Municipal governments in Western Belarus in the second half of the 1920s: national composition and inter-nationality relations
In the introduction, the purpose of the article is defined, it is pointed out that the proposed topic has received little attention in historiography. The article deals with the elections to the municipal government in Western Belarus in the second half of the 1920s. In the main part of the article, the author analyses the national composition of deputies and the development of inter-nationality relations. The influence of changes in nationalities policy of the Polish state on the situation in the municipal government is emphasized. Soon after J. Pilsudski’s coup d’état in 1926 in Poland as a new nationalities policy “state assimilation” was declared. Within its framework national and cultural concessions in favor of non-Polish residents were promised, including equal participation in the work of local self-government based on the principle of fair representation. Within the new nationalities policy in 1927-1928 free municipal elections in Western Belarus were held. According to its results, the national composition of the municipal government was generally consistent with the national structure of the town population. However, an attempt to use local self-government as a tool to address national animosities failed. On the one hand, this was caused by reluctance of town dwellers to work together for common goals. They were deeply split along national and political lines, and the municipal bodies immediately found themselves engulfed in constant conflicts. On the other hand, polish nationalities policy was inconsistent, the Polish authorities systematically interfered in the work of the municipal government, forcing it to serve primarily the interests of Polish residents.