"Regimental priests" of non-orthodox confessions in the Russian empire (on the example of the Siberian region)

Abstract

The study is devoted to the study of the traditional Russian experience of the care of non-Orthodox military confessions in the Russian army.

The chronological framework of the work includes the nineteenth century and the first fifteen years of the twentieth century, when the regulatory framework of the institute of "regimental priests" of non-Orthodox and non-religious confessions was formed, and the clergy themselves took an active part in recruiting military staff.

The reasons and motivations for the active introduction of both the institution of military clergy and "regimental priests" of non-Orthodox faiths in the army are revealed. The nuances of the attitude to the active military service of the clergy are analyzed.

The source base of the research was made up of archival storage materials from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive, namely, the Department of Spiritual Affairs of Non-Orthodox Confessions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire. The research methodology includes a socio-cultural approach in combination with methods of content analysis, synthesis, generalization.