The main activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the struggle for a sober lifestyle in a Siberian village at the beginning of the XX century (based on the materials of the church periodicals)

The author examines the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the fight against alcoholism among the peasantry of Siberia at the beginning of the XX century. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze a set of measures of the Orthodox Church having taken to defeat drunkenness. The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient knowledge of the topic. The materials of the church periodical press formed the source base of the study. The territorial boundaries of the study include all provinces and regions of the Asian part of the Russian Empire in the period from 1900 to 1914. The introductory part of the article shows the relevance of the development of measures to fight for national sobriety. The Russian Orthodox Church had become the main conductor of the ideas of a sober lifestyle as it was the bearer of moral and spiritual values in Russian society at the beginning of the XX century. The main part of the article analyzes the complex of measures of the Orthodox Church in the struggle for sobriety which included: 1. dissemination of the ideas of sobriety through the church periodical press; publication of special medical studies proving the harm of alcohol to human health; 2. moral impact on peasants through church sermons and conversations; promotion of a sober lifestyle; 3. organization of sobriety societies in villages; 4. instilling ideas of a sober lifestyle to children within the framework of school education, dissemination of knowledge among children about the harmful effects of alcohol on the human body; organization of school sobriety societies. These events were planned by the Holy Synod. The facts proved that the Siberian clergy had begun the practical implementation of these measures in the dioceses of Asian Russia. The author summarizes that the Russian Orthodox Church actively tried to spread the idea of sobriety in the Siberian village. Concrete examples show that in some parishes and villages, priests managed to spread the ideas of sobriety among the peasants. However, the taken measures were insufficient. According to statistics, the consumption of alcohol among the population of Siberia increased by the beginning of the First World War in comparison to the central part of the country. Only in some provinces by 1914 there was a reduction in the consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is also possible to note some successful examples when the temperance societies were created and successfully operated in individual parishes and villages. But on the scale of the entire Asian part of the Russian Empire the idea of a sober lifestyle penetrated the consciousness of peasants very slowly.

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