Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism in the Second Half of the 19th Century and Early 20th Century

The article is based on the pre-revolutionary journalism. It reveals the attitude of Orthodox church authors of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century to a number of subjects related  to the problems  of the Russian nationalism. The traditionally high interest of the  Russian society in general  and Orthodox Christians in particular  in the  attitude of the  Russian Orthodox Church to nationalism in its various manifestations  accounts for the relevance of the publication.  Considering the return of the modern church journalism to the same range of problems  that  concerned representatives of the Orthodox  clergy, theologians, missionaries and teachers of theological schools in the pre-revolutionary period, it would seem  that  an appeal to the historical experience of their understanding is fairly significant  and essential. The article examines the ways in which church authors used to understand the nationalism, their ideas about  its place in the life of an Orthodox Christian, along with its challenges and threats. It is noted  that although the Orthodox Church did not have a single and consistent view of the nationalism, most  church authors tried to give this phenomenon a direction  that  would  not  contradict the  gospel  teaching  and could become a constructive and creative  factor  for the  Russian life. At the same time, it is noted  that, when discussing the nationalism, church authors of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century often gave this concept a meaning different from that of modern scientists, politicians and journalists. Standing at the Christian viewpoint, church authors  rejected the militant, “pagan”, secular kind of the nationalism that involved only the earthly prosperity of the people.  They supported another kind of nationalism consisting in the right of peoples to a special spiritual path, cultural and state  identity and independence.

1. Aleksy, (Dorodnitsyn). (1915). Complete Works in 2 volumes (Vol. 2). Saratov. [In Russian].

2. Anastasy, (Opotsky). (1871). Vzgliad na delo rasprostraneniia i utverzhdeniia pravoslaviia v Zapadnom krae Rossii: (V pamiat’ vossoedineniia uniatov s Pravoslavnoiu Tserkov’iu) [A Look at the Spread and Establishment of Orthodoxy in the Western Territory of Russia: (In Memory of the Reunification of the Uniates with the Orthodox Church)]. Minskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (29), 226–230. [In Russian].

3. Anastasy, (Opotsky). (1881). O tom, chto my dolzhny neizmenno khranit’ pravoslavie kak verneishee i sovershenneishee ispovedanie Bogootkrovennoi istiny i kak luchshee dostoianie russkogo naroda [That We Must Invariably Preserve Orthodoxy as the Truest and Most Perfect Confession of God-Revealed Truth and as the Best Asset of the Russian People]. Minskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (7), 181–198. [In Russian].

4. Andrei, (Ukhtomsky). (1916). Ob osnovanii Vostochno-russkogo obshchestva [On the Founding of the East Russian Society]. Ufimskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (4), 131–133. [In Russian].

5. Andrei, (Ukhtomsky). (1899). Natsional’noe obosoblenie khristianskikh narodov i istoricheskaia zadacha tserkvi [National Separation of Christian Peoples and the Historical Task of the Church]. Bogoslovskii vestnik, 2(6), 194–208. [In Russian].

6. Antonii, (Khrapovitsky). (1909). O natsionalizme i patriotizme [On Nationalism and Patriotism]. Volynskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (51–52), 1015–1022. [In Russian].

7. Beliaev, V. A. (1915). Natsionalizm, voina i khristianstvo [Nationalism, War and Christianity]. Petrograd: Tip. M. Merkusheva. [In Russian].

8. Bronzov, A. A. (1915). Predosuditelen li “natsionalizm”? [Is “Nationalism” Reprehensible?]. Tserkovnyi vestnik, (2), 40–44. [In Russian].

9. Butkevich, T. I. (1911). Zadachi russkogo narodnogo samosoznaniia [The Tasks of Russian National Identity]. Kolokol, (5th and 9th of February). [In Russian].

10. Butkin, N. G. (1914). Uroki voiny [Lessons of War]. Ekaterinburgskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (49), 1085–1093. [In Russian].

11. Debol’sky, N. G. (1916). Nachalo natsional’nostei v russkom i nemetskom osveshchenii [The Beginning of Nationalities in Russian and German Coverage]. Zhurnal Ministerstva narodnogo prosveshcheniia, (February), 183–207. [In Russian].

12. Diakonov, G. P. (1865). Slovo v den’ rozhdeniia blagochestiveishei gosudaryni, imperatritsy Marii Aleksandrovny i tezoimenitstv blagovernykh gosudarei, velikikh kniazei Nikolaia Nikolaevicha i Nikolaia Nikolaevicha [Word on the Birthday of the Most Pious Her Majesty the Empress Maria Alexandrovna and the Namesakes of the Right-Believing Sovereigns, Grand Dukes Nikolai Nikolaevich and Nikolai Nikolaevich]. Chernigovskie eparkhial’nye izvestiia, (17), 525–534. [In Russian].

13. Dimitrii, (Sperovskii). (1899). O liubvi k otechestvu [On Love for the Country]. Novgorodskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (11), 717–722. [In Russian].

14. Dobroserdov, K. (1879). Slaviano-russkaia tsivilizatsiia i pravoslavie [Slavic-Russian Civilization and Orthodoxy]. Astrakhanskie eparkhial’nye vedomost, (1), 9–12. [In Russian].

15. E. N. [Nikanor (Kamenskii)]. (1905). Narodnost’ i kosmopolitizm [Nationality and Cosmopolitanism]. Grodnenskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (13), 385–396. [In Russian].

16. Filosofskii slovar’ logiki, psikhologii, etiki, estetiki i istorii filosofii [Philosophical Dictionary of Logic, Psychology, Ethics, Aesthetics and History of Philosophy]. (1911). Saint Peterburg: Brokgauz-Efron. [In Russian].

17. Fokin, I. (1906). Russkoe natsional’noe samosoznanie v nashi dni [Russian National Identity Today]. Eniseiskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (12), 440–444. [In Russian].

18. Ivanov, A. A. (2020). Problematika russkogo natsionalizma v tserkovnoi publitsistike vtoroi poloviny XIX — nachala XX vv. [The Problems of Russian Nationalism in Church Journalism of the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Centuries]. Tetradi po konservatizmu, (1), 176–196. [In Russian].

19. Kapralov, E. Z. (1892). Natsional’nost’ i khristianstvo [Nationality and Christianity]. Stavropol’skie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (10), 269–274. [In Russian].

20. L–ky, P. [Levitsky P. A.?]. (1907). Dukhovenstvo i natsional’nyi vopros [The Clergy and the National Question]. Kievskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (2), 29–36. [In Russian].

21. Luzhetsky, D. G. (1898). Slovo v den’ rozhdeniia blagochestiveishego Gosudaria Imperatora Nikolaia Aleksandrovicha [Word on the Birthday of the Most Pious His Majesty the Emperor Nikolai Alexandrovich]. Kaluzhskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (10), 337–342. [In Russian].

22. Men’shikov, I. (1906). K voprosu o narodnoi shkole [On the Issue of Public School]. Pravoslavnaia Podoliia, (5–6), 356–357. [In Russian].

23. Metallov, V. (1912). O natsionalizme i tserkovnosti v russkoi dukhovnoi muzyke: (Pamiati patriarkha Germogena i arkhimandrita Dionisiia) [On Nationalism and Churchness in Russian Sacred Music: (In Memory of Patriarch Hermogenes and Archimandrite Dionysius)]. Moscow: Rus. pechatnia. [In Russian].

24. Natsionalizm. Polemika 1909–1917. [Nationalism. Polemic of 1909-1917]. (2015). Moscow: Modest Kolerov. [In Russian].

25. Nikandr, (Fenomenov). (1913). Slovo v den’ prazdnovaniia 200-letiia Aleksandro-Nevskoi lavry, 30-go avgusta 1913 goda [Word on the Day of the Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, August 30, 1913]. Izvestiia Sankt-Peterburgskoi eparkhii, (17–18). [In Russian].

26. Nikon, (Rozhdestvensky). (1914). Moi dnevniki [My Diaries]. (Vol. 1: 1910, pp. 19–22). Sergiev Posad: Tip. Sv.-Tr. Sergievoi lavry. [In Russian].

27. Pestriakov, V. M. (1912). Natsionalizm i russkoe pravoslavnoe dukhovenstvo [Nationalism and the Russian Orthodox Clergy]. Rukovodstvo dlia sel’skikh pastyrei, (3), 62–68. [In Russian].

28. Platon, (Petrov). (1908). Natsional’naia ideia i ee znachenie v dele kul’turnogo razvitiia narodov [The National Idea and Its Significance in the Cultural Development of Peoples]. Kholmskaia tserkovnaia zhizn’, (11), 419–425. [In Russian].

29. Pravoslavnaia tserkov’ i russkii natsionalizm (vtoraia polovina XIX — nachalo XX veka) [The Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism (Second Half of the 19th — early 20th Centuries)]. (2021). Saint Peterburg: Vladimir Dal’. [In Russian].

30. “Preemstvo ot ottsov”: Konstantin Leont’ev i Iosif Fudel’. Perepiska. Stat’i. Vospominaniia [“Succession from the Fathers”: Konstantin Leontiev and Iosif Fudel. Correspondence. Articles. Memories]. (2012). Saint Peterburg: Vladimir Dal’. [In Russian].

31. Rech’ sviashchennika Filosofa Ornatskogo [Speech of the Priest Philosopher Ornatsky]. (1890). Kievskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (28), 624–631. [In Russian].

32. Religiia i natsionalizm [Religion and Nationalism]. (2021). Moscow: Izd-vo BBI. [In Russian].

33. Religiozno-filosofskoe obshchestvo v Sankt-Peterburge (Petrograde), 1907–1917: istoriia v materialakh i dokumentakh: v 3 t. [Religious-Philosophical Society in St. Petersburg (Petrograd), 1907–1917: History in Materials and Documents: in 3 vol.]. (2009). (Vol. 3: 1914–1917). Moscow: Russkii put’. [In Russian].

34. Rozanov, N. (1896). Liubov’ k otechestvu s khristianskoi tochki zreniia [Love for the Fatherland from a Christian Perspective]. Moskovskie tserkovnye vedomosti, (2), 15–19. [In Russian].

35. Tareev, M. M. (1908). Osnovy khristianstva: Sistema religioznoi mysli. [Basis of Christianity: The System of Religious Thought]. (Vol. 4). Sergiev Posad: Tip. Sv.-Tr. Sergievoi lavry. [In Russian].

36. Tolkovyi slovar’ zhivogo velikorusskogo iazyka Vladimira Dalia [Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language by Vladimir Dahl]. (1905). (Vol. 2). SPb. ; Moscow: T-vo M. O. Vol’f. [In Russian].

37. Tserkovnoe osmyslenie natsionalizma: pro et contra [Church Understanding of Nationalism: Pro et Contra]. (2021). In Pravoslavnaia tserkov’ i russkii natsionalizm (vtoraia polovina XIX — nachalo XX veka): Antologiia [Orthodox Church and Russian Nationalism (Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Century): Anthology] (pp. 5–98). Saint Peterburg: Vladimir Dal’. [In Russian].

38. Vetlin, K. M. (1915). Golgofa i voskresenie [Golgotha and Resurrection]. Tverskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (30), 563–567. [In Russian].

39. Vostorgov, I. I. (1911). Vernost’ prizvaniiu [Loyalty to Vocation]. Vladivostokskie eparkhial’nye vedomosti, (18), 578–588. [In Russian].

40. Vvedensky, D. I. (1901). Obshchekhristianskoe edinenie i natsional’naia samobytnost’ narodov [Common Christian Unity and National Identity of Peoples]. Vera i Tserkov’, (3), 364–382. [In Russian].