Facing the Old Believers : the Experience of Austrian and Prussian Officials in Bukovina and Neuostpreussen

Jakubowski, Melchior

doi:0001-6829

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Facing the Old Believers : the Experience of Austrian and Prussian Officials in Bukovina and Neuostpreussen Jakubowski, Melchior

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Facing the Old Believers : the Experience of Austrian and Prussian Officials in Bukovina and Neuostpreussen

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 122 (2020)

Jakubowski, Melchior

Polska Akademia Nauk. Komitet Nauk Historycznych ; Polska Akademia Nauk, Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla

Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences

Instytut Historii PAN

Warszawa

2020

p. 247-275

Old Believers ; Bukovina ; Neuostpreussen ; Austria ; Prussia ; Enlightenment ; Old Believers - Bukovina (Romania and Ukraine) - history ; Old Believers - Poland - Mazury (Region) - history ; Old Believers - Lithuania - history ; minorities - government policy - Prussia - history ; minorities - government policy - Austria - history - 1789-1815

This paper discusses the interactions and confrontations of the Austrian and Prussian officials with the religious community of the Russian Old Believers. They took place in two European regions: Bukovina (nowadays divided between Romania and Ukraine) and Neuostpreussen (nowadays divided between Poland and Lithuania) beginning at the end of the eighteenth century. The author discusses the officials’ associations and misunderstandings regarding the Old Believers. The authorities could not easily distinguish the Old Believers from the Orthodox Christians and had problems recognising their language. In many cases, improper data resulted in failed actions. There was a constant tension between the positive assessment of the Old Believers’ diligence and their refusal to fulfil the requirements of the state, like an oath-taking, military service, metrical registration, or inns’ building. The consequent resistance of the communities was often stronger than the administrative enforcement, thus revealing the limits of the modern enlightened bureaucracy in practice in the countryside.

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