Russian Orthodoxy during the Soviet-Axis War

Abstract

Russian Orthodoxy is presented in the article as a multidimensional system of church institutions, clergy and laity. The Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate was only one of the elements of this system, which undoubtedly dominated in the confessional aspect within the USSR. The historiography of the problem of the role and place of the Church in World War II East Front is examined, and the source base of the issue is presented. The state-dependent position of the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate in the prewar years is analysed. The attitude of the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad towards the start of the Axis aggression against the USSR is personalised. The patriotic vector of the ministry of Moscow Patriarchate during the war years is considered. The anti-Christian nature of the ideology of Nazism, designed to create a quasireligion of the German nation, is revealed. The reasons for the change in state-church relations in the USSR during history's most horrifying war are identified, the most important of which includes the foreign policy perspective of the use of the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate and confessional policy in general in the context of international activities of the USSR.