About the book: year / After the capture by the Russian Empire in 1792–95. Belarusian part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - in the memory of the inhabitants of Belarus for 200 years, almost everything that could contribute to their national self-identification was erased. In the post-war period, the process of Belarusians “forgetting” their language, their history and their culture, organized by the party-Soviet leadership, acquired new impetus. According to the Kremlin ideologists, all peoples of the USSR were to “merge” into a single “communist nation” based on the Russian language, Soviet culture, and Marxist-Leninist ideology. Despite the fact that Belarus gained independence in 1991, the public of neighboring countries, first Russia’s turn, considers it through the prism of old myths and dogmas - both the era of tsarism and the Soviet era. Even some Belarusians (especially representatives of other ethnic groups) still believe that “Belarusians are part of the great Russian nation”, that “Belarus is the conventional name of the North-Western region of the Russian Empire”, that “language, religion, culture, art and In general, Belarusians received civilization from the Russians.” This book consistently and convincingly refutes these and other fabrications of chauvinists. Its practical significance is due to the fact that Belarusian society is now subject to strong ideological influence from the Russian “power holders” (as well as their “fifth column” in Belarus), calling for the “liquidation” of the sovereign Belarusian state and “incorporate” it into the Russian Federation. On the other hand, the national identity of a significant part of Belarusians has been blurred as a result of two centuries of expansion by their eastern neighbor in the fields of politics and economics, language and history, religion and culture. Therefore, it is important to convey the truth about history to Belarusians of all generations, primarily to young people our people, their language and culture.