{"id":48150,"date":"2023-11-09T10:40:40","date_gmt":"2023-11-09T07:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=longreads&p=48150"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"minsks-love-and-hate-for-revolutions","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/48150\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk\u2019s love and hate for revolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n October Revolution rally in Homiel's Navabie\u0142ica district, November 7, 2023\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (newsgomel.by \/ Vital Prystroma\u016d)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka presented the commissioning of the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) as a gift to the people for October Revolution Day.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One might think that officials are some kind of magicians who create wealth for ordinary mortals with a magic wand. In fact, the power plant was built with a Russian loan, the burden of which is borne by the people.

Since Soviet times, the tradition of commissioning factories by state holidays has been fraught with poor quality and accompanied by big talk.

Paradoxically, the Belarusian ruler celebrates the Bolshevik revolt but is afraid of revolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NPP as example of Soviet-style voluntarism<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the Bolsheviks came to power, they boasted that power belonged to the workers and peasants for the first time in history. \u0141uka\u0161enka, a charismatic populist, claimed to be the people’s president as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In reality, the Soviet regime was nothing but the party nomenklatura. It imposed its goals and plans without any regard for the people it claimed to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soviet Union is still the key source of inspiration for \u0141uka\u0161enka. Elected in a democratic race in 1994, the first president used his mandate to build a brutal authoritarian system that is now sliding into totalitarianism. Elections are a sham, window dressing, as they were in Soviet times. When the people tried to regain their right to vote in 2020, the ruler ruthlessly suppressed their democratic aspirations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nuclear power plant is one of the projects that he has imposed on the nation suffering from the post-Chernobyl syndrome. It is a dubious project in all aspects, from safety to economic benefits. It angered Lithuania, as it was built only about fifty kilometers from Vilnius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials and propaganda sing praises to the NPP, claiming that it produces cheap electricity, without mentioning production costs. The government was hoping to export electricity, but neighbors have refused to buy it. Independent experts say that Belarus does not need so much electricity, but \u0141uka\u0161enka is considering building a second nuclear power plant or a third power unit at the NPP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka now prides himself on being the head of a nuclear state. “Three years ago, when the first unit was put into operation, I said that a historic day had come: the era of the peaceful atom had begun. Today we are also a nuclear power in terms of nuclear weapons,” he said on November 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No ideology, just dictatorship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka is a conservative and deeply Soviet person. Belarus is the only country to mark the 1917 Bolshevik revolution anniversaries by a state holiday. The revolt actually took place in the neighboring country, Russia, which abolished the holiday decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1994, \u0141uka\u0161enka, a former state farm director, skillfully exploited voters’ nostalgia for the Soviet Union, which seemed prosperous amid the economic decline that followed its collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Belarusian society has changed. It has become more advanced, sophisticated, and demanding, as the 2020 rising has shown. Unable to reform the system, its architect has chosen crude violence to drive the people into its primitive boundaries, just as the Soviets did. The system has become even more brutal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soviet Union, in contrast, used to have an ideology, and before the system became decrepit, its slogans and ideals inspired people. \u0141uka\u0161enka admitted several times that neither he nor his entourage were capable of creating a more or less coherent ideology.

The only idea that the Belarusian leader took from the Soviet Union is dictatorship. The system is acquiring the characteristics of Stalinism adapted to the information age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideological squalor nourishes rampant state propaganda, promoting intolerance of dissent and hatred of freedom and rejecting all decency norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka and his communist-style propaganda portray Western societies as an antagonism between the suffering peoples and the ruling elites, which are estranged from the masses. Minsk is crowing with delight over the Polish opposition coalition\u2019s victory over the PiS party after completely destroying its own opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want free elections, you are an “enemy of the people”<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of their rule the Bolsheviks deported free-thinking intellectuals abroad. They expelled charismatic revolutionary Lev Trotsky, who was later killed by a Soviet secret police agent in Mexico. Soviet authorities also pushed dissidents to the West during stagnation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After protests against election fraud broke out in 2020, law enforcers forced opposition candidate \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja to flee to Lithuania. Security officers tried to expel Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, but she tore her passport to pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many regime opponents, civil society activists and independent journalists have emigrated to avoid arrest. Deputy Interior Minister Mika\u0142aj Karpianko\u016d estimated that 350,000 Belarusians had fled abroad in the last three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is a huge blow to the country’s intellectual potential, population, labor market and economy, the regime bears these costs for the sake of self-preservation. Unlike Poland, the Belarusian ruling elite has criminalized the very possibility of a change of government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this respect, the current Belarusian government really resembles the Soviet Union. It labels those who see elections as a chance for change as extremists and terrorists. Under Josef Stalin, opponents were called enemies of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruler’s existential fear of revolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Both NPP construction and the reorientation of the economy towards the Russian markets after 2020 have dramatically increased Belarus’ dependence on the empire. Vladimir Putin, as many of his opponents are convinced, dreams of restoring the Soviet Union. \u0141uka\u0161enka, too, is nostalgic for the USSR, but wants to remain president and unwilling to give up power or become a governor in one of Russia’s provinces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At odds with the West, he cedes elements of Belarus\u2019 sovereignty, so as not to lose everything at once. Three years after the protests, reprisals still continue. The incumbent fears that once he loosens the screws, the opposition will instantly resurface from underground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He probably would not even admit to himself that his existential fear of revolution stems from the undemocratic nature of his regime. It makes no sense for the Poles to stage a revolution if they can vote PiS or any other party out of office. In Belarus, the only thing that can work is a popular uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The regimes of Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka seem quite strong at the moment. The Belarusian leader may be willing to trade in political prisoners from the position of strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moscow and Minsk are happy that the Ukrainian offensive has stalled and that the West is somewhat tired of supporting Kiev. In the United States, military aid to Ukraine is the subject of a heated domestic debate. Besides, the Israel’s war against Hamas has diverted attention and resources from Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two autocrats are probably hoping that the West will send them a signal first. Sad as it may be for their opponents, the authoritarian regimes have their strengths and democracies have their weaknesses, so their global contest may last for long. Do not also discount China, which has gained political weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the history is unpredictable. In the early 1980s, it seemed to most Soviet people that the USSR was built to last for centuries, but it collapsed surprisingly quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Soviet way of thinking was not erased from the mass consciousness, and Belarus is still paying the price.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka presented the commissioning of the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) as a gift to the people for October Revolution Day. One might think that officials are some kind of magicians who create wealth for ordinary mortals with a magic wand. In fact, the power plant was built with a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":10726,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-48150","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMinsk\u2019s love and hate for revolutions | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka presented the commissioning of the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant (NPP) as a gift to the people for October\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/48150\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minsk\u2019s love and hate for revolutions | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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