The Belarusian Popular Front "Revival" (BPF, be, Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in the late 1980s and 1990s which led Belarus to its independence from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. It was similar to the Popular Fronts of Latvia and

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, and the

Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...

movement in Lithuania.

Creation

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 Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

because of pressure from the authorities of the Byelorussian SSR. Initially, the Popular Front united numerous minor organizations promoting the

Belarusian language Belarusian ( be, беларуская мова, biełaruskaja mova, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language. It is the native language of many Belarusians and one of the two official state languages in Belarus. Additionally, it is spoken in some p ...

and history. However, soon the movement began voicing political demands, supporting the Perestroika and democratization in the

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 Bykaŭ Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (often spelled Vasil Bykov, be, Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков) (19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a prolific Soviet and Belarus ...

became an active member of the Belarusian Popular Front. Writer Aleś Adamovič was an active supporter of the Popular Front. The Front had about 10 thousand activists in different regions of Belarus as well as in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and Riga. It published a newspaper, Навіны БНФ "Адраджэньне" (''News of the Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"''). Among the significant achievements of the Front was the uncovering of the burial site of

Kurapaty Kurapaty ( be, Курапаты, ) is a wooded area on the outskirts of Minsk, Belarus, in which a vast number of people were executed between 1937 and 1941 during the Great Purge by the Soviet secret police, the NKVD. The exact count of victi ...

near

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, a major

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

mass extermination site of Soviet political prisoners in the 1930s. 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.

In the parliament of Belarus

In May 1990, 37 members of the Belarusian Popular Front were elected into the

12th Belarusian Supreme Council The Supreme Council (Soviet) of the Republic of Belarus of the 12th convocation is the Belarusian parliament, which was elected in 1990 as the Supreme Council of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic of the 12th convocation. It became a natio ...

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 The Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was a formal document issued by the Supreme Soviet of Belarus to assert its independence from the Soviet Union. Passed on July 27, 1990, the Declaration started the ...

. In August 1991, following the 1991 Soviet coup d'état 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. The historical Belarusian national symbols: the

white-red-white flag The white-red-white flag ( be, Бела-чырвона-белы сцяг, Biela-čyrvona-biely sciah) is a historic flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before Western Belarus was occupied by the Second Polish Republic and ...

and the ''

Pahonia The coat of arms of Lithuania consists of a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as (). Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is als ...

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

were restored as state symbols of Belarus. Kurapaty 1989 meeting

Opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko

In 1994,

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лукашенко, Aleksandr Grigoryevich Luk ...

was elected president of Belarus. From the very beginning, the Belarusian Popular Front became one of the main political forces opposing president Lukashenko. 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 A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

as a protest against Lukashenko's controversial

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

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. 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 Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, as well as against his second controversial

amending the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

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 Zianon Stanislavavič Pazniak ( be, Зянон Станіслававіч Пазняк, born 24 April 1944) is a Belarusian nationalist politician, one of the founders of the Belarusian Popular Front and leader of the Conservative Christian ...

and Siarhiej Navumčyk, have fled the country and received political asylum in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Split

In 1999, the Belarusian Popular Front split into two rival organizations. Its conservative wing under the exiled leader

formed the Conservative Christian Party – BPF (Kanservatyŭna-Chryścijanskaja Partyja BNF), while the moderate majority formed the

BPF Party The BPF Party ( be, Партыя БНФ, Partyja BNF; russian: Партия БНФ, Partiya BNF) is a political party in Belarus. It was de facto established after the split of the social movement Belarusian Popular Front ( abbr. BPF; be, Бел ...

(Partyja BNF, Партыя БНФ) led by

Vincuk Viačorka Valiancin; russian: Винцук, translit=Vintsuk) is a diminutive form of Valancin. Ryhoravič Viačorka ( be, Валянцін Рыгоравіч Вячорка, , russian: Валентин Григорьевич Вечёрко, translit=V ...

. Both parties claim to be the only legitimate successor of the Belarusian Popular Front established in 1989. The

Malady Front Young Front ( be, Малады Фронт, malady front, МФ) is a Belarusian youth movement registered in the Czech Republic. It is the largest youth organisation of Belarus declaring democratic values. It is a member of the European Democrat ...

, formerly the Popular Front's youth group, has also become an autonomous organization. In 2011, following an internal conflict, more than 90 further members left

, including several prominent veterans of the original Belarusian Popular Front, such as Lavon Barščevski, Jury Chadyka,

. This was described by some as a "second split" of the Belarusian Popular Front. Formally, the Belarusian Popular Front continues to exist as an NGO affiliated with the

.СТАТУТ ГРАМАДСКАГА АБ’ЯДНАННЯ БНФ "АДРАДЖЭНЬНЕ"
(Statute of the NGO BPF Renaissance as of 2012)

Notable former members

, writer, Nobel prize nominee * Ryhor Baradulin, poet and writer, Nobel prize nominee * Siarhiej Navumčyk, vice president of the

Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic ( be, Рада Беларускай Народнай Рэспублікі, Рада БНР, Rada BNR) was the governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Since 1919, the Rada BNR has bee ...

in Exile * Aleś Bialacki, human rights activist and political prisoner * Piatro Sadoŭski, Belarus' first ambassador to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

* Pavał Sieviaryniec, Christian Democratic politician and political prisoner * Jaŭhien Kulik, graphic designer, author of the

Coat of arms of Belarus The national emblem of Belarus features a ribbon in the colors of the national flag, a silhouette of Belarus, wheat ears and a red star. It is sometimes referred to as the coat of arms of Belarus, although in heraldic terms this is inaccurate ...

adopted in 1991 * Uładzimier Arłoŭ, writer * Jaŭhien Šatochin, artist

References

External links

The Belarusian Popular Front in 1988—1996: photo and video

НАРОДНЫ ФРОНТ. Фотагісторыя змаганьня і перамогі
(The People's Front. Photo-history of struggle and victory) {{Authority control 1989 establishments in the Soviet Union Political history of Belarus Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Anti-communism in Belarus Independence movements Dissolution of the Soviet Union Popular fronts in the Soviet Union Belarusian independence movement Political parties established in 1989