Mikhail Roshchin. The Old Believers and the Development of Capitalism in Russia
The German sociologist of religion Max Weber, author of the book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, demonstrated the link between Protestantism and capitalism in the West at the beginning of the 20th century. Is there a similar correlation between religion and the economy in Russia? To answer this question, let us turn to the history of the Old Believers, whose contribution to Russia’s industrial revolution of the late 19th and early 20th centuries is hard to overestimate.
First of all, it is necessary to say what Russian Old Belief is and what currents exist within it. Old Belief was not a homogeneous movement. The most moderate part of the Old Believers, the so-called Popovtsy, in contrast to the Bespopovtsy, recognized the priesthood. While they considered the new church hierarchy heretical, they nevertheless did not refuse to accept into their ranks former “Nikonian” priest-defectors. This situation was due to the fact that practically no bishops loyal to Old Belief remained in Russia.
Another part, called the Bespopovtsy (“priestless”), believed that after the Schism the earthly hierarchy and priesthood had ceased. The Bespopovtsy retained only those elements of Old Orthodox worship that do not require the presence of clergy. Therefore, they have no liturgy, and their prayer houses have no altar.
The third and most radical part of the Old Believers, the Spasovo Soglasie (Spasovites), held that “there is neither Orthodox priesthood, nor sacraments, nor grace in the world.” Consequently, a departure from strict observance of Old Orthodox rituals can be observed among the Spasovites.
These doctrinal differences also determined the unequal participation of Old Believer branches in the economic development of Russia. The Popovtsy and the moderate Bespopovtsy made the greatest contribution to the country’s economy. The radical Old Believers, however, actively contributed to the economic development of the outlying Russian lands, especially Siberia.
When speaking of the economic potential of the Old Believers, one must remember that, unlike the New Ritualists, they continued to rely on centuries-old Russian cultural and economic traditions.
For Old Believers, labor became a form of Christian asceticism. The basis of their social and economic activity was always the free, self-governing parish. Under conditions of persecution and an almost total absence of priesthood, laypeople played a key role in parish life. Not only the religious-communal life but also the economic life rested upon them, founded on the principles of mutual aid and corporate solidarity. It must also be remembered that there was almost no social stratification among the Old Believers, since, because of their religious convictions, they were practically excluded from the noble estate.
One of the most striking pages of the Bespopovtsy’s economic activity is linked to the Vyg monastic community in the Northern Zaonezhye region. At the beginning of the 18th century, Tsar Peter I was in great need of iron. By his order, factories for processing iron ore began to be built one after another in the Olonets region. However, providing them with workers in such remote places was difficult. This is where the Vyg hermits proved useful, for they were promised freedom to “live in that Vyg Hermitage and to celebrate their services to God according to old printed books” in return for diligent work at the factories.
The easing of persecution caused an influx of inhabitants into the community. “In the Vyg brotherhood, all members were equal; each individual was granted the same legal rights,” noted the 19th‑century researcher of Old Belief N. Aristov.
Initially, the Vyg community lived solely by its own labor. However, as its wealth grew, it also began to employ hired labor. It established its own representative offices in St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk.
At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, the merchantry of large cities began to play an increasingly important role among the moderate Bespopovtsy. Gradually, it pushed the Vyg community, essentially a church commune, into the background.
The peasant reform gave a powerful impetus to the formation of strong Old Believer peasant farms. According to data from 1905, in the 50 provinces of European Russia, an Old Believer household possessed an average of 5.4 dessiatines of purchased land, while each peasant household had only 1.1 dessiatines.
The historical role of Old Belief in the settlement of Siberia must also be mentioned. Unlike the overwhelming majority of Russian subjects, Old Believers resettled beyond the Urals, beginning in the second half of the 17th century, entirely voluntarily. Fleeing persecution, they went deep into the taiga, building their homes there and establishing farms. Seeking to avoid contact with the “antichrist” tsarist authorities, some Old Believer families even reached Tibet.
The stable tradition of Old Believer “Robinsonades” is witnessed by the story of the Lykov family, discovered by geologists in the early 1980s in the Sayan taiga. Even more unique is the odyssey of an Old Believer community that moved from the Volga to the Far East in the 19th century, went to Manchuria after 1917, relocated to Brazil in 1949, then to the American state of Oregon, and in 1968 moved to Alaska, where it now lives in the settlement of Nikolaevsk. The Nikolaevsk Old Believers founded the Russian Maritime Fellowship and engaged in fishing, successfully competing with local fishermen.
All of them were Bespopovtsy, mainly of the most moderate Chasovennye (Chasovennye Soglasie). Some of them became Popovtsy and in 1983 joined the Old Believer Belokrinitsa Metropolia, whose cathedra is today in the city of Brăila (Romania).
I had the opportunity to speak at length with the Popovtsy of Oregon in March 2001. As the rector of the community, Priest Porfiry Toran, told me, the Manchurian Old Believers arrived from China in several waves during the 1960s. Many of them had lived in the Manchurian part of the Ussuri taiga, where they had moved from the Russian Far East after the victory of the Bolsheviks.
After the Communists came to power in China, the Old Believers first moved to Hong Kong and then set out to wander the world: the majority moved to Brazil, while one community settled in Bolivia. Conditions in Brazil proved unfavorable for farming, and many decided to start a new life in Oregon, whose natural environment reminded them of the Russian Far East. Here, near Woodburn, the Old Believers founded a settlement called Bethlehem, which now has about 10,000 residents.
Let us return to history. According to the editor-in-chief of the Old Believer magazine “Tserkov’” A.V. Antonov, before the 1917 Revolution, the majority of Russia’s merchant-industrial class were Old Believers. At that time, the outlook seemed bright, but the revolution dealt them a devastating blow.
During the NEP years, the Old Believers tried to get back on their feet, but the subsequent course of history dashed their hopes. The totalitarian state undermined the foundation of Old Believer economic strength — the community — and although a revival of Old Believer religious and spiritual life can be observed today, it is still difficult to say whether its economic and cultural significance will be restored.
The link between religion and economics in the case of the Old Believers is obvious. There is no doubt that the considerable economic successes of the Old Believers were conditioned by a healthy community life, rooted in the preservation of ancient Russian spirituality and high moral standards.
Mikhail Roshchin
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