'Storming the heavens': The Soviet League of the Militant Godless and Bolshevik political culture in the 1920s and 1930s
Among the many social campaigns launched by the Bolsheviks in the 1920s, the effort to counter the pervasive influence of religion was among the most visible. From 1924 to 1941, the League of the Militant Godless, the quasi-governmental organization charged with disseminating atheism, maintained a nationwide network of activists, published a wide array of propaganda materials, organized lectures, and agitated against religion. Examination of the League presents an opportunity to investigate how the Bolsheviks conceived and executed their social agenda to 'modernize' Russia. My dissertation uses the League's local operations in the towns of Iaroslavl' and Pskov to argue that the evolving Bolshevik political culture itself constrained social transformation.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign