Russian revolution

The Benefits of the “Cultural Turn” in Slavic Studies for the Studies of the Russian Revolution

Among the huge amount of books and articles published at the Revolution’s Hundredth anniversary, the author focuses on several volumes translated from English into Russian: Yuri Slezkine’s “The House of Government”, Mark Steinberg’s “The Russian Revolution. 1905–1921”, and Martin Malia’s “History’s Locomotives.” Comparing the authors’ approaches the author draws conclusions about their scientific and political implications. The books reflect trends in the Slavic studies over the last decades.

Cultural Hegemony, Religion and the 1917 Russian Revolution

The ambition of this article is to initiate an understanding of the Russian Orthodox Christianity at the time of the revolution in a way that is different from the classical approach which is often focused on its institutional side and limited to historical facts. Its main thesis is that rather than being an obstacle, Orthodox Christianity to some extent contributed to the revolution’s success by providing familiar semantic background against which the majority of Russians interpreted, accepted and fought for the socialist ideals.

Godbuilding and Authoritarianism: A Discussion of Bolshevism and Religion

The thesis that socialism and communism have some traits in com‑ mon with religion has often been argued for. Here we analyze the well‑known positions of A.V. Lunacharsky on religion, which he developed in close connection with Gorky’s God‑building, and A.A. Bogdanov’s critique of religion and religious language as a form of authoritarian ideology.

Antichrist, Katechon and the Russian Revolution

Today, the ideas of the Russian monarch or Russia itself as “katechon” are popular in the right‑conservative circles, and on this basis attempts are made to explain the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent events of the twentieth century as a fight against “katechon” up to his “ritual murder”. According to these views, the Freemasons and Jews were responsible for the Revolution, as they were preparing the coming of the Antichrist. What role such representations played in pre‑revolutionary and revolutionary Russia and whom did they attract?

Evangelical Christians and Baptists of Russia in the Revolutionary Process of 1917–1922: Transformation of Identity (Based on Materials of the Confessional Press)

The article deals with the process of political self‑determination of the leaders and believers of Russian evangelical denominations — evangelical Christians and Baptists, during the years of the Revolution and the Civil War in Russia (1917–1922), as reflected in the confessional periodicals. The author studies this question through changes in the views of denominational leaders.

New Israel and Red October: A Movement of Russian Religious Dissent at the Turn of Epochs

The article is devoted to the analysis of the circumstances under which the New Israel group of Russian Spiritual Christians repatriated from Uruguay to Soviet Russia in the 1920s. New Israelites were the largest of all overseas “sectarian” groups that responded to the Soviet authorities’ call to return to the country and take part in creating collective agricultural enterprises. The co‑operative enterprise established by that religious community on the territory of the present day Rostov Region endured for a few years.

Popular Religiosity and Images of Priesthood during the First World War and Revolution

The article investigates the reasons for the spread of negative images of the clergy, captured during the World War I in the letters of ordinary people and, since 1917, in visual sources.

Canon Law in a Bolshevik Courtroom: The Russian Revolution as an Orthodox Legal Revolution

This paper examines how the rapid shift in the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the state in 1917 both facilitated and under‑ mined the Church’s longstanding attempt to come to terms with its canonical tradition. Legal restrictions placed upon the Church forced Orthodox leaders to consider the value of their own canonical laws and how to apply them in an inimical context.

The Most Holy Governing Synod on the Eve and During the Revolution. An Historical and Sociological Essay

The article analyzes the composition of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917. It presents the social portrait of the bishops who were members of the Synod just before and during the Revolution. The article explores the social origin, educational background, time of priestly and monastic ordination, and the length of office of all pre‑Revolutionary Synodal members. The author then makes the similar analysis of the new Synod nominated by the “revolutionary” ober‑procurator V.N. Lvov.

«We Express Our Full Readiness to Help the Soviet Power...» A Short Experience of Integration of the Russian «Spiritual Christians» into the Socialist Economy of the 1920s

The article examines the history of a short‑lived cooperation between the Soviet power and the communities of the Russian Spiritual Christians (dukhovnye khristiane), such as Dukhobors, Molokans, and New Israelites. After the revolution and during the 1920s, the communities of these Christian sects created a type of economic associations that formally could correspond to the Bolsheviks’ economic policies. The Bolsheviks considered these communities as their allies, believing that they could become agents of socialist economic forms in the agriculture.