While invariably oppressive toward religion after 1917 and throughout the interwar period, the Soviet government made a dramatic shift of policy in 1943 when Stalin opted for a “concordat” with the Russian Orthodox Church. This act led to a frenzied rapprochement between the state and the Orthodox Church and some other denominations in the lands under Soviet control. Only then did the Soviet state make a consistent effort to employ the clergy for the war effort and later for pacification of the borderlands. Religion was a minor factor in the war between the pro- and anti-Soviet forces in the old territories because the younger generation, the primary source of manpower in the Red Army and partisan and antipartisan collaborator forces, was largely atheist. Religious sentiments were far stronger in the borderlands, although their impact on the decision to choose sides is difficult to measure.