Historical Destinies of Belarusian Statehood on the Eve and during the Great Patriotic War
Issues which have to do with the union of Belarusian nation at the beginning of the Second World War are considered in the article as well as plans and real practice of the Nazi Germany regarding national statehood of Belarusian people.The purpose of the article is to substantiate the historical regularity of the reunion of Belarusian people into a single state on the eve of the Second World War and the reactionist military and political plans of the Nazi Germany regarding national statehood of Belarusians.Material and methods. The study is based on materials of domestic historiography and archive documents which reveal the history of Belarusian statehood on the eve and during the Second World War. The methodological base is the historical and objective method, principles of analysis, systematic principles, the method of the author’s generalizations.Findings and their discussion. The decisive event of the beginning of the Second World War which influenced directly further development of Belarusian statehood is considered to be the reunion of Western Belarus and the BSSR. During the Great Patriotic War German Nazi leadership strived to implement their ideas of depriving Belarusians their national Soviet statehood. The Nazi’s idea was not accepted by the local population, which is explained by multiple forms and methods of the fight of Belarusian people who defended their Motherland. Conclusion. The reunion of Western Belarus with the BSSR put an end to the division of the Belarusian nation; it restored its territorial integrity, reunited Belarusian people into one family. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War fascists destroyed the territorial integrity of the Republic; they implemented the idea of colonization and deprivation of Belarusians of their national statehood. However their attempts to conquer new lands with the help of collaboration bodies were not supported by local population. The overwhelming majority of Belarusian population led organized battle with the invaders and defended the integrity of the Republic and Soviet statehood.