Religion under Lenin

Question 1

What is the Marxist perspective on religion?

Answer 1

Marx and Engels saw religion as a conservative force which prevented social change by creating false consciousness

Question 2

What is false consciousness?

Answer 2

A way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving the true nature of their social or economic situation

Question 3

Karl Marx religion quote

Answer 3

“Religion is the opium of the people. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of our soulless conditions.”

Question 4

How did Lenin view religion?

Answer 4

Lenin and the Bolsheviks were atheists and viewed religion as a tool of the ruling class to oppress the working class

Question 5

Lenin introduced a series of decrees that defined the relationship of the government and religion - what were these?

Answer 5

• The October 1917 Decree on Land
• The January 1918 Decree on Separation of Church and State
• The 1922 Soviet Constitution

Question 6

What was the October 1917 Decree on Land?

Answer 6

It gave peasants the right to seize land belonging to the Church

Question 7

What was the January 1918 Decree on Separation of Church and State?

Answer 7

• The Church lost its privileged position in society
• Church land, buildings and property were nationalised
• State subsidies for the Church were ended
• Religious education was banned in schools

Question 8

What did the 1922 Soviet Constitution guarantee?

Answer 8

It guaranteed freedom of conscience for all Soviet people

Question 9

Why is freedom of conscience important?

Answer 9

It allows individuals to follow their own beliefs and values without interference - fostering a diverse and tolerant society where people of different backgrounds and beliefs can coexist peacefully

Question 10

How did Lenin compromise the religious freedom that had been guaranteed after the February Revolution?

Answer 10

Although the right existed in law, in practice, Soviet courts lacked the power to force the government to obey the law or respect citizen’s legal rights

Question 11

In the first year of the revolution, senior priests in the Orthodox Church were terrorised. What are some examples of this?

Answer 11

• In November 1917, Archpriest Ivan Kochurov was murdered outside Petrograd
• In January 1918 Metropolitan Vladimir was tortured and shot in Kiev
• Orthodox priests in January 1918 Moscow were massacred following a Church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks

Question 12

More extreme measures regarding religion were sanctioned in November 1918. What were they and what did this lead to?

Answer 12

The Politburo issued a secret order to the Cheka sanctioning the mass execution of priests. Within two years most of the most popular Orthodox priests had been killed

Question 13

Why were Roman Catholic Priests treated differently?

Answer 13

They had traditionally been a persecuted minority rather than part of the Church that backed the Tsar

Question 14

The new government used propaganda against the Church and seized Church property. How did these two policies operate together during the 1921 famine?

Answer 14

Soviet authorities seized Church assets to fund famine relief and blamed priests who resisted for sabotaging relief efforts

Question 15

Why were Communists less antagonistic towards Islam than Russian Orthodox Christianity?

Answer 15

There had been no official link between Islam and Tsarism

Question 16

How did Communist policy regarding religion change after the Civil War?

Answer 16

Mass executions, violence and deportations stopped. They were replaced by more subtle techniques

Question 17

What was one strategy used against the Orthodox Church after the Civil War?

Answer 17

The establishment of the Living Church

Question 18

What did the Living Church claim to be?

Answer 18

A reformed version of the old Orthodox Church in which a decentralised structure was introduced and ordinary people had power

Question 19

The Living Church introduced significant chances to the Orthodox Liturgy. What are some examples of these changes?

Answer 19

• Allowing clergy to marry
• Replacing icons with photographs of Soviet leaders

Question 20

The Living Church Movement appeared during the famine of 1921–1922. What is said to be the main reason for this?

Answer 20

Bolshevik suspicions that Orthodox bishops were plotting counterrevolution

Question 21

Why did the Living Church fail?

Answer 21

A lack of popular support:
- It was not widely accepted by the majority of Orthodox Christians in Russia. They viewed it as a tool of the Soviet government and a departure from traditional Orthodox practices

Question 22

During the 1920s Soviet authorities initiated campaigns against Islamic groups - why was this the case?

Answer 22

• They claimed that Islam encouraged ‘crimes based on custom’, particularly those infringing women’s rights
• They recognised that Islamic organisations had the loyalty of many people in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and therefore they wanted to destroy the religion in order to extend their own power

Question 23

In order to weaken Islam, what did Soviet authorities do?

Answer 23

• Closed mosques, turning them into sports clubs or storage depots
• Discouraged pilgrimages
• Attacked Islamic shrines
• Started campaigns against women wearing the chador, a traditional form of dress which sometimes included a veil
• Opened anti-Islamic museums in the midst of recognised holy places