Canadian Communists: The Doukhobor Experiment

Abstract

The Doukhobors have been in Canada for thirty-five years, but their history can be traced back to the early eighteenth century when they were a mystical sect rebelling against the Russian church. At an early period they became communists and came in conflict with the government because of their opposition to military service. They were transported to a region near the Sea of Azof and later were moved to the Caucasus Mountaints. Their leaders were strong men with thoecratic claims and patriarchal privileges. In 1895 their resistance to military conscription brough on a severe clash with the government, and Tolstoy wrote to the London Time appealing for help for the Doukhobors. Prince Kropotkin was instrumental in having them emigrate to Canada where they arrived in the spring of 1899, taking up homesteads in Saskatchewan. A large number later moved to British Columbia. In Canada difficulties arose because of conflicting mores. More serious was their objection to compulsory school attendance and to the regi...