THE MAGAZİNE “BEZBOZHNİK” (THE GODLESS) AND ATHEİSM PROPAGANDA

Coming to power after the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks declared themselves atheists and they started to propagate atheism over the whole country. In that period they issued a law separating religion from education and the state. Within that period, churches, synagogues and mosques were closed collectively and the clergymen were neutralised through imprisonment. Anti-religious propaganda began. In 1925, an organization called "League of Militant Atheists" was established. In this way, the Communist Party established a monopoly on the religious life of the society. In 1922, Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs was established to keep all the press and publications under control. In the meantime, the country experienced brain drain. Anti-religious publications began to be published throughout the country. The most prominent of these was the newspaper and magazine called "Bezbozhnik" (The Godless). It was published between 1922-1941 in order to make atheism propaganda and defend anti-religious ideas. It also advocated Marxist and Leninist ideas. Such publications had a profound influence in line with the strong propaganda of atheism carried out by the state. Therefore, it is seen that the circulation of the magazine sometimes exceeded 500,000. In this study, this period in the history of the Soviet Union was discussed and "Bezbozhnik", which used to be one of the anti-religious publications, was analysed. The aim of this study is to introduce and analyse anti-religious studies and publications in the Soviet Union. The study will be conducted through method of analysis and by examining the Soviet publications written in Russian and Azerbaijani Turkish in the Azerbaijan State Archive and in the state library archives.

Keywords

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, İdeology, The Magazine "Bezbozhnik", Soviet İdentity, Communism, Atheism Propaganda