Stalin's Holy War : Religion, Nationalism, and Alliance Politics, 1941-1945

"Histories of the USSR during World War II generally portray the Kremlin's restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church as an attempt by an ideologically bankrupt regime to appeal to Russian nationalism in order to counter the mortal threat of Nazism. Here, Steven Merritt Miner argues that this version of events, while not wholly untrue, is incomplete. Using newly opened Soviet-era archives as well as neglected British and American sources, he examines the complex and profound role of religion, especially Russian Orthodoxy, in the policies of Stalin's government during World War II.". "Miner demonstrates that Stalin decided to restore the Church to prominence not primarily as a means to stoke the fires of Russian nationalism but as a tool for restoring Soviet power to areas that the Red Army recovered from German occupation. The Kremlin also harnessed the Church for propaganda campaigns aimed at convincing the Western Allies that the USSR, far from being a source of religious repression, was a bastion of religious freedom. In his conclusion, Miner explores how Stalin's religious policy helped shape the postwar history of the USSR."--BOOK JACKET. Contents......Page 8 Maps and Illustrations......Page 10 Preface......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 18 Glossary and Abbreviations......Page 22 Introduction......Page 26 The Weight of Tradition......Page 39 Notes......Page 362 Part I. The Church Redux......Page 50 The War and Myths of Solidarity......Page 52 Shattered Identities......Page 57 A Defensive Buffer......Page 60 The Role of Religion......Page 69 On the Eve......Page 74 Notes......Page 368 The Challenge of Barbarossa......Page 76 “They Are Fighting for Mother Russia”......Page 80 “Not the Swastika, but the Cross”......Page 93 A Limited Revival......Page 104 Rival Totalitarians......Page 109 Notes......Page 372 Part II. Fighting the Holy War......Page 116 3. A Holy Hatred toward the Enemy: The Church as Servant of Soviet Foreign Policy, 1942–1943......Page 118 “The Truth about Religion in Russia”......Page 121 “Prowling Morbidly Round the Three-Year-Old Graves of Smolensk”......Page 128 “Dear Brother-Slavs”......Page 134 The Missing Patriarch......Page 140 Notes......Page 378 Stalin and the Patriarch......Page 148 Nationalism and Conflicted Loyalties......Page 156 Revival from Below......Page 166 Reestablishing the Party Line......Page 174 Notes......Page 383 5. The Gatherer of the Ukrainian Lands: The Church and the Restoration of Soviet Power in the Western Borderlands......Page 188 “We Are Not Cannibals”......Page 189 War against the Vatican......Page 199 Stalin and the Greek Catholic Church......Page 204 Patriarchs of the World Unite......Page 215 Pyrrhic Victory......Page 223 Notes......Page 389 Part III. Selling the Alliance......Page 228 The Propaganda Dilemma......Page 230 The British God Reconsiders......Page 233 For God and Lend-Lease......Page 241 Moscow Burnishes Its Image......Page 253 Notes......Page 394 A Mole in the Ministry......Page 270 “Dexterity in Providing Moral Dress for the State’s Political Needs”......Page 276 An Innocent Abroad......Page 289 The Voice of London......Page 295 Notes......Page 400 8. Guardians of the Truth......Page 304 “Use Foreign Correspondents”......Page 305 “What a Problem Russia Is to Us All”......Page 328 Notes......Page 406 Conclusion......Page 340 Sergii’s Choice......Page 348 The Consequences of the Holy Alliance......Page 353 Notes......Page 409 Bibliography of Works Cited......Page 412 A-B......Page 422 C-D......Page 423 E-H......Page 424 I-L......Page 425 M......Page 426 N-P......Page 427 R......Page 428 S......Page 429 T-V......Page 431 W-Z......Page 432 Histories of the USSR during World War II generally portray the Kremlin's restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church as an attempt by an ideologically bankrupt regime to appeal to Russian nationalism in order to counter the mortal threat of Nazism. Here, Steven Merritt Miner argues that this version of events, while not wholly untrue, is incomplete. Using newly opened Soviet-era archives as well as neglected British and American sources, he examines the complex and profound role of religion, especially Russian Orthodoxy, in the policies of Stalin's government during World War II.

Miner demonstrates that Stalin decided to restore the Church to prominence not primarily as a means to stoke the fires of Russian nationalism but as a tool for restoring Soviet power to areas that the Red Army recovered from German occupation. The Kremlin also harnessed the Church for propaganda campaigns aimed at convincing the Western Allies that the USSR, far from being a source of religious repression, was a bastion of religious freedom. In his conclusion, Miner explores how Stalin's religious policy helped shape the postwar history of the USSR.

Histories of the USSR during World War II generally portray the Kremlin's restoration of the Russian Orthodox Church as an attempt by an ideologically bankrupt regime to appeal to Russian nationalism in order to counter the mortal threat of Nazism. Here, Steven Merritt Miner argues that this version of events, while not wholly untrue, is incomplete. Using newly opened Soviet-era archives as well as neglected British and American sources, he examines the complex and profound role of religion, especially Russian Orthodoxy, in the policies of Stalin's government during World War II.

Miner demonstrates that Stalin decided to restore the Church to prominence not primarily as a means to stoke the fires of Russian nationalism but as a tool for restoring Soviet power to areas that the Red Army recovered from German occupation. The Kremlin also harnessed the Church for propaganda campaigns aimed at convincing the Western Allies that the USSR, far from being a source of religious repression, was a bastion of religious freedom. In his conclusion, Miner explores how Stalin's religious policy helped shape the postwar history of the USSR.

This volume examines the complex and profound role of religion, especially Russian Orthodoxy, in the politics of Stalin's government during World War II. It demonstrates that Stalin decided to restore the church to prominence as a tool for restoring Soviet power to previously occupied areas Russia has ancient and well-established traditions of symbiosis between church and state, which can be traced in part to the Byzantine origins of its branch of Christianity.