The impact of the events of the First World War and the revolutionary upheavals of 1917 on the identity of the population of the Belarusian lands
The outbreak of World War I led not only to the evacuation of large numbers of people from the territory of the modern Republic of Belarus. The course of military operations led to the appearance on the Belarusian territory for the first time after 1812 of significant military contingents, including the most important combat management bodies up to the Stavka. Already in the second year of the war, in 1915, the Belorussian issue first appeared in history as an international problem with the entry of the armies of the Central Powers into ethnic Belarusian lands. The revolutionary crisis of 1917 further actualized the Belarusian problem.