Soviet Government Policy towards the Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union
(1922-1991) a Historical Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65074/d6d92c54Keywords:
Soviet, Church, Orthodoxy, Government, Religion.Abstract
Importance: The importance of this study lies in the fact that it addresses the relationship between political authority (the government) and religion (the Orthodox Church) in the Soviet Union, which is considered one of the most significant historical experiences of the twentieth century, where the Soviet government followed a policy of atheism with the purpose of limiting the influence of the Orthodox Church in Soviet society, it also considered the religion as a phenomenon that strongly contradicts Leninist-Marxist ideology. Hence, the researcher deemed it important to shed light on the policies followed by the Soviet government under its various leaders towards the Orthodox Church and the impact of those policies on religious life in the Soviet Union.
Problem: The primary problem of this study is its lack of prior research due to the scarcity of Arabic-language sources. Furthermore, the study raises several questions, most importantly: What was the Soviet government's policy towards the Orthodox Church during the study period? Was this policy consistent or did it change in response to the transformations, events, and changes that characterized the Soviet era?
Hypothesis: The answer lies in the fact that the Soviet government's policy was not consistent but rather went through several phases, fluctuating between repression and severity at times, and containment and manipulation at others, particularly during World War II when the Soviet government was forced to ease its restrictions on the Church in order to bolster national unity.
Methodology: This study is based on a presentation of the most important laws and legislation issued by the Soviet governments of that era concerning the Orthodox Church, as well as their repressive policies aimed at completely eradicating religion within the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the topic is divided into several sections for detailed presentation, beginning with the Lenin and Stalin eras, continuing through World War II, and culminating in the Perestroika period. The study also employs a historical approach to present past events through collection, evaluation, and analysis to clarify the nature of the relationship between the government and the Church, and the political events and turning points the country experienced during that period.
Results: The study reached several conclusions, the most important of which was that the Soviet government, since the beginning of its rule, that is, since the Bolsheviks came to power, adopted a strict hostile policy towards the Orthodox Church, through issuing several official laws and legislation aimed at closing churches and confiscating their religious properties of all kinds. The Soviet government also sought to limit religious activity. However, this policy did not continue during the period of World War II, as it witnessed a relative (somewhat) shift, after the Soviet government allowed the reopening of churches and gave space for religious freedoms in order to strengthen the national spirit. Despite this, the relationship between the church and the state witnessed several attempts by the Soviet authorities to tighten the noose on the church at times and impose censorship at other times, until the Perestroika reforms and political liberalization began, which led to an improvement in the religious situation within the country after the change in the state policy towards the church before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
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