Editing History of Belarus (section)

===BNR and LBSSR===<!-- This section is linked from [[Government in exile]] -->
[[File:BNR (Ruthienie Blanche) Map 1918.jpg|thumb|280px|The territory claimed by the [[People's Republic of Belarus]], 1918]]
[[File:Flag of Belarus (1918, 1991-1995).svg|thumb|The [[Flag of Belarus#White-red-white flag|flag]] of the [[People's Republic of Belarus]] in 1918 and of the [[Republic of Belarus]] in 1991-1995]]
[[File:Coat of Arms of Belarus (1991).svg|thumb|upright|[[Pahonia]], the [[National emblem of Belarus#Pahonia|Coat of Arms]] of the [[People's Republic of Belarus]] in 1918 and of the [[Republic of Belarus]] in 1991-1995]]
{{main|People's Republic of Belarus|Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic}}
On 21 February 1918, Minsk was captured by German troops. [[World War I]] was the short period when [[Belarusian culture]] started to flourish. German administration allowed schools with [[Belarusian language]], previously banned in Russia; a number of [[Education in Belarus|Belarusian school]]s were created until 1919 when they were banned again by the Polish military administration.{{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} At the end of World War I, when Belarus was still [[military occupation|occupied]] by Germans, according to the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], the short-lived [[People's Republic of Belarus]] was pronounced on 25 March 1918, as part of the German [[Mitteleuropa]] plan.

In December 1918, Mitteleuropa was obsolete as the [[German Empire]] withdrew from the [[Ober-Ost]] territory, and for the next few years in the newly created [[power vacuum]] the territories of Belarus would witness the struggle of various national and foreign factions. On 3 December 1918 the Germans withdrew from Minsk. On 10 December 1918 Soviet troops occupied Minsk. The [[Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic|Rada (Council) of the People's Republic of Belarus]] went into [[Government-in-exile|exile]], first to [[Kaunas]], then to [[Berlin]] and finally to [[Prague]]. On 2 January 1919, the [[Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia]] was declared. On 17 February 1919 it was disbanded. Part of it was included into [[Russian SFSR]], and part was joined to the [[Lithuanian SSR]] to form the LBSSR, [[Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]], informally known as ''Litbel'', whose capital was Vilnius. While Belarus National Republic faced off with Litbel, foreign powers were preparing to reclaim what they saw as their territories: Polish forces were moving from the West, and Russians from the East. When Vilnius was captured by Polish forces on 17 April 1919, the capital of the Soviet puppet state Litbel was moved to Minsk. On 17 July 1919 Lenin dissolved Litbel because of the pressure of Polish forces advancing from the West. Polish troops [[Operation Minsk|captured Minsk]] on 8 August 1919.