Russia 1917-91, From Lenin to Yeltsin

Question 1

What religions did Lenin attack

Answer 1

Lenin attacked Christianity then supported attacks on Islam too

Question 2

Why did Lenin not like religion

Answer 2

He thought that religion did not fit with his ideas of freedom and equality and he wanted people to commit entirely to communist ideology

Question 3

What did Lenin create in 1921

Answer 3

The living church

Question 4

Why did Lenin create the living church

Answer 4

He created it at was supposed to rival the Orthodox Church

Question 5

What was the Decree on land 1917

Answer 5

Peasants could now take land from the church

Question 6

What was the Decree concerning separation of church and state 1918

Answer 6

The Orthodox Church lost its privileges

Question 7

Why did Lenin use the Cheka in religion

Answer 7

He used the Cheka to remove religious opposition

Question 8

What did Stalin do to churches during economic change

Answer 8

During periods of economic change such as collectivisation, church closures were seen as a an acceptable price to create more grain stores.

Question 9

During Stalins terror what happened to Muslims

Answer 9

They suffered enormously

Question 10

What did Stalin do to religion to maintain the support from the Russian people

Answer 10

To maintain the support of the Russian people, Stalin relaxed his anti-religious policies while the country was at war

Question 11

How many churches did Stalin reopen during the time the country was at war

Answer 11

414 churches were reopened

Question 12

What did Khrushchev’s campaign against religion consist of

Answer 12

He victimised the church and its congregations.
The state closed Russian orthodox churches and monasteries.
The state tried to limit the power of priests.
Anyone who protested were imprisoned.
He targeted other strands of Christianity, as well as Islam, in a similar way.
Atheism was now a subject in the school curriculum.
People with strong religious beliefs experienced discrimination in their university and job applications

Question 13

What did Brezhnev do to make sure that young people turned away from religion

Answer 13

Instead of oppressing religious groups, he preferred to use scientific education to make sure that young people turned away from religion

Question 14

Why did Brezhnev start supporting Islamic groups in the Middle East

Answer 14

Because they were anti-American

Question 15

What was created after Brezhnev started to support Islamic groups

Answer 15

The board of Muslims of central area and Kazakhstan was created

Question 16

How did communists see Islam under Brezhnev

Answer 16

Communists saw Islam as a progressive and even revolutionary religion under Brezhnev

Question 17

Fall of the USSR, 1985-91 state some reasons

Answer 17

The centralisation of the economy made it inefficient and this contributed to its weakness. It was impossible to run the economy across the whole USSR from Moscow.
There were few incentives wishing the communist economy for working hard. This led to lower productivity levels.
Industrial targets were always based on quantity, not quality. Goods produced were often useless.
Transport links and storage facilities remained underdeveloped, so a lot of product was wasted.
By 1985, there was no growth any more in the soviet economy.
During the two decades after 1965, spending on defence went up from 12-17%