Abstract
The collapse of the Soviet Union coincided with, and was partly precipitated by, the public revelation of the true scale of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In the late 1980s, the authorities of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic had to manage the impact of the substantial radioactive contamination of the republic’s territory along with the strong popular dissent that resulted from the three-year cover-up of its true consequences by Soviet officials. The Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) that represented a nationalist movement and challenged the Belarusian governing elite became the main political actor speaking on behalf of the Chernobyl victims.
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© 2013 Tatiana Kasperski
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Kasperski, T. (2013). The Chernobyl Nuclear Accident and Identity Strategies in Belarus. In: Mink, G., Neumayer, L. (eds) History, Memory and Politics in Central and Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137302052_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137302052_8
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-34638-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-30205-2
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