This paper explores the turbulence, chaos, and survival tactics on the ground by peasant and peasant-soldiers in today’s western Belarusian region, drawing from archival material as well as recent research focusing on non-elite projects during the immediate post-revolutionary period in the area. The region - which was formally part of the Romanov Empire and later absorbed as the northeastern provinces of the Second Polish Republic - witnessed much violence in the transition years, due to power vacuums, the existence of warlords, as well as displaced soldiers and peasants. The competition for resources such as food and medicine as well as general instability and lack of aid led to the proliferation of bandit activity, attacks on existing state institutions, as well as looting and destruction of property. Far removed from the national agendas of elites, ordinary people struggled to recover from conflict well after the official signing of peace treaties.
