# Europe, Eastern, and the Soviet Union

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Abdu'l-Bahá, Europe, Eastern, and the Soviet Union, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Europe, Eastern, and the Soviet Union
> 
> Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Universal House of Justice, Research Department
> 
> , compiler
> 
> published in
> 
> Bahá'í Studies Review
> 
> 3.1
> 
> London: Association for Bahá'í Studies of English-Speaking Europe, 1993
> 
> Contents:
> 
> (Introduction to Special Supplement on Eastern Europe and The Soviet Union)
> 
> Compilation
> 
> 1. Eastern and Central Europe
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> 2. The Balkans
> 
> From a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> 3. Russia and the Soviet Union
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> 4. Germany's Role in Eastern Europe
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi
> 
> Endnotes
> 
> Special Supplement on
> 
> Eastern Europe and The Soviet Union
> 
> As in previous issues,
> The Bahá'í Studies Review
> is
> pleased to offer its readership a unique and previously unpublished compilation
> of extracts mainly from the letters of the Guardian. Its significance lies
> in the stirring and inspiring vision it portrays of the importance of the
> spiritual destiny of Eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet Union, and the many
> examples of the Guardian's penetrating insights into world events and the
> ethos of the times in which he was writing. These are not only of continuing
> historical interest, but are relevant and applicable to contemporary phenomena.
> The compilation contains guidance concerning the importance of introducing
> the Bahá'í Faith into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet
> Union, and provides insight into the means by which this process was started
> and nurtured through the efforts of pioneers and travelling teachers.
> 
> Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union:
> 
> A Compilation From the Bahá'í Writings
> 
> Compiled by the
> 
> Research Department of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> 1. Eastern and Central Europe
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi
> 
> An attempt must also be made to introduce the Faith, however tentatively,
> into each of the three neighbouring Baltic States, destined, in the course
> of time, to play a memorable part in the establishment of the Faith in
> North-East Europe. . .
> 
> (In the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi,
> appended to a letter dated 4 July 1957 to the National Spiritual Assembly
> of Scandinavia and Finland) [1]
> 
> The continued and most lamentable division of the German nation, setting
> up an almost insurmountable barrier between the vast majority of the German
> followers of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh and their isolated
> brethren in the eastern territories of their country; the increasing and
> widespread hostility evinced by powerful adversaries belonging to the most
> influential Christian Church in that land -- a hostility which is not only
> being intensified but is, slowly and imperceptibly, influencing officials
> in various departments of the state, as well as sections of the Press,
> and, to no small extent, the public itself; the prolonged existence of
> ideological and political barriers impeding contact between the believers
> residing in the Western Zone of Germany and the inhabitants of the territories
> lying beyond the Iron Curtain and particularly the Baltic States, Moldavia,
> White Russia, Albania and Rumania, assigned to them according to the provisions
> of the Ten Year Plan; the intense conservatism and religious orthodoxy
> of the people inhabiting the Frisian Islands, Crete and Greece, constituting
> yet another barrier, and raising yet another obstacle in the path of the
> pioneers who have consecrated themselves to the task of implanting the
> banner of the Faith in those islands and in that historic land, in pursuance
> of the objectives of the world Spiritual Crusade; the limitations placed
> upon them by their restricted numbers and modest resources; the temptations
> and distractions to which a swift return to material prosperity continually
> and increasingly exposes them -- these, no doubt, militate against the
> speedy and effectual accomplishment of their manifold and sacred tasks.
> 
> (In the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi,
> appended to a letter dated 14 August 1957 written on his behalf to the
> National Spiritual Assembly of Germany and Austria) [2]
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> He always looks with great expectation to the news of the progress
> of the Cause in Germany. That country together with the other states of
> central Europe has come out of the war, and the later developments of the
> political conditions, almost ruined. They all feel the need for some new
> spirit which will pull the world out of the morass it is in. If the teachings
> of the Cause be properly set forth, if its solution of the social problems
> be clearly expounded, the people will undoubtedly grasp its significance
> and further its progress.
> 
> (1 April 1926 to the Bahá'ís
> of Esslingen, published in "The Light of Divine Guidance: The Messages
> from the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís
> of Germany and Austria" (Hofheim-Langenhain: Bahá'í-Verlag,
> 1982), p.
> 30
> ) [3]
> 
> As Europe, especially the Eastern section, has suffered a great deal
> from the last war the people are quite ready and anxious to hear about
> peace.
> 
> (24 April 1926 to an individual believer)
> [4]
> 
> It is such a joy to him that the friends in Vienna are holding the unity
> feasts and that will surely help to keep the friends together and encourage
> them to greater action. Through your efforts as pioneer workers, Vienna
> must become a great Bahá'í centre in Central Europe. This
> is what Shoghi Effendi awaits and eagerly hopes.
> 
> (6 April 1928 to an individual believer)
> [5]
> 
> He is always very glad to hear of the good news of the progress of the
> Cause, especially in Vienna. That is a very important centre from which
> the Cause could spread to Eastern Europe and the Balkans. Those regions,
> being occupied by people of diverse nationality and religious belief, are
> always a hotbed of dissension and strife. They need the teachings of the
> Cause to pacify them and create among them the spirit of love and comradeship.
> . .
> 
> (12 October 1928 to an individual
> believer) [6]
> 
> I am sure you would be glad to know that Shoghi Effendi hears frequently
> from your wife, who is engaged in pioneer work in central Europe -- a work
> that is difficult and needs much patience. . . .
> 
> (22 December 1928 to an individual
> believer) [7]
> 
> Shoghi Effendi was very glad to hear of your trip to Budapest and your
> lecture together with Prof. R. Vambery on the Bahá'í outlook
> on peace. He sincerely hopes that before long we will have a group of believers
> there with a properly constituted Spiritual Assembly. Miss Martha Root
> hopes to visit there while travelling through Europe. We hope that her
> activities will enhance that work. Central Europe is in great need of the
> teachings for it has fully felt the consequences of war and international
> hatred. The people are seeking a spiritual light that will lead them to
> salvation.
> 
> (21 January 1932 to an individual
> believer) [8]
> 
> Central and Eastern Europe are much more receptive than any of the western
> countries. They have felt the evils of war and therefore are more receptive
> to spiritual matters.
> 
> (29 January 1932 to an individual
> believer) [9]
> 
> Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe, is a wonderful field
> for work. The great difficulties they have passed through these last years
> have made the people there peace-seeking and more ready to listen to a
> spiritual message proclaiming universal brotherhood. They are far more
> ready than the Latin countries that still possess the arrogance of victory
> in the last war.
> 
> Shoghi Effendi sincerely hopes that through the activities of you and
> the other teachers now in Europe the Cause will make a great move and many
> centres will be established in Central Europe. It is very important to
> have regular study classes to follow public lectures, so that those who
> become interested may not go astray. Mrs. [Louise] Gregory can be of great
> service along this line of grounding the few who are deeply attracted,
> in the teachings of the Cause.
> 
> (24 May 1932, to an individual believer)
> [10]
> 
> The Guardian firmly believes that it is preferable for you to stay in
> a centre and gradually establish an Assembly rather than cover much ground
> and leave no appreciable result once you are gone. What the Cause in Central
> Europe needs are well established centres that could take care of themselves
> and they in turn become focal points for radiating the light of guidance
> to the surrounding regions. And this can be achieved only by personal contact
> and meeting small groups as you are doing at present. With a little experience
> you will find for yourself how true and efficacious this method is.
> 
> (9 October 1932 to an individual believer)
> [11]
> 
> Martha [Root] is now in the Balkans and Central Europe attempting to
> start some permanent groups. Shoghi Effendi has arranged that Dr. Esslemont's
> book be translated into Greek, Rumanian and various other languages spoken
> in the Balkans as a preparation for intensive teaching work. When this
> work will be completed then Martha will be able to do her best, for with
> the present lack of proper literature she is greatly handicapped.
> 
> (18 January 1933 to an individual
> believer) [12]
> 
> In Eastern Europe the Cause is making wonderful headway. We earnestly
> hope Northern Europe will do the same. They are very enlightened and should
> appreciate the importance of peace and a spiritual regeneration of man.
> 
> (11 March 1933 to an individual believer)
> [13]
> 
> In one of your letters you mention Martha [Root]. She is surely doing
> wonderful work in Central Europe. She has not only interested many competent
> souls, but also has managed to have Dr. Esslemont's book translated and
> published in several languages. And this will render her work much more
> fruitful and lasting in effect.
> 
> (10 April 1933 to an individual believer)
> [14]
> 
> Dr. and Mrs. . . . are now here and give a glowing report of what is
> being accomplished in Bulgaria and the other countries of Eastern Europe.
> Shoghi Effendi hopes that these seeds, which these few American ladies
> are sowing so lovingly, will receive showers of divine blessings and gradually
> start to germinate. Those countries, more than anywhere else in Europe,
> should feel the disastrous and ravaging effects of war and conscientiously
> strive to achieve peace by an orientation of their human interests to what
> is spiritual and uplifting. . .
> 
> (30 April 1933 to an individual believer)
> [15]
> 
> He is indeed pleased to learn of the steps you have taken to extend
> your stay in Europe, and sincerely hopes that you will be thereby enabled
> to lend all the support and assistance you can to the extension of the
> teaching work in Austria, Germany and Central Europe. You are working in
> a field which is certainly most promising, and in which ardent and competent
> workers are most urgently needed. In Austria, in particular, the Guardian
> feels the possibilities of teaching are as numerous as they are effective.
> He would urge you, therefore, to concentrate at present all your efforts
> on that country, and also to closely collaborate with the friends in Vienna,
> so that through your united and harmonious co-operation the Cause may rapidly
> spread and become firmly established there. . .
> 
> (19 September 1936 to an individual
> believer) [16]
> 
> He considers the work of the Cause in Germany of primary importance;
> the German believers not only have the fertile field of their own people's
> minds to cultivate, but must, eventually, do a large part of the teaching
> work to be carried out in the future in Central and Eastern Europe. So
> he is very anxious to have your affairs running on a smooth administrative
> basis, and to also have you receive the necessary literature or means of
> printing it.
> 
> (30 July 1946 to an individual believer,
> published in "The Light of Divine Guidance: The Messages from the Guardian
> of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'ís of Germany
> and Austria" (Hofheim-Langenhain: Bahá'í 1982), vol.2, p.
> 
> 53
> ) [17]
> 
> 2. The Balkans
> 
> From a Tablet of 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> 
> The ills from which the world now suffers will multiply; the gloom
> which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain discontented. Its
> restlessness will increase. The vanquished Powers will continue to agitate.
> They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame of war. Movements,
> newly-born and world-wide in their range, will exert their utmost effort
> for the advancement of their designs. The Movement of the Left will acquire
> great importance. Its influence will spread.
> 
> (Cited in a letter dated 28 November
> 1931 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of the West,
> published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected Letters",
> (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982), p.
> 30
> ) [18]
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> In his moments of prayer Shoghi Effendi will think of you and the other
> new believers of Bulgaria. He sincerely hopes that each of you will become
> a flaming light and become a centre of radiation throughout that region.
> The Balkans have for over a century been a hot-bed of political conflicts
> and war; may they through your spirit and the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh
> become the fountain-head of peace and goodwill for all that continent.
> National hatreds and political and economic strife have almost ruined the
> civilized world; may you help to turn the steps of the people back to love
> of God and human brotherhood.
> 
> (9 November 1931 to an individual
> believer) [19]
> 
> He feels deeply thankful and gratified for the wonderful work you and
> Miss Jack have been doing in Bulgaria. He sincerely hopes that as a result
> of your work a centre will be created there which in turn will spread the
> Message through the Balkans. Those countries are in great need of the Divine
> Message because they have been divided into warring factions that have
> endangered the life of Europe. Through constant war those countries have
> come to the verge of ruin. They need the Message of Bahá'u'lláh
> to bring peace and change the prevailing hatred between the factions into
> a mutual understanding based upon the love of God and human brotherhood.
> 
> (11 November 1931 to an individual
> believer) [20]
> 
> Shortly after His departure from Adrianople where
> He was exiled for five years, Bahá'u'lláh wrote a Tablet
> in which He states that under every stone He has laid a seed which will
> soon germinate.
> 
> (1)
> 
> This promise refers to
> the regions around Adrianople which naturally include Bulgaria. His actual
> words are very promising and who knows but now is the beginning of the
> day when those promises are to be fulfilled.
> 
> The Balkan people have for long been suffering from war and social and
> political strife. It is high time that peace may reign, that differences
> may be set aside, that strife may cease. . .
> 
> (11 November 1931 to the Bahá'ís
> of Sofia) [21]
> 
> The Balkans, Shoghi Effendi believes, are a very fertile field, their
> people very ready. They have so long and severely suffered from wars, and
> their aftermath, that they undoubtedly long to enjoy a reign of permanent
> peace. But the work is nevertheless not so very easy, and not free from
> its own stumbling blocks. There is undoubtedly much prejudice to overcome,
> and much religious antagonism to be faced. But these are the thorns that
> any new field will have. We should not mind them. We should concentrate
> upon the promise given by Bahá'u'lláh that the hosts of the
> Kingdom are ever ready to pour down and assist anyone who would rise with
> a determined mind and a free heart.
> 
> (17 November 1931 to two believers)
> [22]
> 
> As the Faith is beginning to expand over the Bulgarian
> country, it is necessary to bring the people into contact with the Bahá'í
> literature; indeed this book
> 
> (2)
> 
> will give
> them [the opportunity] to obtain extensive knowledge of the teachings and
> history of the Faith, and will prepare their minds and hearts to accept
> the claim of Bahá'u'lláh.
> 
> (31 October 1932 to an individual
> believer) [23]
> 
> Miss Jack and Miss Root will surely highly value your assistance and
> co-operation and will be only too glad to have you with them. You all three
> are the shining stars in the dark and gloomy sky of the Balkans. For through
> the Message you have you are able to heal all those who have been for so
> long, and under so many different circumstances, victims of the crudest
> and most deep-seated prejudices.
> 
> (17 September 1933 to an individual
> believer) [24]
> 
> The German friends have been greatly suffering as a result [of national
> fanaticism], during the last two years, and their activities have been
> largely hampered. The countries where the people are relatively more sympathetic
> to the Teachings are Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and Romania. You should do your
> best, and in case you find it feasible, to extend your stay in the Balkans
> and try to establish some new centres there. . .
> 
> (5 October 1933 to an individual believer)
> [25]
> 
> But every effort should be made to get someone off to Greece, a very
> important country and far too long neglected. . .
> 
> (21 June 1953 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria) [26]
> 
> Her tomb
> 
> (3)
> 
> will become
> a national shrine, immensely loved and revered, as the Faith rises in stature
> in that country.
> 
> (24 May 1954 to the European Teaching
> Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States) [27]
> 
> . . . [Marion Jack] remained at her post, and won for herself imperishable
> fame, her resting-place becoming a shrine in Bulgaria, which the people
> of that country will increasingly honour and cherish.
> 
> (25 June 1954 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria) [28]
> 
> The Guardian wishes to assure you and your dear wife of his prayers
> on your behalf. He hopes every obstacle will be removed from your path,
> so that you can carry on the teaching work actively and diligently. Greece
> is a most important country, and should have a virile Assembly, particularly
> in Athens.
> 
> (10 November 1955 to an individual
> believer) [29]
> 
> Your loving letter of August 17th, with the photograph of the first
> Bahá'í Group in Athens, and showing the first Greek Bahá'í
> in Greece, was received, and presented to the beloved Guardian.
> 
> He was very happy to see the likeness of the Friends serving so diligently
> in Greece. He hopes your teaching efforts will be confirmed, and many seeking
> souls find eternal life through your sacrificial efforts. Greece is a most
> important country, as he has explained to you, and the Faith should be
> firmly implanted in that country, in many cities. The first step, of course,
> is a Spiritual Assembly in Athens.
> 
> (1 September 1956 to an individual
> believer) [30]
> 
> 3. Russia and the Soviet Union
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi
> 
> There is no doubt that the day will come when the very people who are
> now engaged in destroying the foundations of faith in God and promoting
> this baseless doctrine of materialism will arise and, by their own hand,
> snuff out the flame of this commotion. They will sweep away the entire
> structure of their unrestrained godlessness and will arise with heart and
> soul, and with hitherto unmatched vigour, to atone for their past failures.
> They will join the ranks of the followers of Bahá'u'lláh
> and arise to promote His Cause. . . If the friends remain steadfast, and
> discharge their duties with loyalty and prudence, the veils of God's inscrutable
> wisdom will be lifted and extraordinary events will be witnessed. The hosts
> of divine confirmation, fortified by the power of the Spirit, will, in
> unimaginable ways and from unexpected quarters, provide the means for the
> triumph of the Cause of our Self-Subsisting Lord, and in so doing will
> brighten the eyes of the faithful throughout the world.
> 
> (11 January 1923 to the Bahá'ís
> of Kirmán
> sh
> áh - translated from the Persian) [31]
> 
> To this uplifting movement, various external factors are being added
> that are tending to hasten and stimulate this process of internal regeneration
> so significant in the life of renascent Persia. The multiplicity and increasing
> facilities in the means of transportation and travel; the State visit of
> energetic and enlightened reformers to Persia's capital; the forthcoming
> and widely-advertised journey of the
> Sh
> áh himself to the
> progressive capitals of Western Europe; the repercussion of Turkey's astounding
> reforms among an essentially sensitive and receptive people; the loud and
> persistent clamour of a revolting order in Russia against the evil domination
> and dark plottings of all forms of religious sectarianism; the relentless
> vigour with which Af
> gh
> ánistán's ambitious Ruler, reinforced
> by the example of his gracious Consort, is pursuing his campaign of repression
> against a similar order of a corrupted clergy at home -- all tend to lend
> their force in fostering and fashioning that public opinion which can alone
> provide an enduring basis for the reform Movement destined to usher in
> that golden Era craved for by the followers of the Faith in Bahá'u'lláh's
> native land.
> 
> (6 December 1928 to the Bahá'ís
> of the West, published in "Unfolding Destiny: The Messages from the Guardian
> of the Bahá'í Faith to the Bahá'í Community
> of the British Isles" (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1981),
> p.
> 77
> ) [32]
> 
> Russia will in the future become a delectable paradise, and the teaching
> work in that land will be carried out on an unprecedented scale. The House
> of Worship established in its very heart will shine forth with dazzling
> splendour, and the call of the Most Great Name will reverberate in its
> temples, its churches, and its places of worship. We need to show forth
> patience and forbearance. In these momentous convulsions there lie concealed
> mighty and consummate mysteries, which will be revealed to men's eyes in
> the days to come.
> 
> (2 January 1930 to an individual believer
> - translated from the Persian) [33]
> 
> The catastrophic fall of mighty monarchies and empires in the European
> continent, allusions to some of which may be found in the prophecies of
> Bahá'u'lláh; the decline that has set in, and is still continuing,
> in the fortunes of the
> Sh
> í'ih hierarchy in His own native
> land; the fall of the Qájár dynasty, the traditional enemy
> of His Faith; the overthrow of the Sultanate and the Caliphate, the sustaining
> pillars of Sunní Islám, to which the destruction of Jerusalem
> in the latter part of the first century of the Christian era offers a striking
> parallel; the wave of secularization which is invading the Muhammadan ecclesiastical
> institutions in Egypt and sapping the loyalty of its staunchest supporters;
> the humiliating blows that have afflicted some of the most powerful Churches
> of Christendom in Russia, in Western Europe and Central America; the dissemination
> of those subversive doctrines that are undermining the foundations and
> overthrowing the structure of seemingly impregnable strongholds in the
> political and social spheres of human activity; the signs of an impending
> catastrophe, strangely reminiscent of the Fall of the Roman Empire in the
> West, which threatens to engulf the whole structure of present-day civilization
> -- all witness to the tumult which the birth of this mighty Organ of the
> Religion of Bahá'u'lláh has cast into the world -- a tumult
> which will grow in scope and in intensity as the implications of this constantly
> evolving Scheme are more fully understood and its ramifications more widely
> extended over the surface of the globe.
> 
> (8 February 1934 to the Bahá'ís
> of the West, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
> Selected Letters", pp.
> 155
> -
> 56
> ) [34]
> 
> Already a few among the protagonists of the Christian Religion admit
> the gravity of the situation that confronts them. "A wave of materialism
> is sweeping round the world"; is the testimony of its missionaries, as
> witnessed by the text of their official reports, "the drive and pressure
> of modern industrialism, which are penetrating even the forests of Central
> Africa and the plains of Central Asia, make men everywhere dependent on,
> and preoccupied with, material things. At home the Church has talked, perhaps
> too glibly, in pulpit or on platform of the menace of secularism; though
> even in England we can catch more than a glimpse of its meaning. But to
> the Church overseas these things are grim realities, enemies with which
> it is at grips. . . The Church has a new danger to face in land after land
> -- determined and hostile attack. From Soviet Russia a definitely anti-religious
> Communism is pushing west into Europe and America, East into Persia, India,
> China and Japan. It is an economic theory, definitely harnessed to disbelief
> in God. It is a religious irreligion. . . It has a passionate sense of
> mission, and is carrying on its anti-God campaign at the Church's base
> at home, as well as launching its offensive against its front-line in non-Christian
> lands. Such a conscious, avowed, organized attack against religion in general
> and Christianity in particular is something new in history. Equally deliberate
> in some lands in its determined hostility to Christianity is another form
> of social and political faith -- nationalism. But the nationalist attack
> on Christianity, unlike Communism, is often bound up with some form of
> national religion -- with Islám in Persia and Egypt, with Buddhism
> in Ceylon, while the struggle for communal rights in India is allied with
> a revival both of Hinduism and Islám."
> 
> I need not attempt in this connection an exposition of the origin and
> character of those economic theories and political philosophies of the
> post-war period, that have directly and indirectly exerted, and are still
> exerting, their pernicious influence on the institutions and beliefs connected
> with one of the most widely-spread and best organized religious systems
> of the world. It is with their influence rather than with their origin
> that I am chiefly concerned. The excessive growth of industrialism and
> its attendant evils -- as the aforementioned quotation bears witness --
> the aggressive policies initiated and the persistent efforts exerted by
> the inspirers and organizers of the Communist movement; the intensification
> of a militant nationalism, associated in certain countries with a systematized
> work of defamation against all forms of ecclesiastical influence, have
> no doubt contributed to the de-Christianization of the masses, and been
> responsible for a notable decline in the authority, the prestige and power
> of the Church. "The whole conception of God," the persecutors of the Christian
> Religion have insistently proclaimed, "is a conception derived from the
> ancient oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free
> men." "Religion," one of their leaders has asserted, "is an opiate of the
> people." "Religion," declares the text of their official publications,
> "is a brutalization of the people. Education must be so directed as to
> efface from the people's minds this humiliation and this idiocy."
> 
> The Hegelian philosophy which, in other countries, has, in the form
> of an intolerant and militant nationalism, insisted on deifying the state,
> has inculcated the war-spirit, and incited to racial animosity, has, likewise,
> led to a marked weakening of the Church and to a grave diminution of its
> spiritual influence. Unlike the bold offensive which an avowedly atheistic
> movement had chosen to launch against it, both within the Soviet union
> and beyond its confines, this nationalistic philosophy, which Christian
> rulers and governments have upheld, is an attack directed against the Church
> by those who were previously its professed adherents, a betrayal of its
> cause by its own kith and kin. It was being stabbed by an alien and militant
> atheism from without, and by the preachers of a heretical doctrine from
> within. Both of these forces, each operating in its own sphere and using
> its own weapons and methods, have moreover been greatly assisted and encouraged
> by the prevailing spirit of modernism, with its emphasis on a purely materialistic
> philosophy, which, as it diffuses itself, tends increasingly to divorce
> religion from man's daily life.
> 
> The combined effect of these strange and corrupt doctrines, these dangerous
> and treacherous philosophies, has, as was natural, been severely felt by
> those whose tenets inculcated an opposite and wholly irreconcilable spirit
> and principle. The consequences of the clash that inevitably ensued between
> these contending interests, were, in some cases, disastrous, and the damage
> that has been wrought irreparable. The disestablishment and dismemberment
> of the Greek Orthodox Church in Russia, following upon the blow which the
> Church of Rome had sustained as a result of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian
> Monarchy; the commotion that subsequently seized the Catholic Church and
> culminated in its separation from the State in Spain; the persecution of
> the same Church in Mexico; the perquisitions, arrests, intimidation and
> terrorization to which Catholics and Lutherans alike are being subjected
> in the heart of Europe; the turmoil into which another branch of the Church
> has been thrown as a result of the military campaign in Africa; the decline
> that has set in the fortunes of Christian Missions, both Anglican and Presbyterian,
> in Persia, Turkey, and the Far East; the ominous signs that foreshadow
> serious complications in the equivocal and precarious relationships now
> existing between the Holy See and certain nations in the continent of Europe
> -- these stand out as the most striking features of the reverses which,
> in almost every part of the world, the members and leaders of Christian
> ecclesiastical institutions have suffered.
> 
> (11 March 1936 to the Bahá'ís
> of the West, published in "The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
> Selected Letters", pp.
> 181
> -
> 83
> ) [35]
> 
> We have only to look around us, as we survey the fortunes of Christian
> ecclesiastical orders, to appreciate the steady deterioration of their
> influence, the decline of their power, the damage to their prestige, the
> flouting of their authority, the dwindling of their congregations, the
> relaxation of their discipline, the restriction of their press, the timidity
> of their leaders, the confusion in their ranks, the progressive confiscation
> of their properties, the surrender of some of their most powerful strongholds,
> and the extinction of other ancient and cherished institutions. Indeed,
> ever since the Divine summons was issued, and the invitation extended,
> and the warning sounded, and the condemnation pronounced, this process,
> that may be said to have been initiated with the collapse of the temporal
> sovereignty of the Roman Pontiff, soon after the Tablet to the Pope had
> been revealed, has been operating with increasing momentum, menacing the
> very basis on which the entire order is resting. Aided by the forces which
> the Communist movement has unloosed, reinforced by the political consequences
> of the last war, accelerated by the excessive, the blind, the intolerant,
> and militant nationalism which is now convulsing the nations, and stimulated
> by the rising tide of materialism, irreligion, and paganism, this process
> is not only tending to subvert ecclesiastical institutions, but appears
> to be leading to the rapid dechristianization of the masses in many Christian
> countries.
> 
> I shall content myself with the enumeration of certain outstanding manifestations
> of this force which is increasingly invading the domain, and assailing
> the firmest ramparts, of one of the leading religious systems of mankind.
> The virtual extinction of the temporal power of the most preeminent ruler
> in Christendom immediately after the creation of the Kingdom of Italy;
> the wave of anticlericalism that swept over France after the collapse of
> the Napoleonic empire, and which culminated in the complete separation
> of the Catholic Church from the state, in the laicization of the Third
> Republic, in the secularization of education, and in the suppression and
> dispersal of religious orders; the swift and sudden rise of that "religious
> irreligion," that bold, conscious, and organized assault launched in Soviet
> Russia against the Greek Orthodox Church, that precipitated the disestablishment
> of the state religion, that massacred a vast number of its members originally
> numbering above a hundred million souls, that pulled down, closed, or converted
> into museums, theatres and warehouses, thousands upon thousands of churches,
> monasteries, synagogues and mosques, that stripped the church of its six
> and a half million acres of property, and sought, through its League of
> Militant Atheists and the promulgation of a "five-year plan of godlessness,"
> to loosen from its foundations the religious life of the masses; the dismemberment
> of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy that dissolved, by one stroke, the most
> powerful unit which owed its allegiance to, and supported through its resources
> the administration of, the Church of Rome; the divorce of the Spanish state
> from that same Church, and the overthrow of the monarchy, the champion
> of Catholic Christendom; the nationalistic philosophy, the parent of an
> unbridled and obsolete nationalism, which, having dethroned Islám,
> has indirectly assaulted the front line of the Christian church in non-Christian
> lands, and is dealing such heavy blows to Catholic, Anglican, and Presbyterian
> Missions in Persia, Turkey, and the Far East; the revolutionary movement
> that brought in its wake the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico;
> and finally the gospel of modern paganism, unconcealed, aggressive, and
> unrelenting, which, in the years preceding the present turmoil, and increasingly
> since its outbreak, has swept over the continent of Europe, invading the
> citadels, and sowing confusion in the hearts of the supporters, of the
> Catholic, the Greek Orthodox, and the Lutheran churches, in Austria, Poland,
> the Baltic and Scandinavian states, and more recently in Western Europe,
> the home and center of the most powerful hierarchies of Christendom.
> 
> (28 March 1941 to the Bahá'ís
> of the West, published as "The Promised Day Is Come" (Wilmette: Bahá'í
> Publishing Trust, 1980), pp.
> 103
> -
> 5
> ) [36]
> 
> In one of the most remarkable Tablets revealed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
> passages of which have already been quoted on previous occasions, written
> in the evening of His life, soon after the termination of the first World
> War, He anticipates, in succinct and ominous sentences, the successive
> ebullitions which must afflict humanity, and whose full force the American
> nation must, if her destiny is to be accomplished, inevitably experience.
> "The ills from which the world now suffers," He wrote, "will multiply;
> the gloom which envelops it will deepen. The Balkans will remain discontented.
> Its restlessness will increase. The vanquished powers will continue to
> agitate. They will resort to every measure that may rekindle the flame
> of war. Movements, newly born and world-wide in their range, will exert
> their utmost effort for the advancement of their designs. The Movement
> of the Left will acquire great importance. Its influence will spread."
> 
> The agitation in the Balkan Peninsula; the feverish activity in which
> Germany and Italy played a disastrous role, culminating in the outbreak
> of the Second World War; the rise of the Fascist and Nazi movements, which
> spread their ramifications to distant parts of the globe; the spread of
> communism which, as a result of the victory of Soviet Russia in that same
> war, has been greatly accelerated -- all these happenings, some unequivocally,
> others in veiled language, have been forecast in this Tablet, the full
> force of whose implications are as yet undisclosed, and which, we may well
> anticipate, the American nation, as yet insufficiently schooled by adversity,
> must sooner or later experience.
> 
> (5 June 1947 to the Bahá'ís
> of the West, published in "Citadel of Faith: Messages to America 1947-1957"
> (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980), pp.
> 20
> -
> 27
> ,
> 37
> )
> [37]
> 
> From Letters Written on Behalf of Shoghi Effendi
> 
> He does not endorse, however, the circulation of the statement on communism,
> and considers that if such a document fell into the hands of the wrong
> people it could cause a great deal of harm, especially in those countries
> where the believers are living under Soviet rule or in states strongly
> influenced by communism. The issues touched upon are too vital and too
> interwoven with present-day politics for us to make any written comment
> upon them. However he feels that orally pioneers could be apprised of these
> things and warned to be extremely discreet in communicating our viewpoints
> to those they teach in Europe, and elsewhere. The word communism cannot
> be dissociated from the Soviet Political Regime, and great wisdom is required
> to make our viewpoint clear without giving the impression we are for or
> against any existing government.
> 
> (7 July 1947 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of the United States and Canada) [38]
> 
> 4. Germany's Role in Eastern Europe
> 
> From Letters Written by Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> (4)
> 
> The Plan now being prosecuted with such diligence, fidelity, unity
> and enthusiasm by the long-oppressed, great-hearted, indefatigable, much
> admired German Bahá'í community, despite the exhaustion following
> a prolonged ordeal, is entering upon its concluding phase. This first collective
> enterprise, embarked upon by a community which, by virtue of its size,
> its experience, its past achievements, occupies a pre-eminent position
> in the European continent, and is destined, in view of its capacity, its
> fortitude, its resilience and tenacity of purpose, to play an outstanding
> role in both contemporary and future Bahá'í history, must,
> through a concerted and supreme effort on the part of its members, be brought
> to a triumphant conclusion.
> 
> Its successful termination will be but a signal for a series of enterprises,
> each more glorious than the one preceding it, which will carry the fame
> of this community, already tested in the crucible of afflictive trials,
> and richly endowed by the tender favours of its Founder, Who blessed with
> His Presence its leading centre, to regions far beyond the confines of
> its homeland and as far as the Eastern fringes of the Asiatic continent.
> 
> In such a glorious venture, and in the course of so vast, so momentous
> and sacred an enterprise, it will, if it discharges manfully its present
> task, be seconded in its noble exertions by the concerted efforts of all
> the budding communities in the European continent, and will play a notable
> role, in collaboration with the trustees of 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Divine
> Plan labouring throughout the American continents, and with its sister
> communities toiling in Africa, South-East Asia, and Australasia, in achieving
> the spiritual conquest of the entire planet.
> 
> Much depends, however, on the manner in which it discharges the responsibilities
> of the present hour. The administrative base from which it must spread
> out into Eastern and Southern Europe, and beyond these spheres into the
> heart of Northern Asia, as far as the China Sea, must first be thoroughly
> consolidated. The valiant battalions that are to carry the banner of the
> Faith of Bahá'u'lláh to distant climes, amidst alien races,
> and throughout the length and breadth of immense territories and in inhospitable
> surroundings, must, to begin with, increase in number, acquire added experience,
> and deepen in their faith and understanding. The literature with which
> the bearers of God's redeeming Message must be equipped when launching
> out beyond the frontiers of their native land must, preparatory to their
> arduous crusade, be multiplied and adapted to the mentality of those diversified
> peoples and races inhabiting so vast a section of the globe.
> 
> (30 October 1951 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria, published in "The Light of Divine Guidance",
> pp.
> 178
> -
> 79
> ) [39]
> 
> The total success of the Plan, now demanding the concentrated attention
> of the entire German Bahá'í community, is indeed indispensable
> for the adequate discharge of the still greater tasks that lie ahead of
> its members, and which, in themselves, will constitute the prelude to the
> unfoldment of the glorious Mission awaiting them, as soon as the present
> obstacles are removed, in both Eastern Europe and the heart of the Asiatic
> continent. The extent of their future undertakings in both continents;
> their contribution to the Global Crusade to be launched throughout the
> whole planet; their particular and, in many ways, unique reinforcement
> of the work, connected with future Bahá'í research and scholarship,
> in view of the characteristic qualities of painstaking thoroughness, scientific
> exactitude and dispassionate criticism distinguishing the race to which
> they belong -- these are too vast and complex to be assessed at the present
> time.
> 
> . . .
> 
> The participation of the Bahá'í community, in both Germany
> and Austria, individually as well as officially, in the forthcoming Stockholm
> intercontinental Conference -- to which I trust its members will contribute
> a notable share, in view of the part they are destined to play in the future
> awakening of the European continent -- will, no doubt, launch them upon
> the initial stage of their glorious Mission beyond the confines of their
> respective countries. Theirs will be the twofold and highly challenging
> task of consolidating, steadily and rapidly, the administrative foundations
> of the Structure which is being painstakingly established by them in the
> heart of the European continent, and of implanting the banner of the rising
> Order of their Faith in the neighbouring sovereign states and dependencies
> of that continent and even beyond its borders as far as the heart of Asia.
> 
> (30 May 1952 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria, published in "The Light of Divine Guidance",
> pp.
> 185
> -
> 86
> ) [40]
> 
> The German and Austrian Bahá'í Communities, on whom 'Abdu'l-Bahá  lavished His
> favours, for whose future He cherished such high hopes, occupying such
> a central position in a continent endowed with such great potentialities,
> must, by reason of their unique and predominant position, their past history,
> their virility, tenacity and splendid accomplishments, assume a preponderating
> role in the conduct of a Crusade in which all Bahá'í communities
> dwelling on the European mainland, both young and old, are called upon
> to participate to the utmost of their capacity with all the resources at
> their disposal.
> 
> They stand, moreover, at this crucial hour in their destiny, on the threshold
> of a new era in their history -- the era that must witness the initiation
> of their mission beyond the borders of their homeland, and one which must
> culminate in their carrying the banner of the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh
> across the eastern frontiers of Europe, and as far as the territories lying
> in the heart of the Asiatic continent.
> 
> (21 June 1953 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria) [41]
> 
> To their [German Bahá'ís] brethren in the Eastern Zone,
> so gravely handicapped by the unfortunate disabilities which they have
> so long and so patiently suffered, consistent support, in whatever way
> possible, should be extended, and every avenue should be explored to ensure
> that the flame burning in those valiant hearts, so heavily burdened by
> cares and anxieties, will not be extinguished. The no less vital obligation
> to introduce, however tentatively, the Faith in the territories lying beyond
> the eastern confines of their homeland, and particularly in the Baltic
> States, must be promptly and seriously considered, for upon it will, to
> a very great measure, depend the success of the Mission envisaged for them
> by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and now confirmed through the provisions of the
> Ten Year Plan. . .
> 
> (14 August 1957 to the National Spiritual
> Assembly of Germany and Austria) [42]
> 
> End Notes
> 
> 1. "'
> Say,
> ' Bahá'u'lláh
> Himself declares in the Súriy-i-Ra'ís, '
> this Youth hath
> departed out of this country and deposited beneath every tree and every
> stone a trust, which God will erelong bring forth through the power of
> truth.
> '" ("God Passes By" (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing
> Trust, 1987), p.
> 181
> ) [
> Back
> ]
> 
> 2. J. E. Esslemont, "
> Bahá'u'lláh
> and the New Era
> ", (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1987).
> [
> Back
> ]
> 
> 3. Tomb of Marion Jack in Sofia, Bulgaria.
> [
> Back
> ]
> 
> 4. All extracts cited in this section
> are from postscripts in the handwriting of Shoghi Effendi appended to letters
> written on his behalf. [
> Back
> ]
> 
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> — *Europe, Eastern, and the Soviet Union (Used by permission of the curator)*