Birth of the State: Two Longed-For Republics – BPR and Czechoslovakia
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: March 26, 2018, 19:00 – 21:00
Both republics were created a century ago, in 1918, from the same historical impulses. Why did they meet different fates? What do we know about the meetings between President Masaryk and PM Lutskyevich? How did two BPR presidents find living in Prague?
The Belarusian People’s Republic was declared in Minsk on 25 March 1918, a few months before Czechoslovakia. The newborn state managed to issue passports, began setting up military divisions and sought diplomatic recognition, including from Czechoslovakia. However, all those plans and hopes were soon crushed by the rise of the Bolsheviks.
The historical context will be discussed by Michal Plavec and Daniela Kolenovská, co-authors of the book Běloruská emigrace v meziválečném Československu (The Belarusian Émigré Community in Interwar Czechoslovakia), and Ivonka Survilla, chairwoman of the exile Rada of the Belarusian People’s Republic in Canada.
The debate in Czech and English will be chaired by journalist Alena Kovářová Tichanovičová.
Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Belarusian association Skaryna.