Communism and Religion

Question 1

What was the Marxist stance on religion?

Answer 1

Marx was not a fan, calling it the “opium of the people.” Therefore it was generally thought by Party members that part of their duty was to liberate people from the delusions of religion.

Question 2

Why was Lenin suspicious of the Orthodox Church?

Answer 2

• It had been an ally of the Tsar
• It was extremely rich with priests living extremely extravagant lifestyles
• Religions often had values opposed to Communism
• All organised religion represented a potential threat to the primacy of the government

Question 3

How did the Decree on land affect the church?

Answer 3

It allowed peasants to seize their land

Question 4

When was the Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State, and of School and Church passed? What did it do?

Answer 4

January 1918. It nationalised Church land, buildings and property, ended subsidies for the Church and banned RS in schools

Question 5

How did the 1922 Soviet Constitution affect religion?

Answer 5

It guaranteed freedom of conscience for all. This was received well by religious groups but the communists included freedom from religion as part of this pledge

Question 6

When was the assassination of Archpriest Ivan Kochurov?

Answer 6

November 1917

Question 7

When was the torture and murder of Metropolitan Vladimir?

Answer 7

January 1918

Question 8

Why was there a massacre of Orthodox priests in Moscow in January 1918?

Answer 8

There had been a church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks.

Question 9

How did the terror against priests ramp up in November 1918? What was the impact of this?

Answer 9

The Politburo ordered the mass execution of priests. By 1920 most of the Orthodox priests in the union had been killed

Question 10

Why was Lenin more lenient towards Islam in the 1910a?

Answer 10

There had never been a formal link between Islam and the Tsar so he stopped enforcing the Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State against them

Question 11

What was the Living Church?

Answer 11

A new church claiming to be a reformed version of the Orthodox. In April 1923 they deposed Patriarch Tikhon and introduced a new decentralised structure

Question 12

Why did the Living Church end up backfiring on the Communists?

Answer 12

The leader, Archbishop Vedenskii, was opposed to science and held public debates against Lunacharsky which was highly counterproductive so they were banned in 1925

Question 13

Why did Lenin turn against Islam in the 20s?

Answer 13

• it encouraged “crimes based on custom” like poor treatment of women
• It had the loyalty of many of those in the central Asian states which threatened unity

Question 14

How did the Communists attack Islam in the 20s?

Answer 14

• Closed mosques and turned them into sports clubs or storage depots
• Discouraged pilgrimages
• Attacked shrines
• Started a campaign against the chador, a form of veil
• Opened anti-Islamic museums in proximity to recognised holy places

Question 15

Why did Stalin close many churches during collectivisation?

Answer 15

They often aided resistance attempts

Question 16

Name one religious group that Stalin went after in particular

Answer 16

The Sufis. By the end of 1936 they had been wiped out

Question 17

Why did Stalin reach out to the Church during the GPW?

Answer 17

• It was strongly linked to Russian national identity
• The Church provided comfort for bereaved families
• Soldiers found solace in the idea of an afterlife

Question 18

How did Stalin relax his policies towards the Church during the GPW?

Answer 18

• Anti-religious propaganda was discontinued
• Metropolitan Sergey was granted an official residence in Moscow
• Stalin promised to end the censorship of religious magazines after the war
• 414 churches were reopened

Question 19

How much did the priesthood increase by during the GPW?

Answer 19

Around 2.5 thousand

Question 20

Why was Khrushchev sensitised to the religious presence in the USSR?

Answer 20

The Protestant Church had prophesised that the USSR would fall within a generation

Question 21

When did Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign begin?

Answer 21

1958

Question 22

What measures did Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign involve?

Answer 22

• Previously reopened churches were closed again
• Anti-religious propaganda was reintroduced
• Anti-religious magazines were introduced such as Science and Religion in 1960
• Roman Catholic monasteries were closed in 1959

Question 23

How did Khrushchev use the space programme to attack religion?

Answer 23

Both Gagarin and Tereshkova made comments that they did not see heaven when they travelled above the clouds

Question 24

Why did Khrushchev focus his anti-religious campaign on women?

Answer 24

• Two thirds of Orthodox Christians were women

- Over 80% of Protestants were women

Question 25

How did Khrushchev target women in his anti-religious campaign?

Answer 25

• In 1960 a propaganda campaign was launched encouraging men to educate their children to stop their mothers installing religious values
• Nunnery was labelled as “unnatural”

Question 26

How many Orthodox buildings did Khrushchev manage to close?

Answer 26

3000

Question 27

How did the public receive Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign?

Answer 27

• Some women organised women
• Literature defending Islam and Christianity was circulated
• Some parents removed their children from school to protect them from anti-religious propaganda

Question 28

What was Brezhnev’s approach to religion?

Answer 28

He abandoned church closures and poster campaigns in favour of spreading the philosophy of atheism

Question 29

When did Brezhnev open the Institute for Scientific Atheism? What did it do?

Answer 29

1968. It published articles and advised teachers on how to promote atheism in the classroom.

Question 30

How did Brezhnev change the government’s approach to Islam? Why?

Answer 30

He began to support anti-American Islamic groups as he saw an opportunity to make allies in the Middle East

Question 31

How did the number of religious people change between 1960 and 1985?

Answer 31

It stayed at a solid 20% of the population