The Second
Constituent Charter to the peoples of Belarus ( be, Другая Ўстаўная грамата да народаў Беларусі, Druhaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata da narodaŭ Biełarusi) is a legal act adopted by the Executive Committee of the Council of the All-Belarusian Congress on March 9, 1918 in
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 ...
. Announced the formation of the
Belarusian People's Republic
The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; be, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, ), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic R ...
as a democratic parliamentary and legal state, defined its territory within the settlement and numerical superiority of Belarusians. Embodied the then achievements of political and legal thought.
[ Сідарэвіч А. Другая Устаўная грамата // С. 284.]
Historical context
Adopted on February 21, 1918, the
First Constituent Charter
The First Constituent Charter to the peoples of Belarus ( be, Першая Ўстаўная грамата да народаў Беларусі, Pieršaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata da narodaŭ Biełarusi) is a legal and political act issued by the Exe ...
proclaimed the Executive Committee of the Council of the All-Belarusian Congress a temporary people's power in Belarus. However, on March 3, 1918,
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
concluded the
Brest Peace Treaty
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...
, according to which it transferred most of the territory of Belarus to the German Empire. At the same time, the German authorities undertook not to recognize the states declared in the occupied territories upon signing the treaty.
In these circumstances, Belarusian activists went to adopt the Second Charter.
Text
The text of the Second Constituent Charter consisted of eight paragraphs.
The
Belarusian People's Republic
The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; be, Беларуская Народная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Narodnaja Respublika, ), or Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic R ...
was proclaimed within the limits of the settlement and numerical superiority of the
Belarusian people
, native_name_lang = be
, pop = 9.5–10 million
, image =
, caption =
, popplace = 7.99 million
, region1 =
, pop1 = 600,000–768,000
, region2 =
, pop2 ...
. The Council of the All-Belarusian Congress, supplemented by representatives of the national minorities of Belarus, temporarily took over the legislative power in the country. The basic laws of the Belarusian People's Republic were later to be approved by the Constituent Assembly of Belarus, convened on the basis of universal and equal suffrage.
The rights and freedoms of citizens and peoples of the Belarusian People's Republic were proclaimed: freedom of speech, press, assembly, strikes, allies; freedom of conscience, inviolability of person and premises; the right of peoples to national and personal autonomy; equality of all languages of the peoples of Belarus. Private ownership of land was abolished, the transfer of land without redemption to those who worked on it was announced; forests, lakes and subsoil were declared state property. The maximum length of the working day was 8 hours.
Results
On March 18, 1918, at a meeting of the Council of the All-Belarusian Congress of 1917, supporters of independence managed to rename it the Council of the BNR, which on March 23, 1918 included the Vilnius Belarusian Council. On March 25, 1918, the BNR Council adopted the
Third Constituent Charter
The Third Constituent Charter ( be, Трэцяя Ўстаўная грамата, Treciaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata) is a legal act adopted by the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic on March 25, 1918 in Minsk (in Malin's house), according to ...
, which proclaimed the independence of the Belarusian People's Republic.
There is a late adoption of the Second Constituent Charter — after the ratification of the Brest Peace Treaty. The German Empire, following his articles, could not recognize the BNR. In addition, German ruling circles were alarmed by the nationalization of land, lakes and forests. There is also dissatisfaction among BNR activists with the lack of a clear definition of the territory of the Belarusian state, as well as the nature of Belarus' relations with other states, including Russia. These issues were resolved by the Third Charter.
References
See also
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First Constituent Charter
The First Constituent Charter to the peoples of Belarus ( be, Першая Ўстаўная грамата да народаў Беларусі, Pieršaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata da narodaŭ Biełarusi) is a legal and political act issued by the Exe ...
*
Third Constituent Charter
The Third Constituent Charter ( be, Трэцяя Ўстаўная грамата, Treciaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata) is a legal act adopted by the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic on March 25, 1918 in Minsk (in Malin's house), according to ...
*
Fourth Constituent Charter
The Fourth Constituent Charter ( be, Чацьвертая Ўстаўная грамата, Čaćviertaja Ŭstaŭnaja hramata) is a resolution of the Council of People's Ministers of the Belarusian People's Republic of November 29, 1918 on the Est ...
Sources
Ustaŭnyja hramaty BNR 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 ...
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Шупа С.br>
Падарожжа ў БНР (4). Абвясьцілі БНР, дэкляравалі правы і свабоды Радыё Свабода, February 23, 2018
1918 in Belarus
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Dissolution of the Russian Empire
February 1918 events