MINSK, 17 September (BelTA) – Belarus became an independent state thanks to the effort of the political elites and the will of the Belarusian people, analyst of the Brest Oblast office of Belarusian Institute for Strategic Research (BISR) Sergei Zhuk told the media, BelTA has learned.
According to the expert, the date of 17 September is a symbol of the fact that the Belarusians always sought to unite and live in a single state. "Despite all the geopolitical challenges and attempts to divide our people, the Belarusians were willing to wait and seize their chance," Sergei Zhuk emphasized. "Nowadays, it is extremely important to remember that once we were a divided nation. At a time of geopolitical turbulence and current challenges, we need to understand that independence and sovereignty are not given by God. It came through the joint effort of the political elites and the will of the Belarusian people. We can lose all this if we are not united."
The analyst pointed out that the division of the nation and the Polish occupation in 1921-1939 became a challenge for Belarusians, including for the Brest region. The population of Western Belarus was oppressed and was subjected to the polonization policy. "The strategic goal of the Polish government was to change our mentality and national code. They saw Belarusians primarily as Poles spoiled by the communist and Russian influence. Therefore, they pursued the policy of 'big brother'. They tried, as they thought, to ‘civilize’ us and bring back into the fold of Poland," Sergei Zhuk stressed. A national liberation movement emerged in Western Belarus. Its participants were persecuted and severely punished.
The expert touched upon the economic policy pursued by Poland on the Eastern Borderlands. He outlined three main aspects of the policy: "Firstly they used Belarusians as a cheap labor force for the Polish economy. Secondly they saw us as Poland's raw material appendage and tapped into natural resources. Thirdly we were a market for Polish goods. Instead of the sustainable development, Poland offered us an extremely unfortunate fate. At a time when the BSSR built factories and was busy with industrialization and collectivization, Western Belarus actually remained an agricultural and underdeveloped region of Poland. The Polish government would not carry out necessary state measures to level out the economic situation across the country," Sergei Zhuk noted.
He also drew attention to Poland’s policy towards the Belarusian language. "The Belarusian language and Belarusian culture were seen by the Polish political elites as secondary, not valuable. Accordingly, their development was limited," the analyst summarized.
