Religion Flashcards
In which three ways did lenin persecute the Church?
- Legislation
- Terror
- Establishing the Living Church
How did Lenin persecute the Church using legislation?
- Decree on Land 1917
2. Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State 1918
How did the Decree on Land 1917 antagonise the Church?
- gave peasants the right to seize land belonging to the Church
How did the Decree Concerning Separation of Church 1918 antagonise the Church?
- took away the traditional privileges of the Orthodox Church
Give 2 pieces of evidence that Lenin used terror to terrorise the Church.
- In November 1917, Archpriest Ivan Kochurov was murdered outside Petrograd.
- Orthodox Priests in Moscow were massacred in January 1918 following a Church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks
What was the Living Church?
A state church, that removed traditional leaders and had a decentralised structure
When did Lenin establish the Living Church?
1921
How did Lenin think the Living Church would limit the power of the Church?
Lenin hoped that the decentralised/ less organised structure would make it harder for the new Church to oppose the regime.
Summarise Lenin’s attitude to Islam.
- initially backed attacks on property held by Islamic institutions, but later reversed this policy.
- overall less antagonistic towards Islam because there had been no official link between Islam and Tsarism.
What happened in 1922?
Soviet constitution drawn up, which guarantees freedom of belief.
Give 2 examples of how Stalin’s policies had religious implications.
- Many churches were closed and turned into grain stores as a result of collectivisation
- Stalin’s terror purged certain ethnic groups eg. Islamic groups/ For example, Sufi groups in Turkestan were destroyed by 1936.
What was Stalin’s religious policy during the war?
- made pragmatic alliance with the church
- stalin asked for church leaders to support the government’s war effort.
Give a piece of evidence that the Church supported stalin in the war
Russian Metropolitan leader Sergei urged Christians to fight for Stalin
Give 2 pieces of evidence that Stalin gave concessions to the Church
- the ‘Godless’ magazine terminated = ended anti-church propaganda
- 414 churches re-opened during WW2
Summarise Khrushchev’s attitude to religion
- abandoned compromise
- major anti-religious campaigns from 1958
Name 5 ways in which Khrushchev attacked religion.
- closure of churches that re-opened during WW2
- Anti-religious propaganda reintroduced
- placing Orthodox convents under surveillance
- refusing believers access to holy sites
- advocating space race disproving religion
Explain how Khrushchev used the Soviet space programme to attack religion.
Yuri Gagarin (soviet astronaut) famously said he found no god when he travelled to the heavens. Khrushchev broadcast this all round the Soviet Union
Summarise Brezhenev’s attitude towards religion
- ended Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaigns
- advocated atheism through education
- supported anti-American Islamic groups (significant shift from previous policy)
Give an example of how Brezhnev supported Islam
In the late 1960s, Brezhnev established the Spiritual Board of Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, which allowed Soviet Islamic leaders and scholars to have limited contact with Muslims in other countries.
Give 2 examples of how Brezhnev did keep control over religious groups
- prayer meetings broken up and members dismissed from their jobs.
- 1979 - Brezhnev imprisoned Father Yukunin, for trying to draw attention to human rights abuses in the Soviet Union.
