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| Mass repression in the Soviet Union |
|---|
| Economic repression |
| Political repression |
| Ideological repression |
| Ethnic repression |
Ideological repression in theSoviet Union targeted variousworldviews and the corresponding categories of people.
Until the late 1920s, various forms of artistic expression were tolerated. However, an increase in the scope ofSoviet political repression, marked by the firstshow trial, theShakhty Trial, brought into the focus ofBolsheviks the question whether "bourgeoisintelligentsia", including workers of culture and arts, can be loyal and trustworthy. As an early step was an instruction to theRussian Association of Proletarian Writers "to scourge and chastise [literature]" in the name of the Party", i.e., effectively encouragingcensorship ofliterature on ideological grounds. Among the first targets wereYevgeny Zamiatin andBoris Pilnyak.[1]
Soon the concept ofsocialist realism was established, as the officially approved form of art, an instrument ofpropaganda, and the maintouchstone of ideologicalcensorship.
Religion in theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was dominated by the fact that it became the first state to have as one objective of its official ideology the elimination of existing religion, and the prevention of future implanting of religious belief, with the goal of establishingstate atheism (gosateizm).[2][3][4][5] However, the main religions of pre-revolutionary Russia persisted throughout the entire Soviet period and religion was never officially outlawed. Christians belonged to variousdenominations:Orthodox (which had the largest number of followers),Catholic,Baptist and various otherProtestant denominations. The majority of theMuslims in the Soviet Union wereSunni, with the notable exception ofAzerbaijan, which was majorityShia.Judaism also had many followers. Other religions, practised by a small number of believers, includedBuddhism andShamanism.[6]
Certain scientific fields in the Soviet Union were suppressed after being labeled as ideologically suspect.[7][8] In some cases the consequences of ideological influences were dramatic. The suppression of research began during theStalin era and continued, in softened forms, after his regime.[9]Leon Trotsky had defendedEinstein'stheory of relativity in Soviet intellectual circles but this became an anathema during the Stalin era and was only rehabilitated following the latter's death.[10]
