Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs

Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs logo and name written in the Belarusian language
Ministry building in Kaunas, 1920
Minister for Belarusian Affairs Jazep Varonka (standing first from the right) with the Lithuanian ministers in Kaunas, between 1919–1920

The Ministry for Belarusian Affairs (Lithuanian: Lietuvos gudų reikalų ministerija) was a short-lived interwar Lithuanian ministry.[1][2][3][4] It was established in December 1918 to gain support of Belarusians in international negotiations over the borders of the newly independent Lithuania.[5] However, the Lithuanian government did not support Belarusian autonomy and the ministry effectively competed with the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic. Activities of the ministry were limited to publication of several books and two periodicals and other cultural work. The ministry was officially closed in January 1924.[4]

According to the Lithuanian President Antanas Smetona, following a successful recapture of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, which was previously annexed by Poland, the Lithuanians planned to expand further into the Belarusian territories (the former lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and considered granting an autonomy to the Belarusian territories, as requested by the Belarusian side, therefore had kept the Lithuanian Ministry for Belarusian Affairs in force, moreover, in 1924 Smetona noted that there were a lot of pro-Lithuanian sympathies among the Belarusians and criticized the closing of the ministry.[6][7]

The ministry used the coat of arms of Lithuania, including in its official correspondence.[8][9]

  1. ^ "Lietuvos gudų reikalų ministerijos veiklos taisyklių projekto ištrauka". Virtualios-parodos.archyvai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Lietuvos gudų reikalų ministerija". Kuriame-kartu.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. ^ Błaszczak, Tomasz (2007). "Baltarusių emigrantų veikla Kaune 1919–1926 metais" (PDF). Kauno istorijos metraštis (in Lithuanian). Vytautas Magnus University. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  4. ^ a b Kajėnas, Kostas; Balkelis, Tomas; Stankevičius, Martynas (1 September 2021). "Žydų, baltarusių ir lietuvių politinė partnerystė nuo Dūmos rinkimų iki Lietuvos Tarybos". Bernardinai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference eidintas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Błaszczak, Tomasz (2013). "Baltarusiai Lietuvos valstybės taryboje 1918–1920 metais". Parliamentary Studies (in Lithuanian) (15). Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus University Czesław Miłosz Centre: 98–118. doi:10.51740/ps.vi15.236 (inactive 2024-09-13). Retrieved 15 May 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (link)
  7. ^ Smetona, Antanas (1924). Vairas (Be rytojaus) (in Lithuanian). Vol. 6th. Kaunas. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 15 May 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ^ Surgailis 2020, p. 15.
  9. ^ "Lietuvos gudų reikalų ministerijos 1919 m. balandžio ir gegužės mėn. išlaidų sąmata". Virtualios-parodos.archyvai.lt (in Lithuanian). Retrieved 29 January 2023.