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

Abstract

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.