IDEOLOGICAL DICTATORSHIP AND THE BUREAUCRATIZATION OF "GODLESSNESS": THE ACTIVITIES OF THE UNION OF MILITANT ATHEISTS AND THE RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE IN ADJARA (1930–1940)

Abstract

Abstract. Against the backdrop of Batumi's historical tolerance and cultural pluralism, this paper examines the mechanisms of implementing the anti-religious policy of the Soviet period in Adjara during the 1930s and 1940s. It discusses the activities of the "Union of Militant Atheists" (UMA) as part of the repressive and ideological apparatus. Based on materials from the National Archives of Adjara, the paper analyzes the process of the institutionalization of atheism, statistical data recorded in archival documents, trends in the closure of houses of worship, and the internal resistance of the population against the totalitarian system.