The orthodox movement in Transcarpathia during the years of WW I

The article deals with the development of the Orthodox Movement in Transcarpathia during WWI. Based on the documents the methods of denationalization of the local population by the Hungarian government are analyzed. During the war the Greek Catholic Church began to introduce the Gregorian Calendar and Hungarian as the language of instruction in public schools. This caused resistance among the local populace who sought to have their children taught in their native language and to celebrate religious holidays according to the old style. Failure to attend the Uniate churches during Catholic celebrations lead to repression by the police and military. The extent of repression against activists of the Orthodox Church is traced. Repression consisted of a military presence in the main centers of the Orthodox Movement, daily activities noted by the gendarmerie posts and the cost of the military detachments placed upon the villages where they were stationed. Several facts about the punishment of Russian Orthodox activists by the Austrian and Hungarian soldiers in the zone of the front lines has been recorded. Reports of the administration witness to the spread of the Orthodox Movement during the years of WWI and the creation of a whole line of prayer houses on all the territory of contemporary Transcarpathia.

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