State atheism

State atheism is government policy that promotes atheism or suppresses religious institutions and practices, often through restrictions on worship, religious education, and clergy.

Militant atheism: An organized effort to oppose religious belief and reduce religion’s influence in public life. This activist tradition supplied arguments and campaigns for governments seeking to weaken religious influence.
Soviet Union: A socialist federation that existed from 1922 to 1991, governed by the Communist Party. The Soviet government built one of the longest-running and most influential state-atheist systems.
French Revolution: A political and social upheaval in France from 1789 to 1799 that ended the monarchy and transformed state institutions. Revolutionary efforts to subordinate the Catholic Church anticipated later state campaigns against religious authority.
League of Militant Atheists: A Soviet organization founded in 1925 to spread atheism and oppose religious belief through education and public campaigns. It translated official atheism into mass organizing, exhibitions, publications, and local activism.
State religion: A religious tradition officially adopted or recognized by a government as the religion of the state. It represents the opposite arrangement: government affiliation with religion rather than promotion of atheism.
Freedom of religion: The right to hold, change, practice, or reject religious beliefs without coercion. State restrictions on worship and belief conflict directly with this right.
Albanian state atheism: The campaign under Enver Hoxha that made Albania the world’s first constitutionally atheist state in 1967. Albania went further than most communist states by formally banning religious practice.
Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution: A campaign during the French Revolution to reduce Catholic influence and replace Christian practices with revolutionary civic forms. It was an early example of a revolutionary government trying to displace established religious life.
Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union: The repression of Christian clergy, institutions, and believers by Soviet authorities across multiple periods. The fate of Christian communities illustrates the human and institutional costs of Soviet religious policy.
Secular state: A state that does not officially identify itself with a religion and separates public authority from religious institutions. A secular state can protect religious practice instead of promoting atheism or suppressing institutions.

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