Constituent Charter Of The Belarusian People's Republic
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Constituent Charter of the Belarusian People's Republic () are documents adopted by the Executive Committee of the Council of the All-Belarusian Congress and the Council of the BNR in February and March 1918, which proclaimed the will of the Belarusian people regarding their national and state future.


The First Constituent Charter

Adopted by the Executive Committee of the Council of the All-Belarusian Congress on February 21, 1918 in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
. The First Constituent Charter called on the Belarusian people to exercise their right to "full self-determination" and national minorities to exercise national and personal autonomy. Referring to the right of peoples to self-determination, the authors of the charter argued that power in Belarus should be formed in accordance with the will of the peoples inhabiting the country. This principle must be implemented through democratic elections to the All-Belarusian Constituent Assembly.


The Second Constituent Charter

Adopted by the Executive Committee of the All-Belarusian Congress on March 9, 1918 in Minsk. The
Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...
was proclaimed within the limits of the settlement and numerical superiority of the Belarusian people. 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.


The Third Constituent Charter

{{Further, Third Constituent Charter Adopted by the BNR Council on March 25, 1918 in Minsk. The
Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...
was proclaimed an independent state. The BNR Rada demanded to revise the
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...
. In the lands of the former Russian Empire, where the Belarusian people live and have a numerical advantage, a free, independent state was proclaimed; it included Mahilioŭ, Mensk, Viciebsk, Belarusian parts of Horadnia, Vilno,
Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...
,
Chernihiv Chernihiv (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within the oblast. Chernihiv's population is The city was designated as a Hero City of Ukraine ...
and neighboring governorate. The rights and freedoms of the citizens and peoples of Belarus, proclaimed by the Second Constituent Charter of March 9, 1918, were also confirmed.


See also

* Fourth Constituent Charter


Sources


Ustaŭnyja hramaty BNR
Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic The Rada of the Belarusian People's Republic (, ) was the governing body of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Since 1919, the Rada BNR has been in exile where it has preserved its existence among the Belarusian diaspora as an advocacy group ...
1918 in Belarus Belarusian independence movement 1918 in law 1918 documents 1918 in international relations Dissolution of the Russian Empire February 1918 March 1918 November 1918 in Russia