Religious freedoms + personal freedoms

Only exception to lack of universal political rights

Provisional Government - more tolerant approach towards grass-roots political activism

Orthodox religion

• Under state control, as well as non-Orthodox religion, across the period

• Form of social control for the tsars

• Many of clergy, e.g. Father John of Kronstadt, happy to support autocracy even if championed the plight of the poor

• Relied on government for money + the encouragement given to people to attend services

Pobedonostsev - chief procurator of the holy synod, powerful influence over affairs of Church, Alex III

• Said Russia needed an orthodox monopoly - but his policies ironically engendered dissention

• e.g. By a decree of July, 1885, which Pobedonostsev pushed through, an old law was revived whereby children born to parents of mixed religious convictions had to be raised in the Orthodox faith

• Developed a social program for the Church while limiting its autonomy, imposed repressive measures against the non-Orthodox -> reforms however resulted in a church by 1900 that was very bureaucratic, alienated in many ways from society

Stagnation in church and state policies prevailed until …

Pobedonostsev retired in 1905, weakened autocratic state

October Manifesto 1905 on religion

Legal for Orthodox people to convert to other Christian religions

(and political parties allowed)

Provisional government on religion

• Abolition of all hereditary, religious, and national class restrictions.

•   Broad religious freedom

• Bishops start to get elected

Bolsheviks and political freedom

• Dissolves constituent assembly after 1 day

• 1921 ban on factions

Just 2 days after Bolsheviks seized power, what happened regarding religion?

The major All-Russian Council of the Orthodox Church voted to reinstate the office of the patriarchate to head the church (the traditional hierarchical structure for an Orthodox Church) -> Tikhon patriarch (who led believers in defending Orthodoxy from antireligious communists)

First assault of the new regime

January 1918, when the Soviets tried to seize the most important religious institution in Petrograd, the Alexander-Nevsky Lavra -> massive crowd of believers gathered to defend the monastery.

How did the Soviets regard to the reinstating of the patriarchate by the Orthodox Church?

• Made the ‘Decree on the Separation of the Church from the State and School from the Church’

• Wanted communist to establish itself as the state religion - religion as the ‘opium of the poeple’

1925 anti-religious pressure group

group ‘the League of the Militant Godless’

Stalin closing of Churches and attack on religion

By 1938 there were only 16 working Orthodox churches vs 224 in 1930, no. clergy reduced by 60% (purges)

1937 50% population believes in God (so not totally effective)

Stalin and religion in WWII

-        Essentially restores Patriarchate in WWII

-        Two years after the Battle of Moscow was won (in 1944), Stalin met with three chief hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, allowed the clergy to perform religious services, celebrate Easter and Christmas, and even promised to give the church back some of its monasteries (confiscated after 1917) and release imprisoned priests -> WWII morale (also thinks it will get support of lands it takes over)

Khrushchev and religion

1958 officially considered unscientific; ANTI-RELIGIOUS CAMPAIGN THAT MEANT THAT RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY OF ANAY KIND WAS UNDER SCRUTINY UNLESS CONDUCED IN OFFICIAL PLACE

Competing with America in Space Race and Cold War - they believe in God