Spiritual Christians in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Oblast, in the Late 19th - Early 20th Centuries

The resettlement of Spiritual Christians in Amur Oblast was conditioned under the influence of many different factors. On the one hand, the authorities strove to limit the influence of sectarians on the minds of the people of Russian Orthodox Church; on the other hand, religious refugees sought higher religious freedoms. The resettlement started in 1859, with the order of N.N. Muraviev-Amurskiy, the governor-general of East Siberia. Following the order, a significant group of Molokans and Dukhobors moved to Amur Oblast. Most of them lived in the administrative center. In 1914, 13,095 Molokans and 2,037 Dukhobors lived in Amur Oblast. This left a mark on the socioeconomic and political development of Amur Oblast and on relations between Dukhobors and Molokans. The two groups interacted on religious grounds: they practiced mixed marriages and together opposed the sermons of the missionaries of the Russian Orthodox Church. They had different views on the matters of faith, and this separated them. Since they lived in different territories, they extremely rarely competed with each other. There was no economic competition between them as they divided the sectors of the market. There were conflicts on religious grounds between Molokans and Dukhobors, but they were rare. Most of the conflicts were domestic in nature. Molokans influenced the development of the architectural look of the city. Dukhobors could not do this because of their small number in Blagoveshchensk. Dukhobors had a simple wooden prayer house, which was not preserved. Molokans had a stone prayer house, which has been preserved to this day. Molokans built mills, grain elevators and other buildings, including trading ones. They participated in political life, had representatives in the Blagoveshchensk City Duma of all convocations. Merchants, industrialists, entrepreneurs were among them. Possessing significant capital, Molokans controlled commercial life in the city, had a political and socioeconomic influence on the processes taking place in Blagoveshchensk. Many of the questions discussed in the Blagoveshchensk City Duma were decided in their favor. Summing up, it is worth noting that Dukhobors and Molokans interacted with each other on the basis of mixed marriages. Molokans led an active life in the city, Dukhobors preferred to settle in the countryside; therefore, their influence was insignificant. Molokans and Dukhobors opposed the sermons of Orthodox priests. Differences in the economic and household spheres deprived them of competition, as a result of which the groups were neither separated from nor strongly united with each other. The difference in religious views only strengthened this situation.