Christmas festivities have been significantly impacted by a number of dictatorships, frequently mirroring the beliefs and practices of these oppressive regimes.
Under Joseph Stalin, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations were outlawed in the Soviet Union from 1929 – 1935.[1] These celebrations were seen by the Soviet authorities as religious and so at odds with communist doctrine. Christmas trees, a representation of these occasions, were outlawed as well, forcing people to celebrate in secret. When the prohibition was repealed in 1935, Christmas was replaced with a more secular New Year’s celebration that prioritized Soviet principles over religious ones.
Christmas was also attempted to be reshaped to suit the philosophy of the Nazi regime in Germany.[2] By downplaying its Christian message and highlighting Aryan ancestry and racial purity, the Nazis reinterpreted Christmas as a neo-pagan, Nordic holiday. The Christian aspects of the celebration were removed, and Nazi iconography and customs were added. This revision was a part of a larger initiative to bring Nazi ideology into line with every element of German culture, even personal family festivities.
Other totalitarian nations, such as Cuba and Venezuela, have adopted distinct holiday traditions.[3] Christmas was outlawed in Cuba in 1969 by Fidel Castro and was brought back in 1997 after Pope John Paul II’s visit. Castro saw religion as a danger to communist principles, thus he implemented the ban as part of his efforts to repress it. Despite the dire humanitarian and economic situation, Venezuela’s socialist government has utilized Christmas as a propaganda tool by planning lavish festivities and events that support its official line of thinking.
Join us this holiday season in praying for those in restricted nations to know the true meaning of Christmas.
-P. David
[1] https://www.rbth.com/history/335706-how-stalin-banned-christmas
[2] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nazis-fought-original-war-christmas-180961513/
[3] https://babalublog.com/2019/12/25/merry-communism-spending-christmas-under-a-totalitarian-socialist-dictatorship/
Image above: generated with the help of AI.