All-Belarusian Congress, The First

All-Belarusian Congress, The First (Pieršy Ŭsiebiełaruski Kanhres; Першы Ўсебеларускі Кангрэс) convened at the initiative and through the efforts of the Supreme Belarusian Council in Miensk on December 17-31, 1917. The Congress adopted a series of resolutions among which was one underscoring the right of the Belarusian people for self-determination and the establishment of a democratic form of government in Belarus.

The Congress was presided over by Dr. Ivan Sierada. The Congress, in fact, became the First Belarusian People's Assembly which elected its own representatives, the Council of the First All-Belarusian Congress (Rada Ŭsiebiełaruskaha Kanhresu) consisting of 71 members. The Council, in turn, elected the executive committee which was to serve as the organizing body in the process of establishing a modern constitutional democratic Belarusian state.

The Belarusian Statehood (the beginning of the 20th c.)