Changes to Religious Policy under Stalin

Question 1

A campaign of religious repression accompanied…

Answer 1

Collectivisation

Question 2

Under Stalin’s religious repression that accompanied collectivisation,

What happened to churches?

What happened to village priests?

Answer 2

More churches were closed

Village priests labelled kulaks and deported

Question 3

The Great Purge of 1936-1939 saw further attacks. By 1939, how many bishops were still at liberty?

Answer 3

12/163

Question 4

When was the German invasion of the USSR?

Answer 4

1941

Question 5

What triggered a change in Stalin’s religious policy?

Answer 5

The German invasion of the USSR, 1941

Question 6

Why was there accommodation between the church and state after the invasion?

Answer 6

Church supported the war effort

Some acknowledgement that religion could play a beneficial role in sustaining morale during hardships of war

Question 7

Examples of Stalin being more liberal to the church after 1941?

Answer 7

Patriarchate re-established

Some churches reopened

New seminaries set up to train priests