Old gates in the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God. Deviatiny. [Russian Empire]
In 1900, after the reforms of the late 19th century, there was a movement for a “restoration of church autonomy and organizational reform.” This was a time of unrest throughout all of the Russian empire. The lack of a proper and substantial economic system make the peasantry and nobility look to alternative ways to increase their living. When Nicolas II took power, he started to make some changes. In 1905, there was an attempt to industrialize, which failed miserably with terrible living conditions and widespread famine. With the losses in the Russo-Japanese War, protesters took to the streets on January 22nd in the hope of fixing conditions but many were killed by guards. January 22nd was known as Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was the spark that started the Russian Revolution. As the conditions worsened, many people started turning to new ways of thinking and change like Marxism. With the introduction to Marxism in the early 20th century, religion become a force that could oppose Lenin’s growing power over the people.
Religion become an enemy of the revolution. The golden gates (above) that have been taken off the hinges are a testament to the almost anti-religion movement that started before the revolution even began. They have been propped up against a building (at least off the ground) to be moved out of public view. The tarnish and wear that has started, shows the neglect that they have been under. The gates symbolized entering into the house of God, now they are an unwanted piece that has been push off to the side. This picture was also taken with a collection of sights along on the Mariinskii canal and river, which is in St. Petersburg. There are many picture of churches in the collection, but nothing that resembles the conflict and revolution in Russia than this picture.
I think religion mattered a whole lot during this chaotic time in Russian history. Religion and the later ideology of Lenin were not compatible, and therefore a weakened Russian Orthodox Church allowed for Marxist like revolutions to take place. While religion by no means is a guarantee for peace, it has been used as a pawn by strong countries for thousands of years. The fact that Russia moved into the 20th Century by distancing itself from religion is quite a unique occurrence.
Russian Orthodoxy changed drastically during the turn of the 20th century. Peasants began to look to places other than religion in order to develop industrially and economically in the hopes of creating a middle class to model Europe and America. I think yes, religion still matters, because its historical influences still exist and can be seen today in modern day Russia.
Some important issues here. We need to be careful about using evidence from the early 20th century to make an argument about the fate and nature of Orthodoxy under the Soviets. These gates are beautiful, richly adorned, and clearly well-used. And Prokudin-Gorskii clearly thought that they were worth photographing. What evidence do we have that these gates are somehow connected to a decline in support for the church?
There was a period between 1905 to 1914-17, that it wasn’t very clear what was happening to the Russian Orthodox Church (at least from what I found). In 1905, there was a growth of religion in the peasantry and lower class. But in 1917, communism took hold and there was no backing for the church which led to its decline. Since the picture was taken in 1909, there are some questions about whether the gates were part of the decline of the church. I understand that it is questionable. But why would the beautiful, golden gates be propped up against a building? And looking through the collection, I found other pictures of religious ornaments outside. It struck me as odd that all of these very symbolic pieces were just laying outside. They look so out of place, like someone just put them there and forgot about them. Wouldn’t it be easier to connect why they were there to the decline in the support of the church, than assume that they were just neglected, since there was a major turn towards religion in 1905?
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/prok/item/prk2000000143/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/prok/item/prk2000000095/
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/prok/item/prk2000000146/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/513251/Russia/38602/Religion
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Church