The Russian Nationalist Party and Its Ideologist M.O. Menshikov on the Problems of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ways to Overcome Them

The article regards  the attitude of party ideologists and leaders of the Duma faction of All-Russian National Union (Russian nationalist party) to the problems of the Russian Orthodox Church at the  beginning  of the  20th century  and its role in the  political life of the  country.  The research  aims to  reveal the  perception of the role and place of the Russian Orthodox Church in the state life of the Russian Empire during the Third of June Monarchy period by nationally-conservative representatives of the All-Russian National Union party. The relevance  of this topic is determined both  by the  lingering ambiguity in the  perception of relation between the country and the confession by the modern society, and by a certain degree of newly emerged dominance of the conservative ideology in the political life of the country. The article considers the main problems the Russian Orthodox Church faced in the historical period in question, and the understanding of these problems and ways of solving them  by the said party. The reason  for such close attention on behalf of the party leaders  to the issues of the Church was their consideration  of the Orthodox Church primarily as one of the most  important components of the spiritual and educational foundations of the  country  and, consequently, every possible assistance  they provided to parliamentary bills in its support. At the  same  time, they did not  turn a blind eye to the negative trends that took place among a certain part of the clergy, which damaged both  the  Church itself and its reputation in the eyes of the population. Their active support,  therefore, was often accompanied by rather active criticism, when the nationalists felt that certain destructive  trends in the Church carried negative consequences for the  country.  Particular emphasis  is placed  on the lack of unity between representatives of the Duma faction and party ideologists, in particular M.O. Menshikov, on a number of issues related  to the Russian Orthodox  Church.  The attention is drawn to the peculiarity of the party: it had a significant number of active members from among  the  clergy. Most importantly,  one of the leading roles in the Duma activity of the party was played by the Bishop Evlogiy, one of the future leading church figures of emigration, who, until the end of his life, retained the desire to consolidate the Church for the sake of state  interests.

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