Editing Saint Basil's Cathedral (section)

==== 1918–1941 ====

During [[World War I]], the church was headed by [[protoiereus]] [[Ivan Vostorgov|Ioann Vostorgov]], a [[nationalism|nationalist]] preacher and a leader of the Black-Hundredist [[Union of the Russian People]]. Vostorgov was arrested by [[Bolshevik]]s in 1918 on a pretext of embezzling nationalized church properties and was executed in 1919. {{citation needed|date=March 2021}} The church briefly enjoyed [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s "personal interest";<ref>Colton, p. 111</ref> in 1923 it became a public museum, though religious services continued until 1929.<ref name=OFS/>

[[Bolshevik]] planners entertained ideas of demolishing the church after Lenin's funeral (January 1924).<ref>Colton, p. 220</ref> In the first half of the 1930s, the church became an obstacle for [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[urbanism|urbanist]] plans, carried out by Moscow party boss [[Lazar Kaganovich]], "the moving spirit behind the reconstruction of the capital".<ref name=A121>Akinsha et al., p. 121</ref> The conflict between preservationists, notably [[Pyotr Baranovsky]], and the administration continued at least until 1936 and spawned [[urban legend]]s. In particular, a frequently-told story is that Kaganovich picked up a model of the church in the process of envisioning Red Square without it, and Stalin sharply responded "Lazar, put it back!" Similarly, Stalin's master planner, architect Vladimir Semyonov, reputedly dared to "grab Stalin's elbow when the leader picked up a model of the church to see how Red Square would look without it" and was replaced by pure [[functionary]] Sergey Chernyshov.<ref>Colton, p. 277</ref>

In the autumn of 1933, the church was struck from the [[Russian cultural heritage register|heritage register]]. Baranovsky was summoned to perform a last-minute survey of the church slated for demolition, and was then arrested for his objections.<ref name=C269>Colton, p. 269</ref> While he served his term in the [[Gulag]], attitudes changed and by 1937 even hard-line Bolshevik planners admitted that the church should be spared.<ref>"St. Basil's was returned to state list in the mid-1930s" – Colton, p. 269</ref><ref>See, for instance, [[Arkady Mordvinov]]'s entry for the second phase of [[Narkomtiazhprom]] contest (1936), with the church in place.</ref> In the spring of 1939, the church was locked, probably because demolition was again on the agenda;<ref>Colton, p. 837</ref> however, the 1941 publication of Dmitry Sukhov's detailed book<ref>{{cite book | title=Pokrovsky sobor (Покровский собор) | publisher=Soviet Academy of Architecture | year=1941 }}</ref> on the survey of the church in 1939–1940 speaks against this assumption.