Atheistic propaganda in Tuva as an element of the state-confessional policy of the USSR in 1954-1964

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the realization of atheistic propaganda in Tuva during the period of N. S. Khrushchev's leadership of the USSR. The purpose of the article is to highlight the main activities and results of atheistic propaganda in Tuva in the context of the state-confessional policy of the USSR in the mid-1950s — the first half of the 1960s. The source base of the study is normative-legal documents, archival and other materials reflecting the peculiarities of the realization of Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign in the region. Historical data of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the National Archive of the Republic of Tyva and the National Museum of the Republic of Tyva on the course and results of ideological measures of atheistic nature in Tuva at that time are introduced into the scientific turnover. Atheist activities in the region are considered in this paper as part of the Soviet anti-religious policy and propaganda in the period under study.

Based on the available research materials, the peculiarities of the realization of atheist propaganda in Tuva under the anti-religious policy of N. S. Khrushchev are identified. The article presents the levels, forms and methods of work of Soviet propagandists in relation to believers and non-believers in the region, which were typical throughout the Soviet space. The activities of the period of Khrushchev's anti-religious campaign, aimed at inciting hostile attitudes toward clergy, believing citizens, and religious associations in general, aroused public resonance in the region. The efforts of the party and Soviet bodies led to the liquidation of the Buddhist center in Kyzyl-Chyraa, Dzun-Khemchik District, and the Russian Orthodox Church community in Turan, Piy-Khemsk District. In the region, as a result of the harsh measures taken against religious communities, only the Trinity Church and its parish in Kyzyl, which had official registration, remained in operation. The paper assesses the anti-religious activities of the local authorities and the measures taken in the mid-1950s and the first half of the 1960s.