Russian Empire’s Religious Institutions in the 18th - Early 20th Century: The Evolution of “Friend - Alien - Foe” Relations

The Russian government’s three principal institutions to regulate the empire’s diverse religions from the 18th to the early 20th century are examined. Its author describes the evolution of these bodies, their features and purpose, as well as defining the concept of religious security by analyzing its specific historical content. The author also discusses the relationship between the institutions of the official Russian Church, religious tolerance for “foreign confessions,” and discrimination against the Old Believers through the prism of “friend - alien - foe” relations. This approach helps us understand the hierarchical nature of the relations and contradictions that existed between the institutions, whose activities regulated the religious life of the Russian Empire’s subjects until 1905. The article goes on to analyze the relationship between the official legal status of the Russian Church, imperial tolerance, and religious discrimination. It concludes that the formation of the three state-religious institutions that began in the 18th century ended during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. That time saw the beginning of the gradual evolution of “friend - alien - foe” inter-institutional relations, which peaked under Emperor Nicholas in 1904-1906. The author also considers the changes in the government’s policy towards the Russian “schism” of the 17th century, which ultimately removed the “friend-or-foe” opposition in the relations between the Russian state, the Russian Church and the “schismatic” Old Believers. In accordance with the modernized legislation on religious tolerance, lawful Old Believers and sectarians moved from the category of religious and political “foes” to that of “aliens”, to which “foreign confessions” traditionally belonged. Under the new legal and political conditions, intolerance and religious discrimination against the “schism” ceased to be an instrument of state policy.