USSR anti-religious campaign (1921–1928)

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to any religious believer who was a member of the clergy or who had an education, but uneducated believers were allowed party membership on an individual basis if they prove their devotion to Communism. It was decreed that such members, however, should be submitted to 'special re-education work' in order to make them atheists. The instruction warned against rash actions in anti-religious propaganda, against giving too much publicity to 'anti-religious agitation' and it stressed 'serious scientific cultural-enlightenment work, building up natural-scientific foundation for a proper historical analysis of the question of religion'. This meant that the anti-religious campaign was to be directed at building up a non-religious culture and educational system, rather than subjecting religion to ridicule and attack. It directed the Central Committee Agitation Department,

20: 436:

invented against such popular clergy in order to justify their arrest, imprisonment or execution. This method was especially harsh in rural areas away from foreign observers where a systematic campaign liquidated the most popular monks and shut down the most authoritative monasteries. Through this, the famous Optina monastery was shut down in 1922 and turned into a state museum, and one of the elders was arrested. All seven local churches were shut down as well by 1929 (leaving the local religious population with no building to worship in). The museum would later be closed in 1928 and by 1930 the monks who had served in it were mostly either in hiding or had been sent to concentration camps.

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temporary Patriarch after Tikhon's death in April 1925. The regime continued to arrest clergy who did not accept the Renovationists. Peter's replacement as temporary Patriarch after his arrest was Metropolitan Sergii. Sergii and twelve bishops, including Archbishop Illarion (Troitsky) of Krutitsy were arrested in 1926. The intransigence of some of the bishops would cause them to remain and eventually die in exile; Metropolitan Peter died in the Arctic in 1937 and Illarion died in a prison transit hospital in Leningrad in 1929.

814:, the Commisar of Enlightenment, was forced to accept that the school system would have non-religious rather than anti-religious education, due to the shortage of atheist teachers and the fear that such a system would provoke a hostile reaction by the religious masses. Anti-religious education was still seen as an important goal, and beginning in 1925, anti-religious education was introduced to secondary schools, mainly through classes on culture, in addition to setting up branches of the League of the Godless in schools. 771:

Marxist notion that human beliefs were determined by material conditions had been used to support the 'rightist' argument that religion would go away on its own once the state developed, and that rather than teaching people atheism and giving anti-religious propaganda, people should instead be taught natural sciences and they would then lose their religion. The old Marxist theory was pragmatically questioned as it became apparent that religion was not going away, and more active means were thought necessary.

553:

property of value, especially from the very richest lauras, monasteries, and churches, must be carried out with ruthless resolution, leaving nothing in doubt, and in the very shortest time. The greater the number of representatives of the reactionary clergy and the reactionary bourgeoisie that we succeed in shooting on this occasion, the better because this "audience" must precisely now be taught a lesson in such a way that they will not dare to think about any resistance whatsoever for several decades.

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and depicted as a heartless organization that would not give up its gold to feed the starving poor. This fact may have also explained his shutting down of the Church's famine relief efforts and his refusal to accept the compromise. It also likely affected the misrepresentation of the Church's position in the Soviet press wherein it was not acknowledged that the Patriarch had offered to arrange to pay for the valuables and the Church hierarchy was presented as careless about the catastrophe.

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would become so in 1929), so the miracle claims were prosecuted instead under the pretext that they were acts of resistance meant to strengthen believers in their resistance to hold on to church valuables. In Tula, the local bishop Yuvenalii was sentenced to ten years imprisonment after the local populace claimed a miracle to have occurred; several others were imprisoned along with him. The campaign to disprove miracles (in which saints' relics were sometimes exposed and confiscated) met.

890:

had controversial ideas within the communist party about creating an autonomous communist state in the Muslim areas of Central Asia that would be called Turkestan. The party reacted against this idea of a unified and autonomous Muslim state by choosing to divide Central Asia into different republics (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan) in 1924. Many militant Muslims who had originally sided with the Bolsheviks were upset by this turn of events.

724:

anti-church propaganda produced by the Soviet state claimed that the state was only opposed to the leadership of the Orthodox Church, and not religion in general or the Orthodox Church as a body. To this effect, the press commended acts of disobedience by parishes against the Patriarch; in 1920, there was one parish that was commended for refusing to accept priests that were sent by the church hierarchy and which opted instead to elect a former psalmist as their priest.

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activities banned to the Orthodox church (including publications, seminaries, youth work, etc.) The Soviets offered the Muslims free public education on a massive scale, which had not been available under the tsars. Through this the region of Central Asia, which had formerly been one of the least educated areas of the Russian empire, would become comparable to the rest of the country. The underdeveloped region was also industrialized at an impressive rate.

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surrender all such objects of value with the exception of the vessels used for the Holy Eucharist. On February 28, the government issued another order to all state agents to confiscate all sacred vessels including those used in the sacraments. On the same day, the Patriarch issued an encyclical asking believers to be very generous in their donations so as to pay off the cost of the vessels used in the Eucharist, but not to give up the vessels themselves.

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that more people attended churches then had come to participate in the anti-religious parades. These tactics of the Komsomol were discarded in the mid-1920s, as being too crude and offensive to believers' feelings, but they were later revived in the late 1920s and early 1930s. They were replaced in the mid-1920s by meetings behind closed doors accompanies by anti-religious lectures, poetry readings as well as articles in atheistic journals.

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by the government in that he could either remove the excommunication or he and those close to him would pay with their lives. (The fact that the USSR had a separation of church and state did not mean in practice that the state could not punish believers who did not recognize church authorities when these authorities were working for the state.) The Metropolitan would not change, and so he was arrested shortly after.

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of the campaign, because shortly after this agreement was published in the newspapers in approving terms, the Petrograd section then cancelled the agreement and stated that the clergy could not participate in the commission. The Metropolitan agreed to hand over the valuables and pay for the precious objects used in the sacraments through a special collection, and the Petrograd section agreed to this.

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religious feelings by 'primitive methods' and of ridiculing the objects and ceremonies of faith; claiming that these methods strengthen 'religious fanaticism'. Instead it called for more publication of anti-religious literature of a popular scientific nature, and more analysis of the history of religion. The call for moderation was ignored by the above-mentioned anti-religious journals.

798:) and the Moscow Society of the Godless. Yaroslavsky's position that the whole nation needed to be mobilized for an attack on all religions, but one which was pragmatically organized and moderated to be effective, would eventually carry official favour and become the officially adopted position for the anti-religious campaign that would occur after 1929. 577:) 'to investigate all closures of churches. If these should have taken place with abuse of the Soviet legislation on the cults, the guilty ones ought to be made responsible for their acts.' The commission addressed a letter to the Central Committee suggesting immediate discontinuation of the closure of churches, and the publication of an article in 910:

proletarian Komsomol, and they handed down the verdict that all deities and clergy must be burned at the stake. The whole mass then poured out into the streets with torches and scarecrows in their hands saying 'Away with the churches, away with the synagogues!" The effigies were then publicly burned in the city square.

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Renovationists lost control of a third to one half of their churches by the end of 1924. The authorities changed direction and pushed for reunification in 1924–1927 in the belief that the Renovationists who were loyal to the state could be used as agents, activists and informers within the Patriarchal Orthodox church.

603:' sect or the 'Living Church', led by Fr. Alexander Vvendenskij, by giving it legal recognition in 1922 and continuing to terrorize the old Orthodox as well as deprive it of legal means of existence. They attempted to make Orthodox Christianity compatible with Marxism and were fully loyal to the state. 642:

defended the record of the Russian clergy in a pre-revolutionary incident where there had been an allegation of Jewish ritual murder. When no evidence could be found for the charges against him about belonging to a counter-revolutionary conspiracy, the Petrograd Cheka chief PA Krasikov famously stated:

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They often organized their parades at the same time as celebration of religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter, and they placed them right outside churches that were holding services. This often prevented traditional Orthodox processions to occur at the same time. Appeals were made to bakeries

833:

The attack on the Orthodox became more generally an attack against all religions around 1927. Sects that had originally been praised in the official press for their loyalty and hard-work, despite their religious convictions that were problematic to implementing Communism, began to be demonized in the

866:

The Autocephalists encountered the same problem as the Renovationists in that they failed to attract the Ukrainian laity. As a result, the Soviets lost interest in them, and began persecuting them in 1924. This persecution became especially harsh in the latter part of the decade once the state began

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The non-hierarchical nature of some of these sects made them appear even more dangerous to the state, since they could not be as easily controlled as the Orthodox Church that worked according to a strict hierarchy. Finnish Protestants began to be attacked in 1927. Mennonite communities left the USSR

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Lenin's statement 'On the Significance of Militant Materialism', was worded in such a fashion that both sides of the debate would use it to support their arguments. Lenin's statement called for a close-cooperation of all militant materialists (atheists), both communists and non-communists, including

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it's common knowledge that religion is opium... poison, stupor, moonshine, and yet we are not supposed to insult believers' feelings. Why should we say one thing and do another?... Not every stab at religion serves the aim of struggle against it… every "persecution of that faith" builds up religious

739:

The anti-religious press continuously produced primitive blasphemies of God, Christ and the Saints in their pages designed to insult the religious feelings of believers. Religion was equated with immorality, drunkenness and money-grabbing. Religion was blamed for failing to differentiate between the

637:

The peace was short-lived, however, because the Metropolitan protested the takeover of the church by the Renovationists and excommunicated its leaders (the priests Vvedensky, Belkov and Krasnitsky). The Soviet press responded with attacking Veniamin's character and he was presented with an ultimatum

469:

basin is subject to periodic droughts that can sometimes last for several years. The last famine that had been produced by this occurred in 1891, and after that experience, the Tsarist government had built up special stockpiles of grain in preparation for a future famine. All of these stockpiles had

447:

who gave unqualified loyalty to the state. The Church, however, continued to teach that Orthodoxy was incompatible with Marxism. This was contrasted by many other religious groups in the country that tried to re-affirm how they were compatible with the state ideology when they were put under attack.

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produced an encyclical on political neutrality and disengagement of the Church from worldly politics, and the official propaganda depicted it as a form of camouflage to hide his real aim of support for autocratic bourgeois-aristocracy. Tikhon emphasized the freedom of the Church in the separation of

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The Vatican raised a massive aid campaign for famine relief in Russia, and the Soviet government permitted the Vatican to send its help, under the condition that it did not engage in any proselytization in Russia and that the priests who would come would be dressed and made to appear as though they

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The propaganda campaign, however, was a failure and many people remained with their religious convictions. The church held its own public events with some success, and well competed with the anti-religious propaganda during these years. In the few instances that numbers were reported, it was stated

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The Komsomol and later LMG would try to implement the 10th congress resolution by various attacks, parades, theatrical performances, journals, brochures and films. The Komsomol would hold crude blasphemous 'Komsomol Christmases' and 'Komsomol Easters' headed by hooligans dressed as orthodox clergy.

889:

Sultan Galiev was the leader of a group of Central Asian Marxists that attempted to reform Islam to make it more modern as well as to support atheism in the Central Asian states. He was allied with Lenin, who used him as an intermediary between the government and the peoples of Central Asia. Galiev

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in large numbers as a result of the hostility against them; 13000 fled in 1928. The Dukhobors had been relatively untouched by direct anti-religious up until 1927. Adventists had originally been very hostile to the new regime until 1924 when their leadership declared loyalty to the communist state

719:

and the journal by the same name into a special party publishing enterprise for Marxist and anti-religious literature. The 12th (1923) and 13th (1924) party congresses called for 'moderation'. The 12th party congress called for the expansion of anti-religious propaganda and warned against insulting

633:

The Petrograd section of the State Famine Relief Commission initially agreed to a plan proposed by Metropolitan Veniamin to hand over the valuables, and to include representatives of the Church in the confiscations. The Petrograd section may not have been initially informed by Lenin of the real aim

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The state arrested, exiled and even shot clergy who continued to declare their loyalty to Patriarch Tikhon after his arrest, and resisted the takeover by the Renovationists. The state issued propaganda which claimed that the opposition to the takeover was the result of 'bourgeois and black-hundrist

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In this same letter, which was secret at the time but now published, Lenin explained that the campaign to seize church valuables was meant not for primarily philanthropic reasons but rather as a means of provoking the church into a situation wherein it could be greatly attacked with little reprisal

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Lenin jumped at the opportunity and used it as a pretext to attack the church. They refused to accept the Patriarch's compromise of offering the monetary value of the vessels and instead insisted that the vessels be handed over. Lenin also refused the Patriarch's request that Church representatives

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Lenin ordered that all of the precious metals, precious stones and valuable material that could be found in religious buildings throughout the country, should be confiscated and sold in order to create funds to help relieve the famine. The Patriarch appealed to the parishes on February 19, 1922, to

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Believers could also be arrested in association with claiming or honoring miracles. Miracles needed to be suppressed in the eyes of the state due to their contradiction of the atheism of the official state ideology. However, it was not yet legal to prosecute people simply for making such claims (it

370:

In August of that year, a plenary meeting of the Party Central Committee adopted an 11-point instruction on the interpretation and application of article 13 (mentioned above). The instruction made a differentiation between educated believers and uneducated believers, and it forbade party membership

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believed threatened the survival of the state. The NEP brought in some measure of limited free enterprise, and was meant to compromise with the general population as well as to present the new regime in a more respectable light to the world community and thus acquire a place in the world market. To

727:

The Patriarch was attacked in the press, especially during the campaign to seize church valuables, as having sold their teacher Jesus to the tsar and capitalists by withholding church valuables from the famine stricken. The church hierarchy was presented in the official press as indifferent to the

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He was defended by a Jew name Gurovich and the trial was conducted in a court room that was packed with thousands of people. Gurovich conducted an excellent defense; he cleverly mentioned how Krasnitsky had been publishing militantly anti-bolshevik articles up until November 1917, and as a Jew, he

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was one of the most prominent victims of this. He was very popular and had come from a lower-class background, which hurt Soviet propaganda that the church hierarchy was filled with representatives of the upper classes during the time of the Tsar. His great popularity may have made him a target by

539:

One of the bloodiest of the clashes occurred in an old-textile industrial town called Shuia, near Moscow. On March 15, 1922, a group of mounted police arrived at the church square to requisition the valuables and a large crowd of believers had gathered there as well. The Soviet press reported that

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Despite the part of the August 1921 instruction about combating all religions, the state took a particular hardline against the Orthodox church on the pretext that it was a legacy of the Tsarist past. This may also have been a pragmatic consideration in the belief that the state was not yet strong

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met in early 1921 and issued the resolution "On Glavpolitprosvet (Central Committee of the Republic for Political Education) and the Agitation: Propaganda Problems of the Party". This resolution called for "widescale organization, leadership, and cooperation in the task of anti-religious agitation

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In 1922 at the Conference of Genoa, wherein the Soviet Union's relations with the foreign community of nations was negotiated, the Vatican demanded that Russia grant complete freedom of conscience to its citizens. The Soviet government instead pursued a policy of demanding the Vatican to grant it

858:

The Soviets initially supported a Ukrainian nationalistic church movement called the Autocephalists (also known as Lypkivskyites), which broke with Tikhon under the leadership of Metropolitan Lypinski. The Soviets supported this split for the same reasons that they supported the Renovationists in

809:

The school question proved troublesome initially for Soviet policies. They had outlawed religious instruction for schoolchildren or youth. In 1925, the delegates of the first congress of Soviet schoolteachers refused to endorse the principle of separation of church and state, and sought to retain

762:

As the years progressed, it became increasingly clear that the old Marxist assumption that religion would die away quickly and easily was highly mistaken as resistance to the anti-religious policies was found across the country. In 1924, Trotsky, who originally had thought that the Russian masses

670:

Once it had been widely published, another schism developed in the Church by many conservative church movements that refused to accept this new declaration. At least 37 bishops broke with Sergii over this issue. The group that broke with the new Patriarch were not deeply opposed to Sergii's civic

666:

Sergii was released in 1927 and became the new Patriarch after he signed a declaration of loyalty to the state. The state wanted the Patriarchal church to bend ever lower in its declaration of loyalty than Tikhon had. The new declaration of loyalty not only promised loyalty to the government, but

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In 1925, there were at least 65 bishops in prison or exile (not counting those who had been detained for short periods and then released). Some bishops returned from exile in 1925 while an additional twenty bishops were arrested in the same year including Metropolitan Peter (Poliansky) who became

614:(a Patriarch who was killed by the Poles when they occupied Moscow in 1612). The Patriarch was arrested in May 1922, and his chancery was taken over by the Renovationists. Trotsky would continue to attack the Patriarch until he was released from prison in 1923 and made his declaration of loyalty. 299:

was a fundamental ideological goal of the state. To this end, the state began offering secular education to believers, intending to reduce the prevalence of superstition. It was never made illegal to be a believer or to have religion, and so the activities of this campaign were often veiled under

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The Vatican at first sought to use the newly re-created Poland's position to promote Catholic interests in Russia, but following the war between the Bolsheviks and Poland, the Vatican turned to Weimar Germany, which played crucial role in diplomatic efforts with regard to Christians in the USSR.

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For example, in one Christmas play on December 25, 1923, in the city of Gomel, the Komsomol actors presented a performance of a mock trial of deities in a city theatre; the defendants were stuffed scarecrows representing the deities of different religions as well as their clergy. The judges were

882:

Muslims had their own People's Commisariat for Muslim Affairs established in 1918 under the administration of mullah Nur-Vakhitov (the only clerical person to ever occupy a state office in Soviet History). Both Muslims and Protestants enjoyed relative toleration until 1928–1929 and were allowed

825:

In 1927, the state officially recognized both churches and there were signs that the government saw the renovationists as a threat to their regime. The renovationists began to be attacked in the official press as a cunning group that were trying to be friends with the state in order to increase

770:

Different parts of the Soviet leadership disagreed with each other on how best to combat religion, with positions ranging from the 'rightist' belief that religion would die on its own naturally with increasing education, and the 'leftist' belief that religion needed to be attacked strongly. The

587:

The Soviet press after the campaign accused the clergy and laity of hiding or stealing church valuables. Even more arrests and imprisonments followed these accusations. This, however, was cut short by the failure of the state to conceal the embarrassing massive black-market operations by Soviet

547:

After the event, Lenin wrote that their enemies had foolishly afforded them a great opportunity by this action, since he believed that the peasant masses would not support the church's hold on its valuables in light of the famine and that the resistance that the church offered could be met with

439:

Secret Monasticism began to develop in the 1920s in response to the state persecution. This practice involved either people who lived 'in the world' who undertook monastic vows secretly and lived a double-life with other secret monks or nuns, or it involved communities of monastics who lived in

379:

It was after the 10th congress that the authorities began to take measures against the public debates, which were eventually formally suspended in 1929 and replaced with public lectures by atheists. The reason given for their cessation was that they did not satisfy public demand and that people

893:

By the mid-1920s, Islamic courts became irrelevant to criminal or civil suits, and they were replaced by Soviet courts. Islamic courts were rapidly eliminated and Islamic studies were removed from education, along with other religious teaching throughout the country. About 8000 Islamic schools

662:

In 1926–1927, the bishops secretly undertook the election of a new patriarch by means of a ballot that was done through correspondence carried by trusted messengers going from one bishop to another. The state discovered this ballot through the arrest and execution of two of the messengers, and

492:

Patriarch Tikhon made an appeal to the world community and religious leaders outside of Russia for aid. The Church formed a Famine Relief Committee, but this was shut down by the government only a few months after it had been created, and they had to hand over all the money they had collected.

308:

The persecution entered a new phase in 1921 with the resolutions adopted by the tenth CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) congress, and would set the atmosphere for the remainder of the decade's persecutions, which would enter another new phase in 1929 when new legislation was passed on

878:

After the revolution, Lenin had promised national autonomy and religious freedom for Muslims. Muslim reformists had emphasized women's role in the mosque. Sultan Galiev had claimed that Islam had stronger 'civic-political motives' than other faiths and should be treated more cautiously by the

867:

to take manoeuvres to destroy local nationalist movements. The leader of the Autocephalists was imprisoned in 1926, and the church was forced to declare its self-liquidation in 1930. Almost all of its bishops, and most clerical and lay activists, were incarcerated and many were also executed.

723:

The propaganda viciously attacked the Orthodox Church and especially its clergy as being the scum of the nation. It was claimed in the official press that none of the seminarians believed in their religion's teachings but that these teachings were simply tools to exploit the masses. The early

583:

condemning such acts. The Central Committee followed with an internal letter to all party organizations on June 23, calling for a halt to all such abuses which 'cause all sorts of dissatisfaction, made use of by anti-Soviet elements.' The physical attack was called off, but the propaganda war

552:

At the party congress, arrange a secret meeting of all or almost all delegates to discuss this matter jointly with the chief workers of the GPU, the People's Commissariat of Justice , and the Revolutionary Tribunal. At this meeting, pass a secret resolution of the congress that the removal of

535:

By mid-1922, there had been 1414 violent clashes between the faithful and the armed detachments, as well as 55 trials and 231 group cases. Tikhon appeared as a witness to the trial of 54 clergy and he took personally responsibility for their actions upon himself. Twelve of the fifty-four were

435:

To this effect, Lenin's doctrine that the state should be much more tolerant towards amoral or even criminal priests rather than those of good moral standing, was interpreted such that popular clergymen were removed, imprisoned or killed wherever it was deemed feasible. Charges would often be

380:

preferred to solidify their atheism with study. Martsinkovsky was arrested and sent to exile in 1922 on account of his religious preaching that attracted people to religion and told that he could return in a few years once the workers had become wiser (he was in fact never allowed to return).

650:

In his final plea to the court, Veniamin declared his loyalty to the state and recalled the words of St Paul 'if you suffer because you are a Christian, don't be ashamed of it but thank God'. At the conclusion of the trial, ten persons, including the Metropolitan were condemned to death, and

678:

The Renovationists failed to attract the laity, who largely remained with the Patriarchal church and produced a firestorm of opposition to their temporary takeover of the Russian Orthodox church. For this reason the state lost interest in the Renovationists as a tool to hurt Orthodoxy. The

674:

The clergy who had been arrested for originally declaring their loyalty to Sergii before 1927 remained in prison, while clergy who refused to accept his authority after 1927 began to be arrested by the state. This declaration had ended the persecution of the Orthodox church surrounding the

766:

Trotsky considered printed anti-religious material to be of little use in a largely illiterate nation and he emphasized the potential of the cinema in being able to replace the religiosity of the peasantry (which he thought was only a matter of habit in absence of other entertainment).

849:

The need to attack some of these sects may also have been produced from a need to justify the liquidation of the religious farm communes, and the fact that some of these communities were filling the void left by the Orthodox church after it was attacked and many parishes were closed.

564:

The campaign was not directed at only the Orthodox church, but it also seized valuables present in religious buildings of other religions. Trials were conducted of Roman Catholics and Jews who resisted the seizure, but they generally received much milder sentences than the Orthodox.

829:

The press also attacked Jewish and Muslim reformism at the same time. Reformism in religion and cooperation with the state began to be seen as even more dangerous to the system than the traditional religions because they were able to make religion appear less dangerous than it was.

735:

Anti-religious propaganda of the time also blamed Christianity, and especially the Orthodox Church, for fomenting anti-semitism. Contradictorily, the anti-religious propaganda also depicted Jews in an anti-semitic light as capitalist businessmen in accordance with Marx's writing .

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late 1920s. Even when these other religions tried to reaffirm their compatibility with Marxism and their loyalty to the state, but this was rejected in the official propaganda that increasingly depicted all religious activity as harmful and in contradiction with Communism.

422:

Church and State and the duty of believers to be loyal to the state in civic matters, in as much as this did not contradict a Christian's primary loyalty to God. He produced three declarations of loyalty to the Soviet state, in 1919, 1923 and in his last testament in 1925.

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This mission was cancelled by the Soviet government in 1924 after a breakdown in relations caused by demands on the Vatican from the Soviet side that have been described as "ridiculous", and sharp conflicts arising between the Catholics and the militant atheists.

921:

Special conferences on anti-religious propaganda under the auspices of the Central Committee Agitation-Propaganda Department, worked out directives that were implemented on either the local party level or through a public institution from 1926 onwards.

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secret and isolated from society. When such communities were discovered, the monastics could sometimes be immediately executed. Future church leaders were in these communities and they may have been instrumental in preserving monasticism in the USSR.

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were only superficially religious, warned that the struggle against religion would be a long and arduous battle and he spoke of religion as a cultural phenomena to be attacked on all fronts with every means except the forced closure of churches.

504:

The Patriarch distrusted the government's intentions, and maintained his order not to hand over the vessels. The state went ahead and sent armed requisitioning teams around the country to collect the valuables, and they provoked much resistance.

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The change in policy may have reflected both a growing confidence in the state's capacity to persecute religion such that it now felt safe it broadening the campaign, and it may also have been a result of growing influence of the

568:

The valuables collected proved to be of pitiful value on the world market, (it was even discovered that the Russian nobility had for centuries been donating fake precious stones), but Lenin's propaganda effect was still achieved.

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A half company of infantry was then brought supported by two armored cars with mounted machine guns. The Soviet press reported that believers fired the first shots with pistols at the soldiers who then returned fire on the crowd.

572:

With the conclusion of the campaign of seizing church valuables, the terror campaign against the church was called off for a while. In May 1923, the Antireligious Commission of the CPSU Central Committee ordered the GPU (the

749:

In 1924, the sophisticated 'Society of Militant Materialists' (renamed in 1928 'Militant Dialectical Materialists') was founded, and it consisted predominately (exclusively after 1928) of marxist philosophers grouped around

667:

claimed that the Soviets had never mistreated the Church and thanked the government for the care that had been shown to believers. This declaration may at first not have been widely known, because arrests continued briefly.

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Beginning as early as 1919, Ukrainian clergy that remained faithful to Tikhon suffered mass reprisals. Autocephalist complicity may have contributed to the killing of Patriarchal Metropolitan Vladimir in Kiev in 1918.

1736:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 1: A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies, St Martin's Press, New York (1987) pg

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1507:

1330:

1317:

1298:

1136:

1123:

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The British government issued strong verbal chastisements of the Soviet Union for this campaign, which the Soviets responded to by uncompromisingly defensive reactions that narrowed the scope of diplomatic efforts.

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Trotsky wanted Patriarch Tikhon to be killed after the excommunication in 1918, but Lenin forbade it. Lenin also insisted not to touch the Patriarch during the Shuia incident for fear that it would produce another

1146:

Joan Delaney Grossman, 'The Origins of Soviet Antireligious Organizations', in Richard H. Marshall, Jr (ed.), Aspects of Religion in the Soviet Union, 1917-1967, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971) p.

1091:

Becker, Winfried. "Diplomats and missionaries: the role played by the German embassies in Moscow and Rome in the relations between Russia and the Vatican from 1921 to 1929." The Catholic Historical Review 92.1

1563:

Joan Delany Grossman, 'The Origins of Soviet Antireligious Ogrnizations' in Richard H. Marshall, Jr (ed.), Aspects of Religion in the Soviet Union, 1917-1967, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971)

731:

Despite the line carried in the official press, Lenin and his party were always concerned from the beginning with trying to eliminate all religion in the country and this played a part towards that end.

375:

and Glavpolitprosvet to conform to this. The instruction also emphasized that the state was fighting against all forms of religious belief and not simply individual religions (like the Orthodox church).

687:

Anti-religious propaganda played a critical role in the persecutions, because they were used to develop attitudes of hostility against believers which could then lead to justifying their mistreatment.

946:

were secular relief workers. The Vatican's mission went ahead and delivered food as well as medicine to the Russian population. The American government gave material support to the Vatican's mission.

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Faith had to be turned into a private affair and made as invisible as possible. The regime could not tolerate dynamic faith or popular religious leaders who could inspire and lead millions of people.

1708:

Bernhard Wilhelm, 'Moslems in the Soviet Union, 1948-54', in Richard H. Marshall, Jr (ed.), Aspects of Religion in the Soviet Union, 1917-1967, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971) pp 257

1623:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2:Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 33-34

1535:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 37

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 28

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 60

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 59

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 54

1423:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-religious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 52

1699:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 34

1263:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecution, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 50

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecution, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 26

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecution, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 57

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecution, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 58

894:

existed in Central Asia prior to the revolution, and by 1928, all of them had been shut down. The language and alphabet reforms also cut off the people of Central Asia from Arabic literature.

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 9

897:

Galiev's ideas would be attacked in the late 1920s and the anti-religious campaign would reject any policy of special treatment for Islam, and would attack it alongside the other religions.

1213:

Tatiana A. Chumachenko. Edited and Translated by Edward E. Roslof. Church and State in Soviet Russia: Russian Orthodoxy from World War II to the Khrushchev years. ME Sharpe inc., 2002 pp3-4

2240: 1441:

Tatiana A. Chumachenko. Edited and Translated by Edward E. Roslof. Church and State in Soviet Russia: Russian Orthodoxy from World War II to the Khrushchev years. ME Sharpe inc., 2002 pp 3

671:

loyalty to the state, but they could not accept the declaration he signed that stated that there had never been any religious persecutions, for they saw this as a betrayal of the martyrs.

363: 708:. Yaroslavsky would form a society of friends of The Godless newspaper, which a few years later would become the Society of the Godless and eventually (1929) it would become the infamous 336:

Therefore, the anti-religious campaign needed to be conducted under more respectable pretexts. However, the elimination of religion remained a fundamental ideological goal of the state.

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To this effect, anti-religious activities that were too insulting to religious feelings could be questioned and criticized in the belief that they would harden religious convictions.

1845: 2769: 2447: 425:

Beginning in March 1922, the Soviet Press published libelous accounts of the behavior of clergy and believers. This was followed up with arrests and trials of the people attacked.

235: 540:

the mounted police were greeted with threatening shouts and hurling of rocks or other articles, while someone rang an alarm bell that brought huge masses of people to the square.

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acquire a better reputation, the regime considered it detrimental to continue with the civil war policy of murdering religious believers without trials or plausible accusations.

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There were two main principal anti-religious campaigns that occurred in the 1920s, with one surrounding the campaign to seize church valuables and the other surrounding the

774:

The debate was not about whether or not religion was evil, but was rather about what tactics to use to combat it. The deputy editor of Bezhbozhnik Anton Loginov explained:

1381:

Gregory L. Freeze. Counter-Reformation in Russian Orthodoxy: Popular Response to Religious Innovation, 1922-1925. Slavic Review, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 305-339

965: 536:

executed and 27 received prison sentences. At least 35 Orthodox were legally sentenced to death in connection with this campaign (although some sentences were commuted).

2252: 117: 102: 606:

The state initially recognized only the schismatic group as the legitimate Orthodox church and it subsequently persecuted those who refused to recognize the schism.

591:

In total, it is estimated that 8,100 clergy, monks and nuns were murdered in connection the church-valuables campaign. Another 165 priests were executed after 1923.

1776: 2653: 2126: 2120: 1920: 2339: 985: 810:

religious teaching in school.The majority of school-teachers (as well as much of the Russian population) were reportedly still religious believers in the 1920s.

160: 2423: 2307: 2114: 1308:

Izvestia, 19 December 1922; E Belov, 'Sud'ba tserkovynkh tsennostei iz'iatykh sovetskoi vlast'iu v 1922 g.', VRSKhD, no. 104-5 (1972) pp. 325-7 (in. edit. note)

960: 728:

suffering of the famine and happy about the economic catastrophe, as a means that could contribute towards overthrowing the Soviets and returning the monarchy.

165: 2334: 2329: 980: 975: 970: 155: 150: 743:

The anti-religious propaganda rarely showed differentiation in methodology despite the debate that went on between different members of the Soviet hierarchy.

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arrested many of the bishops who were participating as well as another messenger. The number of arrested bishops rose to 150 by mid-1927 as a result of this.

2784: 2387: 2180: 259: 240: 415:. They murdered the metropolitan of Kiev and executed twenty-eight bishops and 6,775 priests. Repression cowed most ecclesiastical leaders into submission. 2764: 2744: 2641: 2156: 646:

Are you inquiring about the real existence of criminal conspiracy? Look here it is! Right in front of you! This organization is the Orthodox Church itself!

2453: 1830: 451:

The Patriarchal church lost its ability to train new clergy in 1928 after its college of advanced theological studies in Leningrad "voluntarily closed".

126: 2759: 2459: 2276: 187: 197: 88: 1180:

Jennifer Wynot. Monasteries without walls: secret monasticism in the Soviet Union, 1928-39. Church History 71.1 (March 2002): p63(17). (7266 words)

875:

Lenin in his earlier writings had professed a desire to eliminate Islam, while recognizing the importance of using Muslim support for their cause.

2749: 252: 230: 2483: 1681:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) ch. 2 pp73-76

477: 2799: 2234: 2186: 1367:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) vol. 1 p. 51

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recognition without a concordat or any conditions, and held out the prospect that doing so could result in priests being released from prison.

19: 2435: 1835: 1340:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) pp285-307

57: 791:

to tirelessly disseminate 'atheistic propaganda and struggle', which he called 'the cause of our state' (nasha gosudartsvennaia rabota)

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Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) ch. 2

1468:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) ch. 4

1222:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. The Russian Church Under the Soviet Regime, 1917-1983 (Crestwood NY.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1984) ch 3.

532:, who voluntarily accompanied the Tsar into exile, was strapped to the paddlewheel of a streamboat and mangled by the rotating blades. 2794: 2789: 1605:

Froese, Paul. "'I am an atheist and a Muslim': Islam, communism, and ideological competition." Journal of Church and State 47.3 (2005)

2363: 2344: 180: 746:

Even 'sophisticated' theoretical and methodological journals often published direct hate propaganda against religious believers.

175: 2695: 2665: 1805: 1810: 77: 67: 2683: 2381: 1762: 709: 192: 2489: 2264: 471: 2701: 2677: 2465: 787:

the 18th century French materialists, and it also stressed the role of the official Marxist philosophical monthly journal

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officials who were caught stealing and selling the valuables for themselves. This news resulted in rioting by believers.

300:

other pretexts (usually resistance to the regime) that the state invoked or invented in order to justify its activities.

2591: 2313: 135: 367:

and propaganda among the broad masses of the workers, using the mass media, films, books, lectures, and other devices.

1940: 1650:

Christel Lane. Christian religion in the Soviet Union: A sociological study. University of New York Press, 1978, pp167

1641:

Christel Lane. Christian religion in the Soviet Union: A sociological study. University of New York Press, 1978, pp 98

1632:

Christel Lane. Christian religion in the Soviet Union: A sociological study. University of New York Press, 1978, pp201

886:

The Baku Muslim clergy in 1923 praised the Soviet regime for having saved Persia and Turkey from 'predatory England'.

754:, which aimed at combatting religious and 'idealistic' views among scientists, scholars and intellectuals in general. 574: 444: 401: 393: 225: 1192:

Daniel, Wallace L. "Father Aleksandr men and the struggle to recover Russia's heritage." Demokratizatsiya 17.1 (2009)

24: 2495: 1236:

Paul Dixon, Religion in the Soviet Union, first published 1945 in Workers International News, and can be found at:

925:

A huge volume of anti-religious articles in Pravda and Komsomol'skaia Pravda were published between 1928 and 1929.

418: 2198: 1408: 2623: 2599: 2567: 2411: 2216: 2192: 2150: 1852: 1820: 652: 520:

in Petrograd in 1922 for refusing to accede to the demand to hand in church valuables (including sacred relics).

501:

be included in the government commissions inspecting, confiscating and accounting for the confiscated valuables.

170: 2013: 1988: 1930: 1815: 1789: 1349:

Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, Westview Press, 2003, 253

906:

The processions would include the burning of icons, religious books, mock images of Christ, the Virgin, etc.

2706: 2351: 2210: 2132: 1477:

Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, Westview Press, 2003, 4

1289:

Nathaniel Davis, A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy, Westview Press, 2003, 3

528:, who worked as a missionary in Japan, was shot after being forced to dig his own grave. Bishop Germogen of 344: 2659: 2635: 1935: 1908: 1884: 1879: 843: 795: 700: 1061:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. "A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer", vol 2:

1007:

Dimitry V. Pospielovsky. "A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer", vol 1:

2629: 2529: 2429: 2288: 2073: 2038: 2008: 1862: 1785: 1495:

Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press (1993). P 280

1358:

Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press (1993). P 273

879:

communists as well as that there should be very limited propaganda against them with no direct attacks.

517: 1517:

Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press (1993). P 5

2611: 2547: 2417: 2357: 2168: 2053: 1958: 1894: 1857: 705: 2523: 2503: 2258: 2144: 2088: 2058: 2023: 1913: 811: 622: 354:

began the implementation of a much harsher campaign that would take place in the following decade.

313: 801:

A unified consolidated position on the religious question nevertheless took shape in these years.

599:

In attacking the Orthodox church, the state supported a schism in the Orthodox church called the '

411:

When church leaders demanded freedom of religion under the constitution, the Communists responded

2617: 2541: 2535: 2093: 2063: 2048: 1925: 1030: 470:

been taken and used by armed factions in the Civil War, however, and new droughts in the Volga

388: 2754: 2671: 2399: 2301: 2174: 2018: 1968: 1963: 521: 516:, began aggressively arresting and executing bishops, priests, and devout worshipers, such as 321: 288: 220: 328:

system used during the latter. The state faced large scale popular revolts of workers, which

2689: 2605: 2585: 2405: 2068: 1993: 1825: 1204:"Soviet repression of the Ukrainian Catholic Church." Department of State Bulletin 87 (1987) 548:

bloody retaliation against the clergy without inciting popular sympathy for them. He wrote,

397: 204: 1754: 1278: 2725: 2647: 2553: 2477: 2471: 2204: 2138: 2003: 1998: 1412: 513: 486: 1889: 1390:

Novye mucheniki rossiiskie, vol. 1. (Jordanville: H Trinity Monastery Press, 1949) p. 150

1237: 1614:

Kolarz, Walter. Religion in the Soviet Union. St Martin's Press, New York (1961), pp 288

698:(literary pseudonym: Gorev) began in December 1922, and was soon replaced by the weekly 2393: 2282: 2270: 2083: 1867: 1840: 1717:

Kolarz, Walter. Religion in the Soviet Union. St Martin's Press, New York (1961) pp 410

1659:

Wasyliw, Zenon V. "Orthodox Church divisions in newly independent Ukraine, 1991-1995."

1047: 695: 62: 794:

An important part of this debate occurred between Emelian Yaroslavsky (founder of the

2738: 2573: 2559: 2369: 2098: 2078: 1973: 1114:

Kolarz, Walter. Religion in the Soviet Union. St Martin's Press, New York (1961) pp 4

600: 408:

enough in order to broaden its anti-religious activities beyond the Orthodox church.

351: 340: 325: 52: 2515: 1899: 1874: 525: 329: 284: 1749: 316:" (NEP), in response to the poor state of the Russian economy that resulted from 2162: 1978: 317: 296: 107: 2720: 2033: 2028: 412: 97: 1486:

A. Levitin-Krasnov, Likhie gody, 1925-1941 (Paris: YMCA Press, 1977) pp 255-9

2509: 2222: 626: 482: 350:

This portion of the state's religious campaign came to an end in 1929, when

72: 690:

A number of specialized anti-religious journals began circulation in 1922.

2246: 1983: 611: 1103:

Antireligious Propaganda in the Soviet Union: A Study of Mass Persuasion

1009:

A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies

1405: 1025:

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, The Attitude of the Workers' Party to Religion.

529: 1377: 1375: 1373: 821:

Revisal of Renovationist Policy and Policies to Non-Orthodox Religions

2043: 1503: 1501: 1326: 1324: 1259: 1257: 1247: 1245: 1155: 1153: 579: 561:

Several trials and executions of clergy followed the Shuia incident.

1544:

Trotsky, 'Vodka, tserkov' i kinematograf, Pravda (12 July 1923) p. 2

1132: 1130: 1057: 1055: 1003: 1001: 2295: 1048:

http://en.wikisource.org/Letters_of_Metropolitan_Sergii_of_Vilnius

476: 466: 387: 112: 18: 1200: 1198: 509: 28: 1758: 715:

In 1922, the 11th Party Congress turned the publishing house

287:

persecution against churches and Christian believers by the

1031:

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1909/may/13.htm

295:. The elimination of all religion and its replacement with 1176: 1174: 651:

fifty-nine others received prison sentences. Veniamin was

1188: 1186: 1279:

http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/ae2bkhun.html

1087: 1085: 1083: 1081: 1079: 1077: 1075: 1073: 1071: 2448:

Antireligious campaigns of the Chinese Communist Party

1238:

http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406.htm

2376:

Genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia

2229:

Persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction

1601: 1599: 1597: 1595: 1593: 1591: 1589: 1404:

Letters from Moscow, Gleb Yakunin and Lev Regelson,

914:

not to bake traditional foods for these feast-days.

293:

anti-religious campaign during the Russian Civil War

2107: 1951: 1796: 1750:

Library of Congress articles on the Soviet archives

1042: 1040: 1038: 859:that they wanted to weaken the Patriarchal Church. 789:

Under the Banner of Marxism (Pod znamenem marxizma)

461:

The 1922 removal of jewelry from churches in Russia

966:Persecution of Christians in Warsaw Pact countries 694:(Science and Religion), edited by former priest 443:Tikhon died in 1925. He was replaced in 1927 by 1063:Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions 2127:Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent 2121:Persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire 1273: 1271: 1269: 1232: 1230: 1228: 1021: 1019: 1017: 2770:Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc 2308:Persecution of Christians in the Eastern Bloc 2115:Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire 1770: 1400: 1398: 1396: 1277:Letter from Lenin to Molotov, 1922, webpage: 961:Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union 260: 8: 2430:Violence against Hindus in independent India 396:facing charges by Revolutionary Tribunal of 309:prohibition of public religious activities. 2780:Anti-religious campaign in the Soviet Union 2642:Attacks by Islamic extremists in Bangladesh 2157:Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent 2775:Persecution of Eastern Orthodox Christians 1777: 1763: 1755: 1105:(Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1975) p. 34; 1065:, St Martin's Press, New York (1988) pg 47 1046:Letters of Metropolitan Sergii of Vilnius 1011:, St Martin's Press, New York (1987) pg 34 312:The 10th party congress launched Lenin's " 267: 253: 34: 2277:Massacres of Albanians in the Balkan Wars 986:USSR anti-religious campaign (1970s–1990) 472:in 1920-1922 resulted in a massive famine 981:USSR anti-religious campaign (1958–1964) 976:USSR anti-religious campaign (1928–1941) 971:USSR anti-religious campaign (1917–1921) 281:USSR anti-religious campaign (1921–1928) 2241:French Revolutionary dechristianisation 1029:, No. 45, May 13 (26), 1909. Found at: 997: 384:Persecution against the Orthodox Church 212: 125: 87: 44: 37: 2187:Forced conversions of Muslims in Spain 16:Campaign of anti-religious persecution 2436:1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight 31:was used as an anti-religious museum. 7: 1406:http://www.regels.org/humanright.htm 400:for Counter-Revolutionary Agitation 2785:Religious persecution by communists 2580:Ethnic cleansing in the Bosnian War 2530:Persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh 2442:Jewish exodus from the Muslim world 2235:Christianization of the Sámi people 481:Confiscation of church property in 2765:Discrimination in the Soviet Union 2745:Anti-Christian sentiment in Russia 455:Campaign to Seize Church Valuables 14: 2424:Violence against Muslims in India 2418:Persecution of Hindus in Pakistan 2364:Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses 901:Activities of Public Institutions 740:working classes and capitalists. 2760:Christianity in the Soviet Union 2719: 2696:2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel 2666:Persecution of Uyghurs in China 2750:Anti-Islam sentiment in Russia 2684:2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings 2654:Genocide of Christians by ISIL 2388:Communist Romanian persecution 717:Glavpolitprosvet, Krasnaia nov 710:League of the Militant Godless 392:Russian Orthodox metropolitan 241:Ukrainian language suppression 1: 2800:Persecution by atheist states 2702:2024 Istanbul church shooting 2678:Christchurch mosque shootings 2466:Religious violence in Nigeria 2460:Exodus of Turks from Bulgaria 103:Purges of the Communist Party 2592:War crimes in the Kosovo War 2382:Communist Polish persecution 2253:1860 Mount Lebanon civil war 2181:Crusades against schismatics 752:Under the Banner of Marxism 575:State Political Directorate 2816: 458: 419:Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow 68:Soviet famine of 1930–1933 2795:1920s in the Soviet Union 2790:Islam in the Soviet Union 2716: 2624:South Thailand insurgency 2600:Walisongo school massacre 2568:Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus 2217:Expulsion of the Moriscos 2193:European wars of religion 683:Anti-Religious Propaganda 373:Revolution and the Church 2014:Extrajudicial punishment 871:Policies towards Muslims 704:(The Godless) edited by 653:executed by firing squad 508:The sixth sector of the 25:St Volodymyr's Cathedral 2707:Crocus City Hall attack 2454:Persecution of Tibetans 2211:French Wars of Religion 2133:Yellow Turban Rebellion 1661:East European Quarterly 2660:Iraqi Turkmen genocide 2636:Maspero demonstrations 2484:Huế Phật Đản shootings 844:Society of the Godless 796:Society of the Godless 781: 648: 555: 489: 404: 297:scientific materialism 291:following the initial 127:Ideological repression 32: 2630:Boko Haram insurgency 2289:Pontic Greek genocide 2199:Ottoman–Habsburg wars 2009:Extrajudicial killing 1786:Religious persecution 776: 758:Debate on Methodology 675:Renovationist issue. 644: 550: 518:Metropolitan Veniamin 480: 391: 22: 2612:September 11 attacks 2548:1984 anti-Sikh riots 2412:Rawalpindi massacres 2358:White Terror (Spain) 2169:Massacre at Ayyadieh 2054:Population cleansing 706:Yemelyan Yaroslavsky 595:Renovationist Schism 358:Legislative measures 236:Repressions of Poles 231:Population transfers 89:Political repression 2524:Bangladesh genocide 2504:Cultural Revolution 2496:Xá Lợi Pagoda raids 2259:Circassian genocide 2145:Rhineland massacres 2059:Population transfer 2024:Forced displacement 1836:Jehovah's Witnesses 846:(founded in 1925). 812:Anatoly Lunacharsky 623:Veniamin (Kazansky) 522:Archbishop Andronik 445:Metropolitan Sergii 394:Benjamin (Kazansky) 364:10th Party Congress 314:New Economic Policy 226:National operations 118:Punitive psychiatry 45:Economic repression 40:in the Soviet Union 23:In the late 1920s, 2618:2002 Gujarat riots 2542:Cambodian genocide 2536:Lebanese Civil War 2314:Soviet persecution 2151:Jerusalem massacre 2064:Sectarian violence 2049:Political violence 1411:2009-08-16 at the 490: 405: 283:was a campaign of 33: 2732: 2731: 2672:Rohingya genocide 2400:Direct Action Day 2352:Šahovići massacre 2302:Armenian genocide 2296:Assyrian genocide 2183:(13th–15th cent.) 2177:(12th–16th cent.) 2175:Northern Crusades 2019:Forced conversion 1969:Cultural genocide 1964:Communal violence 1846:post–Cold War era 1831:Eastern Orthodoxy 1101:David E. Powell, 929:Foreign Relations 322:Russian Civil War 289:Soviet government 277: 276: 221:De-Cossackization 213:Ethnic repression 2807: 2724: 2723: 2690:2020 Delhi riots 2606:Kosheh massacres 2586:Bosnian genocide 2406:1946 Bihar riots 2069:Social cleansing 1994:Ethnic cleansing 1779: 1772: 1765: 1756: 1738: 1734: 1728: 1724: 1718: 1715: 1709: 1706: 1700: 1697: 1691: 1688: 1682: 1679: 1673: 1670: 1664: 1657: 1651: 1648: 1642: 1639: 1633: 1630: 1624: 1621: 1615: 1612: 1606: 1603: 1584: 1580: 1574: 1570: 1564: 1561: 1555: 1551: 1545: 1542: 1536: 1533: 1527: 1524: 1518: 1515: 1509: 1505: 1496: 1493: 1487: 1484: 1478: 1475: 1469: 1466: 1460: 1457: 1451: 1448: 1442: 1439: 1433: 1430: 1424: 1421: 1415: 1402: 1391: 1388: 1382: 1379: 1368: 1365: 1359: 1356: 1350: 1347: 1341: 1338: 1332: 1328: 1319: 1315: 1309: 1306: 1300: 1296: 1290: 1287: 1281: 1275: 1264: 1261: 1252: 1249: 1240: 1234: 1223: 1220: 1214: 1211: 1205: 1202: 1193: 1190: 1181: 1178: 1169: 1166: 1160: 1157: 1148: 1144: 1138: 1134: 1125: 1121: 1115: 1112: 1106: 1099: 1093: 1089: 1066: 1059: 1050: 1044: 1033: 1023: 1012: 1005: 854:Ukrainian Church 692:Nauka i religiia 269: 262: 255: 58:Collectivization 35: 2815: 2814: 2810: 2809: 2808: 2806: 2805: 2804: 2735: 2734: 2733: 2728: 2718: 2712: 2648:Yazidi genocide 2554:Revival Process 2490:Thích Quảng Đức 2478:Buddhist crisis 2472:Istanbul pogrom 2340:1970–1987 2335:1958–1964 2330:1928–1941 2325:1921–1928 2320:1917–1921 2205:Goa Inquisition 2139:Battle of Tours 2129:(c.550–c. 1200) 2123:(c. 324–c. 491) 2103: 2004:Ethnic violence 1999:Ethnic conflict 1947: 1946: 1945: 1792: 1783: 1746: 1741: 1735: 1731: 1725: 1721: 1716: 1712: 1707: 1703: 1698: 1694: 1689: 1685: 1680: 1676: 1671: 1667: 1658: 1654: 1649: 1645: 1640: 1636: 1631: 1627: 1622: 1618: 1613: 1609: 1604: 1587: 1581: 1577: 1571: 1567: 1562: 1558: 1552: 1548: 1543: 1539: 1534: 1530: 1525: 1521: 1516: 1512: 1506: 1499: 1494: 1490: 1485: 1481: 1476: 1472: 1467: 1463: 1458: 1454: 1449: 1445: 1440: 1436: 1431: 1427: 1422: 1418: 1413:Wayback Machine 1403: 1394: 1389: 1385: 1380: 1371: 1366: 1362: 1357: 1353: 1348: 1344: 1339: 1335: 1329: 1322: 1316: 1312: 1307: 1303: 1297: 1293: 1288: 1284: 1276: 1267: 1262: 1255: 1250: 1243: 1235: 1226: 1221: 1217: 1212: 1208: 1203: 1196: 1191: 1184: 1179: 1172: 1167: 1163: 1158: 1151: 1145: 1141: 1135: 1128: 1122: 1118: 1113: 1109: 1100: 1096: 1090: 1069: 1060: 1053: 1045: 1036: 1024: 1015: 1006: 999: 995: 990: 956: 931: 903: 873: 856: 823: 807: 760: 685: 597: 514:Yevgeny Tuchkov 487:Ivan Vladimirov 463: 457: 386: 360: 345:Orthodox Church 306: 273: 39: 38:Mass repression 17: 12: 11: 5: 2813: 2811: 2803: 2802: 2797: 2792: 2787: 2782: 2777: 2772: 2767: 2762: 2757: 2752: 2747: 2737: 2736: 2730: 2729: 2717: 2714: 2713: 2711: 2710: 2704: 2699: 2693: 2687: 2681: 2675: 2674:(2016–ongoing) 2669: 2668:(2014–ongoing) 2663: 2657: 2656:(2014–ongoing) 2651: 2645: 2639: 2633: 2632:(2009–ongoing) 2627: 2626:(2004–ongoing) 2621: 2615: 2609: 2603: 2597: 2596: 2595: 2589: 2583: 2571: 2565: 2564: 2563: 2551: 2545: 2539: 2533: 2532:(1971–ongoing) 2527: 2521: 2520: 2519: 2513: 2501: 2500: 2499: 2493: 2487: 2475: 2469: 2468:(1953–ongoing) 2463: 2457: 2456:(1950–ongoing) 2451: 2450:(1949–ongoing) 2445: 2439: 2433: 2432:(1947–ongoing) 2427: 2426:(1947–ongoing) 2421: 2420:(1947–ongoing) 2415: 2409: 2403: 2397: 2394:Noakhali riots 2391: 2385: 2379: 2373: 2367: 2361: 2355: 2349: 2348: 2347: 2342: 2337: 2332: 2327: 2322: 2311: 2305: 2299: 2293: 2292: 2291: 2283:Greek genocide 2280: 2274: 2271:Adana massacre 2268: 2262: 2256: 2250: 2244: 2238: 2232: 2226: 2220: 2214: 2208: 2202: 2196: 2190: 2184: 2178: 2172: 2166: 2160: 2154: 2148: 2142: 2136: 2135:(c.184–c. 205) 2130: 2124: 2118: 2111: 2109: 2105: 2104: 2102: 2101: 2096: 2091: 2086: 2084:State religion 2081: 2076: 2071: 2066: 2061: 2056: 2051: 2046: 2041: 2036: 2031: 2026: 2021: 2016: 2011: 2006: 2001: 1996: 1991: 1989:Discrimination 1986: 1981: 1976: 1971: 1966: 1961: 1955: 1953: 1949: 1948: 1944: 1943: 1941:Zoroastrianism 1938: 1933: 1928: 1923: 1918: 1917: 1916: 1906: 1905: 1904: 1903: 1902: 1897: 1892: 1887: 1872: 1871: 1870: 1868:Untouchability 1865: 1855: 1850: 1849: 1848: 1843: 1838: 1833: 1828: 1818: 1813: 1808: 1802: 1801: 1800: 1798: 1794: 1793: 1790:discrimination 1784: 1782: 1781: 1774: 1767: 1759: 1753: 1752: 1745: 1744:External links 1742: 1740: 1739: 1729: 1719: 1710: 1701: 1692: 1683: 1674: 1665: 1652: 1643: 1634: 1625: 1616: 1607: 1585: 1575: 1565: 1556: 1546: 1537: 1528: 1519: 1510: 1497: 1488: 1479: 1470: 1461: 1452: 1443: 1434: 1425: 1416: 1392: 1383: 1369: 1360: 1351: 1342: 1333: 1320: 1310: 1301: 1291: 1282: 1265: 1253: 1241: 1224: 1215: 1206: 1194: 1182: 1170: 1161: 1149: 1139: 1126: 1116: 1107: 1094: 1067: 1051: 1034: 1013: 996: 994: 991: 989: 988: 983: 978: 973: 968: 963: 957: 955: 952: 930: 927: 902: 899: 872: 869: 855: 852: 822: 819: 806: 803: 759: 756: 696:Mikhail Galkin 684: 681: 655:on August 12. 596: 593: 459:Main article: 456: 453: 385: 382: 359: 356: 343:schism in the 305: 302: 285:anti-religious 275: 274: 272: 271: 264: 257: 249: 246: 245: 244: 243: 238: 233: 228: 223: 215: 214: 210: 209: 208: 207: 202: 201: 200: 190: 185: 184: 183: 178: 173: 168: 163: 158: 153: 148: 143: 130: 129: 123: 122: 121: 120: 115: 110: 105: 100: 92: 91: 85: 84: 83: 82: 81: 80: 75: 65: 63:Dekulakization 60: 55: 47: 46: 42: 41: 15: 13: 10: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 2812: 2801: 2798: 2796: 2793: 2791: 2788: 2786: 2783: 2781: 2778: 2776: 2773: 2771: 2768: 2766: 2763: 2761: 2758: 2756: 2753: 2751: 2748: 2746: 2743: 2742: 2740: 2727: 2722: 2715: 2708: 2705: 2703: 2700: 2697: 2694: 2691: 2688: 2685: 2682: 2679: 2676: 2673: 2670: 2667: 2664: 2661: 2658: 2655: 2652: 2649: 2646: 2643: 2640: 2637: 2634: 2631: 2628: 2625: 2622: 2619: 2616: 2613: 2610: 2607: 2604: 2601: 2598: 2593: 2590: 2587: 2584: 2581: 2578: 2577: 2575: 2574:Yugoslav Wars 2572: 2569: 2566: 2561: 2560:Big Excursion 2558: 2557: 2555: 2552: 2549: 2546: 2543: 2540: 2537: 2534: 2531: 2528: 2525: 2522: 2517: 2514: 2511: 2508: 2507: 2505: 2502: 2497: 2494: 2491: 2488: 2485: 2482: 2481: 2479: 2476: 2473: 2470: 2467: 2464: 2461: 2458: 2455: 2452: 2449: 2446: 2443: 2440: 2437: 2434: 2431: 2428: 2425: 2422: 2419: 2416: 2413: 2410: 2407: 2404: 2401: 2398: 2395: 2392: 2389: 2386: 2383: 2380: 2377: 2374: 2371: 2370:The Holocaust 2368: 2365: 2362: 2359: 2356: 2353: 2350: 2346: 2343: 2341: 2338: 2336: 2333: 2331: 2328: 2326: 2323: 2321: 2318: 2317: 2315: 2312: 2309: 2306: 2303: 2300: 2297: 2294: 2290: 2287: 2286: 2284: 2281: 2278: 2275: 2272: 2269: 2266: 2265:Dungan Revolt 2263: 2260: 2257: 2254: 2251: 2248: 2245: 2242: 2239: 2236: 2233: 2230: 2227: 2224: 2221: 2218: 2215: 2212: 2209: 2206: 2203: 2200: 2197: 2194: 2191: 2188: 2185: 2182: 2179: 2176: 2173: 2170: 2167: 2164: 2161: 2158: 2155: 2152: 2149: 2146: 2143: 2140: 2137: 2134: 2131: 2128: 2125: 2122: 2119: 2116: 2113: 2112: 2110: 2106: 2100: 2097: 2095: 2092: 2090: 2087: 2085: 2082: 2080: 2079:State atheism 2077: 2075: 2072: 2070: 2067: 2065: 2062: 2060: 2057: 2055: 2052: 2050: 2047: 2045: 2042: 2040: 2037: 2035: 2032: 2030: 2027: 2025: 2022: 2020: 2017: 2015: 2012: 2010: 2007: 2005: 2002: 2000: 1997: 1995: 1992: 1990: 1987: 1985: 1982: 1980: 1977: 1975: 1974:Deprogramming 1972: 1970: 1967: 1965: 1962: 1960: 1957: 1956: 1954: 1950: 1942: 1939: 1937: 1934: 1932: 1929: 1927: 1926:Protestantism 1924: 1922: 1919: 1915: 1912: 1911: 1910: 1907: 1901: 1898: 1896: 1893: 1891: 1888: 1886: 1883: 1882: 1881: 1878: 1877: 1876: 1873: 1869: 1866: 1864: 1861: 1860: 1859: 1856: 1854: 1851: 1847: 1844: 1842: 1841:LDS or Mormon 1839: 1837: 1834: 1832: 1829: 1827: 1824: 1823: 1822: 1819: 1817: 1814: 1812: 1809: 1807: 1804: 1803: 1799: 1795: 1791: 1787: 1780: 1775: 1773: 1768: 1766: 1761: 1760: 1757: 1751: 1748: 1747: 1743: 1733: 1730: 1723: 1720: 1714: 1711: 1705: 1702: 1696: 1693: 1687: 1684: 1678: 1675: 1669: 1666: 1662: 1656: 1653: 1647: 1644: 1638: 1635: 1629: 1626: 1620: 1617: 1611: 1608: 1602: 1600: 1598: 1596: 1594: 1592: 1590: 1586: 1579: 1576: 1569: 1566: 1560: 1557: 1550: 1547: 1541: 1538: 1532: 1529: 1523: 1520: 1514: 1511: 1504: 1502: 1498: 1492: 1489: 1483: 1480: 1474: 1471: 1465: 1462: 1456: 1453: 1447: 1444: 1438: 1435: 1429: 1426: 1420: 1417: 1414: 1410: 1407: 1401: 1399: 1397: 1393: 1387: 1384: 1378: 1376: 1374: 1370: 1364: 1361: 1355: 1352: 1346: 1343: 1337: 1334: 1327: 1325: 1321: 1314: 1311: 1305: 1302: 1295: 1292: 1286: 1283: 1280: 1274: 1272: 1270: 1266: 1260: 1258: 1254: 1248: 1246: 1242: 1239: 1233: 1231: 1229: 1225: 1219: 1216: 1210: 1207: 1201: 1199: 1195: 1189: 1187: 1183: 1177: 1175: 1171: 1165: 1162: 1156: 1154: 1150: 1143: 1140: 1133: 1131: 1127: 1120: 1117: 1111: 1108: 1104: 1098: 1095: 1088: 1086: 1084: 1082: 1080: 1078: 1076: 1074: 1072: 1068: 1064: 1058: 1056: 1052: 1049: 1043: 1041: 1039: 1035: 1032: 1028: 1022: 1020: 1018: 1014: 1010: 1004: 1002: 998: 992: 987: 984: 982: 979: 977: 974: 972: 969: 967: 964: 962: 959: 958: 953: 951: 947: 943: 939: 935: 928: 926: 923: 919: 915: 911: 907: 900: 898: 895: 891: 887: 884: 880: 876: 870: 868: 864: 860: 853: 851: 847: 845: 839: 835: 831: 827: 820: 818: 815: 813: 804: 802: 799: 797: 792: 790: 784: 780: 775: 772: 768: 764: 757: 755: 753: 747: 744: 741: 737: 733: 729: 725: 721: 718: 713: 711: 707: 703: 702: 697: 693: 688: 682: 680: 676: 672: 668: 664: 660: 656: 654: 647: 643: 639: 635: 631: 628: 624: 621:Metropolitan 619: 615: 613: 607: 604: 602: 601:Renovationist 594: 592: 589: 585: 582: 581: 576: 570: 566: 562: 559: 554: 549: 545: 541: 537: 533: 531: 527: 523: 519: 515: 511: 506: 502: 498: 494: 488: 484: 479: 475: 473: 468: 462: 454: 452: 449: 446: 441: 437: 433: 430: 426: 423: 420: 416: 414: 409: 403: 399: 395: 390: 383: 381: 377: 374: 368: 365: 357: 355: 353: 352:Joseph Stalin 348: 346: 342: 341:renovationist 337: 334: 331: 327: 326:War Communist 323: 319: 315: 310: 303: 301: 298: 294: 290: 286: 282: 270: 265: 263: 258: 256: 251: 250: 248: 247: 242: 239: 237: 234: 232: 229: 227: 224: 222: 219: 218: 217: 216: 211: 206: 203: 199: 196: 195: 194: 191: 189: 186: 182: 179: 177: 174: 172: 169: 167: 164: 162: 159: 157: 154: 152: 149: 147: 144: 142: 139: 138: 137: 134: 133: 132: 131: 128: 124: 119: 116: 114: 111: 109: 106: 104: 101: 99: 96: 95: 94: 93: 90: 86: 79: 76: 74: 71: 70: 69: 66: 64: 61: 59: 56: 54: 53:War communism 51: 50: 49: 48: 43: 36: 30: 26: 21: 2576:(1991–2001) 2556:(1984–1989) 2516:Famen Temple 2506:(1966–1976) 2324: 2316:(1922–1991) 2285:(1913–1922) 1821:Christianity 1811:Baháʼí Faith 1732: 1722: 1713: 1704: 1695: 1686: 1677: 1668: 1660: 1655: 1646: 1637: 1628: 1619: 1610: 1578: 1568: 1559: 1549: 1540: 1531: 1522: 1513: 1491: 1482: 1473: 1464: 1455: 1446: 1437: 1428: 1419: 1386: 1363: 1354: 1345: 1336: 1313: 1304: 1294: 1285: 1218: 1209: 1164: 1142: 1119: 1110: 1102: 1097: 1062: 1026: 1008: 948: 944: 940: 936: 932: 924: 920: 916: 912: 908: 904: 896: 892: 888: 885: 881: 877: 874: 865: 861: 857: 848: 840: 836: 832: 828: 824: 816: 808: 800: 793: 788: 785: 782: 777: 773: 769: 765: 761: 751: 748: 745: 742: 738: 734: 730: 726: 722: 716: 714: 699: 691: 689: 686: 677: 673: 669: 665: 661: 657: 649: 645: 640: 636: 632: 630:the regime. 620: 616: 608: 605: 598: 590: 586: 578: 571: 567: 563: 560: 556: 551: 546: 542: 538: 534: 507: 503: 499: 495: 491: 464: 450: 442: 438: 434: 431: 427: 424: 417: 410: 406: 378: 372: 369: 361: 349: 338: 335: 330:Leon Trotsky 311: 307: 280: 278: 166:Christianity 145: 2662:(2014–2017) 2650:(2014–2017) 2644:(2013–2016) 2582:(1992–1996) 2544:(1975–1979) 2538:(1975–1990) 2444:(1948–1980) 2390:(1945–1989) 2384:(1945–1989) 2378:(1941–1945) 2372:(1939–1945) 2360:(1936–1975) 2345:legislation 2310:(1917–1990) 2304:(1915–1923) 2298:(1914–1924) 2279:(1912–1913) 2267:(1862–1877) 2249:(1857–1858) 2243:(1789–1801) 2231:(1683–1922) 2225:(1673–1829) 2219:(1609–1614) 2213:(1562–1598) 2207:(1561–1812) 2201:(1526–1791) 2195:(1522–1712) 2189:(1500–1526) 2165:(1184–1908) 2163:Inquisition 2074:Segregation 2039:Intolerance 1979:Desecration 1921:Neopaganism 1914:Persecution 1880:Persecution 1863:Persecution 1826:Catholicism 1663:41.3 (2007) 779:fanaticism. 618:elements'. 584:continued. 413:with terror 318:World War I 181:Legislation 108:Great Purge 2739:Categories 2159:(643–1526) 2034:Iconoclasm 2029:Hate crime 1959:Censorship 1853:Falun Gong 993:References 826:religion. 701:Bezbozhnik 324:, and the 193:Censorship 98:Red Terror 78:Kazakhstan 2510:Four Olds 2223:Test Acts 2089:Terrorism 1931:Rastafari 1885:Ahmadiyya 1027:Proletary 805:Education 627:Petrograd 512:, led by 483:Petrograd 402:(details) 398:Petrograd 161:1975–1987 156:1958–1964 151:1928–1941 146:1921–1928 141:1917–1921 2755:Leninism 2726:Religion 2247:Utah War 2117:(64–313) 2094:Violence 1984:Domicide 1936:Yazidism 1858:Hinduism 1816:Buddhism 1797:By group 1409:Archived 954:See also 612:Germogen 136:Religion 2480:(1963) 2237:(1700s) 1952:Methods 1909:Judaism 1900:Sunnism 1890:Shi'ism 1806:Atheism 530:Tobolsk 304:History 188:Science 176:Judaism 73:Ukraine 2709:(2024) 2698:(2023) 2692:(2020) 2686:(2019) 2680:(2019) 2638:(2011) 2620:(2002) 2614:(2001) 2608:(2000) 2602:(2000) 2594:(1999) 2588:(1995) 2570:(1990) 2562:(1989) 2550:(1984) 2526:(1971) 2518:(1966) 2512:(1966) 2498:(1963) 2492:(1963) 2486:(1963) 2474:(1955) 2462:(1950) 2438:(1948) 2414:(1947) 2408:(1946) 2402:(1946) 2396:(1946) 2366:(1933) 2354:(1924) 2273:(1909) 2261:(1864) 2255:(1860) 2171:(1191) 2153:(1099) 2147:(1096) 2108:Events 2044:Pogrom 1895:Sufism 1092:(2006) 580:Pravda 320:, the 198:Images 2141:(732) 1875:Islam 1737:46-47 485:, by 467:Volga 171:Islam 113:Gulag 1788:and 526:Perm 510:OGPU 465:The 362:The 279:The 29:Kyiv 2099:War 1147:114 625:of 524:of 205:Art 27:in 2741:: 1727:41 1588:^ 1583:55 1573:45 1554:31 1508:37 1500:^ 1395:^ 1372:^ 1331:33 1323:^ 1318:38 1299:36 1268:^ 1256:^ 1244:^ 1227:^ 1197:^ 1185:^ 1173:^ 1152:^ 1137:40 1129:^ 1124:30 1070:^ 1054:^ 1037:^ 1016:^ 1000:^ 817:. 712:. 474:. 347:. 1778:e 1771:t 1764:v 268:e 261:t 254:v

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Knowledge (XXG)

USSR anti-religious campaign (1921–1928)

Index