Elections to the highest state authorities in Western Belarus in 1940 as an element of the region’ sovietization

The article deals with one of the poorly studied fragments of Russian history - elections of deputies of the USSR Supreme Council and the BSSR Supreme Council for Western Belarus. Inclusion of this territory into the USSR and the BSSR in 1939 was the critical issue in the region in order to establish a social system that existed in the USSR and the Byelorussian SSR for over twenty years. Within a few months the Soviet government implemented a major event (the nationalization of industry, confiscation of the land fund, etc.), laid the foundation for a new system and launched the building of socialism in all directions. The study is considered an important element of the policy of the Soviet power - the election of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the BSSR Supreme Council of Western Belarus, which took place in 1940. On the basis of a wide range of original archival sources, most of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the author reveals a large-scale picture of the election campaign designed to persuade the millions of people who had lived for more than 15 years in a completely non-Bolshevik political and socio-economic conditions, the advantages of a fundamentally different social model on socialist principles, as well as significantly enhance the legitimacy of the Soviet regime. The author assesses the situation prevailing in Western Belarus on the eve of the election, analyzes the electoral law, elections organizational aspects, forms and methods of campaigning. The special attention is paid to the unequivocal attitude of the people to the election campaign, and the appropriate assessment of the official results is carried out.