DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2015.2.16141

Abstract: This article contains information on which feast days were celebrated in the Russian army at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, and which of them were celebrated on the frontline during the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. Special attention is dedicated to feast organisation on religious holidays – Christmas, Baptism, and Easter – on the battlefield front and in conditions of captivity. The author analyses the difficulties of arranging religious feasts in wartime, the established routines of celebration, the attitude of participants towards them, as well as the dynamics of this attitude on the frontline with the particularities of being in a moving military campaign. The preferences and degrees of involvement in setting up celebrations by soldiers and officers are also addressed. The article is written primarily of the basis of sources from private possessions – memories, diaries, and memoirs – which provide its accuracy through eyewitness accounts. The research’s main conclusions pertain to the significance of feast days in the formation of a military collective, as a morale boost for the troops during military operations. Beside this the author makes some conclusions regarding the personal involvement of military servicemen and clergy in the organisation of religious feast days during wartime.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2014.6.14892

Abstract: The article, based on the examples of two wars from the beginning of the 20th century, reviews the role of icons in wars, the relationship of the clergy and the military towards them, as well as that of their enemies. Additionally, the article sheds light on the history of two specific miracle-working icons – the Port Arthur and the Augustów icons of the Theotokos. Special attention is given to the activity of the Extraordinary inquiry commission for investigating the violations of laws and war usage by the Austro-Hungarian and German troops and for the disclosure of instances of icon defilement and destruction. Based on the research of various source groups, the author reveals the designation of icons in wars, analyses the traditional rituals of carrying-out icons and the propagandistic endeavours where an icon was featured in a key role. The issue of the reasons for the change in attitude towards icons is also addressed, including change not only on the part of the soldiers and officers, but also on the part of the clergy itself, of the protopresbyter and military and naval clergy. Moreover, the article discusses the most venerated icons in these wartimes, traces the fate of individual icons connected with the history of the named wars, their ruin and salvation, their defilement and deliberate destruction by enemies. The author addresses the topic of the recognition of two icons as miracle-working, analyses the question of iconography and its assessment by the Synod, the problems of reproduction and preservation of the lists of these icons, as well as the circumstances of their loss and acquisition. The article furthermore studies the reasons for the failure of religious propaganda in the years of the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0609.2014.5.14667

Abstract: The article is devoted to the issue of places of worship on the fronts of the First world war. There is a controversy regarding samples marching thrones required lists of things to organize services in a military campaign, discusses the consequent difficulties in the manufacture of Hiking churches. Highlights the problem of supply priests in the army marching churches. Explores the conflict that arose due to the use of buildings Orthodox, Uniate Catholic churches of Galicia for the organization of worship, between the Russian military and naval clergy and the Archbishop of Volhynia and Zhytomyr. This paper investigates the sources of different origin, including first introduced into scientific circulation.The novelty of the research lies in the formulation of the question, because the practical problem of divine service at the front during the First world war, researchers are not affected. An important question is the relation to the objects of worship and places of worship from both the congregation and the priests, and the Catholic population of Galicia, as well as Austrians and Germans. Provides information about the activities of the Commission on documenting cases of desecration of churches and icons.