In the article “Anti-religious agitation and propaganda in the context of state-church relations on the Lower Volga in the 20s. XX century” provides an analysis of the activities of state authorities in relation to the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20s XX century on the example of the Lower Volga region. In particular, methods of pressure on the church are considered, as well as the creation and development of the propaganda apparatus and methods of its work. From specific examples of regional significance, the author of the article compiles a portrait of the emerging paradigm of relations between the communist government and the Russian Orthodox Church, which with certain minor changes will become decisive in the following decades of the history of the Soviet state. As part of an analysis of the methods of direct pressure on the church, the article discusses such facts as the mass closure of churches, repressions against clergy and active parishioners, and the seizure of property from churches and monasteries. In this context, an analysis is given of the activity of a new apparatus of antireligious agitation and propaganda, which was only emerging in these years. In the final part of the article, the results of the activities of local government in both of these areas are analyzed based on changes in the religiosity of society.
