Which group has dominated Russia's politics throughout most of its history?
1 Answer
The Russian Orthodox Church has certainly been a perennially powerful force in Russian life since the country became Christian at the end of the 1st millennium CE.
Explanation:
There have been ups and downs. The church in Tsarist times was an institution of the State. Peter the Great and Catherine the Great both reined in the Church.
The Communists decimated the Church to the point that there was only about 500 churches left in Russia. Many clerics were killed outright, most of the remainder were sent to the Gulag. The Communists separated Church and State. The remaining of the Churches that were allowed to function often had secret connections with the KGB.
The Church has been recovering recently and now is again strong force in Russian Society.
There are separate Russian Orthodox Churches in America and elsewhere. The suppression and isolation of the Church in Russia during the Communist era cut lose the International versions of the Church. Re-unification has been messy.
