any mention of ethnicity or nationality. Several historians frame the Litbel experience as a failed attempt to create a Soviet Russian puppet state along its western border; the term 'puppet state' has been used by Piotr Łossowski, David R. Marples, Per Anders Rudling, , etc. Dorota Michaluk describes the republic as a 'paper state'. Alfonsas Eidintas (1999) writes that "Litbel's tenuous authority extended only as far as the Red Army advanced. It was an artificial creation that had little to do with the new realities on the ground, and it was stillborn." Jan Zaprudnik emphasized that the creation of the Litbel republic was a move done by Soviet Russia in the view of territorial competition with Poland over Lithuania and Belorussia. In a similar vein Richard Pipes claimed that the Litbel republic was "a mere device for Soviet expansion". Soviet historiography described the creation of the Litbel republic as a defensive measure against counter-revolutionaries whilst also stressing historical-cultural links between Lithuania and Belorussia. Sergey Margunsky claimed in 1958 that Lenin himself had been the architect of the union between Lithuania and Belorussia, but without presenting any evidence. The hypothesis that Lenin stood behind the idea of setting up the Litbel republic was reinforced in the 1980s, as and presented research on correspondence of late 1918. By contrast, Smith (1999) argues that the creation of the Litbel republic remains something of an enigma as there no evidence in secondary sources regarding the rationale behind the foundation of the republic. Per Smith, Joffe had been given a mandate to promote mergers between soviet republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, etc.) but that there is no evidence that the Moscow centre had ordered the creation of a specifically Lithuanian-Belorussian soviet republic (with mergers with Soviet Ukraine, Latvia or RSFSR having been equally plausible options). For Smith it is possible the Soviet leadership intended to incorporate Poland as well within the republic. Borzęcki (2008), writing about the foundation of the Litbel republic, states that "[i]n contrast to the alacrity with which all previous Moscow's orders had been carried out, this one was acted upon with uncharacteristic tardiness. While Soviet Lithuania was unenthusiastic about the merger, Soviet Belarus was especially reluctant to participate in it. Moscow, however, continued to apply great pressure. [...] [Joffe] personally selected the members of Litbel's government, although they had to be approved by Moscow. Minsk's reluctance is explained by the merger terms,