THE FALL OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE: A SPIRITUAL HISTORY Vladimir Moss Copyright © Vladimir Moss, 2011. All Rights Reserved. CONTENTS FOREWORD ...........................................................................................................4 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................6 I. REFORM (1856-1881) .......................................................................................14 The Peace of Paris ................................................................................................14 “The New Man” ..................................................................................................16 The Emancipation of the Serfs .............................................................................19 Supporters and Critics of Emancipation .............................................................24 The Jews under Alexander II ...............................................................................28 Marx and Bakunin...............................................................................................37 Dostoyevsky on Papism and Socialism................................................................42 The Devils ............................................................................................................45 Dostoyevsky on the Terrorists .............................................................................50 Portents of the Antichrist ....................................................................................52 The Eastern Question ..........................................................................................57 Pan-Hellenism versus Pan-Slavism ....................................................................61 Leontiev on Byzantinism .....................................................................................67 The Greco-Bulgarian Schism...............................................................................70 At the Gates of Constantinople............................................................................75 Dostoyevsky on Russia ........................................................................................80 The Pushkin Speech .............................................................................................85 Tsar, Church and People......................................................................................88 The Tsar and the Constitution.............................................................................97 II. REACTION (1881-1904) ...............................................................................100 The Murder of Tsar Alexander II ......................................................................100 The Jewish Question ..........................................................................................102 Vladimir Soloviev ..............................................................................................109 Pobedonostsev on Church-State Relations ........................................................113 Socialism and Christianity ................................................................................122 The Reign of Tsar Alexander III ........................................................................129 The Volga Famine..............................................................................................134 Tsar Nicholas II .................................................................................................137 The Lure of the East ...........................................................................................144 Students and Workers........................................................................................148 Rebellious Priests...............................................................................................150 Ferment in the Russian Church.........................................................................153 St. John of Kronstadt and Lev Tolstoy...............................................................155 Monasticism and Ecumenism............................................................................157 The New Theology .............................................................................................164 The Nationalities Policy.....................................................................................166 The Liberation Movement..................................................................................179 Kishinev, 1903 ...................................................................................................184 Regicide in the Balkans......................................................................................187 The Sarov Days..................................................................................................188 Peasant Russia...................................................................................................192 Unrest in the Army ...........................................................................................202 2 III. WAR (1904-1917) ..........................................................................................206 The Russo-Japanese War....................................................................................206 The Role of the Press..........................................................................................212 Bloody Sunday...................................................................................................215 Towards the Reestablishment of Symphony ......................................................219 The October Manifesto ......................................................................................224 The 1905 Revolution..........................................................................................228 The Stolypin Reforms ........................................................................................240 The Roots of the Revolution...............................................................................244 The Counter-Revolution ....................................................................................248 Archbishop Anthony of Volhynia......................................................................253 Russia and the Balkans ......................................................................................264 German Nationalism .........................................................................................268 The Young Turks ...............................................................................................270 The Balkan Wars................................................................................................274 The Name-Worshipping Heresy ........................................................................282 Symbolism and Futurism ..................................................................................287 Sarajevo, 1914....................................................................................................289 The First World War .........................................................................................299 The Actors in the Revolution: (1) The Jews.......................................................310 The Actors in the Revolution: (2) The Freemasons ...........................................318 The Actors in the Revolution: (3) The Christians .............................................324 The Actors in the Revolution: (4) Rasputin ......................................................327 The Case for the Monarchy (1) ..........................................................................337 The Case for the Monarchy (2) ..........................................................................341 The Plot..............................................................................................................344 IV. REVOLUTION (1917-1922)........................................................................356 The February Revolution...................................................................................356 Tsar Nicholas’ Abdication .................................................................................362 Tsar Michael’s Abdication.................................................................................375 The Church, the People and the Revolution ......................................................381 Apocalyptic Visions ...........................................................................................393 Dual Power ........................................................................................................397 The Religion of Leninism...................................................................................402 The Revolution in the Church ...........................................................................409 The October Revolution.....................................................................................413 The Moscow Council of 1917-18 .......................................................................419 The Murder of the Tsar......................................................................................436 The Goals of Leninism .......................................................................................439 The Russian Civil War ......................................................................................449 The Church in the Civil War .............................................................................454