"Vajacki marš" ( be, Ваяцкі марш, ; "March of the Warriors"), also known by its first line "My vyjdziem ščylnymi radami" ( be, Мы выйдзем шчыльнымі радамі; "Come, We Shall March in Joint Endeavour"), was the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the short-lived

Belarusian Democratic 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 ...

that existed from 1918 to 1919.

History

The lyrics of the song were first published in 1919 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 ...

, in the

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, ''Belarus''. As the anthem of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the song was approved in 1920, even though the republic was in exile at that time. During the Soviet rule of

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 R ...

, the song was banned. However, there were attempts to adapt the lyrics to the communist ideology by replacing mentions of the national Belarusian

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 ...

with those of the Soviet red banner. Throughout the 20th century, the song was actively used by pro-independence organizations of the

Belarusian diaspora The Belarusian diaspora refers to emigrants from the territory of Belarus as well as to their descendants. According to different researchers, there are between 2.5 and 3.5 million Belarusian descendants living outside the territory of the Rep ...

. After the restoration of the independence of Belarus in 1991, there were propositions to make ''Vajacki marš'' the

of the

Republic of Belarus A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

once again. In particular, the renowned writers Vasil Bykau,

Ales Adamovich Aleksandr Mikhailovich Adamovich ( be, Аляксандр Міхайлавіч Адамовіч, translit=Aliaksandr Michailavič Adamovič, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Адамо́вич; 3 September 1927 – 26 January ...

and

Ryhor Baradulin Ryhor Janavič Baradulin ( Belarusian: Рыго́р Янавіч Бараду́лін; 24 February 1935 – 2 March 2014) was a Belarusian poet, essayist and translator. Biography Ryhor Baradulin was born in 1935 in Vierasoŭka ( be, Вера� ...

issued a public appeal in favour of making ''Vajacki marš'' the national anthem of Belarus. Other symbols of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, such as 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 ...

and the white-red-white flag, were restored as state symbols and used until 1995. The former anthem, however, was never restored as the country's national anthem, making the

Anthem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The "State Anthem of the Byelorussian SSR", Łacinka: ''Dziaržawny himn Biełaruskaj Savieckaj Sacyjalistyčnaj Respubliki'' was the regional anthem of the Byelorussian SSR, a republic of the Soviet Union. It was used from 1952 to 1991. It took ...

retain its status as the official anthem, despite the restoration of the former symbols of independence. The retained anthem did not have any lyrics until 2002, when new lyrics replaced the Soviet-era ones. Today, ''Vajacki marš'' enjoys certain popularity among the Belarusian democratic opposition and is traditionally mentioned as one of the possible alternatives to the current official anthem.

Lyrics

Notes

References

External links

Vocal recording of Vajacki maršInstrumental recording of Vajacki marš
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vajacki mars Belarusian National Republic Historical national anthems National symbols of Belarus European anthems Military music