RADICALISM FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. NORDIC AND SOVIET RUSSIAN FAMILY LEGISLATION IN THE 1920's.

the 1920's "In less than two years the new Soviet power in Russia, one of the most backward countries in Europe, has done more to emancipate the women and make them equal to men, than all enlightened ‘democratic ’ states, taken together, have done in the preceding 130 years.”1 With this statement, made in 1919, Lenin was referring to the family and marriage law that had recently been issued by the new Soviet Russian government. In a study of Soviet family policy during the Interwar period, Wendy Goldman states that, by insisting on individual rights and gender equality and by abolishing the inferior legal status of women and creating equality under the law, "the Code constituted nothing less than the most progressive family legislation the world ever had seen".2 Judging from the statements above Russia had taken a huge step towards modernising society. This path had already been set upon, starting from the reform era of the 1860’s that was symbolised by the abolishment of serfdom in 1861, except the pace was stepped up after 1917. The new Russian family legislation issued in March 1918 meant a radical secularisation of marriage.3 It was now stated that only through registration with civil authorities was the marriage legalised; thus, marital ceremonies in church would not provide a legal basis. This meant that the Russian Orthodox Churc