Kryvia

Kryvich Democratic Republic (kryv.:Кръıвıцкаѧ Народнаѧ Рэспублıка, romanized: Kryvickaĭa Narodnaĭa Respublika) or simply Kryvia is a Kryvich state with a temporary capital in Mensk. It borders Ukrainian State, Poland, Lithuania, Central Lithuania and RSFSR.

History
The “Kryvichi” of our world are called “Belarusians” and until the 17 century, the history of Kryvichs people barely deviates. In the times of Kievan Rus’, the territory of modern Belarus-Kryvia was populated by several Slavic tribes. These tribes later created principalities, with the Principality of Polotsk, located on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, being the most well-known. One of these tribes was the Kryvichi, which according to some manuscripts formed the Principality of Polotsk. Near them lived the Baltic tribes that had constant interaction with their Slavic neighbours, by which we mean that Balts paid tribute to the Slavs and occasionally suffered from a Rus’ raid or two. With time the situation changed. United into a tribal confederation in the lands of modern Aukštaitija, the Balts began to conduct their raids on Slavic lands, eventually becoming powerful enough to even threaten Novgorod and force it to pay tribute.

With Kievan Rus’ dissolution, the lands of modern Ukraine and Belarus were conquered by the Kingdom of Lithuania which will eventually be known as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). The Slavs under its rule were grouped into the “Litvin” people. The exact influence the Rus’-Litvin culture had on the Grand Duchy is a subject of long debate and is often used as a tool in political propaganda.

Meanwhile, the Grand Duchy of Muscovy (later known as the Tsardom of Muscovy) becomes GDL’s main geopolitical rival, entering numerous conflicts, where Lithuania was on the losing side. This forced Lithuania to merge with Poland into one nation in 1569 which starts a wave of Polonization, splitting the Orthodox and Catholic populations into two rival camps. Finally, 1655 marks the beginning of the “Deluge” – the invasion of a Swedish-led coalition into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during which the Khmelnytsky Uprising and a local anti-Polish uprising in Lithuania happens. This resulted in the creation of the Hetmanate in the Wild Fields and GDL losing a huge portion of its Ukrainian lands, separating Ukrainians from Litvins. It is from here that the story of the Kryvichi people truly begins.

Centuries in chains
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was losing its status in the international community and its influence over the szlachta, which could be seen in the local war between pro-Russian and pro-Swedish Lithuanian nobility. After a slew of defeats, Poland doubles down on its Polonization efforts, alienating Catholic and Orthodox Christians even further. The latter would often be defended by the Zaporhizhian Cossacks that were using this to further their political influence. It should be noted that Cossacks and later the Hetmanate never gained much power in Litvin lands. Though they sympathized with the Orthodox Cossacks and often even joined them, their fights with Polish and Lithuanian nobility often led to lengthy sieges, forced tributary payments from the peasants and city dwellers alike, and brutal punishments from Polish-Lithuanian nobility. The war GDL waged against Cossacks was no less bloody and brutal than the Polish-Cossack conflict in Ukraine or any other conflict of the seventeen century. Cossacks had finally ruined their reputation by siding with the Swedes during the Great Northern War and turned Kryvia into a frozen ashland, the collective trauma of which hunts Kryvichi to this very day.

After partitioning the Kryvichi lands were slowly taken over by the Russian Empire, which immediately formed them into governorates where they started to enact changes to the existing order. The Catholic Church lost its influence and alongside Eastern Catholics (Uniates) was repressed with varying levels of brutality. Szlachta lost many of their rights, was downgraded to a status of a typical Russian noble and was slowly replaced by Russian statesmen and bureaucrats. Commoners were forced to pay state taxes and had to perform corvees, like mandatory recruiting. This combined with the Russification policy has led to numerous Szlachta and Сossack uprisings which were supported by the pro-Polish Kryvichi. The biggest of these was the 1830-1831 November Uprising and the 1863 January Uprising (both subjugated by Cossack battalions) though peasant rebellions were happening sporadically before and after that. This only worsened Russian repressions against the region and combined with the rise of nationalism this led to the creation of the famous idea of the “triune Russian nation” in which the three sub-nations of “Great Russians”, “Little Russians” and “White Russians” (though the terms “Cossacks” and “Black Russians” were used interchangeably for the latter two) were part of one, pan-Russian, nation.

Ethnogenesis of Kryvichi
The exact date of birth of Kryvich ethnicity, separate from that of other Slavic nations, is hard to name as this was a long process that took several centuries. One can only say that it officially began somewhere in the early nineteenth century when student and later military groups were formed, inspired by the revolutionary French ideas of democracy and nationhood. These groups offered great support to pro-Polish rebellions hoping to reinstate the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Still, not all of these movements supported the Polish. In their combat against “Litovshina”, the Russian government and scientists have published numerous papers about the “Western Krai” and “zapadnorusism” because of the position supported by the Russian officials.

But alongside these two was the third position, popularly called “Krajowcy”, that demanded the creation of a new nation and distance themselves from the bloodthirsty Poland and Russia. Initially, this movement never had a clear ideological position, their demands ranged from the creation of an autonomous Krai for the new Litvin-Belarus-Kryvich people (the latter term was created by Russian scientists that wanted to “restore historical naming” of the region) to straightforward separatism. With nationalist rhetoric and appeal to old wounds, this movement was steadily gaining popularity. With further development and incorporation of socialist and nationalist ideas, the Krajowcy quickly became Western Krai’s dominant underground movement, publishing several illegal newspapers in the Kryvich language and further spreading anti-Russian and anti-Polish sentiment among the peasantry. In early 1875, the radical wing of the Krajowcy movement published the “Kryvichi National Manifesto” that established the Kryvich people as the oldest nation of Eastern Europe and the true successor to the Principality of Polotsk and the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania, their language, faith, as well as their right to create their independent nation.

This wasn’t met positively by the Russian government which was suffering from sporadic rebellions and socialist terrorism. Neither was accepted by the pro-Russian or pro-Polish activists. Ironically, it also met criticism from the young Lithuanian nationalist movement, with which the Kryvichi had a dispute over shared history, symbols, and land. Still, it was supported by the Uniates, which Krajowcy named “an important element of their national movement” and the peasantry, especially those who were still bitter about the Russian treatment of them. Even so, Krajowcy was set to gain its independence by any means necessary.

Declaring independence
In July 1917, the Provisional Government of Russia shifted to open conflict with the Bolsheviks, ending the dual power situation. The Bolsheviks went underground and began preparing for an armed uprising. Initially, the Kryvich nationalists sought autonomy for Kryvia within a democratic and republican Russia. However, negotiations with both the Provisional Government and the Bolsheviks reached a dead end, as neither side was willing to share power with an independent Kryvich entity.

Simultaneously, on December 9, 1917, peace negotiations between Soviet Russia and the German Empire began and were disrupted due to the position taken by L. Trotsky and the Bolshevik government. The German command ordered its troops to launch an offensive on February 18, 1918, which significantly escalated the situation on the Western Front. Additionally, various organizations and structures associated with the Polish movement emerged in the territory of Kryvia. Initially, they supported the national aspirations of the Krivych, advocating for Kryvia's autonomy within a democratic and federative Russian republic while demanding guarantees for the rights of the Polish minority. However, as the Krivych and Polish movements radicalized and the region faced overall instability, these organizations started advocating for the direct incorporation of Western Krai into Poland.

On December 18, 1917, the First All-Kryvich Congress was held in the building of the Minsk City Theater, financially supported by the People's Commissariat of the RSFSR. The congress brought together representatives of the Kryvich people from all regions of the future Kryvia, with 1,872 delegates registered, mostly teachers, military personnel, and bureaucrats.

However, the congress couldn't function unopposed. On the night of December 30-31, armed representatives of the Bolsheviks entered the meeting hall, demanding the dissolution of the council and the arrest of its praesidium. The right-wing representatives of the council began to resist, resulting in a day-long siege during which they managed to repel the Bolshevik forces and kill the Bolshevik commissioner Ludvig Rezavsky.

This event later came to be known as the "Bloody New Year" and served as the final trigger for cutting all ties with Russia and de facto declaring war on it. Kryvich-majority military units started deserting from the front lines and arrived in Vilno and Mensk to fight against the "Western Russians" (the Bolsheviks). Combined with the German troops' advance on Homel and Mensk, this forced the leadership of the Western Krai Provincial Government and the Council of People's Commissars of the Western Region to evacuate to Smalensk. During this evacuation, the Kryvich forces launched a successful armed attack on the Bolshevik commissars waiting for the train in Mensk, killing up to 40 of them.

The Western Krai existed in this state of anarchy even during the German occupation. Unlike Ukraine, whose existence was somewhat accepted by the German Empire, the existence of Kryvia was not considered important or urgent. The Germans hindered the functioning of the All-Kryvich Congress, even looting its treasury during one of their raids, leading to a shootout with German policemen.

Nevertheless, during the Second All-Kryvich Congress on March 9, 1918, the creation of the independent Kryvich Democratic Republic and its executive authorities were proclaimed, fully rejecting the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty. The question of forming a military force was also voiced, but due to the German occupation, they couldn't officially address it.

Russo-Kryvich War
The Bolsheviks, as well as the monarchists, did not recognize the independence of the Kryvich Democratic Republic. The Bolsheviks claimed that the KPR was an attempt by bourgeois and aristocratic circles to separate Kriviya-Belarus from Soviet Russia and annex it to Germany. Consequently, once Germany was defeated, the Bolsheviks promptly directed their forces towards Kriviya.

On January 1, 1919, in Smolensk, the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was proclaimed, and Soviet Russia claimed to be protecting it. As German troops retreated, the KPR's government prepared to defend the state from the advancing Red Army on their own, emphasizing resistance and sabotage in the already occupied territories. Unexpectedly, the KPR received military assistance from the Polish People's Republic and the Ruthenian People's Republic almost simultaneously. Additionally, detachments of Don and Sloboda Cossacks, who were allied with the Ruthenian People's Republic, also joined the fray. This coalition managed to defeat the poorly prepared Red Army and captured Smalensk. The BSSR Council was disbanded, and those who did not manage to escape were executed.

Meanwhile, inside the country, a division occurred between those who supported an alliance with Poland and those who favoured an alliance with the Ruthenian People's Republic. In December 1919, the Congress was finally split into the High Council and the People's Council. The High Council, led by A. Lutskevich, aimed to cooperate with the Polish authorities and sought to establish Kryvia as part of a larger federation with Poland. Lutskevich believed that an alliance with Poland would allow for greater cultural and political autonomy and more opportunities on the international stage, given the lack of recognition from either the Russian State or the League of Nations. On the other hand, the People's Council, under the leadership of V. Lastovsky, protested against Poland's "colonial policy" and considered the newly formed post-Russian states, especially the Baltic States and the Ruthenian People's Republic, as its allies. Both councils fiercely competed with each other, claiming exclusive rights to represent Kryvia on the international stage. Tensions escalated when the Ruthenian People's Republic entered into an alliance with the Western Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR) against Poland, resulting in armed clashes between Kryvich and Polish military contingents and even a temporary Polish occupation of Mensk.

In October 1920, Krivych general Lucjan Żeligowski, with silent support from Poland, led a coup against a possible future transfer of Vilno to Lithuania. He occupied the city and declared the Republic of Central Lithuania. Shortly after, members of the High Council also moved there. This sparked an international scandal, with the League of Nations refusing to recognize Żeligowski's actions as legitimate but ultimately taking no substantial action.

Emerging as the final victor in the political struggle, the People's Council renamed itself the All-Krivych Congress and later signed an agreement to join the Eternal Union to ensure military defence against both Russia and Poland.

Current Day
The Kryvich Democratic Republic finds itself in an interesting situation both economically and politically.

Economically, it is still in the early stages of development, with agriculture being the dominant sector of the economy. The country remains dependent on financial and technical assistance from the countries within the Eternal Union, especially the Ukrainian State.

Politically, the most critical aspect is the issue of recognition. Due to the Russian State's blockade, only a few neighbouring countries, particularly Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Georgia, Armenia, and other Eternal Union countries, have recognized Kryvia. However, these relations are somewhat strained. The relations between Poland, Lithuania, and Kryvia have been permanently damaged, leading to occasional armed clashes between their border forces. Poland's hostilities with the Ukrainian State and Kryvich's membership in the Eternal Union further complicate relations. The constant and urgent concern of a potential attack from the Soviet Union also adds to the challenges.

Internally, within the Eternal Union itself, a passive conflict is brewing between Ukraine and Kryvia over ethnic territories. This conflict could potentially escalate into more significant issues, especially if radical elements come to power. Even within the Republic, things are not entirely smooth as political parties are gradually becoming more radicalized and are sponsoring army regiments within Kryvia's Armed Forces as their private military wings. This does not bode well for future stability.

On the brighter side, Kryvia is the largest exporter of paper, wood, and wood-based products (ranging from matches to furniture) to the countries of the Eternal Union. It is the second-largest exporter of agricultural products such as cheese, starch, and alcohol to these countries, and competes successfully with Ukraine in the printing and editorial sectors. In terms of cultural development and education, Kryvia is an undisputed leader, experiencing remarkable levels of Kryvichization without much resistance from the local population.

Politically speaking, it stands out as the most stable state within the Eternal Union. Kryvich managed to completely eradicate Bolshevik influence within its borders, replacing it with less radical elements like the Social Revolutionaries and Social Democrats. Whether this development is a result of independent choices or influenced by neighbouring countries, even the radical left and right acknowledge that things could have been much worse than they are currently.

Military
Kryvich Democratic Republic Armed Forces

Language
Kryvich language

At the beginning of the 19 century, the linguistic state of Western Krai was fairly typical for many a place in the Russian Empire: cities and science belonged to the Russian language and whatever language was deemed previously prestigious. In this case, this language was Polish which had the support of the pro-Polish szlachta, and its usage was deemed an ideological alternative to using Russian. The rural areas mostly belonged to the “folk” languages – Lithuanian, Kryvich, etc. though at this stage they weren’t codified and may even differ between neighbouring villages, let alone gubernias. In the mid 19 century, the political life of these lands was mostly focused on the conflict between elites, thus the languages chosen were also fairly obvious: Russian vs Polish. There were small groups of regionalists, but their works were mostly ethnographic and their use of language was only to represent the “peasant speech”. Starting from the 1860’s politicians began to fight for the support of the lower class and it is the 60s that can be considered as the rise of the Kryvich and Lithuanian language.

It was here when we begin to see popular and political literature published, in Latin script for pro-Polish and Petrin Cyrillic for pro-Russian. Some literature was also published in Ruthenian Cyrillic, but this was less of a conscious choice and more of a result of authors working together with Ukrainian groups. “Krajowcy” became popular among the peasantry thanks to their clever use of propaganda written in their mother language that covered historical and social issues they cared for, something neither Zapadnorussians nor Szlachta managed to do. With them, there is a rise of interest in Kryvich culture, folklore, and lifestyle, which gives birth to a new generation of Kryvich intelligentsia. Ivan Nasovich publishes a first-ever Kryvich dictionary called “The Wordbook of Western Russian Dialect”, and writes this in the introduction:

«Ѕaпадно-русское нарѣчıе, которое ѧвлѧетсѧ господствующимъ на обширномъ пространствѣ отъ Нѣмана и Нарева до верховьевъ Волги и отъ Ѕападной Двинъı до Припети и Ипути, которымъ говорятъ жители сѣверо-западнъихъ и нѣкоторъихъ частей смежнъихъ съ ними губернıй, или тѣхъ мѣстностей, которъıѧ нѣкогда населяло Кривичское племѧ, уже давно обращало на себѧ вниманıе отечественнъихъ филологовъ по уцѣлѣвшимъ въ немъ драгоцѣннъимъ остаткамъ стариннаго ѧѕъика.»

(The West Russian dialect, which dominates the space from Neman and Narew to Upper Volga and from Western Dvina to Pripyat and Iput, spoken by the peoples of north-western and several neighboring to them gubernias or places where once lived the Kryvich tribes, for the longest time was gaining the attention of our philologists' thanks to the valuable remnants of the ancient tongue)

Meanwhile, underground political newspapers written in Latin script were becoming more and more popular. These newspapers helped spread the Krajowci ideas among Kryvichi Catholics. And though by the late 19 century, most cities were still predominantly Polish or Russian speaking, the Imperial surveys were demonstrating that the propaganda worked and the cities were in the minority.

Before this most writings in the Kryvich language were sporadic, everyone was writing it following their ideas about the language or using their dialects. But after a new wave of interest towards linguistics, the underground intelligentsia began their first attempts at codifying the Kryvichi language. Literary scientists, journalists, philologists, and politicians (which given the atmosphere of the Kryvichi movement were pretty much the same) were giving their ideas and proposals on the future look of Kryvichi writing, while Yefim Karsky lays the foundations of the Kryvich grammar. The interest in codification grew after the ban on publishing using the Kryvich language was lifted in 1904 and in 1910 the first-ever academic conference for the development of the Kryvichi language was held in Minsk. From here begins the modern history of the Kryvich language.

The Latin script came first and was a mix of Branislaw Tarashkyevich's and Rudolf Abicht’s ideas, something that Branislaw himself admits in his book. Polish Latin orthography was used as the foundation, after which the letter Ł was removed, as well as the use of acute diacritic (Ć) to show palatalization. Instead, palatalization is shown by the dot diacritic and the small “I” becomes dotless. The caron/háček diacritic is added to show hushing consonants: Č (Ч), Š (Ш), Ž (Ж), something the Kryvich took from Gaj’s alphabet in the 1900s. Iotation is shown with a breve above letter I (Ĭ) and a new symbol is added, for the “ch”(Х) sound, which is a ligature of letters C and H. The stress marking becomes normative, explained not only by traditions but also to make teaching Kryvich in schools easier. Abicht’s idea of a separate symbol for “DZ” (“6” which was described as “a circle from letter d inserted into letter c”) was rejected, partially due to unusual looks, partially because of the cost associated with ordering this letter.

The Latin script was always planned to be the main script for the Kryvich language part due to Catholics and Szlachta making the majority of Kryvichi activists, part because of an active desire to distance themselves from Russia and their politics. But this idea was fiercely contested by the Orthodox (read Eastern) parts of Kryvia and, most interestingly, the teachers that were seeing “Polish influence” in Latin script and outright refused to teach Kryvich language in the said script. Because of this, the Cyrillic Kryvich orthography was published a couple of months later. The Cyrillic Kryvich is based on the Russian Petrin script, owing to that most of these letters were readily available to printers. The idea of adapting the Cossack Cyrillic exits, having them choose the Cossack “Є” instead of Petrin “Е” is proof of that, but this idea is quickly shut down for nationalist reasons. Unlike Russians, Kryvichi chose to consistently write down the “ІО” digraph with the letter Ö. [ɣ] and [ɡ] sounds are represented with Г and Ґ respectively. The official story behind the letter Ґ that it was taken from works of Meletius Smotrytsky as proof of continuing ancient Kryvichi lineage. Iotation was decided to be written the same way as in Latin: Ĭ. This was so to make the Cyrillic and Latin standards closer to each other (similar to why Karadžić turned to J instead of Ї to show iotation in his script) but due to the aforementioned budget issues, as well as stylistic differences between Cyrillic kratka and Latin breve in print, the letter is sporadically used alongside Й for the following years and in some cases up until the 1930s.