History Hustle
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Why Lenin MERGED Lithuania and Belarus into ONE STATE: the SSR LitBel (1919 – 1920)
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May 24, 2025
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8:51Now PlayingThe Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), also known as Litbel, was a short-lived Soviet republic that existed from February 1919 to August 1920. Formed during the Russian Civil War, it combined parts of modern-day Lithuania and Belarus under Soviet control. The republic was established to spread Bolshevik influence westward and create a buffer zone between Soviet Russia and the advancing Polish forces.
The capital shifted between Vilnius and Minsk due to the fluid military situation. Litbel faced significant challenges, including resistance from local nationalists, the Polish-Soviet War, and internal instability. The Polish army, under the command of Józef Piłsudski, eventually overran its territories, forcing the Soviets to abandon the republic.
By mid-1920, the SSR LiB was dissolved, and its lands were divided between Poland, Lithuania, and Soviet Russia after the Treaty of Riga in 1921.
History Hustle presents: When Lenin MERGED Lithuania and Belarus INTO the SSR LitBel (1919 – 1920).
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SOURCES
– White Eagle, Red Star: The Polish–Soviet War, 1919–20 (Norman Davies).
– Lithuania in European Politics. The Years of the First Republic, 1918-1940 (Eidintas Alfonsas, Žalys Vytautas, Senn Alfred Erich).
– LITHUANIAN HISTORICAL STUDIES 24 2020 (Alexey A. Kapliyev), pages 61–74.
– Lithuania. Stepping Westward (Thomas Lane).
– The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906 – 1931 (Per Anders Rudling).
– The Bolsheviks and the National Question, 1917–23 (Jeremy Smith).
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World War I: Russian Revolution 3 / 4
Russian Civil War (2/5)
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