After the February Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church sought to reconstitute itself to allow broader participation of its clergy and laity in order to fulfill the aspirations of a Church reform ...movement that had begun around 1900. At the same time, the Church sought to avoid losing its traditional institutional authority in the eyes of believers. To accomplish this, broader participation had to be grounded in sobornost’ – a church ethos of traditional Orthodox catholicity or conciliarism – while avoiding political, secular, and revolutionary influences. Drawing on many church voices from 1917–1918, this paper sketches the efforts and ultimate success that the Russian Church achieved in reestablishing sobornost’ as its organizational and spiritual foundation. Specifically, it reveals how a revitalized diocesan church press, freed from pre-revolutionary censorship, expressed the widespread hopes that a conciliar church could be established through active participation of the clergy and laity, and ultimately through the convening of the long-anticipated All-Russian Church Council. Revolution in the church threatened the authority of the Holy Synod and the Preconciliar Committee that planned the Church Council. However, a significant yet relatively unknown episode – the August 1917 elections to the Council’s Presidium – as well as the writings of Sobor members themselves demonstrate how the Council succeeded in institutionalizing sobornost’ at the Council. Although this quality of sobornost’ expressed “unity in multiplicity,” it was neither quantitative nor geographical, and did not reflect class, estate, or political distinctions. Instead, it expressed a wholeness and communion of ideas that still allowed for vigorous debate.
What are the most important variables explaining the 4 January 1918 decision by the French Government to recognise Finland’s independence? This short contribution to the Special Issue aims at giving ...a broad overview of developments explaining this decision. It will first of all introduce general notions concerning France’s relation with “nationalities” during the First World War. It will more specifically describe the geopolitical environment of the winter 1917–1918, when France looked for ways to react to the crumbling of its Russian ally against Germany. It will also emphasise the way domestic developments and the long-term action of Finnish national networks helped in shaping up this decision. Finally, based on this example, it will consider various ways for small states to try and influence their international environment.
The political conflict that arose in 1917 between emigrant circles of Polish liberals and national democrats regarding the separation of the Polish Corps from the Russian Army, remains relatively ...obscure in European historiography. Studies on this topic, mostly published in the 20th century, primarily relied on sources from archives in Warsaw, Cracow, and Moscow. It has been shown that Polish liberal democrats operating in Russia, opposing plans to segregate their compatriots into distinct corps within the Russian Army, received support from the occupying Central Powers and the Temporary Council of State established there. Conversely, their political rivals were backed by the Entente, which supported the actions of the national democrats in favor of the separation of the Polish Corps. This topic underscores the need for in-depth research into this intricate matter. Besides confirming existing findings, it is imperative to scrutinize previously untapped sources to gain a more profound understanding of the origins, progression, and repercussions of this political conflict. To achieve this, consulting Austro-Hungarian and Western European sources, as well as overlooked Polish and Russian ones, is essential. To be able to do so, official documentation, egodocuments, and contemporary press articles were used. In this instance, critical source analysis emerges as the optimal approach for the research process, complemented by historical-comparative analysis, particularly for older literature on the subject. The conclusions drawn in this article do not only address gaps in previous knowledge but also offer a launching pad for comprehensive comparative studies on the military policies of other Polish political groups during the Great War.
Tednik se je zavzemal za medsebojno povezanost južnih Slovanov pod enotnim imenom Jugoslavija. Izdajal ga je Konzorcij Jugoslovana, urednik je bil Fr. Jež
Tednik se je zavzemal za medsebojno povezanost južnih Slovanov pod enotnim imenom Jugoslavija. Izdajal ga je Konzorcij Jugoslovana, urednik je bil Fr. Jež
PDF
