The Multi-Confessional Policy of the Provisional Government

Abstract

The post-Soviet era has witnessed an exponential growth in scholarly research on the history of religion in Russia, especially with respect to church-state relations. There is, however, one striking exception: the period of the Provisional Government (March-October 1917), which has thus far attracted little attention. Whereas the Russian Orthodox Church has indeed been the target of substantial scholarship (especially in preparation for the Church Sobor), the same cannot be said of other confessions. That huge lacuna is addressed in this new collection of documents, compiled by M. A. Babkin (doctor of historical sciences), and it constitutes an extremely valuable contribution to the study of the complex confessional politics unleashed by the February Revolution. The collection is comprised of 251 main documents (and several supplementary texts) and offers a systematic collection of laws, draft laws, inter-agency papers, and some materials from religious associations. More than half of the documents are published for the first time; these pertain not only to general policy and the Russian Orthodox Church, but to fifteen other Christian and non-Christian confessions. On the basis of these documents it is possible to follow the development — and problems — in the confessional policy of the Provisional Government. The principal shortcoming of this work is the dearth of materials on the implementation of policy and the reaction by various social and confessional groups. After all, it is important not only to know what was deliberated and decreed “at the top,” but how society perceived and responded to the confessional policy of the Provisional Government.