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.