Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Kharkiv province in the late imperial period (1909 – 1917)

Abstract

The research aim. The article aims to examine the features of the activities of Protestant sects (primarily Baptists and Evangelical Christians) in the territory of the Kharkiv province at the end of the 20th century. The chronological boundaries of this study cover the period from 1909 to 1917. This is the time of the renewal of repressive policies by the secular and clerical authorities against informal religious groups. Special attention is paid to the features of the counteraction resorted to by dissident organizations in difficult conditions for themselves, the analysis of the means of their agitation, and the personal characteristics of the most famous figures of the Protestant movement of Sloboda Ukraine.

Research methodology. The methodological basis of the article is the principles of historicism and objectivity, implemented using a number of methods: general logical (analysis and synthesis), as well as classification, comparative, and periodization methods.

Scientific novelty. The subject of a special scientific study was the organizational and propaganda work of religious dissidents in the conditions of post-revolutionary and wartime relations in the countryside and severe pressure from the state and the official church.

Conclusions. We associate the renewal of persecution of evangelical Baptist Christians in the period 1909-1917 with overcoming the revolutionary crisis in the country and the lack of legislative registration of the manifestos of 1905-1906, and after 1914 - in connection with the First World War. The reaction of religious minorities to the deterioration of their situation was the search for new means of agitation, internal organizational work and pacifist initiatives during the war. Despite pressure from officials and the clergy, in the period 1909-1917 sectarianism in the Kharkiv region developed as dynamically as during the times of complete liberalization in 1905-1908. Religious dissidence accumulated a huge organizational, material and ideological potential during these years, which could not be prevented by partial repressive measures. Protestant groups pursued a rather flexible policy, focusing on the maximum increase in the audience. The population was offered various ways to satisfy its spiritual needs, combining both Western and Eastern religious traditions. Actually, the significant strategic success of sectarianism, which was observed in the Kharkiv province at the beginning of the 20th century, to a certain extent determined the future picture of interfaith diversity in this Ukrainian region.