Khrushchev's Policies toward Religion: Repression in a Period of Reform

Year 2008, Volume: 18 Issue: 18, 83 - 91, 01.08.2008

Birgül Demirtaş Coşkun

Abstract

Nikita Sergeyevich Kruşçev iktidarının en bilinen özelliği, Stalin'in politikalarına eleştirel yaklaşması ve Sovyet halkı üzerindeki baskıyı azaltmış olmasıdır. Stalin döneminde hapse, çalışma kampına ve sürgüne gönderilen pek çok kişinin hakları, Kruşçev döneminde iade edilmiştir. Ancak bu görece liberalleşme döneminde bir alan üzerindeki baskı azaltılmamıştır, o da dindir. Kruşçev'in dini inanışlara yönelik politikaları, en az kendisinden önceki Sovyet lideri Stalin'inkiler kadar baskıcı olmuştur. Bu makale, Kruşçev yönetiminin dine yönelik politikalarını incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Makalenin cevaplamaya çalıştığı araştırma sorusu şudur: Neden Kruşçev, diğer pek çok alanda halk üzerindeki baskıyı azalttığı halde dine yönelik baskıcı politikalar izlemiştir?

Keywords

Sovyetler Birliği, Kruşçev, Din, İslam, Ortodoks Hıristiyanlık, Yahudilik, Baskı, Stalin.

Khrushchev's Policies toward Religion: Repression in a Period of Reform

Abstract

The rule of Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev has mainly been characterized by the Destalinization campaign and decrease of pressure on the Soviet people. It was thanks to his policies that many people sent to prisons, labor camps and exile during the Stalin era were rehabilitated. However, there was one field exempted from the relative liberalization campaign: Religion. His policy on religion was as repressive as that of Stalin, if not more. This paper aims to shed light on Khrushchev’s policy toward religion. The research question of the article is the following: Why did he carry out repressive policies as regard to religion, while decreasing pressure on other areas?

Keywords

Soviet Union, Khrushchev, Religion, Islam, Orthodox Christianity, Judaism, Repression, Stalin.

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