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Karl Marx wrote the communist manifesto.
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Other Communist parties gained a foot hold in Britain and Germany. -
A revolution of the Russian workers took place and they over threw the government.
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The Bolsheviks assassinated the Tsar and his family. -
The party organised the League of the Godless to harass and persecute churchgoers.
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Joseph Stalin seized control of the Communist Party in 1927 and religious freedom became even more limited.
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The Law on Religious Associations was proclaimed, under which people were allowed to worship in the few churches that remained and congregations had to register with the government.
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Pope Pius XI, in direct response to the increasing and severe persecution of Christians in Russia, published his encyclical Divini Redemptoris, which condemned communism and called for a worldwide day of prayer for the sufferings of the Christians in Russia.
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Only 1% of the original number of churches remained.
