of the BSSR in 1990, the second – the declaration of independence of the Republic of Belarus in 1991. It was accompanied by the restoration of the historical flag and state symbols, with the Belarusian language flourishing. July 27, 1991, was designated as the Independence Day and recognized as such for the next four years. Election to the presidency of the unabashedly populist Alexander Lukashenka, a former collective farm chairman driven by a vision of restoring the Soviet Union with himself in the Kremlin, reversed the revival. Almost immediately, by means of a tightly controlled fraudulent referendum, the Russian language regained its dominance, the Soviet-era anthem, flag and symbols were reintroduced, and the day of the reentry of Soviet troops into Minsk in 1944 became the next official Independence Day. Nonetheless, however slowly, the historical memory started coming back to the younger generations of Belarusians. The 1918 date became known as Freedom Day at first, later becoming a more credible alternative to the officially celebrated holiday. The diaspora that has steadily grown as a result of the worsening situation in the country, now plans a series of events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Independence Declaration. At a conference scheduled for March 2008 in Prague, the representatives of Belarus' democratic forces will meet with a number of supportive international figures, as well as with exiled Rada's President Ivonka Survilla. Within Belarus, the democratically oriented population will take part in rallies, concerts, protest marches, despite official prohibitions and physical repressions. The spring of 2008 may provide a glimmer of hope that the autocratic rule will not last forever, and that the hope expressed 90 years ago will soon become a reality. And finally that, in the not too distant future, the people of Belarus will celebrate their chosen Independence Day in peace, secure in the knowledge that they are the masters in their own land, free to use their own language, practice their chosen religions, and develop their own culture. This article appeared in Belarusian Review, Vol. 19, No.4 --------------------------------------------- Copyright 2007 Belarusian Review All rights reserved. belarusianreview@hotmail.com Walter Stankievich
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