View source for Belarusian Popular Front

{{Short description|Belarusian sociopolitical movement}}
{{for|modern political parties|BPF Party|Conservative Christian Party – BPF}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|Belarusian Popular Front}}
| name             = Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"
| native_name      = {{lang|be|Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне"}}
| abbreviation     = БНФ, BPF, BNF
| leader1_title    = Leader
| leader1_name     = [[Zianon Pazniak]]
| founded          = {{Start date|1989|06|25|df=yes}}
| successor        = [[BPF Party]]<br>[[Conservative Christian Party – BPF]]<br>[[Young Front]]
| headquarters     = [[Minsk]]
| ideology         = [[Liberal democracy]]<br>[[Belarusian nationalism]]<br>[[Anti-communism]]
| position         = [[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]]
| international    = 
| colours          = {{Color box|white|border=darkgray}} {{Color box|red|border=darkgray}} {{Color box|white|border=darkgray}} [[white]], [[red]], [[white]]<br />([[White-red-white flag|Flag of the Belarusian Democratic Republic]])
| flag             = [[File:Flag of the Conservative Christian Party – BPF.png|200px]]<br /><small>From 1993 on, the flag of the BPF was a variation on the flag of the [[Belarusian People's Republic]] with a [[Cross of Saint Euphrosyne]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vexillographia.ru/belarus/party.htm |title=Флаги политических партий Беларуси | trans-title=Flags of political parties of Belarus |publisher=vexillographia.ru |access-date=14 June 2017}}</ref></small>
| country          = Belarus
}}

The '''Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"''' ('''BPF''', {{langx|be|Беларускі Народны Фронт "Адраджэньне", БНФ}}; ''Biełaruski Narodny Front "Adradžeńnie"'', ''BNF'') was a social and political movement in [[Belarus]] in the late 1980s and 1990s whose goals were national revival of Belarus, its democratization and independence from the [[Soviet Union]]. Its leader was [[Zianon Pazniak]]. It was similar to the Popular Fronts of [[Popular Front of Latvia|Latvia]] and [[Popular Front of Estonia|Estonia]], and the [[Sąjūdis]] movement in [[Lithuania]].

==Creation==
The predecessor of the BPF was the civic organization "{{ill|Martyrology of Belarus|be|Мартыралог Беларусі}}", whose goal was  to commemorate the victims of [[Soviet repressions in Belarus|Soviet political repressions in Belarus]]. Among the significant achievements of the organization was the 1988 uncovering by Pazniak of the burial site of [[Kurapaty]] near [[Minsk]], a major [[NKVD]] mass extermination site of Soviet political prisoners in the 1930s.<ref name=pbnfh/>

The Belarusian Popular Front was established in 1989, following the examples of the Popular Fronts in the Baltic states. Its founding conference had to be organized in [[Vilnius]] because of pressure from the authorities of the [[Byelorussian SSR]].<ref name=pbnfh>{{cite web |url=http://narodny.org/bnf/partyja/historyja.shtml |title=Гісторыя Партыі БНФ |trans-title=History of the BPF Party |publisher=BPF Party official website |year=2010 |access-date=2 June 2017 |archive-date=11 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011123720/http://narodny.org/bnf/partyja/historyja.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Initially, the Popular Front united numerous minor organizations promoting the [[Belarusian language]] and history. However, soon the movement began voicing political demands,<ref name=pbnfh/> supporting the [[Perestroika]] and democratization in the [[Soviet Union]] which would enable a Belarusian national revival. The Popular Front was the first political organization in Belarus to openly oppose the [[Communist Party of Byelorussia]].

The prominent Belarusian writer [[Vasil Bykaŭ]] became an active member of the Belarusian Popular Front. Writer [[Aleś Adamovič]] was an active supporter of the Popular Front.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.svaboda.org/a/27692688.html |title=Як БНФ дамогся праўды пра Чарнобыль | trans-title=How the BPF managed to restore truth about Chernobyl |publisher=svaboda.org|year=2016 |access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref>

The Front had about 10 thousand activists in different regions of Belarus<ref name=kcph>{{cite web |url=http://www.narodnaja-partyja.org/06--Gistoryc_ja--fr--pg |title=Гісторыя Партыі БНФ | trans-title=History of the BPF Party |publisher=Official website of the Conservative Christian Party - BPF |access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref> as well as in [[Moscow]], [[Vilnius]] and [[Riga]]. It published a newspaper, Навіны БНФ "Адраджэньне" (''News of the Belarusian Popular Front "Revival"'').

The Belarusian Popular Front actively protested against Soviet policies following the [[Chernobyl accident]], after which a large territory of Belarus was contaminated by nuclear fallout.<ref name=istpr>{{cite web |url=http://www.istpravda.ru/bel/research/3279/ |title=БНФ. Истоки |trans-title=BPF. The beginning |publisher=istpravda.ru |year=2017 |access-date=June 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408212728/http://www.istpravda.ru/bel/research/3279/ |archive-date=April 8, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

==In the parliament of Belarus==
In May 1990, 37 members of the Belarusian Popular Front were elected into the [[12th Belarusian Supreme Council]] and formed a dynamic opposition group in the parliament of the then Soviet-controlled [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]].

In July 1990, the Belarusian Popular Front initiated the passing of the [[Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]. In August 1991, following the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt]] and supported by tens of thousands of protesters outside the parliament building, the Belarusian Popular Front managed to convince the Supreme Soviet to declare full independence of Belarus from the USSR.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://charter97.org/en/news/2010/8/25/31612/ |title=19 years ago Belarus' independence became a law (Photo) |publisher=[[Charter 97]]|year=2010 |access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref> The historical Belarusian national symbols: the [[white-red-white flag]] and the ''[[National_emblem_of_Belarus#Pahonia|Pahonia]]'' [[coat of arms]] were restored as state symbols of Belarus.
[[File:Kurapaty 1989 meeting.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A meeting in [[Kurapaty]] in 1989 organized by the Belarusian Popular Front]]

==Opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko==
In 1994, [[Alexander Lukashenko]] was elected president of Belarus. From the very beginning, the Belarusian Popular Front became one of the main political forces opposing president Lukashenko.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gazetaby.com/cont/print_rdn.php?sn_nid=71991 |title=Камни в ОМОН, перевернутые авто и аплодисменты — как менялись акции протеста за 20 лет |publisher=Salidarnasc (gazetaby.com) |year=2014 |access-date=2 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601164100/http://gazetaby.com/cont/print_rdn.php?sn_nid=71991 |archive-date=1 June 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1994 the BPF formed a [[shadow cabinet]] consisting of 100 BPF intellectuals.

In 1995, members of parliament from the Belarusian Popular Front went on a [[hunger strike]] as a protest against Lukashenko's controversial [[1995 Belarusian referendum|referendum]] to replace state symbols with slightly amended Soviet ones and to make [[Russian language]] official in Belarus. The hunger strike was violently interrupted by police forces who beat up the members of parliament.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.svaboda.org/a/24545645.html |title=Галадоўка дэпутатаў БНФ: ці магло быць інакш?  |newspaper=Радыё Свабода |publisher=svaboda.org|year=2012 |access-date=2 June 2017 |last1=Навумчык |first1=Сяргей }}</ref>

In 1996, the Belarusian Popular Front was one of the main powers behind mass protests against Lukashenko's policies of [[Russification]] and integration with [[Russia]], as well as against his second controversial [[1996 Belarusian referendum|referendum]] amending the [[Constitution of Belarus|constitution]] in a way to concentrate power in the president's hands. The protests were violently dispersed by the police. Two leaders of the Belarusian Popular Front, [[Zianon Pazniak]] and [[Siarhei Navumchyk|Siarhiej Navumčyk]], fled the country and received political asylum in the [[United States]].

==Split==
In 1999, the Belarusian Popular Front split into two rival organizations. Its conservative wing under the exiled leader [[Zianon Pazniak]] formed the [[Conservative Christian Party – BPF]] (Kanservatyŭna-Chryścijanskaja Partyja BNF), while the moderate majority formed the [[BPF Party]] (Partyja BNF, Партыя БНФ) led by [[Vincuk Viačorka]].

Both parties claim to be the only legitimate successor of the Belarusian Popular Front established in 1989.<ref name=pbnfh/><ref name=kcph/> The [[Malady Front]], formerly the Popular Front's youth wing, has also become an autonomous organization.

In 2011, following an internal conflict, more than 90 further members left [[BPF Party]], including several veterans of the original Belarusian Popular Front, including [[Lyavon Barshchewski|Lavon Barščevski]], [[Jury Chadyka]], [[Vincuk Viačorka]]. This was described by some as a "second split" of the Belarusian Popular Front.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://euroradio.fm/report/yanukevich-pazbegnuts-raskolu-partyi-bnf-bylo-nemagchyma-54409 |title=Янукевіч: Пазбегнуць расколу Партыі БНФ было немагчыма |publisher=Euroradio.fm |year=2011 |access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nv-online.info/by/150/politics/27351/ |title=У партыі БНФ раскол |publisher=[[Narodnaja Volya (newspaper)|Narodnaja Volia]] |year=2011 |access-date=2 June 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Formally, the Belarusian Popular Front continued to exist as an NGO affiliated with the [[BPF Party]].<ref>[http://narodny.org/?p=1446 СТАТУТ ГРАМАДСКАГА АБ’ЯДНАННЯ БНФ "АДРАДЖЭНЬНЕ"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201042604/http://narodny.org/?p=1446 |date=2020-02-01 }} (Statute of the NGO BPF Renaissance as of 2012)</ref> In 2023 the BPF Party as well as the Conservative Christian Party – BPF were both liquidated by the Supreme Court of Belarus.<ref>[https://www.svaboda.org/a/32532971.html За 6 месяцаў 2023 году паводле «пратэставых» артыкулаў асудзілі 29 непаўналетніх. Рэпрэсіі ў Беларусі ў лічбах]</ref>

==Notable former members==
* [[Vasil Bykaŭ]], writer, Nobel prize nominee
* [[Ryhor Baradulin]], poet and writer, Nobel prize nominee
* [[Siarhei Navumchyk|Siarhiej Navumčyk]], vice president of the [[Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic]] in Exile
* [[Ales Bialiatski|Aleś Bialacki]], human rights activist and political prisoner
* [[Piatro Sadoŭski]], Belarus' first ambassador to [[Germany]]
* [[Paval Sieviaryniets|Pavał Sieviaryniec]], Christian Democratic politician and political prisoner
* [[Jauhien Kulik|Jaŭhien Kulik]], graphic designer, author of the [[Coat of arms of Belarus]] adopted in 1991
* [[Uładzimir Arłou|Uładzimier Arłoŭ]], writer
* [[Yauhen Shatokhin|Jaŭhien Šatochin]], artist

==See also==
* [[People's Movement of Ukraine]]
* [[Popular Front of Latvia]]
* [[Popular Front of Estonia]]
* [[Sąjūdis]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.radabnr.org/?p=2460 The Belarusian Popular Front in 1988—1996: photo and video]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160424214352/https://pieramoha.org/fota-albomy/narodny-front  НАРОДНЫ ФРОНТ. Фотагісторыя змаганьня і перамогі] (The People's Front. Photo-history of struggle and victory)

{{Fall of Communism}}
{{Belarus topics}}
{{Belarusian political parties}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1989 establishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Political history of Belarus]]
[[Category:Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:Anti-communism in Belarus]]
[[Category:Independence movements]]
[[Category:Dissolution of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Popular fronts in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Belarusian independence movement]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1989]]
[[Category:Political parties in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]