Anti-Religious Struggle in the Soviet Union and the Komsomol

The struggle against religion in the Soviet Union was an important part of the class war and it was prerequisite for a socialist society. Thus, an intensive anti-religious propaganda was initiated by the communist government. Religion has been described as the main enemy of the working class. Prohibitions of religious education, suppression of religious publications were the other steps in this process. In the later years, the methods such as anti-religious holidays, seminars and movies became a part of this struggle. The League of Militant Atheists was an organisation in the Soviet Union founded in 1925 in order to propagate atheism. The tasks of the League of Militant Atheists were anti-religious propaganda, anti-church struggle and the liquidation of religious communities. However, the Komsomol also served in struggle against religion. What are most striking of Komsomol's anti-religious propaganda methods were the Komsomol festivals. The goal of the Komsomol festivals was not to worship; on the contrary, these were activities which religious values were teased. In these festivals Komsomol's task was to prove to the new generation that there was no blessed. This paper explores the period of the war against religion in the Soviet Union from the first years of the revolution and also the role of the Komsomol in this struggle using archive documents