Lenin and religion

Question 1

The living church

Answer 1

• The lving church claimed to be areformed version of the old othradox church where the peple had the power
• It’s leader Archbishop Vedenskii wasnt willing to suport communsim, in 1923 he publiclly debated religion and science with Lunacharsky
• public debates porved to be counterproductive and so in 1925 the central comitee stopped them, growth in religous faith continued to grow thorughout the 20s

Question 2

The church and the terror

Answer 2

Lenin used terror to weaken the Church
* November 1917 archpriest Ivan Kochurov was murdered outside petrograd
* november 1918 poliburo issued a secret order to to the cheka sactioning the mass execution of priests, in two years most popular orthadox priests had been killed.
* othrodox priests in moscow were massacared in january following a church decree excomunicating bolsheviks

Question 3

Religion in the 1920s

Answer 3

communist policy regarding religion changed after the civil war, mass executions, violence and deportation was replaced with more subtle methods that emerged in 1921 and 1922

Question 4

The reasons for communisms dislike of Islam

Answer 4

During the 1920s soviet authorities campaigned against islamic groups for two reasons. They claimed:
1. Islam enoruaged crimed based on cutsom partilcularly infringing on womens rights
2. Islam had the loyalty of many people in Cuacus and central Asia which they wanted to replace with power

Question 5

What the USSR did against Islam

Answer 5

In order to weaken Islam the Soviet authorities:
* closed mosques turning thm into sports clubs or storage depots
* discoruaged pilgrimage
* attacked Islamic Shrines
* opened anti-islamic museums in the midst of recogniised holy places