Land to the Working People: The Agrarian Question in the Political Programme of Old Believers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2019.4.436Keywords:
Revolution of 1917; Old Belief; peasantry; agrarian question; land questionAbstract
This article considers a number of provisions by some Old Believer concords regarding the agrarian question. The analysis is based on documents and acts from Old Believer organisations, congresses, and meetings, journalistic materials, and epistolary documents. The Old Believers suggested a solution to the land question that involved elements of the liberal (Kadet) programme. However, unlike the Kadets (who suggested in 1917 that the land be given to peasants in perpetuity), Old Believers (including peasants) insisted that the land given to peasants be treated as private property. A small number of Old Believer peasants acted according to the principles established by the Socialist Revolutionaries. However, the Old Believer solution to the agrarian question was characterised by a unique combination of features. To a large extent, this resulted from the peculiarities of the democratic and polemic structure of the Old Believer community. Old Believer peasants (who mostly had solid, functioning households) always trusted the representative bodies and forums in which they actively participated. Thus, formulated at their congresses and meetings, the peasants’ points of view were actively taken into account by Old Believer authorities and had a considerable influence on the resolutions of the congresses. However, the principle of unpredeterminedness (Rus. непредрешенчество), zealously followed in the political documents of the adherents of old rite, was a major point of disagreement. The position of the Old Believers on the most important political and economic issues was characterised by the pronounced Christian (even chiliastic) tone of their political projects, with its ‘demand for truth, justice, brotherhood, and love’.
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Osvyashchennyi Sobor. Den’ 2-i [The Consecrated Cathedral. Day 2]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 25, pp. 457–459.
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Seleznev, F. A. (2014). Staroobryadchestvo kak kontrelita? [Old Belief as Counter-Elite?]. In Rossiiskaya istoriya. No. 6, pp. 188–192.
Sel’skokhozyaistvennyi i ekonomicheskii byt staroobryadtsev (po dannym ankety 1909 goda) [The Agricultural and Economic Life of Old Believers (According to the Poll of 1909)]. (1910). Moscow, Izdanie Soveta vserossiiskikh s’’ezdov staroobryadtsev. XX + 290 p.
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Shakhnazarov, O. L. (2004). Otnoshenie k sobstvennosti u staroobryadtsev (do 1917 goda) [Old Believers’ Attitude to Property (until 1917)]. In Voprosy istorii. No. 4, pp. 53‒70.
Shakhnazarov, O. L. (2007). Korni russkogo sotsializma [The Origins of Russian Socialism]. In Voprosy filosofii. No. 6, pp. 24–37.
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Volgar`. (1917). Oblastnoi s’’ezd staroobryadtsev pomorskogo soglasiya v Nizhnem Novgorode, 7-go maya s. g. [A Regional Congress of Pomortsy Old Believers in Nizhny Novgorod, on 7 May of this Year]. In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 22, p. 415.
Vpechatleniya na vserossiiskom s’’ezde pomortsev [Impressions of the All-Russian Congress of Pomortsy]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 21, p. 385.
Vserossiiskii s’’ezd khristian staroobryadtsev pomorskogo soglasiya v g. Moskve 30 aprelya. 1 i 2 maya 1917 g. [The All-Russian Congress of Old Believer Pomortsy Christians in Moscow on 30 April 30 and 1–2 May 1917]. (1917). In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 1, pp. 3‒8.
Znakomyi. (1917). Sovety rabochikh, soldatskikh deputatov i ikh interesy [Councils of Workers, Soldier Deputies and Their Interests]. In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 2, pp. 2–4.
Borovik, Yu. V. (2003). Staroobryadchestvo Urala i Zaural’ya na perelome epoch (1905–1927) [The Old Belief of the Urals and Trans-Urals at the Turn of the Era (1905–1927)]. Avtoref. dis. … kand. ist. nauk. Yekaterinburg, S. n. 26 p.
Buldakov, V. P. (2017). Krest’yanstvo i agrarnoe dvizhenie [The Peasantry and the Agrarian Movement]. In Petrov, A. V. (Ed.). Rossiiskaya revolyutsiya 1917 g. Vlast’, obshchestvo, kul’tura v 2 t. Moscow, ROSSPEN. Vol. 2, pp. 183–210.
Davydov, M. [P.] (1917). Zemel’nye ocherki [Land Sketches]. In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 4, pp. 7–9.
Fomichev, S. [G]. (1917). K narodu [To the People]. In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 22, p. 410.
Golos Staroobryadcheskogo Povolzh’ya [The Voice of the Old Believer Volga Region]. (1917). No. 1.
I[van]. K[irillov]. (1917). Sud Bozhii [God’s Judgement]. In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 50, pp. 793–795.
K krest’yanam-staroobryadtsam [To Old Believer Peasants]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 17, pp. 309–310.
Kerov, V. V. (2018). Staroobryadchestvo v 1917 g. [Old Belief in 1917]. In Rossiiskaya istoriya. No. 1, pp. 143–160.
Khristianstvo i sotsializm [Christianity and Socialism]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 29, pp. 524–526.
Kirillov, I. A. (1913). Statistika staroobryadchestva [Old Believer Statistics]. Moscow, published by “Staroobryadcheskaya mysl”. 28 p.
Klyukina, Yu. V. (2003). Staroobryadtsy i politicheskie partii v 1905–1917 gg. [Old Believers and Political Parties between 1905 and 1917]. In Problemy istorii Rossii. Yekaterinburg, Volot. Iss. 5, pp. 327–349.
Krupskaya, N. K. (1961). Voprosy ateisticheskogo vospitaniya. Sbornik statei [Issues of Atheistic Education. A Collection of Articles]. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo Akademii pedagogicheskikh nauk RSFSR. 176 p.
Latypov, I. R. (2011). “Desyatiletie svobody” (1905–1917 gg.) dlya staroobryadtsev Kazanskoi gubernii [“The Decade of Freedom” (1905–1917) for Old Believers of Kazan Province]. In Vestnik Ekaterinburgskoi dukhovnoi seminarii. Iss. 2, pp. 222–229.
Lenin, V. I. (1974). Vybory v Uchreditel’noe Sobranie i diktatura proletariata [Elections to the Constituent Assembly and Dictatorship of the Proletariat]. In Lenin, V. I. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii. 5th Ed. 55 Vols. Moscow, Politizdat. Vol. 40, pp. 1–2.
Malekhonov, L. [A.] (1917). O zemle [On Land]. In Bratstvo. Tserkovno-obshchestvennyi zhurnal, izdavaemyi periodicheski sovetom Vserossiiskogo staroobryadcheskogo vo imya Svyatogo Nikoly bratstva. No. 1, pp. 3–5.
Mel’nikov, F. E. (1999). Kratkaya Istoriya drevlepravoslavnoi (staroobryadcheskoi) Tserkvi [A Short History of Old Belief]. Barnaul, Izdatel’stvo Barnaul’skogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. 557 p.
Monyakova, O. A. (2007). Politicheskie predpochteniya kovrovskikh staroobryadtsev v dumskii period (1905–1917) [Political Preferences of the Kovrov Old Believers during the Duma Period (1905–1917)]. In Staroobryadchestvo: istoriya, kul’tura, sovremennost’. Materialy v 2 t. Moscow, S. n., pp. 54–58.
Oblastnoi s’’ezd staroobryadtsev pomorskogo soglasiya v Nizhnem Novgorode, 7-go maya s. g. [The Regional Congress of Pomortsy Old Believers in Nizhny Novgorod, on 7 May of this Year]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 22, p. 415.
Oblastnoi s’’ezd staroobryadtsev. N. Novgorod [Regional Congress of Old Believers. Nizhny Novgorod]. (1917). In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 1, p. 11.
OR RGB [Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library]. Stock 164 (Mel’nikovy. 1856–1917). List 2; Stock 246 (Rogozhskoe kladbishche). List 2; Stock 260 (P. P. Ryabushinskii).
Osvyashchennyi Sobor. Den’ 2-i [The Consecrated Cathedral. Day 2]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 25, pp. 457–459.
Pamyatnaya zapis’ o zasedaniyakh Vserossiiskogo s’’ezda [A Memorandum about the Meetings of the All-Russian Congress]. (1917). In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 1, pp. 4–8.
Politicheskaya programma staroobryadtsev vsekh soglasii [Political Programme of Old Believers of all Concords]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 23, pp. 417–419.
Politicheskoe ob’’edinenie staroobryadtsev [Ufimskoi gubernii] [Political Association of Old Believers of [Ufa Province]]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 32‒33, pp. 575–576.
Politicheskoe soveshchanie staroobryadtsev. Prodolzhenie. Po zemel’nomu voprosu [Political Meeting of Old Believers. Continuation. On the Land Question]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 38, pp. 641–642.
Postanovlenie narodnogo sobraniya staroobryadtsev g. Egor’evska i ego okrestnostei, 30 aprelya 1917 g. [The Resolution of the People’s Assembly of Old Believers of Yegoryevsk and Its Vicinities, on 30 April 1917]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 22, pp. 414–415.
Protasov, L. G. (1997). Vserossiiskoe uchreditel’noe sobranie. Istoriya rozhdeniya i gibeli [All-Russian Constituent Assembly. The History of Its Establishment and Collapse]. Moscow, ROSSPEN. 380 p.
Pyzhikov, A. V. (2013). Grani russkogo raskola. Zametki o nashei istorii ot XVII veka do 1917 goda [The Facets of the Russian Schism. Notes about Our History from the 17th Century to 1917]. Moscow, Drevlekhranilishche. 646 p.
Red’kina, O. Yu. (2003). Staroobryadtsy Nizhnei Volgi v 1917 g. [Old Believers of the Lower Volga in 1917]. In Russkaya pravoslavnaya tserkov’ i mezhkonfessional’nye otnosheniya v Nizhnem Povolzh’e. Volgograd, Izdatel’stvo Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, pp. 38–47.
Red’kina, O. Yu. (2012). Starovery Nizhnei Volgi i Dona v kontse XIX – ХХ veke [The Old Believers of the Lower Volga and Don Regions in the Late 19th – 20th Centuries]. In Otechestvennaya istoriya. No. 4, pp. 15–27.
Rezolyutsiya sobraniya saratovskogo politicheskogo komiteta staroobryadtsev pomortsev [The Resolution of a Meeting of the Saratov Political Committee of Pomortsy Old Believers]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 21, p. 398.
Seleznev, F. A. (2005). D. V. Sirotkin i Vserossiiskie s’’ezdy staroobryadtsev v nachale XX veka [D. V. Sirotkin and the All-Russian Congresses of Old Believers in the Early 20th Century]. In Otechestvennaya istoriya. No. 5, pp. 78–90.
Seleznev, F. A. (2014). Staroobryadchestvo kak kontrelita? [Old Belief as Counter-Elite?]. In Rossiiskaya istoriya. No. 6, pp. 188–192.
Sel’skokhozyaistvennyi i ekonomicheskii byt staroobryadtsev (po dannym ankety 1909 goda) [The Agricultural and Economic Life of Old Believers (According to the Poll of 1909)]. (1910). Moscow, Izdanie Soveta vserossiiskikh s’’ezdov staroobryadtsev. XX + 290 p.
Shakhnazarov, O. L. (2002). Staroobryadchestvo i bol’shevizm [Old Belief and Bolshevism]. In Voprosy istorii. No. 4, pp. 72–97.
Shakhnazarov, O. L. (2004). Otnoshenie k sobstvennosti u staroobryadtsev (do 1917 goda) [Old Believers’ Attitude to Property (until 1917)]. In Voprosy istorii. No. 4, pp. 53‒70.
Shakhnazarov, O. L. (2007). Korni russkogo sotsializma [The Origins of Russian Socialism]. In Voprosy filosofii. No. 6, pp. 24–37.
Shelokhaev, V. V. (2015). Konstitutsionno-demokraticheskaya partiya v Rossii i emigratsii [The Constitutional Democratic Party in Russia and in Emigration]. Moscow, ROSSPEN. 863 p.
Sirotkin, D. V. (1917). Rech’ na Vserossiiskom s’’ezde staroobryadtsev [A Speech at the All-Russian Congress of Old Believers]. In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 24, pp. 448–450.
Slovo Tserkvi [Slovo Tserkvi]. (1917). No. 10–11, 17, 22, 23, 32–33, 38, 43.
Taranets, P. V. (2010). Staroobryadchestvo i rossiiskoe revolyutsionnoe dvizhenie (konets XIX – nachalo XX vv.) [Old Belief and the Russian Revolutionary Movement (Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries)]. In Sud’ba staroobryadchestva v XX – nachale XXІ v. Istoriya i sovremennost’. Kiev, Vinnitsa, Izdatel’stvo Instituta ukrainskoi arkheografii i istochnikovedeniya imeni M. S. Grushevskogo. Iss. 4, pp. 81–115.
Volgar`. (1917). Oblastnoi s’’ezd staroobryadtsev pomorskogo soglasiya v Nizhnem Novgorode, 7-go maya s. g. [A Regional Congress of Pomortsy Old Believers in Nizhny Novgorod, on 7 May of this Year]. In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 22, p. 415.
Vpechatleniya na vserossiiskom s’’ezde pomortsev [Impressions of the All-Russian Congress of Pomortsy]. (1917). In Slovo Tserkvi. No. 21, p. 385.
Vserossiiskii s’’ezd khristian staroobryadtsev pomorskogo soglasiya v g. Moskve 30 aprelya. 1 i 2 maya 1917 g. [The All-Russian Congress of Old Believer Pomortsy Christians in Moscow on 30 April 30 and 1–2 May 1917]. (1917). In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 1, pp. 3‒8.
Znakomyi. (1917). Sovety rabochikh, soldatskikh deputatov i ikh interesy [Councils of Workers, Soldier Deputies and Their Interests]. In Vestnik Vserossiiskogo soyuza khristian pomorskogo soglasiya. No. 2, pp. 2–4.
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2019-12-21
How to Cite
Kerov, V. (2019). Land to the Working People: The Agrarian Question in the Political Programme of Old Believers. Quaestio Rossica, 7(4), 1243–1258. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2019.4.436
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Problema voluminis
