Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

ole of Soviet churches in Soviet foreign policy. Replete with stimulating hypotheses, many of which are not contradicted by the data available to me; the problem lies in the proof. 81. The Soviet Union bewati rearming in 1948. From a high of 187.9 billion ru- bles in 1944, military expenditures had fallen to 66.1 billion. This now rose to 79 billion rubles in 1949 and to 96.4 billion in 1951 (Georg von Rauch, A History of So- viet Russia [New York: Praeger Publishers, 1967], pp. 405-406). High military ex- penditures continue to the present, the Soviets regularly devoting about 12-13% of CNP to military spending, compared to 5 or 6% by the U.S.A. In 1962 the total So- viet military budget was estimated at 20-25 billion rubles, and in 1978 it was 150 billion (Newsweek, 12 June, 1978, p. 15). (The Soviet ruble was devalued in 1958 to 1/10 its former value. ) lee ; 82. Fletcher (p. 34) credits it with success in connection with the Korean war, - but later the churches’ contributions declined. ; ; 83, “Russia Tour,” BWA files. Cf. BV, 5/55. 84. BV, 5/55, p. 80. The peace portfolio appears to have been included in the general secretary's ites rather than the president’s. Karev’s successor Bychkov be- came the member in subsequent committees. 85. Metropolitan Nikodim took the lead in securing the ouster of Hromadka and Ondra. It is striking that it was primarily Alexei Stoian of the intemational de- partment who represented the Baptists. No critical history of the CPC has been produced, but the CPC has printed reports after major assemblies as well as nu- merous communiqués. An invaluable document collection to assess the 1968 Sovieti- zation of the CPC is Christliche Friedenskonferenz 1968-1971, Georges Casalis, et al, (Wuppertal: Jugenddienst Verlag, 1971). 86. This is well illustrated by the letters of official greeting sent to such gather- ings as the Christian Peace Assembly in Prague (1977) and was stated explicitly bya German diplomat at Belgrade (1977) for the follow-up Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 14 Oct. 1977). 87. BV, 2/72, pp. 6-7. A strange omission is any reference to the Soviet Peace Fund to which Orthodox and Baptists have donated extensively. Begun in April 1961 upon the initiative of “public activists,” its funds are said to have been given for nonmilitary purposes in Vietnam, the Middle East, Peru, and Pakistan (BV, 5/ 71, pp. 4-6). No financial statements have been released.nor did Karev himself know how much the Baptists had donated (BV, 3/73, p. 10). Local churches have com- plained that the Moscow leaders urged donating as a virtual state requirement. 88. Acknowledged by Karev in his Congress Report (BV, 2/70, p. 34). 89. BV, 4/78, pp. 39-40. 90. Published in Izvestiia, 12 July 1977; an open letter to President Nixon (30 Dec. 1972) urging him to halt the bombing in Vietnam is another example. The grossest and most widespre