The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906-1931
The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906-1931 is a 2014 book by Per Anders Rudling about Belarus' relationships with its neighbours, and the drivers and opponents of Belarusian nationalism from 1906 to 1931. The book attracted both strong praise and criticism and won the Kulczycki Book Prize in Polish Studies in 2015. Publication The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism, 1906-1931 was published by the University of Pittsburg Press and has 436 pages. Synopsis The book follows a chronological order, following interactions between nationalism proponents and their relationship with the major regional state authorities and socialist and nationalist movements. The book states that nationalism was driven by the elite in Belorussia, against the wishes of the Minsk-based communist activists. Rudling writes that while activists still supported a "Belarusian territorial unit" they collaborated with the Lithuanian Soviet state to keep the Second Polish Republic from taking territory. The book states that the Second Polish Republic's leader Jozef Pilsudski actually supported a Belarusian state, but wanted it to be part of a federation with Poland and Ukraine; while Moscow helped create the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. The book states that Belarusian nationalism was absent amongst the peasant class as a result