THE OLD BELIEVERS’ VILLAGE KLIMOUTSI (AUSTRIA) IN THE RUSSIAN HISTORY
The article is devoted to the study of two historical events which took place in the Old Believers village of Klimoutsy in the Austrian Bukovina in the 1870s-1880s. This is the movement of the Bespopovtsy - Pomortsy for returning to Russia and joining them to the Orthodox Church on the rights of the Edinoverie. The problem of returning to the historical homeland is always relevant and timeless; its study provides invaluable and always in-demand historical experience. The article clarifies the causes of the movement for re-emigration among the Bespopovtsy, the conditions of resettlement put forward by them and the counter conditions of their reception and settlement in Russia put forward by the Russian government; the attitude of officials of various departments and primarily of the Russian consul in Bukovina to this problem. Movement for the transition to the Edinoverie developed in parallel among the Bespopovtsy was a unique phenomenon for foreign Old Believers. The article explores all its stages: from its origin to the creation of the Edinoverie's parish in Klimoutsy and further - its fate in the XX - early XXI century, the role of the missionary Paul of Prussia. The work is written mainly on archival documents extracted from the Russian State Historical Archive and the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. In addition, the field material collected by the author in the village of Klimoutsy (Romania) in 2017 has been involved. Due to the absence of the Bespopovtsy’s political demands and their willingness to join the Orthodox Church on the rights of the same faith the conflict between this group of Old Believers and the Russian state was removed, and with it, all obstacles on the way of migrants to their homeland were liquidated. The author sees the reasons for the failure which resulted in the re-emigration in the unjustified delay in the process of discussion and decision-making by Russian officials, and in the fact that the conditions for the resettlement of Bespopovtsy to Russia approved by the Committee of Ministers did not meet the expectations of the settlers.