MELANIE NGAI WHAT WERE STALIN’S POLICIES TOWARDS RELIGION?

Lenin AND THE BOLSHEVIKS Views on Religion

Under the Tzars Russian Orthodox Church had been the national Church of the empire Bolsheviks had always seen religion and the Churches as aspects of class division The Bolsheviks were aggressively atheistic Karl Marx described Religion as “the opium of the people”

November Revolution Bolsheviks did not see religion as a threat Freedom of religion was allowed Churches not closed However, the land owned by Churches were confiscated Church and state legally separated Registration of births, marriages and deaths became secular rather than religious

1921 and Lenin’s death Giving of religious instructions to those under 18 were banned Anti Religious Campaigns were allowed In 1924, Lenin died from stroke and was replaced by Stalin. In honor of the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, the Soviet Union changed the city's name of St. Petersburg to Leningrad. Leningrad became St. Petersburg again 67 years later when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

STALIN’S VIEWS ON RELIGION

Stalin’s Background Joseph Stalin, whose real name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, was born and raised in Gori in what is now the nation of Georgia. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Stalin was raised very religious in the Russian Orthodox Church. He was named after Saint Joseph and was raised to be a priest. His father was a priest and young Joseph spent five years in a Russian Orthodox seminary He became a religion suppressing atheist instead. Stalin once said: You know, they are fooling us, there is no God… all this talk about God is sheer nonsense.

Anti Religious Campaigns The attack on religion that began under Lenin, was continued by Stalin. Worship of Stalin was encouraged but religious worship was strongly discouraged. 1927: The Orthodox Church was granted official recognition in return for promises to stay out of politics and to be loyal to the Soviet regime 1928: Stalin began a vigorous anti-religious campaign

Anti Religious Campaigns Christian churches and mosques were closed down And were converted into clubs, cinemas, schools, and warehouses. Church bells were removed and melted down as scrap metal. Women were forbidden to wear the veil Pilgrimages to Mecca were banned. Church leaders arrested and imprisoned. Those who escaped arrest were forbidden to organize any religious activity in public.

Anti Religious Campaigns In 1930 there were 30,000 Orthodox congregations By 1939 only 1 in 40 churches were still functioning and only seven bishops were still active in the whole of the Soviet Union. Only 1300 mosques were still operating in 1941 as against 26,000 in The photograph pictured shows the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in the heart of Moscow. Stalin ordered its destruction in 1931.

League of Militant Atheist 1924, Communist Party set up a League to weaken the religious faith of the Soviet People (League of Militant Atheists) By 1933 it had 5.5 million members Set up anti-religious museums in former cathedrals Burnt icons and other religious objects Organised anti-religious propaganda campaigns Kazan Cathedral converted into a museum of atheism