Working with this premise, the militant atheism of the Soviet leadership initially considered that religion would disappear on its own through the coming of the socialist system. Therefore, after the revolution, initially the Bolsheviks gave tolerance to religion, with the exception of Orthodoxy (which was subject to persecutions due to its links with Tsarism). When it became clear after the USSR was established that religion was not dying away on its own, the USSR began general antireligious campaigns.[45]