A post-telegram from L. D. Trotsky to members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b)

source: Kremlin archives. In 2 books. / Book. 1. Politburo and Church. 1922-1925 - M. - Novosibirsk, "Russian Political Encyclopedia" (ROSSPEN), "Siberian Chronograph", 1997, p. 311-313

Archive: APRF, f. 3, op. 60, d.12

 No. 12-3

A post-telegram from L. D. Trotsky to members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) about the appeal of the group of "progressive clergy" and the tasks of the press. May 14, 1922

TOP SECRET

P [ochto] -t [message] No. 357

To all members of the Politburo of the Central Committee, a copy of the Pravda editorial board, a copy of the Izvestia editorial office

About the appeal of the loyal group of clergy, headed by Bishop Antonin, there is a small note in Pravda; there is nothing in Izvestia. I am afraid that the press will not pay due attention to this document, which, however, will have enormous consequences, in the sense of a complete split between the democratic Svenekhovsky part of the Church and its monarchically counter-revolutionary elements. Now, of course, we are fully and wholly interested in supporting the Smenovekhov church group against the monarchist, not one iota, of course, deviating from our state principle of the separation of church from state, and, even more, from our philosophical materialistic attitude to religion. Now, however, the main political  task is to prevent the Smena-Vekhi clergy from being terrorized by the old church hierarchy. The separation of the church from the state, which we have carried out once and for all, does not at all mean indifference of the state to what is happening in the church, as in a material-social organization, and not as in a community of believers. The top of the church have at their disposal a wide variety of thunders to intimidate the loyal elements. The policy of black ecclesiastical terrorism remained in full force until the last days. Oppositional loyal and progressive elements of the clergy, proceeding partly from the falsely and purely formally understood principle of separation of church from state, partly observing the state's tolerance towards the counter-revolutionary leaders of the church, which went beyond all limits, did not expect that the state would support them as citizens.

One of the tasks of the press in this matter at the present time is precisely to raise the spirit of the loyal clergy, to instill in them confidence that within the limits of their indisputable rights, the state will not give him offense, although, of course, the state does not at all encroach on regulation. purely religious disputes and relationships.

In any case, it is necessary:

1) to give the appeal of Antonin and others a prominent place as a symptom of historical significance.

2) to give in the press in general as much information as possible about the movement in the church, publicizing in every possible way, emphasizing and commenting on Smenovekhov's voices.

3) without hiding our materialistic attitude to religion, not to put it forward, however, in the near future , that is, in assessing the current struggle, to the fore, so as not to push both sides towards rapprochement, but on the contrary, to give the opportunity for the struggle to unfold in the brightest and strong form.

4) criticism of Smenovekhov's 1 * clergy and the laity adjacent to it should be conducted not from a materialist-atheistic point of view, but from a conventional church-democratic point of view: you are too intimidated by the princes, you do not draw all conclusions from the dominance of the church monarchists, you do not appreciate all the guilt the official church before the people and the revolution, etc., etc.

5) however, even now there is a need for historical-materialist articles about the Orthodox Church, with the clarification of the main features of its development as a class-class organization (why there was no bourgeois reformation in the Orthodox Church, a binding of the beginning bourgeois reformation in the church and the proletarian revolution in the state, etc., etc.)

6) The Main Political Education is to prepare in every possible way so that all questions, not only of the church, but also of religion, are put squarely, in the most popular public form - in leaflets and oral speeches - in the very near future, when the internal struggle of the church will attract the attention of the broadest the masses and will loosen the soil for the seeds of atheism and materialism.

14 / Ѵ 22

L. Trotsky

R. 3. I repeat once again that the editors of Pravda and Izvestia do not realize the enormous historical importance of what is happening in and around the church. Only by the greatest pressure is it possible to obtain an article on this question. Then everything goes back to normal. The smallest Genoese rubbish takes up entire pages, while the deepest spiritual revolution in the Russian people (or, rather, the preparation of this deepest revolution) is relegated to the backyard of newspapers.

L. Trotsky

- L. 16, 17. Typewritten original, the first signature - facsimile, the second - typewritten. On l. 16 under the address of the mailing by the hand of the secretary L. D. Trotsky M. S. Glazman of the litter: “t. Stalin. " Here in the upper right corner is the stamp of the Bureau of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) with the handwritten date "May 20, 1922" and the incoming number.

- RCKHIDNI, f. 2, op. 1, d.27072, l. 1, 2. Another copy of the same typewritten bookmark. On l. 1, under the mailing address, a handwritten note: “vol. Lenin ". Here, on top of the hand of V. I. Lenin, ink droppings: “See. from. 2 : Steklov and Bukharin. Return . " In the postscript, VI Lenin underlined in pencil the words: "The smallest Genoese rubbish takes up whole pages" and on the left margin there is a sign: "X". Below, the same sign is repeated, and a note is made with a pencil by the hand of V. I. Lenin: “Right! 1000 times is correct! Down with rubbish! 15 / Ѵ. Lenin ". Below it is NI Bukharin's ink droppings: “It has already been sent to us. N. Bukharin ". On l. 1 stamp "Archives of Comrade Lenin" withdate "17.V.22". Here is also a handwritten note: “Vkh [odeyuschiy] 445 / L. 16.V.22 ".

- Published according to the copy of RCKHIDNI: Izvestia of the Central Committee of the CPSU. 1990. No. 4. S. 196-197.

Notes and Comments:

1 * Corrected in the Smonechowski document .