The problem of collectivization in the Western regions of the BSSR in Soviet Historiography

Abstract

The object of the study was the evolution of the Soviet historical paradigm. The subject is the achievements of post–war Soviet historical science in the field of studying collectivization in the western regions of the BSSR. The article will present the results of the study of collectivization in the western regions of Belarus. The author pays special attention to the political factors of the development of historical science, the most important of which are the Stalinist course, the "thaw", Brezhnev's Restalinization of the 1970s and 1980s, as well as perestroika. The author of the article traces in detail the evolution of topics and assessments in the works of Soviet scientists who studied post-war collectivization in the western regions and republics of the USSR under the influence of political factors. To study the topic, first of all, general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, typologization and idealization were used. Historiographical research methods were also used, in particular, comparative-historical, historical-genetic, historical-systemic, periodization method. When systematizing the material, the principle of historicism and the problem-chronological method of presentation were observed.       As a result of the research, the author concludes that the agrarian historiography of collectivization in the western regions of the BSSR is often subjective and interprets published archival documents and statistical information in the spirit of official ideological attitudes. Topics related to violations during collectivization, "dekulakization" remained taboo until perestroika, when a change in the political situation made it possible for historians to begin studying previously forbidden topics. This was the beginning of the destruction of the Soviet historical paradigm. The author managed to establish that there is a discrepancy between the published official statistics and conclusions about the nature of collectivization and "dekulakization" in the western regions of the BSSR. The novelty of the presented research is due to the fact that the analysis of Soviet historical research is based on the modern historical paradigm and the concept of the scientific school of V. P. Danilov, which developed in post-Soviet historical science in the study of collectivization and "dispossession" of the 1930s.