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Russia A-LEVEL History! Lenin to Yeltsin 1917-91 > Control - Attacks On Religion > Flashcards

Control - Attacks On Religion Flashcards

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1
Q

Why was religion attacked under the Russian Communist regime? (4)

A
  • religion was against communism, provided an alternative ideology to socialism
  • Roman Orthodox Church is Tsarist, didn’t support new regime
  • was wealthy and landed, so favoured conservative
  • supported individualism and worship of a higher power, did not share same collective views as communism
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2
Q

What did Marx refer to religion as?

A

Opium of the Masses - provided an artificial happiness and distraction from real suffering, so people were less likely to revolutionise and fight for change

That religion was used by ruling classes to keep the wealthy down

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3
Q

What did Lenin refer to religion as?

A

‘Venereal Disease’

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4
Q

Why was religion a problem?

A
  • Religion is HUGELY popular so had MASS influence
  • so it threatened the control the bolsheviks had over the state and peoples mindsets
  • threatened imposition of socialist ideology
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5
Q

What did the Bolsheviks dismiss religion as?

A

‘Superstitious nonsense’

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6
Q

Why was the Russian Orthodox Church in particular a problem

A
  • huge popularity
  • tsar was head of Orthodox Church (tsar in charge of appointment = make sure church supported tsars)
  • owned huge land so supported views of landed classes and conservatives
  • RICH, did not fit with communism
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7
Q

Early measures to limit influence of religion:

A
  • Decree on the Freedom of Conscience
  • Churches destroyed, monasteries closed
  • Famine, Red Terror
  • League of the Militant Godless
  • Campaign against Baptisms
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8
Q

Decree on the Freedom of Conscience?

A

1918
- Orthodox Church SEPARATED from state
- privileged status lost
- stripped of land (no compensation)
- religious publications outlawed
- formal religious education banned

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9
Q

Destroying churches

A
  • 1930 - 1940 = approx 30,000 to less than 500 churches
  • churches destroyed or converted, monasteries closed
  • 1918 - head of church PATRIARCH TIKHON under house arrest
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10
Q

Did treatment of churches int he Civil War and subsequent famine get worse?

A

So much worse -

  • More attacks on churches
  • stealing valuable items like art or riches to pay for food
  • priests denied vote and RATIONS
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11
Q

Red Terror

A

1921-1922
- priest victims
- no vote and no rations

1923 = 28 Bishops killed, 1000 priests killed

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12
Q

League of the Militant Godless

A

1929 = propaganda campaign against religion
- launched to disprove god exists
- peasant and priest plane rides to show the God/heaven wasn’t above the clouds
- weeping icons ridiculed - public displays of fakeness

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13
Q

Campaigns against Baptisms and other religious rituals

A

‘Octoberings’ introduced to replace baptisms

New names like ‘Ninel’ or ‘Revolutsiya’ govern to children

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14
Q

Initial consequences of early attacks on religion:

A
  • 1/5 of village churches operating (shows significant reduction in religion)
  • surveys of peasantry in mid 1920s = 55% still actively practicing Christianity (shows failure to stamp out religion - intent)

Did have huge impact but ultimately failed

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15
Q

What did Stalin’s policy against religion accompany?

A
  • policy of collectivisation
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16
Q

Collectivisation and anti-religious policy:

A

Under Stalin:
- more church closures
- village priests = kulaks so DEPORTED
- more attacks under GREAT PURGE

17
Q

Religion, Stalin and the Great Purge:

A
  • more attacks on church 1936-1939
  • 1939 = only 12/163 bishops still at liberty
18
Q

When did the attacks on religion die off under Stalin?

A

When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941:

  • church supported the war effort, so the church was tollerated in the war
  • provided good morale for the soldiers and people at home
  • more liberal - patriarchate re-established, churches reopened, new seminaries to train priests
19
Q

What was Khrushchevs view on religion?

A
  • Fevertly anti-religious
  • active repression under khruschev
20
Q

When did Khrushchev launch his anti-religion campaign?

A

1958-59 (until removal from office in 1964)

21
Q

What did Khrushchevs anti-religion policy do?

A
  • role of priest reduced to one of spiritual advice only
  • parish councils placed under Party officials - able to dismiss priests if deemed as ‘no longer needed’
  • in 4 years 10,000 more churches closed
  • priests harassed by secret police

Baptists and Jews also faced restrictions

22
Q

Brezhnev and the church:

A
  • after 1964, active church persecution declined
  • religious persecution rumours did not go down well in the west! (affected cohesion and cooperation in foreign policy)
  • SO, allowed the church to operate within ‘reason’
23
Q

How was the church monitored under Brezhnev?

A

Council of Religious Affairs - monitored services and classified clergy members according to their loyalty to socialism

24
Q

What was the church allowed to do under Brezhnev?

A
  • stick to formal church services
  • support soviet policies
  • provide social facilities and help the poor
25
Q

Example of rebellion against measures to suppress religion:

A

1976 - under Brezhnev
- orthodox priests set up Christian Committee for the Defence of Believers Rights
- drew attention to human rights abuses

Response from Brezhnev:
- leader , Father Yakunin sentenced to 5 years prison ‘anti soviet propaganda’

26
Q

How were Jews and Baptists treated?

A
  • they were more critical of regime so treated with less tolerance
  • evangelism/preaching banned
  • members dismissed from jobs
  • collective worship groups broken up

(However unregistered congregations continued to meet and distribute prayer books)

27
Q

Where was Islam prevalent in the USSR

A
  • Central Asian regions of the Soviet Union
28
Q

Why was dealing with Islam more difficult for the Communists

A
  • linked to national minorities, could disrupting these populations disrupt social cohesion of the state
  • more ingrained into daily life and cultures
29
Q

Attempts at decreasing influence of Islam

A
  • initially decrease influence of Sharia Law courts (phased out), schools and Mullahs (term commonly used for Islamic clerics and mosque leaders)
  • mosques closed down
  • mullahs removed in collectivisation - ‘deceivers of the people’
  • fasting in Ramadan banned - interfered with work and discipline
  • polygamy prohibited
30
Q

Campaign against the veiling of women: Hujum Campaign

A
  • Hujum campaign: to remove all gender inequality in Soviet-Asia
  • Launched on International Women’s day in 1927
  • Ceremony where crowds of women cast off their veils and threw them into the bonfire 1927
31
Q

What was the response to measures against Islam

A
  • violent revolts 1928-29
  • unrest had to be quelled by Soviet Armed forces
  • In public Muslims showed obedience to the state but continued private practice after home
  • others joined underground brotherhoods to fight for Islamic rights - Tariqat
32
Q

Impacts of these acts:

A
  • 1980s: survey reports only 25% believe in god - less practice
  • formal religious influence declined HUGELY but government restriction seemed to intensify some peoples religious belief further
  • underground networks formed

Russia A-LEVEL History! Lenin to Yeltsin 1917-91 (19 decks)

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