Editing Pyotr Masherov (section)

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{{Short description|Soviet Belarusian resistance leader and politician (1919-1980)}}

{{Family name hatnote|Mironovich|Masherov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{{Infobox Officeholder
| name                = Pyotr Masherov
| image               = Pyotr Masherov.jpg
| caption             = Masherov as shown on a 1996 stamp
| office              = First Secretary of the<br />[[Communist Party of Byelorussia]]
| term_start          = 30 March 1965
| term_end            = 4 October 1980
| predecessor         = [[Kirill Mazurov]]
| successor           = [[Tikhon Kiselyov]]
| office2             = Candidate member of the [[23rd Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd]], [[24th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]], [[25th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]] [[Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]]
| term_start2         = 8 April 1966
| term_end2           = 4 October 1980
| birth_name          = Piatro Mironavič Mašera<!-- At the time of his birth, "Piatro" was the standard form of "Peter" in Belarusian. "Pyotr" was later adopted under Narkamaŭka. -->
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1919|2|26|df=y}}
| birth_place         = Shirki, [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia]], [[Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]]<br />({{small|now}} Belarus)
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1980|10|4|1919|2|26|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Smalyavichy|Smoleviči]], [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Byelorussian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]]<br />({{small|now}} Belarus)
| spouse              = Polina Andreyevna
| children            = Natalia, Yelena
| relations           = 3 sisters<br />1 brother
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (1943–1980)
| otherparty          = [[Communist Party of Byelorussia]]
| profession          = Teacher, [[civil servant]]
| allegiance          = [[Soviet Union]]
| branch              = {{plainlist|
* [[Red Army]]
* [[Belarusian resistance during World War II|Soviet partisans]]
}}
| serviceyears        = 1941–1945
| rank                = [[Major general]]
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
** [[Belarusian resistance during World War II|Belarusian partisan movement]]
{{tree list/end}}
| awards              = 
| native_name         = {{nobold|Пётр Машэраў}}
| native_name_lang    = be
| module              = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=51a masherov.ogg|title=Pyotr Masherov's voice|type=speech|description=Masherov at the Second All-Union Conference of Peace Champions<br/>Recorded 1952}}
}}
'''Pyotr Mironovich Masherov'''{{efn|{{langx|be|Пётр Міронавіч Машэраў|translit=Piotr Mironavič Mašeraŭ}}<br>[[Taraškievica|Taraškievica orthography:]] Пётар Міронавіч Машэраў, <small>romanized:</small> {{translit|be|Piotar Mironavič Mašeraŭ}}<br>{{langx|ru|Пётр Миронович Машеров}}}} (né '''Mashero'''{{efn|{{langx|be|Машэра|translit=Mašera}}<br>{{langx|ru|Машеро}}}}; {{OldStyleDate|26 February|1919|13 February}} – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the [[Belarusian resistance during World War II]] who governed the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] as First Secretary of the [[Communist Party of Byelorussia]] from 1965 until his death in 1980. Under Masherov's rule, Belarus was transformed from an agrarian, undeveloped nation which had not yet recovered from the Second World War into an industrial powerhouse; Minsk, the capital and largest city of Belarus, became one of the fastest-growing cities on the planet.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=15 February 2013|title=95th Birth Anniversary of Pyotr Masherov|url=https://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/society/37083.html|access-date=19 July 2021|website=Vestnik Kavkaza|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009070030/https://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/society/37083.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Masherov ruled until his sudden death in 1980, after his vehicle was hit by a potato truck.

Born to a peasant family in what is today the [[Vitebsk Region]] during the early stages of the [[Russian Civil War]], Masherov was a teacher in mathematics and physics in his youth.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Shutskiy|first=V. P.|title=On the Origins of the Partisan Movement|publisher=|year=|pages=96–100}}</ref> Following his father's arrest and death during the [[Great Purge]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 December 2016|title=Victims of Political Terror in the USSR|url=http://lists.memo.ru/d22/f168.htm|access-date=18 July 2021}}</ref> Masherov joined the [[Red Army]] following the beginning of [[Operation Barbarossa]], and rose to the rank of major general.<ref name=":1" /> With the end of the Second World War, Masherov turned to politics; becoming First Secretary of the Brest Regional Committee in 1955 and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia ten years later.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=26 February 2020|title=He could have created a different USSR. The life and death of Pyotr Masherov|url=https://aif.by/timefree/history/on_mog_sozdat_inoy_sssr_zhizn_i_gibel_petra_masherova|access-date=19 July 2021|website=Arguments and Facts in Belarus}}</ref>

Masherov was known for his down-to-earth demeanour and for his humility,<ref name=":2" /> separating him from much of the rest of the upper echelons of Soviet government during the [[Era of Stagnation]], a time period in which corruption and resistance to reform ran rampant. Masherov was closely affiliated with reformists in the Soviet Union such as [[Alexei Kosygin]],<ref name=":2" /> and was prior to his death considered a possible successor to [[Yuri Andropov]] in the case that he were to succeed [[Leonid Brezhnev]] as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cloud|first=Marcus|date=18 March 2020|title=Petr Masherov: the mystery of the death of the main applicant for a post of the head of the Soviet Union|url=https://www.ilawjournals.com/petr-masherov-the-mystery-of-the-death-of-the-main-applicant-for-a-post-of-the-head-of-the-soviet-union/|access-date=19 July 2021|website=Law & Lawyer Journals}}</ref>