I've been arguing with some people over this whole Ukraine-Russia shit and somebody mentioned this.
What was the deal with this? Why did the USSR do this? What are the western history books not telling me here?
Also bonus question, what was the deal with the entire resettlement program? Why was it needed?
Ask them about the millions of japanese people spread across the western pacific and other asian countries who were deported back to Japan by the US. The simple answer is that displacements of entire people as a result of decolonization was happening and was a worldwide phenomenon at the time which unfortunately the Soviet Union was caught up in. Just take a look at whole countries such as Pakistan/India Malaysia/Singapore, Czech/Slovakia or even the whole African continent which is still stuck in perpetual war with each over. All you need to know is the Soviet's solutions were 100x more humane than any western counterpact that had to deal with the same issue.
I don't understand.
What exactly triggered these displacements? It doesn't seem like the USSR had to do this due to some change in material conditions. Am I missing something?
Others have given you answers, I am trying to tell you that the whole framing of the question is completely wrong.
For one, you have to realize that Russia and Eastern Europe had emerged from feudal societies (where even the idea of a national identity did not exist, Belarus as an national identity literally only exists because of the Soviet Union) and the failures with the wider empires that were collapsing such as the Central Powers and the subsequent monarcho-fascist leadership that took place afterwards. You would have to research what the Soviet Union thought of the National Question, how this fits into the wider decolonization event that was taking place across the world, and class analysis of the ethnic minorities. This will require actual work in understanding history instead of being fed moralistic answers. The Soviet Union was not a paradise but was reacting to reactionary nationalism that was forming within these countries which was later proved in the 80s (Yugoslavia is a brilliant showcase) with counter-revolutions as a result of Imperialism.
The Soviet Union is completely open about the reasons for doing the deportations, you can either accept the logic or simply delcare that Stalin and the rest of the world proletariat was irrational or did it for the sake of cruelty.
I get that they had reasons, I just think they were shit and not well thought out reasons. They clearly made a mistake here.