New Work on the History of the Church Policy of the Soviet State

Нуйкина Е. Ю. Архивно-следственные дела по обвинению духовенства Русской православной церкви (1917 – 1930-е гг.): источниковедческое исследование. – М.: Институт славяноведения РАН; СПб.: Нестор-История, 2024. – 232 с.

Abstract

The reviewed work attempts to establish the information value and limits of application of such a historical source as archival investigative files. More specifically, the research is based on the cases of accusations against the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church of anti-Soviet activities in 1917 – 1930s. Despite a lot of unreliable information related to the fabrication of charges, this source gives an idea of the methods of implementing state religious policy and state-church relations in the early stages of Soviet power, allows us to add new facts to the biographies of repressed clergy, including prominent church hierarchs, and expands our knowledge of various aspects of everyday church-parish life in the period of history under consideration. A fundamentally new stage in the church policy of the Soviet government, requiring independent study, began in September 1939. With the inclusion of new territories of Eastern Europe with an abundance of Orthodox population, strong clergy, and a large number of Orthodox churches into the USSR in 1939–1940, it was necessary to build church policy taking into account the changed conditions.

Received: 28.05.2025.

Citation
Stykalin A. S. New Work on the History of the Church Policy of the Soviet State // Slavic Almanac. 2025. No 3–4. P. 375–381 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.3-4.18