Soviet Church diplomacy in the SFRY in 1948-1953 in the context of the international situation of the USSR

Abstract

The subject of this article is a historical and political study of the key vectors of the state-confessional policy of the USSR in the countries of "people's democracy", which received their practical embodiment within the framework of prevailing legal practices. Special attention is paid to the study of the intervention of Soviet diplomacy in state-confessional relations on the territory of socialist Yugoslavia. After the end of World War II, one of the largest religious organizations of the Yugoslav state, the Serbian Orthodox Church, faced numerous historical challenges. The course of the historical process pushed this religious organization into opposition to the political elite of Yugoslavia. Numerous external "players" sought to take advantage of this situation, including the Soviet Union, whose relations with Yugoslavia significantly worsened during the period under study. The main method used in the preparation of the article was comparative historical. The novelty of the research lies in the study of the relationship of political and ideological discourses of state-confessional relations of the mid-twentieth century with modern practices of state confessional policy of the Russian Federation. The study of the genesis and practical implementation of the main vectors of "confessional diplomacy" of the Soviet Union is primarily connected with the practical implementation of Marxist political and legal ideas, in the field of "political compromise" with the "capitalist world". The key conclusion of the article: in the international "confessional diplomacy" of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church has historically served as its instrument and an expression of the interests of the ruling political regime in the USSR, which influenced both the international position of the ROC and its internal state.