 They sought expansion of local self-government and cultural freedoms, but did not wish to separate Lithuania from the Russian Empire.The democratic Krajowcy wanted to neutralize ethnic strife and proposed the creation of a civil society in the former territory of the Grand Duchy (principally Lithuania and Belarus), which would include Lithuanians, Poles, Belarusians, Jews, Ukrainians, and other nationalities.To them, national identity was not important as long as the person identified with and felt loyalty to the former Duchy.