"Godless communists": atheism and society in Soviet Russia, 1917-1932

Abstract

"Godless Communists" offers a fresh interpretation of early communist initiatives to create an atheistic society. Within a deeply Orthodox culture, the Soviet government committed itself to establishing a modern, scientifically based society. How effective were Soviet antireligious policies and tactics at achieving this goal? In addressing this question, Husband demonstrates that the majority of Russians stood between the extremes of church and government, with religion being just one of a matrix of social, cultural, and economic changes the new regime faced." "Drawing on a wealth of archival and ethnographic sources, journals, newspapers, and eyewitness accounts, Husband shows how strategies of accommodation and resistance employed by the masses had a greater impact on the future of religion in Russia than did the efforts of either atheist extremists or spiritual zealots."--BOOK JACKET.