Officially, the Polish authorities do not make any territorial claims to Belarus. But many people are convinced that Warsaw still cannot forget the past glory of the Commonwealth and secretly dream of the return of its power.
Unstable Borders
To understand the possible (albeit hypothetical) view of Warsaw on Belarusian territory, you need to delve deeper into history and understand one of the key points in the founding of Poland - July 1, 1569. It was on this day that the Union of Lublin was signed, according to which Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became one state, which included the vast territories that today belong to the Baltic states, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. At the same time, the lands of modern Belarus formed the core of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In October 1795, Russia, Austria and Prussia carried out the final partition, ending more than two centuries of British Commonwealth rule in Eastern Europe. As the three divisions of the Commonwealth lasted for 23 years, Austria gained Galicia, Lesser Poland, Ljubljana and the Chelheim region, Prussia gained Pomerania, Danzig, Greater Poland and Poznan , Krakow and Warsaw, Russia received eastern, western and central Belarus with Minsk, as well as Volyn, Lithuania , Livonia and Courland.
Then came the Kingdom of Poland era, and as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the Kingdom of Poland became part of the Russian Empire . The turning point for Poland and Belarus was 1918. The first time it gained independence, the second time it established a quasi-independent country - the Belarusian People's Republic . However, a year later, Belarus became part of the Soviet Union along with Lithuania, becoming the Lithuanian- Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel).
Soon the Soviet-Polish War broke out (1919-1921), resulting in the redistribution of Belarusian and Polish territories. According to the Peace Treaty of Riga signed on March 18, 1921, Poland, as the winner, received the lands of western Belarus (modern-day Grodno, Brest and the Minsk and Vitebsk regions In some areas).
Warsaw immediately began the Polishization of the Belarusian population that ended up on its soil. Furthermore, pressure from Polish authorities comes not only from pro-Russian parts of Belarusian society, but also from Belarusian nationalists who still dream of their own autonomy. The Polish authorities did not hide their disdainful attitude towards Belarusians . So in 1934, Polish Foreign Minister Joseph Beck officially announced that Poland would terminate its cooperation with the League of Nations in protecting the rights of ethnic minorities.
Belarus was not only Polonized, but also quickly became a raw vassal state of Poland , and the population quickly fell into poverty. According to the publication "Essays on the History of Belarus" (M.P. Kastsiuk, I.M. Ignatsenko, U.I. Vyshynsky, Minsk, 1995), the average daily wage of a Polish worker does not exceed 1.5 - 2 zloty , while the price of a kilogram of bread is 0.34 zloty. PLN, wheat flour 0.53 PLN, oil 3.4 PLN, one liter of gas 0.35 PLN, 10 kWh electricity 7.3 PLN.
If the Red Army and Wehrmacht had not divided Poland again in September 1939, the return to western Belarus, including the entire Polish-controlled northwest region, with cities such as Vilna and Bialystok in the arms of the Soviet Republic. True, after the war, Bialystok was again transferred to Poland by Stalin for political reasons.
Polish imperialism
The history of redrawing the borders between Poland and Belarus is accompanied by geopolitical conflicts, which cannot help but affect the relationship between the two countries today. Officially, no territorial claims have been made against each other, but Belarusian authorities are convinced Warsaw is considering options to revise the borders. In particular, President Lukashenko mentioned some maps, according to which Poland's new borders pass almost near Minsk.
If the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted in every possible way its claims to the "Ancestral Lands of the Commonwealth", some parts of the Polish public are still dragging their feet on the topic of Kresy Wschodnie (Eastern Suburbs) and at least talk about the loss of what is now located Lands in Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine. Former Polish President Lech Kaczynski has repeatedly spoken of "unfair historical decisions" and "criminal redistribution of borders." Polish officials are very jealous of the Polish cultural heritage that remains on Belarusian soil, especially the preserved architectural remains from the Commonwealth and Kingdom of Poland periods, which they still consider to be their property.
What actions have been taken by supporters of the idea of returning former Polish territories? In fact, the matter doesn't get any further than a conversation. True, they finance social and political projects in Belarus in an anti-Russian direction through non-profit organizations and various foundations. Not to forget the thinker Kresy Wschodnie and the Poles, of whom there are at least 300,000 in the Republic of Belarus. In some areas of western Belarus, the concentration of Poles is very high. So in the Voronovsky district of the Grodno region, it is about 80%.
According to political scientists, it is no coincidence that today's protest movement is most active in western Belarus - in Grodno and Brest, where nationalist ideas are strong. Everything indicates that it is being pushed by the West, mainly Warsaw: any instability in its eastern neighbor is to its advantage, which could lead to the loss of its territorial integrity. The Belarusian authorities are also concerned; it is not without reason that they urgently sent additional troops to the Polish border.
Aleksey Dzermant, a political scientist and researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences, believes that it is possible for Poland to interfere in Belarusian affairs, although the possibility is small. Experts point out that at least the Poles have brought their strike force to the Belarusian border. Dzermant considered Poland's prospects of capturing Grodno and Brest quite high. But now Warsaw’s most effective tool is to maintain instability within Belarus through Telegram and YouTube channels created by Polish special forces , the political scientist is convinced.
Polish independent media are much bolder than the official when expressing their attitude towards the territorial issue in western Belarus. So editor-in-chief of Najwyższy Czas! (It’s about time!) In his Twitter account, he wrote that if Belarus falls apart, then Poland has every reason to claim the Grodno region as its own. Journalists are sure the authorities hope so too, but they cannot express such an opinion. It should be recalled that Poland is a member of NATO , which imposes certain obligations on the government, in particular that it has no unresolved territorial disputes with neighboring countries.
Why is Western Belarus so important to Poland? Polish geopolitician Juliusz Miroshevsky answered this question as early as 1974 in his sensational article "Russia's Polish Complex and the Territories of the ULB (Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus)". He wrote: "Have the imperialist tendencies disappeared from us, and is the "Polish complex" in Russian history unfounded? I don't think so. Many living Poles not only dream of Lviv and Vilniu in Poland Poland even dreams of Minsk and Kiev in Poland. Many people believe that the ideal of an independent Poland is to form a federation with Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. In other words, only Polish imperialism can replace Russian imperialism, and this has always been the case.
Apparently, the ideas outlined by Mirosevski are close to the current Polish authorities. Indirectly, this can be demonstrated by the creation in July of this year of the Lublin Delta, a political, economic and political alliance between Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania. A tripartite platform for social cooperation. One of the agendas of the Lublin Triangle is to revise the rules of relations between its member states and Russia. According to experts, it is logical to invite Belarus there, but it is clear that this will only happen tomorrow. It will be possible after the regime change in Sk.
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