Upheaval and Instability from Below in Belarus, 1917 - 1925

• In Event: Peasant Revolts, Agrarian Resistance, and Social Upheaval in Revolutionary and Post-Imperial Contexts

Abstract

This paper explores the turbulence, chaos, and survival tactics on the ground by peasant and peasant-soldiers in today’s western Belarusian region, drawing from archival material as well as recent research focusing on non-elite projects during the immediate post-revolutionary period in the area. The region - which was formally part of the Russian Empire and later absorbed as the northeastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic - witnessed much violence in the transition years, due to power vacuums, the existence of warlords, as well as displaced soldiers and peasants. The competition for resources such as food and medicine as well as general instability and lack of aid led to the proliferation of bandit activity, attacks on existing state institutions, as well as looting and destruction of property. Far removed from the national agendas of elites, ordinary people struggled to survive and sought whatever means to do so.

Author

• Aleksandra Pomiecko, King's College London (UK)