Belarusization ( be, беларусізацыя) was a policy of protection and advancement of 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 recruitment and promotion of ethnic Belarusians (a type of affirmative action program) within the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

of the

Belarusian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

(BSSR) and the Belarusian Communist Party, conducted by the government of the

BSSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

in the 1920s. Together with the 1920s policy of

Ukrainization Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...

in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, as well as other similar policies in other parts of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, it constituted the Soviet policy of

korenization Korenizatsiia or korenization ( rus, коренизация, p=kərʲɪnʲɪˈzatsɨjə, , "indigenization") was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet ...

, an attempt by the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

to win favor with non-Russian ethnic groups by temporarily reversing the effects of centuries of forced Russification within the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and promoting national cultures and languages in Soviet national republics. The implementation of korenization effectively stopped by the second half of 1930s, to which the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

contributed by elimination the national elites. Eventually it was reversed and replaced with the Soviet government's promotion of Russian language as the "language of interethnic communication".

Plan for Belarusization

The official policy of Belarusization was instituted in 1924 by the Central Executive Committee of the

by creation of a special commission headed by A. I. Khatskevich. The special commission recommended the following measures: * Transition of the Belarusian Republic's institutions and Belarusian units of the Red Army to the

* Promotion of ethnic

Belarusians , native_name_lang = be , pop = 9.5–10 million , image = , caption = , popplace = 7.99 million , region1 = , pop1 = 600,000–768,000 , region2 = , pop2 ...

to leadership positions within the

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

and

labor unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

* Organization of educational institutions in the Belarusian language, development of

Belarusian literature Belarusian literature ( be, Беларуская лiтаратура, Biełaruskaja litaratura) is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by speakers (not necessarily native speakers) of the Belarusian language. History Pre-17th century ...

and more. The transition of Belarusian republic's institutions to the Belarusian language was planned to take place over a period of one to three years.

Results of Belarusization

* By 1927, 80% of the

's civil servants were fluent in the Belarusian language. * By 1928, 80% of schools in the

were transitioned to Belarusian as the language of instruction.

End of Belarusization

However, with the rise of

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

in the 1930s, which repressed the national elites in all parts of the

, and the concurrent return of the policies of

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

, Belarusization was quickly reversed, along with

and all the other programs of

within the Soviet Union.

References

* Нарысы гісторыі Беларусі. Ч. 2. — Мн., 1995. С. 119-123 * Запруднік Я. Беларусь на гістарычных скрыжаваннях. Минск, 1996. С. 93-94 1920s in Belarus Belarusian language Language policy in Belarus Slavicization 1990s in Belarus Language policy in Russia {{slavic-lang-stub

Plan for Belarusization

Results of Belarusization

End of Belarusization

See also

References