Editing Belarus (section)

===World War II===
{{main|Byelorussia in World War II|German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-137-1010-37A, Minsk, deutsche Truppen vor modernen Gebäuden.jpg|thumb|upright|German soldiers in [[Minsk]], August 1941]]
[[File:Hatiny1.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[Khatyn]] Memorial; during World War II the German Nazis murdered civilians in 5,295 different localities in [[Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany|occupied Soviet Belarus]].]]
In September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland, following the German [[invasion of Poland]] two weeks earlier which marked the beginning of [[World War II]]. The territories of [[Western Belorussia]] were [[Soviet annexation of Western Belorussia|annexed]] and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR.<ref name="uni1">{{cite book |last=Abdelal |first=Rawi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o85YDMTeMrUC&q=reunification+of+western+belarus |title=National purpose in the world economy: post-Soviet states in comparative perspective |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8014-3879-0}}</ref><ref name="uni2">{{cite book |last=Taylor & Francis Group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGA4o-UhAfgC&q=reunification+of+western+belarus&pg=PA713 |title=Europa World Year, Book 1 |publisher=[[Routledge|Europa publications]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-85743-254-1}}</ref><ref name="uni3">
* Клоков В. Я. Великий освободительный поход Красной Армии. (Освобождение Западной Украины и Западной Белоруссии).-Воронеж, 1940.
* Минаев В. Западная Белоруссия и Западная Украина под гнетом панской Польши.—М., 1939.
* Трайнин И.Национальное и социальное освобождение Западной Украины и Западной Белоруссии.—М., 1939.—80 с.
* Гiсторыя Беларусі. Том пяты.—Мінск, 2006.—с. 449–474
</ref><ref name="uni4">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZJntMQtkSYC&q=Belarus+map+1945&pg=PA106|title=Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship|author=Andrew Wilson|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-13435-3}}</ref> The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on {{nowrap|28 October}} 1939 in [[Białystok]]. Nazi Germany [[Operation Barbarossa|invaded the Soviet Union]] in 1941. The [[Defense of Brest Fortress|defense]] of [[Brest Fortress]] was the first major battle of [[Operation Barbarossa]].

The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained under [[German occupation of Byelorussia during World War II|German occupation]] until 1944. The German {{lang|de|[[Generalplan Ost]]}} called for the extermination, expulsion, or enslavement of most or all Belarusians to provide more [[Lebensraum|living space]] in the [[Drang nach Osten|East]] for Germans.<ref>[[Timothy Snyder|Snyder, Timothy]] (2010). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ks0WBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin]''. Basic Books. p. 160. {{ISBN|0-465-00239-0}}</ref> Most of Western Belarus became part of the ''[[Reichskommissariat Ostland]]'' in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local [[Byelorussian collaboration with Nazi Germany|collaborators]] to set up a client state, the [[Belarusian Central Council]].<ref>(German) Dallin, Alexander (1958). ''Deutsche Herrschaft in Russland, 1941–1945: Eine Studie über Besatzungspolitik'', pp. 234–236. Droste Verlag GmbH, Düsseldorf.</ref>

During World War II, Belarus was home to a variety of [[Belarusian resistance during World War II|guerrilla movements]], including Jewish, Polish, and Soviet partisans. Belarusian partisan formations formed a large part of the [[Soviet partisans]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Exeler |first=Franziska |title=What Did You Do during the War?: Personal Responses to the Aftermath of Nazi Occupation |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309756528 |journal=Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History |page=807 |via=ResearchGate}}</ref> and in the modern day these partisans have formed a core part of the Belarusian national identity, with Belarus continuing to refer to itself as the "partisan republic" since the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ioffe |first=Grigory |date=6 February 2015 |title=The Partisan Movements in Belarus During World War II (Part Two) |url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-partisan-movements-in-belarus-during-world-war-ii-part-two/ |access-date=29 March 2023 |website=[[Jamestown Foundation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chernyshova |first=Natalya |title=Belarus |url=https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1973-2/belarus/ |access-date=29 March 2023 |website=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History|date=15 June 2022 }}</ref> Following the war, many former Soviet partisans entered positions of government, among them [[Pyotr Masherov]] and [[Kirill Mazurov]], both of whom were First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. Until the late 1970s, the Belarusian government was almost entirely composed of former partisans.<ref name="Ioffe">{{Cite journal |last=Ioffe |first=Grigory |date=December 2003 |title=Understanding Belarus: Belarusian Identity |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=55 |issue=8 |page=1259 |doi=10.1080/0966813032000141105 |jstor=3594506 |s2cid=143667635 |issn=0966-8136 }}</ref> Numerous pieces of media have been made about the Belarusian partisans, including the 1985 film ''[[Come and See]]'' and the works of authors [[Ales Adamovich]] and [[Vasil Bykaŭ]].

The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] devastated Belarus. During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died, and of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign. This figure represented [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|a staggering quarter of the prewar population]].<ref name="axell">{{cite book |last=Axell |first=Albert |url=https://archive.org/details/russiasheroes19400albe/page/247 |title=Russia's Heroes, 1941–45 |publisher=Carroll & Graf Publishers |year=2002 |isbn=0-7867-1011-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/russiasheroes19400albe/page/247 247]}}</ref> In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million.<ref>{{cite book|title=Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship|author=Andrew Wilson|year=2011|isbn=978-0-300-13435-3|page=110|publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZJntMQtkSYC&q=Belarus%20map%201945&pg=PA110}}</ref> The [[History of the Jews in Belarus|Jewish population of Belarus]] was devastated during [[the Holocaust]] and never recovered.<ref name="axell"/><ref name="warpop">{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/belarus/11.htm|title=Belarus&nbsp;– Stalin and Russification|access-date=26 March 2006|last=Fedor|first=Helen|year=1995|work=Belarus: A Country Study|publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=10335986@cmsArticle|title=Потери гражданского населения|website=function.mil.ru|access-date=28 August 2019}}</ref> The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971.<ref name="warpop"/> Belarus was also hit hard economically, losing around half of its economic resources.<ref name="axell" />