Anti-Protestant activities of the Black Hundreds in Volhyn region on the eve and during the World War I

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the key areas of anti-Protestant activity of the Black Hundreds in Volhyn region and their role in the aggravation of interethnic relations. The research methodology is based on the use of special historical (comparative-historical and chronological) and general scientific research methods (generalization, synthesis and analysis), which, in combination with the principles of historicism, polyfactoriality and objectivism, created the necessary conditions for objective analysis and coverage of the tasks set. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that the author, based on materials from the Black Hundreds press, scientific works, and archival documents, investigated the anti-Protestant direction of the Volyn Black Hundreds, who, together with the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church, contributed to the aggravation of interfaith and interethnic relations in the region. Conclusions. Based on an impartial analysis of archival documents, materials from the periodical press and scientific works, the key directions of the anti-Protestant activity of the Volyn Black Hundreds on the eve and during the First World War were investigated. It was found that at the beginning of the 20th century. in Volyn there was an increase in the number of Protestant communities at the expense of the local population. It was noted that the Protestant faith was brought to the region by German and Czech agrarian colonists. The German agrarian colonists who moved to Volyn were Protestants, but gradually the Protestant faith began to spread among the local population. After the start of its activities, the Black Hundreds Union of the Russian People launched an active and purposeful campaign aimed at discrediting Protestants. On the eve and especially during the First World War, pressure from the authorities and the Black Hundreds on Protestants intensified. Carrying out anti-Protestant activities, the allies regularly held missionary anti-Protestant courses for the zealots of the union and missionary priests in the Pochaiv Lavra. Information about the activities of the missionary priests was regularly published on the pages of the Black Hundreds press. This direction of activity of the allies contributed to an even greater aggravation of inter-confessional and inter-ethnic relations in Volhynia.