Daniel Peris Storming the Heavens: The Soviet League of the Militant Godless.

Cornell
University Press. Cornell, N.Y. 1998.

Bolshevik ideology, especially during the post Civil War era of the middle to late
1920’s, sought more than consolidation of power under one party; it demanded systemic
and dramatic reworking of society and cultural institutions not only to eliminate the
vestiges of ‘bourgeois’ Tsarist life, but also to promote the ideals and models of behavior
a new Communist state required. The task of societal reformation fell under the charge
of numerous Soviet volunteer groups, whose existence represented both a tangible agent
of change as well as a means to inculcate new values to a diverse population. Daniel
Peris’ book delves into the workings of one group, the Soviet League of the Militant
Godless, analyzing the propaganda and technique used during its operation as a means to
understand the evolving Soviet debate on the content and form of atheism in the 1920’s
and 1930’s. Assigned the task of eliminating Russian Orthodox belief from daily life, the
League attempted to respond to the changing prerogatives issued by the Party,
significantly altering the scope and mission of the group over the course of its two-decade
existence. Analyzing records from both the central archives of the League, as well as the
local branches in Iaroslav’ and Pskov, Perris provides insight into how Soviet ideology
moved from idea into practice, particularly in the language and ideals used to promote the
causes of atheism and anti-religion.
Covering eight chapters, Peris divides the Leagues evolution into three periods;
NEP period of 1921-1928, the first Five Year Plan 1928-1932, and prewar High
Stalinism between 1937-1941. The first chapter discusses the process by which the
Soviet authorities adopted the idea of ‘anti-religion’ as an official goal of the Communist
party, a movement backed in part by publications like Bezbozhnik (Godless) serving as a
forum for debating what direction the anti-religious movement should take. From these
pages the League is formed. Conflicts between early leaders of the atheist movement,
Iaroslavskii and Kostelovskaia, about the shape of the League, as well as problems both
practically and bureaucratically League cells faced dominate chapter two. Chapters three
and four both focus on the evolution of the League’s operations, with both promotion of
the quasi-religious ‘Soviet Atheism’ (Octobering naming ceremonies, Red Weddings)
and how ultimately campaigns pursued were nothing more than victory on paper.
Regional examples of Iaroslav’ and Pskov and their League operations fill out chapter
five, with the ultimate problems encountered seeking resources in the Soviet bureaucracy
and the problem of relying on volunteer cadres to carry out poorly coordinated
propaganda campaigns chapters six and seven, respectively. The eight chapter concludes
with the League’s short lived revival in the late 1930’s as a means to provide the hungry
Stalinist apparatus with fresh ‘enemies of the state’, with little focus on its original intent
and goal.
While the League makes for an interesting lens through which to view Soviet
ideology in expression, the organization of the book could be better arranged to promote
easier flow of argument. Seperate analysis of Iaroslav’ and Pskov feels disjointed, and
would be better served if integrated throughout the book. Beyond this, Peris’ work is
invaluable for those scholars of early Soviet culture and the more general audience
interested in Soviet attempts to bring ideology into daily life.