A new upsurge of democratic and national-liberation movement in the late 19th —early 20th centuries created real conditions for revival of the Belarusian culture and statehood. The first national political party — Belarusian Socialist Gromada — was created in 1903 setting as its objectives overthrowing autocracy, forming the Russian Federative Democratic Republic with free self-determination and cultural and national autonomy of nations.

The revolutionary actions of workers and peasant movement forced the initiation of the allotment land use reform in the early 20th century in the Russian Empire, thereby destroying a peasant community and assigning land for the peasant ownership. Landless and having-insufficient-land peasants began to move to Siberia. 335 thousand people left Belarus in 1907-1914.

Once Russia had entered the WWI, the martial law was declared in Belarus. Up to September 1915, the western part of Belarus was occupied by German troops. After overthrowing autocracy in Russia as a result of the 1917 February Revolution, political activity in Belarus intensified.

After the victory of armed insurrection in Petrograd, the Soviet power was proclaimed also in Minsk.

The Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in Smolensk on January 1st 1919. Given the political situation, however, the Lithuanian-Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic with the capital in Vilno was established in February 1919.

The BSSR had been proclaimed for the second time after expulsion of Polish troops 31 July 1920.

Poland annexed the western region of Belarus in 1921 according to the Riga Peace Treaty. Administratively, the BSSR territory comprised 6 districts of Minsk province with 1,544 thousand people-strong population.

On December 30th 1922, the BSSR was incorporated into the USSR. In 1924 and 1926, the so-called BSSR enlargement took place — it received back 17 districts of Vitebsk, Gomel and Smolensk provinces. The West Belarus was reunified with the BSSR in 1939.

In the pre-WWII period, nearly one thousand industrial enterprises were built and nearly 900 rehabilitated in Belarus. Science, national culture and art were developing. But political repression had a severe implication on all strata of the population.

At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, it took invaded fascist troops 2 months to occupy Belarus. A mass guerilla movement spread throughout the republic involving nearly 400 thousand people backed up by over 400 thousand people-strong guerilla reserve. Underground party bodies, patriotic and antifascist organizations counteracted occupants. The fascists carried in Belarus 140 punitive operations burning hundreds of villages, sometimes with residents, under pretext of fighting guerillas. The Memorial Complex Khatyn (Logoisk District) was built at the site of the village burnt with its residents in the memory of fascism victims.

The Soviet troops completely liberated Belarus in June-July 1944 by launching the Belarusian offensive operation. The war inflicted heaviest losses on Belarus: each third Belarusian resident perished, all cities were raised to ground, large and medium-sized enterprises were destroyed, over 9 thousand villages were burned. Nearly 380 thousand people were forcedly brought out to Germany.

Admittance of the BSSR to the United Nations Organization was recognition by the world community of the contribution of the Belarusian people to crushing defeat of Hitlerite Germany and huge losses sustained in the struggle against fascism.

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