Transformation of the traditional religiosity of the Ukrainian peasantry (1920s - 1930s): conceptualization of research problem

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¹ State Research Institution «Encyclopedia Press»

² Cherkasy Institute of Fire Safety named after Chornobyl Heroes of National University of Civil Defence of Ukraine

Transformation of the traditional religiosity of the Ukrainian peasantry (1920s - 1930s): conceptualization of research problem

Alla Kyrydon¹, Svitlana Kosiak²

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to highlight the set of circumstances and factors that caused the transformation of the peasantry traditional religiosity and to emphasize the interdependence of the processes in the event-contextual and mental-conscious spheres/dimensions.

Scientific novelty: Despite the rather thorough scientific analysis of the issue, the dominance of the positivist approach is observed in historiography; therefore, the conceptualization of the problem makes it possible to understand the non-fragmentary factual multiplicity of certain plots, which evinced in one way or another the transformations of religiosity in the social and cultural space of the 1920s - 1930s, but it allows to clarify and generalize the reasons, nature, dynamics, and essential characteristics of the processes related to the transformation of religiosity under the new social and cultural conditions of the communist-atheist power.

Conclusions. There is a certain dependency between the architectonics of human existence and the worldview benchmarks of a certain era. Therefore, not only anti-religious and antichurch propaganda (as a means of ideological influence), but also the socio-economic and political development of society (industrialization, collectivization, cultural revolution, renewal of everyday life, etc.) destroyed the former stable world of customs and rituals. Therefore, it is obviously worth talking not about the transformation of religiosity, but about complex transformations.

The nature of the religiosity transformational processes depended on many factors. In the context of the eroding of old church doctrines, the revision of fixed moral and ethical norms, the onset of atheism, in the eyes of Christians, the stable world was degrading, losing sanctified traditions and moral standards. Religious integrity and the durability of religious culture were lost. In search of compensation for the emerging worldview uncertainty, anxiety, dissatisfaction, etc., the individual looked for new benchmarks, values, ideals, and ways of organizing life in society through the transformation of stable forms and ways of life. In the confrontation of two worldview cultural models, society, having undergone complex transformations, slowly adapted to the conditions established by the communist regime and its worldview instructions.

Keywords: religiosity, tradition, Church, Ukrainian peasantry, Soviet State

Трансформація традиційної релігійності українського селянства (1920-1930-ті роки): концептуалізація проблеми дослідження

Алла Киридон¹, Світлана Косяк²

¹ Державна наукова установа «Енциклопедичне видавництво»

² Черкаський інститут пожежної безпеки імені Героїв Чорнобиля Національного університету цивільного захисту України

Анотація

Мета статті полягає в увиразненні сукупності обставин і чинників, що обумовили трансформацію традиційної релігійності селянства й акцентуванні взаємообумовленості процесів подієво-контекстуального та ментально-свідомісного зрізів/вимірів.

Наукова новизна. Попри доволі ґрунтовну наукову розробленість теми, в історіографії спостерігається домінування позитивістського підходу. Відтак концептуалізація проблеми уможливлює осягнення не фрагментарного фактологічного насичення окремих сюжетів, що засвідчують у той чи інший спосіб трансформації релігійності в соціокультурному просторі 1920-1930-х років, але дозволяє увиразнити й узагальнити причини, характер, динаміку та сутнісні характеристики процесів, пов'язаних із трансформацією релігійності за нових соціокультурних умов комуно- атеїстичної влади.

Висновки. Існує певна залежність між архітектонікою людського буття та світоглядними орієнтирами певної епохи. Тож не лише антирелігійна й антицерковна пропаганда (як засоби ідеологічного впливу), але й соціально-економічний і політичний розвиток суспільства (індустріалізація, колективізація, культурна революція, оновлення побуту тощо) руйнували колишній сталий світ звичаїв і ритуалів. Відтак очевидно варто говорити не про трансформацію релігійності, а про комплексні трансформації.

Характер трансформаційних процесів релігійності був узалежнений від багатьох чинників. В обстановці розхитування старих церковних доктрин, перегляду усталених морально-етичних норм, наступу атеїзму, на очах християн стабільний світ деградував, утрачаючи освячені традиції та моральні тверді. Втрачалася релігійна цілісність та тяглість релігійної культури. У пошуках компенсації оприявненої світоглядної невизначеності, занепокоєння, незадоволеності тощо індивід шукав нових орієнтирів, цінностей, ідеалів і шляхів організації життя в суспільстві через трансформацію сталих форм і способів життєдіяльності. У протистоянні двох світоглядних культурних моделей суспільство, пройшовши складні трансформації, поволі адаптувалося до заданих комуністичним режимом умов та його світоглядних настанов.

Ключові слова: релігійність, традиція, Церква, українське селянство, радянська держава

transformation traditional religiosity peasantry

Introduction

The relevance of the research is in the social and political significance and the growth of interest, needs, and strategies of scientific research in the field of the specified issue. Among the priority lines of research of modern historians of the independence of Ukraine period, the problems of the history of the Church (in particular, of the Soviet period) and the clergy have become meaningful. One of the turning points in the history of society and the state was the period of the 1920s - 1930s. The study of the transformation of religiosity in such turning points objectifies the transmission of the religious tradition or highlights the gaps in heredity, contributes to the comprehension of experience, mental structures of consciousness, and the forming of religious and social identity.

In addition, the emergence of qualitatively new conceptual approaches and the renewal of the methodological toolkit for the study of the already traditional aspects of the research field of state-church relations, as well as the history of the peasantry, social and mental characteristics, require a comprehension of the seemed to be already worked out issues not only through the disclosure of factual plots but also by means of the innovative conceptual and methodological principles formation and qualitatively new conceptual studies.

The purpose of the scientific study is to uncover the entire range of circumstances and factors that caused the transformation of the traditional religiosity of the peasantry and to emphasize the interdependence of the processes of the event- contextual and mental-conscious dimensions.

To achieve the goal, the number of research objectives have been specified, which, in our opinion, collectively bring us closer to the understanding of the given problem: to characterize the historiographic field of the problem elaboration; indicate the conceptual and categorical apparatus of the subject area of the study and problematic issues of the theoretical and methodological discourse; to highlight the mechanisms of creation and implementation of new Soviet values and standards in the social and cultural space of society and to propose a concept of the given problem. At the same time, we are aware that the proposed scientific study does not pretend to be comprehensive in covering such a complex and multifaceted problem.

Historiography of the issue

Historiography of the issue. Polycontextuality and a wide range of historiographical sources of the raised problem are represented by the works of historians and religious studies scholars, as well as sociologists, politologists, culturologists, etc. Only the objective historical and religious-historiographical aspect of the given problem is analyzed in the paper.

Among the works of a synthetic (generalizing) nature, which contextualize the event content of the era, which express the general trends of everyday life of various social groups and ethnic communities of Soviet Ukraine in the period of the 1920s - 1930s in the context of the raised problem, we should single out the collective monographs 'Essays of Everyday Life in Soviet Ukraine in the Period of the NEP (1921-1928)' Нариси повсякденного життя радянської України в добу непу (1921-1928 рр.): Колективна монографія / Відп. ред. С.В. Кульчицький. Київ: Інститут історії України НАН України, 2010. Ч. 1. 445 с.; ч. 2. 382 с. (Серія «З історії повсякденного життя в Україні»)., and 'Ukrainian Soviet Society of the 1930s: Essays of Everyday Life' Українське радянське суспільство 30-х рр. XX ст.: нариси повсякденного життя: Колективна монографія / Відп. ред. С.В. Кульчицький. Київ: Інститут історії України НАН України, 2012. 786 с..

Indirectly, the problem of the transformation of religious ideas was raised by scholars who studied the relations between the state and the Church, the history of the Church and religious and church life of the specified period (L. Babenko, T. Bobko, O. Halamai, T. Hruzova, T. Yevsieieva, S. Zhyliuk, A. Zinchenko, O. Ihnatusha, A. Kyrydon, A. Kukurudza, V. Pashchenko, I. Prelovska, V. Sylantiev, O. Trygub, and many others).

In contrast to the numerous previously mentioned group of works, the problem of the traditional religiosity in the period of 1920s - 1930s transformation is represented in historical and religious studies and peasantry studies not so widely. Thus, the social and cultural (social and mental) aspect of the peasantry study is uncovered in Yu. Prysiazhniuk's research Присяжнюк Ю. Українське селянство Наддніпрянської України: соціоментальна історія другої половини ХІХ - початку ХХ ст. Черкаси: «Вертикаль», видавець ПП Кандич С.Г., 2007. 640 c.; Присяжнюк Ю. Українське селянство в контексті сучасних дослідницьких завдань. Український селянин. 2018. Вип. 20. С. 74-79.. The subject field of R. Oryshchenko's research focuses on the history of the religiosity of the Dnipro Ukraine peasantry of the second half of the 19^th - the first third of the 20^th century Орищенко Р. Релігійність українського селянства Наддніпрянщини (1861-1933 рр.): історичний вимір: автореф. дис... канд. іст. наук: 07.00.01. Черкаси, 2019. 26 c.; Орищенко Р. «Зараження комунізмом» як чинник ліквідації традиційної релігійності українського селянства (1917- початок 1930-х рр.). Вісник Черкаського університету. Сер.: Історичні науки. 2018. № 3-4. С. 129-133; Орищенко Р. Релігійність як чинник модерної трансформації українського селянства першої третини ХХ ст. Вісник Київського національного університету імені Тараса Шевченка. Сер. Історія. 2018. Вип. 139. С. 57-61; Орищенко Р.М., Присяжнюк Ю.П. Боговідступництво як радикальна зміна традиційної релігійності українського селянства (1920-і - початок 1930-х рр.). Український селянин: зб. наук. пр. 2018. Вип. 19. С. 118-122 and others.. The circumstances and factors of the formation of the new consciousness of Ukrainian peasantry in 19201929 were studied by H. Heorhizov Георгізов Г.М. Формування нової свідомості українського селянства (1920-1929 рр.). Черкаси: 2015. 160 с..

In a fundamental monograph and a number of publications by O. Ihnatusha, considerable attention is paid to the worldview transformations of the peasantry under the influence of the modernization processes of Sovietization in the 1920s - 1930s, the destruction of church and religious life, the demolition of religious buildings, etc Ігнатуша О.М. Інституційний розкол православної церкви в Україні: ґенеза і характер (XIX ст. - 30-ті рр. XX ст.). Запоріжжя: Поліграф, 2004. 440 с.; Ігнатуша О.М. Закриття церков і релігійна свідомість: 20-30-ті рр. ХХ ст. Наукові записки Національного університету «Острозька академія». Сер.: «Історичне релігієзнавство». 2009. Вип. 1. С. 75-86.. A. Kyrydon studies the transformation of the religiosity of Ukrainian society and the desacralization of space in the context of the Bilshovyk model of state- church-society relations construction and under the influence of the processes of social and political, social and economic, and cultural changes, etc КиридонА.М. Релігійно-церковне життя в Україні (1932-1933 рр.). Слов'янський вісник: збірник наукових праць. Серія «Історичні та політичні науки». 2012. Вип. 13. С. 51-57; Киридон А.М. Руйнування культових споруд (1920-1930-ті рр.): порушення традиційної ритмології простору. Проблеми історії України: факти, судження, пошуки. 2013. Вип. 22. С. 91-102; Киридон А.М. Десакралізація простору (1920-1930-і рр.): смислові та символічні засади. Уманська старовина. 2017. Вип. 1. С. 133-145; Киридон А.М. Індоктринація радянськості: обрядово-святковий канон як маркер формування атеїзованого суспільства (1920-1930-і рр.). Уманська старовина. 2017. Вип. 3. С. 5-20 and others.. The study of O. Trygub is dedicated to the consideration of the issue of the population religiosity during the NEP period in the regional dimension, as well as to the influence of the schisms of the Orthodox Church on the nature of the peasantry religiosity Тригуб О.П. Релігійність населення Півдня України за часів НЕПу (1921-1929 рр.): православний аспект. Наукові праці. 2006. Т. 48. Вип. 35: Історичні науки. С. 31-36; Тригуб О.П. Селянство та розкол Російської православної церкви 1920-х рр. Український селянин. 2006. Вип. 10. С. 148-152..

V. Diakiv studied the specifics of Ukrainian national religiosity in the 1920s - 1930s Дяків В.М. Прояви релігійності українців в умовах більшовицької окупації початку 1920-х років. Вісник Львівського університету. Серія: Філологія. 2010. Вип. 43. С. 169-180; Дяків В.М. Специфіка народної релігійності українців в умовах більшовицької окупації 1930-х рр. Народознавчі зошити. 2012. № 6 (108). С. 976-994 and others.. Social and political transformations in Ukrainian village in the context of the totalitarian system formation (1917-1933) are studied in the dissertation and monograph of S. Markova Маркова С.В. Суспільні та політичні трансформації в українському селі в контексті формування тоталітарної системи (1917-1933 рр.). Кам'янець-Подільський: Вид. ПП Зволейко Д.Г., 2015. 544 с.. In a number of her publications, O. Stasiuk Стасюк О.О. Трансформація сімейної обрядовості українців наприкінці 20-х - початку 30-х рр. XX ст. Етнічна історія народів Європи. 2007. Вип. 22. С. 102-109; Стасюк О.О. Деформація української традиційної культури в 1929-1934 роках. Етнічна історія народів Європи: Зб. наук. пр. 2005. Вип. 20. С. 95-99; Стасюк О.О. Трансформація традиційної культури українців в кінці 1920-х - на початку 1930-х рр. Наукові записки. Сер.: Історія. Вінниця, 2006. Вип. 10. С. 134-138 and others. raises the problem of the Ukrainians' traditional culture deformation in the late 1920s - early 1930s, analyzes the factors that caused the breakdown of traditional culture and the destruction of the traditional way of life of Ukrainian village, as well as the mechanism of the religiosity of the Ukrainian peasantry destruction, and the establishment of the Soviet rituals. H. Miahka analyzes the everyday life changes of Soviet Ukraine peasants in the 1920s, connected with the attempt of the Bilshovyk government to change their outlook by the means of cultural and educational policy М'ягка Г.О. Культурно-освітній рівень та релігійне життя селянства радянської України (20-і роки ХХ ст.). Історичні записки. 2012. Вип. 35. С. 172-178.. T. Hruzova focuses her attention on the religious life of the Ukrainian SSR in the conditions of the terrible famine of 1932-1933 Грузова Т.С. Релігійне життя в УСРР в умовах упокорення голодом (1932-1933 рр.). Zaporizhzhia Historical Review. 2020. № 2 (54). DOI: https://doi.org/10.26661/zhv-2020-2-54-16, etc.

We should note that researchers of the history of everyday life, mentality, religiosity, value imperatives of society, and other issues of the 1920s - 1930s period often indirectly raise the problem of the religiosity transformation.

Based on a review of the historiographical sources dealing with the given problem, we can state a sufficiently large-scale level of study of the 1920s - 1930s period at the applied level, with the dominance of a predominantly positivist approach. At the same time, the problem requires not only the reconstruction of certain religious/antireligious practices but also a thorough analysis and rethinking, clarification, and 'decoding' of the messages of the epoch in order to understand the integrity of the process of social and political life, the mentality of the participants, and the conscious aspects of religious transformations. Therefore, the problem of the transformation of religiosity in the sociocultural space of the 1920s - 1930s generally remains promising for further study.

Research methodology

Any historical period of social restructuring causes qualitative changes in the system of social relations, associated with the transformation of social institutions, fundamental mechanisms of social regulation, values and standards of society, and behavioral characteristics.

Religiosity correlates with the social structure of society, the vector nature of political, economic, social changes, and the peculiar features of social practices. The traditional religiosity of the peasantry was transformed most radically under the conditions of extreme upheavals. Against the background of general social modernization and under the influence of secularization processes, a change in the functionality of religion and losing of traditional religiosity and its identification matrices inevitably occurred.

The key concept of 'religiosity' aims at the combination of historical, religious, cultural, psychological, and other aspects of the research of the processes taking place in the 1920s - 1930s. Thus, the research methodology is based on the interdisciplinary integration of the methods of these disciplines, and the use of methodological foundations of social, mental, and social and cultural history. The applied social and cultural approach makes it possible to analyze the transformation of traditional religiosity under the influence of changes in the social and cultural environment of the 1920s - 1930s. It is important to note that due to the objective lack of specialized complex studies of the religiosity of society, conducted directly in the 1920s - 1930s, the most optimal is an indirect analysis of the subject area of the study ('indirect action' analysis), based on considering a complex of social and economic, political, social and cultural, and other factors that shaped the dynamics of religiosity and complex transformations of the bearers of religiosity identity during the specified period.

Conceptualization of the subject area of the study

The conceptual framework of the given problem is based on the dependence of the process of transformation of religiosity on a specific mental and social and cultural environment with corresponding social and economic, social, and political characteristics. So, religious senses appear in procedural dynamics, religiosity is not constant, it changes under the influence of objective factors, depending on the social and cultural determinants of a particular society, which is being transformed and is experiencing worldview and value breakdowns. In such case, the dynamics of religiosity (transition from one state of religiosity to another) is objectified by political and ideological, social and economic, demographic, cultural, residential, and other factors.

At the same time, changes in the state of religiosity can also occur under the influence of subjective factors. Thus, the matrix of religiosity displays itself in several planes of multi-level religious and worldview meanings: on the one hand, constituting the positioning of an individual (or group) in society, causing the corresponding identification characteristics; on the other hand, expressing values, experience, practices, and the extent of religiosity of the individual (group).

In accordance with the studied issue, let's outline the concept in a first approximation. For several centuries, religion, as a special structurally organized system of activity, played the role of a leading factor in the preservation and strengthening of the existing social order, social systems, consolidation, and preservation of ethno- confessional communities. The establishment of the Bilshovyk political regime in Ukraine and the multifaceted modernization processes taking place in the 1920s - 1930s caused not only radical social and political as well as social and economic changes but also the establishment of a new social and cultural reality, worldview transformations, the formation of a new system of value orientations, etc. Under the powerful pressure of the ruling communist regime and the brisk pace of centralization, unification, regulation, total ideologization of all aspects of life, and forced secularization, rapid dynamics of the complex of customary traditional relations (legal, moral, ethical, economic, and cultural) took place. That led to a shift in the value-semantic, conscious and mental spheres of both the individual and the whole society. Accordingly, the social and cultural microclimate of the village and the beliefs and worldviews of its inhabitants underwent changes. Traditional religiosity was being transformed.

Religiosity is a polysemantic category that belongs to the so-called «elusive categories» (T. Stryjek): rather amorphous, not clearly specifically fixed, and cannot be precisely cataloged. We consider religiosity as a complex integrated dynamic worldview and semantic system and a social and cultural phenomenon that determines: ways of the view of the world, its perception and reproduction, as well as normative-value and practical-behavioral characteristics, the intensity of cult activity, perceptional and emotional states, etc. and is a subject to understanding and categorization only in the context of a certain community of a specific historical period. For the most part, religiosity is associated with the conscious level, and we are talking about religious consciousness not only as an established set of formed religious views but also as the process of its (transformation) itself.

By traditional religiosity, we mean a historically, culturally, socially, and mentally inculcated universal form of fixation, consolidation, preservation, and transmission of religious knowledge, beliefs, experience, canons, norms of behavior, and religious practices. In the case of transformation, radical changes, or devaluation of traditional societal values, traditional religiosity will undergo changes. The dominant segment of the religious space of Ukrainian village was traditional Orthodoxy. The traditional religiosity of Ukrainians was mostly oriented toward the rural way of life¹⁴. Tradition acted as a transmitter of social, moral, and spiritual values.

Using the term transformation, we mean «change, conversion of a view, form, and essential properties of something»¹⁵. The essence of the phenomenon of transformation is not always and not necessarily development/progress. At the same time, it is necessarily a matter of the process of changes, the acquisition of a new quality, and the impact (connotative, organizational, structural, functional, etc.) through such acquisition on the environment, other participants of current or prospective/strategic interactions. During a period of social transformations, the synchronicity of social processes is disrupted.

Let's try to outline the plot lines that would evince the transformation of religiosity in the conditions of the 1920s - 1930s.

Mechanisms of ideological monism establishment

The core line of the party-state leadership regarding religion and the Church from the beginning was aimed at marginalizing everything related to religion and the main institution-retransmitter of ideas of cult and religious life - the Church. For many More details see: Герчанівська П.Е. Українська народна культура: християнський вимір. Київ: Університет «Україна», 2011. 426 с. Трансформація. Словник української мови: в 11 т. Київ, 1979. Т. 10. С. 233. centuries, the latter functioned not only as a religious but also as a social institution. However, with the establishment of Soviet power, religion and the Church lost their regulatory function in society, and, accordingly, lost their social significance. The Orthodox faith was declared to be ideologically incompatible with Marxism. Ideological monism was recognized as a mandatory factor in creating the Soviet State More details see: Киридон А. Ідеологічний монізм як чинник державно-церковних взаємин в Україні. Історія релігій в Україні. Кн. 1. Львів: Логос, 1999. С. 153-155; Киридон А. Релігія як різновид ідеології в процесі державотворення. Ідея національної церкви в Україні. Тернопіль: 1997. С. 49-51..

The very first legal acts limited the influence and ownership of the Church. According to the 'Decree on Land' of the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (October 26, 1917), the Orthodox Church in Russia was deprived of land ownership; Two subsequent decrees of the Soviet government, the 'Decree on Divorce' (December 16, 1917) and the 'Decree on Civil Marriage, Children and Civil Registry Bookkeeping' (December 18, 1917) indicated the creation of alternative institutions that took over the functions of the Church; In 'Decree on Separation of Church from State and School from Church' (dated February 18, 1918, in Ukraine - January 19, 1919) «all property of the church and religious communities was declared national property» Культурне будівництво в Українській РСР: важливі рішення Комуністичної партії і Радянського уряду: 1917-1959 рр.: зб. док. в 2 т. Київ: Держполітвидав УРСР, 1959. Т. 1 (1917-1941) / О.І. Євсєєв (ред.). С. 28-29.. That caused a certain number of believers to leave the church.

In the future, in accordance with the tasks of various stages For a more detailed description of the stages, see: Киридон А.М. Еволюція політики партійно- державного керівництва радянської України щодо релігії і церкви (1917-1930-ті роки). Історичний журнал. 2004. № 6-7. С. 20-31., the Bilshovyk power throughout the period of the 1920s - 1930s used a diverse arsenal of means and mechanisms to supplant the Church and catalyze the eradication of religiosity and the program goals of socialism fulfillment:

- the destruction of the economic foundations of the Church (nationalization of religious buildings, their property, and church-monastery lands; confiscation of church valuables and property; overpricing of the insurance payments and the rent for the use of religious buildings; excessive taxation of religious communities and clergy; prohibition for church institutions and religious communities on performing any economic activity; the prohibition for clerics on receiving remuneration for performing religious rites; complete deprivation of communities and clergy of state material assistance; removal of church bells, closing and destruction of churches);

- carrying out massive anti-church campaigns ('relic' epic, campaign to confiscate church valuables, liquidation of church 'miracles', anti-Christmas, and anti-Easter events);

- encouraging and provoking church schisms, supporting any movements opposed to the strongest Orthodox confession;

- discreditation of priests; breeding strife between the clergy and the laymen;

- persecution of the clergy, harassment, intimidation, physical destruction; application of the practice of mass political repressions, suppression of any forms of clergy resistance by force methods;

- prohibition on the organizing of church education; restrictions on the right to get a secular education for priests and members of their families;

- disfranchisement of the clergy and preventing their participation in public and production associations;

- mass closing down of temples and other religious buildings;

- refusal to register statutes and other documents of church associations;

- prohibition on activity or establishment of control over a few religious publications;

- spread of anti-religious propaganda;

- administrative restrictions on the religious activity of citizens;

- intensive use of the bodies of the VUNK, DPU, and NKVS for implementing antichurch and anti-religious policy Киридон А.М. Час випробувань. Держава. Церква. Суспільство в радянській Україні (1917-1930- ті). Тернопіль: Підручники і посібники, 2005; Силантьєв В.І., Олійник М.М. Модернізація політико- правових і організаційних засад державно-церковних відносин в Україні за часів революційних подій і соціалістичних перетворень 1917-1930 рр. Вісник Національного технічного університету Харківський політехнічний інститут. 2008. № 37. С. 91-99 and others..

Each of the mentioned means or mechanisms had an impact not only on church institutions but also on society: attitudes, consciousness, value-meaning matrices of perception of reality, identification characteristics or positioning of the population, motivation of actions and deeds, and religious practices.

In general, the Soviet secularization project was aimed at the construction of the only possible Soviet identity and the establishment of a Marxist-Leninist atheistic ideology, incompatible with a religious worldview, and thus provided 'religious deidentification' (the destruction of any markers of religious identity and related traditions). At the same time, at the beginning of the 1920s, the party-state leadership was aware that «the Ukrainian village will for a long time represent an element of the population on which it is too difficult for the Communist Party to establish its dominant influence» Central State Archives of Public Organizations of Ukraine (CSAPO of Ukraine). Fund 1. List 20. File 604. P. 30..

Characteristics of the social composition of the population

According to the population census conducted on December 17, 1926, 29.019.747 people lived in the republic, of which 23.637.300 people (81.4%) lived in rural areas, including 11.446.711 men (48.3%), and 12.190.589 women (51.7%) Короткі підсумки перепису населення в Україні 17 грудня року 1926. Національний і віковий склад, рідна мова та письменність населення. Харків, 1928. С. VII. С. 2-3.. Thus, the 1926 census registered Ukrainians as the least urbanized national group: 82% of the entire population lived in the villages of the republic, and only 18% lived in the cities Мінаєв С.В. Наслідки вселюдного перепису 1926 р. на Україні. Населення України. Міський житловий фонд. Харків, 1928. С. 5..

Concerning age, the rural population in the mid-1920s was divided as follows: children under 13 years old - 8.6 million (36.4%); teenagers aged from 14 to 17 - 2.5 million (10.6%); 11.3 million (47.9%) of able-bodied 18-60 (women predominated among the latter - 53%); peasants over 60 - 1.2 million (5.1%) Історія селянства Української РСР: у двох томах. Т. II. Від Великого Жовтня до наших днів. Київ: Наук. думка, 1967. C. 93-94..

In Ukraine, the cultural level of the peasantry was very low: as of 1920, almost two-thirds (62.3%) of the population of the Ukrainian SSR were illiterate; 54.3% of men and 79.3% of women could not read and write Ibid. C. 94.. After 6 years, half of the population over the age of 7 remained illiterate (33.2% of men, 66.6% of women) Короткі підсумки перепису населення в Україні 17 грудня 1926 року. Національний і віковий склад, рідна мова та письменність населення. Харків, 1928. С. 210..

Like the working class, the peasantry was quite heterogeneous in terms of social and cultural, economic, and age parameters. But in the 1930s, during the socialist development of the village, noticeable changes took place. Thus, by the middle of 1937, there were 16.500 agronomists, engineers, and technicians, 26.400 foremen of tractor stations, 120.600 tractor drivers in the MTS and collective farm villages of the Ukrainian SSR; 1.622 state farm engineers and mechanics, 2.175 agronomists, 917 agricultural technicians, 1.399 zootechnicians, and 776 veterinarians Радянська Україна за 20 років. Київ: Партвидав ЦК КП(б)У, 1937. С 87..

Let's emphasize: not only the character of the rural economy was changed, but also the community, which was once fairly uniform in terms of its activity, was eliminated. At the same time, throughout the entire period of the 1920s - 1930s, there was a «war in the form of moral and psychological pressure, obstruction to any socially significant actions (or inaction), repressions», the peak of which came at the beginning of the 1930s, «when there was a 'turning point' in the village, with its deceptive cooperation (collectivization), the extermination of the kurkul 'as a class', the terrifying (essentially two-stage) Holodomor of 1932 and 1933» Присяжнюк Ю.П. Українське селянство в контексті сучасних дослідницьких завдань. Український селянин. 2018. Вип. 20. С. 76..

At the same time, in order to understand the transformation of traditional religiosity, it is important to take into account the interdependence and interconditionality of social and personal changes: a change in the social situation and system of value orientations under new conditions necessarily causes an internal restructuring of the subjective picture of the world and, accordingly, changes behavioral activity. Although an individual is both a product and a creator of society, he can simultaneously make his own choices, determine goals, priorities, and his personal path only to the extent permitted by the functional social system in which he operates.

Evolution of religiosity

In the 1920s - 1930s, the institutions that ensured the traditional reproduction of doctrinal religiosity from childhood in the early stages of socialization (such as the religious family; the system of religious educational institutions: Sunday schools, catechism courses, real parish life) were mostly lost. The social status and cultural authority of the representatives of the clergy, which were the bearers of the Orthodox tradition, models, samples, and skills of culture, were marginalized during the antireligious and anti-church offensive of the Bilshovyk authorities. Traditional religiosity of an Orthodox believer was gradually replaced/supplanted by a secularized temporal culture.

The policy of the Bilshovyk regime was concentrated both in direct prohibitions on religious practices and in a large-scale ideological program for the popularization of atheistic ideas, anti-religious and anti-church propaganda, introducing of a new calendar and Soviet holidays More details see: Киридон А.М. Індоктринація радянськості: обрядово-святковий канон як маркер формування атеїзованого суспільства (1920-1930-і рр.). Уманська старовина. 2017. Вип. 3. С. 5-20., and the organization of cultural, educational, and tutorial work. In addition, the Bilshovyk authorities placed great hopes on the processes of urbanization, collectivization, and industrialization in the restructuring of society life. As a result, those measures should have destroyed the traditions of the cultural inheritance of religious beliefs and practices between generations and leveled the role of religious tradition as a moral and ethical regulator of the lifestyle, first of all, of the peasantry.

At the same time, despite the Church's loss of state and legal functions, Orthodox traditions remained familiar and integral elements of spiritual culture. Party functionaries admitted that «for the peasant masses, religion replaces almost all forms of cultural consciousness and everyday life» CSAPO of Ukraine. Fund 1. List 20. File 749. P. 68back.. Therefore, among the primary tasks, the party-state leadership outlined the struggle against any church attributes, «restrict, reveal, destroy, and especially replace the external influence of rituals on the psyche of believers with the elements of communist life», «deprive rituals of their mysterious content», «expose the falseness of any miracles, and completely debunk the ritual cover of religious feeling» Ibid. P. 101.. The authorities had to state that «direct actions against buildings, objects, and spiritual persons, religious rites, as well as direct destruction of religion in its material displays, their direct rejection and spoiling, in most cases, anger believers, inflame their religious passions, create religious fanaticism and intolerance, a nationalist and mystical attitude to communism, a thirst for martyrdom, and strengthens the aura of mystery and secrecy around religion» Ibid. P. 100..

At the beginning of the 1920s, the authorities reported about the «massive spread of religiosity» in Ukraine and called for propaganda in two directions: «Against the church and the clergy - on the one hand, and against all forms of religious consciousness - on the other» Ibid. P. 99-101.. However, even Soviet statistics, interested in understating the mentioned indicators, said about a fairly high level of religiosity of the population in Ukraine.

According to the data of the Central Statistical Office of the Ukrainian SSR adduced by Kharkiv scholar V. Sylantiev, 40.4% of the adult population of Ukraine as of 1923 observed religious rites, and a large number of the rest of the population (50.6%), not belonging to religious communities, nevertheless did not break with the church Силантьев В.И. Большевики и Православная церковь на Украине в 20-е годы. Харьков, 1998. С. 193..

By the middle of 1925, according to the Anti-Religious Commission at the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CP(B)U, there were about 12 million people in the sphere of influence of Orthodox confessions, united in 9.165 communities (83.3% of the total number of religious communities of the Ukrainian SSR) Ігнатуша О. Інституційний розкол православної церкви в Україні... С. 256..

Let us recall that functionally religiosity is expressed in the unity of three subsystems: 'religious environment', 'religious relations', and 'religious activity' Бучма О.В. Релігійність. Велика українська енциклопедія. URL: https://vue.gov.ua/Релігійність.

Types and forms of religious behavior (for example, the frequency of visiting temples, knowledge of prayers, observance of fasts, familiarity with sacred texts, etc.), external and social religious displays, the subjective attitude of an individual to religion (religious self-identification), and the presence of certain religious ideas in the consciousness of a person can serve as criteria for religiosity.

The most characteristic display of religiosity in the first half of the 1920s was the showing of various kinds of 'miracles' that occurred in a number of provinces of the republic Галамай О.М. Релігійні чудеса на Вінниччині. Вінниччина: історія та сучасність. Вінниця, 2002 С. 50-54; Дровозюк С.І. Масовий релігійний рух в Україні у 20-х рр. ХХ ст.: історіографія проблеми. Наукові записки Вінницького державного педагогічного університету імені Михайла Коцюбинського. Серія: Історія. 2002. № 4. С. 247-253; Дяків В.М. Прояви релігійності українців в умовах більшовицької окупації початку 1920-х років. Вісник Львівського університету. Серія: Філологія. 2010. Вип. 43. С. 169-180; Олійник М.П. Прояви чудес та оновлення ікон на Поділлі в 1923 р. та боротьба влади з цим явищем. Освіта, наука і культура на Поділлі. 2013. Вип. 20. С. 509-519; Панасюк М.П. Релігійна творчість подолян в 1920-х рр. Наукові записки Тернопільського національного педагогічного університету імені Володимира Гнатюка. Серія: Історія. 2019. № 2. C. 123-127 та ін.. It was about the cases of 'renewal' of icons, church crosses and domes, spontaneous lighting of candles in churches, the appearance of 'miraculous stars', healing springs with 'sacred' ('living') water, prophetic ('miraculous') dreams/visions, etc. Rumors about such phenomena were actively spread and «influenced the increase in the religiosity of the population and often nullified the results of the anti-religious work of the party and Soviet bodies, as well as public organizations» ТригубО.П. Релігійність населення Півдня України за часів НЕПу (1921-1929 рр.). С. 32.. In 1923, the phenomenon of 'miracles' became more frequent; the religious movement gained mass effect even in the conditions of increased antireligious propaganda and struggle against church structures. The peak of the «miracles» occurred in 1923-1924. Two of the most talked about were the 'Kalynivske' and 'Valley of Josaphat' miracles Дяків В. «Фольклор чудес» у підрадянській Україні 1920-х років. Львів: Інститут народознавства НАН України, 2008. 256 с.; Завальнюк К., Стецюк Т. Релігійні «чудеса» на Поділлі (20-ті роки XX століття). Історія релігій в Україні. Наук. щорічн. Львів: Вид-во Львів. музею історії релігії «Логос», 2007. С. 409-419; Стадник О., Кузьмінець Н. Релігійне життя подільського села у вимірах радянської повсякденності 20-х рр. ХХ ст. Наукові записки ВДПУ імені Михайла Коцюбинського. Сер.: Історія. 2020. Вип. 31. С. 79-87..

In 1924, the spread of «miracles» not only gained a new scope but also took on a slightly different character - took place the appeals to the authorities to obtain permits for the organization of cross processions in the fields, with their consecration and prayers for rains, the consecration of wells, etc.

In general, in the middle of the 1920s, there was a duality among believers. Thus, on the one hand, in 1925, the authorities recorded a certain strengthening of the religious movement and an increase in the number of church visitors (especially on holidays) CSAPO of Ukraine. Fund 1. List 20. File 2118. P. 145.. At the same time, reverse processes were also observed: «...the expulsion of a priest from the church in the most disgraceful way has become the most common phenomenon, and at this time insulting and even beating a priest, despite the fact that he may be in his religious clothes and during the service, is considered a quite acceptable action», reported Katerynoslav DPU Cit. for: Тригуб О.П. Релігійність населення Півдня України за часів НЕПу (1921-1929 рр.). С. 34..

The policy of atheisation of society

One of the means of influencing believers was the policy of atheisation of society, which, according to Yu. Prysiazhniuk, became «a challenge to which fate assigned the role of a kind of 'examiner' of the peasants on their religiosity» Присяжнюк Ю.П. Село в умовах політики атеїзації суспільства 1920-х років: втрата віри. Український селянин. 2021. Вип. 26. С. 26.. The forced implementation of anti-religious measures became an effective tool in opposing secular ideology to religious one and led to a significant reduction of sacred space objects and prohibition on some religious practices.

Among the main directions and forms of anti-religious propaganda in the period under study, by which it is possible to 'read' the process of religiosity transformation, the scholars V. Silantiev and M. Oliinyk named the following:

«a) propaganda of Soviet festivity and ritualism (removal of icons, memorial plaques, inscriptions, and pictures of religious content from state institutions, educational institutions, and private homes; condemnation and prohibition on celebrating religious holidays, exclusion of religious rites of baptism of newborns, and wedding ceremony with Soviet 'oktiabryna' (communistic ceremony of baptising) and 'chervone' (revolutionary/red) weddings, and the religious rite of burial of the dead - with a corresponding civil rite;

b) publication and distribution of printed means of anti-religious propaganda (scientific, popular science, fiction, and periodicals with corresponding content ('Bezvirnyk', 'Prapor Marksyzmu', etc.);

c) introduction of censorship on the publication and distribution of religious literature, restriction and gradual cease of such literature publication in state publishing houses, banning its import from abroad;

d) oral propaganda (reports, lectures, group and individual conversations and interviews; anti-religious debates, collective readings of magazine and newspaper articles, theater and club performances with a relevant content);

e) mass anti-religious campaigns (celebrations of 'Komsomol Christmas', anti- Easter youth carnivals, public 'trials' of Jesus Christ);

f) visual, toponymic, and monumental propaganda: mass publication of posters and leaflets, organization of traveling exhibitions and museums of the history of religion (atheism) with various anti-religious exhibits; renaming of cities, villages, streets of religious content; destruction of church and religious monumental and architectural buildings with religious symbols and the installation of monuments with Soviet and anti-religious symbols;

g) atheist education and upbringing of students (closing of religious premises in educational institutions and the prohibition on performing any religious rites in them, cessation of the teaching of religious subjects, destruction of religious symbols);

h) discrediting the clergy and the cult of 'saints' of the Orthodox Church (accusations of falsification of 'relics', organization of 'miracles', involvement of certain clergymen in cooperation by the bodies of the DPU-NKVS of the Ukrainian SSR, and using them as agents and provocateurs)» Силантьєв В.І., Олійник М.М. Модернізація політико-правових і організаційних засад державно- церковних відносин в Україні... С. 91-99..

With the adoption in 1929 of the Constitution of the Ukrainian SSR and the provisions of the NKVS of the Ukrainian SSR «On Procedure of Organization, Activity,

Reporting, and Liquidation of Religious Communities and System of Accounting by Administrative Bodies of Composition of Religious Communities and Ministers of Religion» Положення про порядок організації, діяльності, звітності і ліквідації релігійних громад та систему обліку адмінорганами складу релгромад та служників культу. Харків, 1930., the position of the church significantly worsened. In addition, the same 1929, there «was the height of the campaign to remove bells and close churches» Пащенко В., Киридон А. Більшовицька держава і православна церква в Україні. 1917-1930-і роки. Полтава: АСМІ, 2004. С. 233..

«The tragic fate of Orthodox churches had a twofold impact on religious consciousness and culture,» emphasizes O. Ihnatusha. - On the one hand, especially during the campaign to close temples, it caused cultural resistance, activation of parish life, efforts to counteract vandalism: to protect the temple, and when it failed, to preserve its relics. On the other hand, it caused despair and undermined traditional religious psychology, led to addiction, resignation to these anomalies, callousness, indifference of human souls, and loss of a sense of holiness» Ігнатуша О. Закриття церков і релігійна свідомість... С. 84-85; Киридон А.М. Руйнування культових споруд (1920-1930-ті рр.)... С. 91-102..

In addition, in order to counteract the spread of religiosity, the authorities resorted to moral and psychological pressure, discredited representatives of the Church in every possible way, and applied repressive measures.

Displays of transformed religiosity

The activities of the communist authorities (administrative, organizational, ideological, educational) for the inculcation of the Soviet influence in the social and cultural space of the society and forming a scientific and materialistic worldview became a challenge for the mental and worldview visions of all groups of society, in particular for the representatives of the clergy and believers. However, despite all the innovations and, at the same time, the prohibition on religious ceremonies, the religiosity of the population was quite telling. One of the confirmations of this was the growth in the number of religious communities. Thus, «as of 1925, 12.208 religious communities were recorded, which numbered 7.063.154 people» CSAPO of Ukraine. Fund 1. List 20. File 2006. P. 83.. According to O. Trygub's analyzes, based on the NKVS data, «the number of Orthodox believers in Ukraine was: 1924 - 3.075.058 people, 1925 - 6.873.511, 1926 - 5.406.833, 1927 - 6.597.462, and 1928 - 6.758.665» ТригубО.П. Релігійність населення Півдня України за часів НЕПу (1921-1929 рр.). С. 35..

A telling aspect of the characteristics of religiosity is the indicators of observance of one of the rites of the Orthodox Church, which prepares believers for the sacraments of communion and confession - preparatory fasting (hovinnia). The one who fasted was obliged to attend church services (at least for a week), pray at home, refraining. Not fasting was considered a great sin (such people were considered 'apostates'). At the end of the 1920s, cases of apostasy really became more frequent in some places. But in some districts, there was even an increase in the number of those who were fasting: in 52 communities of Lubny District in 1925 there were 72.453 those who were fasting, in 1926 - 75.017, and in 1927 - 78.537; in 1926, there were 37.560 fasting people in 30 communes of Kharkiv region, and in the following year - 39.375 CSAPO of Ukraine. Fund 1. List 20. File 2494. P. 13.. The modern researcher of the history of the church O. Ihnatusha draws attention to the stratification of ritual values, which in the past constituted an organic unity, but the style of everyday life of the modern age turned them into relics of everyday practice: «The state's refusal to support these rituals forced them to the private sphere» Ігнатуша О. Інституційний розкол православної церкви в Україні... С. 258.. Considering the above-mentioned, we can obviously talk not so much about the extinction, but about the transformation of traditional religiosity.