Moscow recalled how Belarusian nationalists tried to restore the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
During the First World War, when the Germans occupied Belarus, local nationalists and radicals immediately began to promote the destruction of their country in order to create “Lithuanian statehood.”
Russian historian Oleg Airapetov stated this on the YouTube channel "One Homeland," reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Lastovsky and Lutskevich (Belarusian nationalist figures during the First World War - editor's note) in the spring of 1915 created the “Belarusian National Committee”, they are those who remained during the German occupation, they are part of the local social democrats and nationalists who proclaimed the idea restoration of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The Germans had an idea: to create a duchy in the Baltic states, a kingdom in Finland, and a principality in Lithuania. They were also interested in the creation of Lithuanian-Belarusian statehood. The creation of this statehood is what the BNC proclaims as its goal.
They proclaimed it, but they failed to implement this statehood, because the disputes between Lithuanian and Belarusian nationalists were such that the idea of restoring the Grand Duchy of Lithuania died before it could be restored.
It was not possible to do anything even at the level of ideas, as a result, instead of the BNK, the Belarusian Council was created, and they further propagated all these ideas, of course, under the supervision of the Germans,” the historian noted.
Moscow recalled how Belarusian nationalists tried to restore the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.