Jeff Eden is Assistant Professor of History at St. Mary's College of Maryland. His previous books include Slavery and Empire in Central Asia (2018) and Warrior Saints of the Silk Road: Legends of the Qarakhanids (2018).

• Acknowledgements


• Introduction: Debating the Wartime "Religious Revolution"


• 1. The Setting: From the Years of Repression to Stalin's "New Deal"


• 2. Praying with Stalin: Soviet Islamic Propaganda of the Second World War


• 3. Negotiating Stalin's Tolerance: Muslim Institutions in Wartime


• 4. Red Army Prayers and Homefront Lyrics: Glimpses of Soviet Muslim Life in Wartime


• 5. Bureaucrats Bewildered: Monitoring Muslims in Postwar Kazakhstan


• Conclusion


• Appendix: Soviet Religious Propaganda and Wartime Documents: A Selection


• Bibliography

It surprises many to learn that millions of Soviet Muslims fought on the frontlines against Hitler's armies. During the Second World War, as the Soviet Red Army was locked in brutal combat against the Nazis, Stalin ended the state's violent, decades-long persecution of religion. Religious elites of all faiths were suddenly tasked with rallying Soviet citizens to a "Holy War" against Hitler. Using evidence from many sources (in several languages including Russian, Tatar, Bashkir, Uzbek, and Persian), God Save the USSR recounts the wartime "religious revolution" that ensued, with a focus on the Soviet Union's Muslims.