REFLECTION OF THE CAUSES OF THE GREAT FAMINE OF 1932–1933 IN THE «DIRECTIVE» HISTORIOGRAPHY OF BELARUS

Abstract

The article analyzes the general historiographical situation in the Republic of Belarus that developed after the election of O. Lukashenko as president and, in particular, the reflection of the history of the Great Famine of 1932–1933 by representatives of the «directive» or «official» historiography. Scientific novelty: there are isolated comprehensive studies of the receptions of Belarusian researchers on the history of the Great Famine of 1932–1933, however, a special study of the topic by representatives of the «official» historiography of the republic is being conducted for the first time. The purpose of the article is to clarify the peculiarities of the interpretation of the causes and nature of the Great Famine in the territories of the Soviet Union and, in particular, in Belarus by representatives of the «directive historiography» of the republic. The objectives of the study are to clarify the concept of «directive» historiography, assess the circumstances and consequences of its formation, and characterize the features of the coverage of the history of the Great Famine in scientific works and historical didactics of higher education. It has been established that the content of the «directive» historiography of the Great Famine is directly influenced by the political regime of A. Lukashenko, who in the mid-1990s imposed the Russian paradigm of the «common tragedy of the peoples of the USSR» on historians of the Republic of Belarus. According to this, dominant version, the famine of 1932–1933 was a consequence of the economic mistakes of the authorities, the lack of food reserves, and the excesses of the grain procurement campaign caused by the needs of the country’s modernization. In the second, communist version of events, there is also a downplaying of the consequences of the famine, explaining it by a crop failure and at the same time justifying Stalin’s agrarian policy against the background of accusations of «enemies of the Soviet government» and the peasants themselves who sabotaged collective farm work and stole grain. The third approach: the compilers of textbooks for higher education use methods of restricting information about the Great Famine and completely silencing the Holodomor in Ukraine. Such methods are dictated by the authorities, university administrations, and correspond to the state policy of the union of Belarus with Russia. Therefore, replacing the authoritarian political regime in the republic with a democratic one is the main condition for the exit of «directive» historiography from ideological trenches to freedom of scientific creativity and academic freedoms.