republic · Poland, Lithuania and Russia
Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR
Origins
In February 1919 Moscow merged the Soviet republics of Lithuania and Byelorussia, including the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia, into a single Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, known as Litbel. Its capital was Vilnius, and Vincas Mickevicius-Kapsukas chaired its council of people's commissars.
Rule and society
Litbel was a Bolshevik state with nationalised land and industry, governed by the Communist Party and backed by the Red Army. It was intended as a buffer between Soviet Russia and Poland, but it had little popular support among Lithuanians, Poles or Belarusians and controlled only part of the territory it claimed.
Decline and legacy
The Polish army captured Vilnius in April 1919 and Minsk in August, and the Lithuanian army pushed from the west. Litbel effectively ceased to exist by the summer of 1919. The Byelorussian SSR was re-created in 1920.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR was a protectorate of Russian SFSR1919 CE
- Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR was conquered by Second Polish Republic1919 CE
More states of Poland, Lithuania and Russia →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lithuanian-byelorussian-ssr
- MLA
- “Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lithuanian-byelorussian-ssr. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lithuanian-byelorussian-ssr.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Lithuanian-Byelorussian SSR’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/lithuanian-byelorussian-ssr (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻