Izvestiya of Saratov University.
History. International Relations
ISSN 1819-4907 (Print)
ISSN 2542-1913 (Online)

взаимоотношения Советского государства и Русской Православной Церкви

The Relationship Between the Soviet State and the Russian Orthodox Church in the Initial Period of the Great Patriotic War (on the Materials of the Saratov Volga Region)

The article reveals the relationship between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the initial period of World War II on the territory of the Saratov Volga region. The author explores the rapid change in state policy towards the Russian Orthodox Church: from openly hostile to benevolent by the end of 1942. On the analysis of concrete facts, the author identifies the most important reasons for such a transformation. Among them, the author also highlights the mass opening of churches in the occupied territory.

“Saratov font”: Complication of church-state relations in the USSR in the late 1940s (based on materials from the Saratov Volga region)

The article reveals the relationship between the Soviet state and the Russian Orthodox Church (the ROC) in the late 1940s on the territory of the Saratov Volga region. After several years of a forced truce, the state began to tighten its religious policy again and resumed an active anti-religious campaign. One of the reasons was the scandal in the Saratov region in 1949, connected with the mass bathing on the Epiphany holiday and the subsequent publication of I. Ryabov’s feuilleton called “Saratov font” in the Pravda newspaper.