Authors

Natalya Chernyshova¹;  ¹ Queen Mary University of London, UK

Discussion

This paper draws attention to an important constituent of political discourse in late Soviet Belarus, which has so far been neglected: economic modernisation. Belarus saw a spectacular industrialisation leap in the two decades after the Second World War, which bore fruit in the years when Petr Masherau presided over the republic as its communist party’s chief (1965-1980). Under Masherau, expansion and modernisation of industry were seen as political priorities, and public discourse that foregrounded rapid industrial progress and celebrated industrial achievements was just as prominent as the commemoration of the war. During the long 1970s, the politics of modernisation in Belarus became the centrepiece of the Soviet regime’s legitimacy but also a centrepiece of national Belarusian identity. It is essential for understanding how the national identity of Belarus was shaped during this crucial period, and why it combined ethnic elements with such strong civic ones.