The Cultural Influence of the Church

• The Russian Orthodox Church played an important role supporting the Tsarist system.
• The Church taught its congregation that the Tsar was appointed by God and that the Russian people should accept the conditions on Earth as the will of God.
• The leading priest in the Russian Orthodox Church (the Patriarch of Moscow) was a close adviser of the Tsar.
• The Over-Procurator of the Holy Synod was a government minister appointed by the Tsar to run church affairs.

  
  

  Pobedonostsev held this position from 1880.
• The Tsar had ultimate control over church appointments, finances and administration.
• The Church was crucial in maintaining control over the peasants as they were a particularly important aspect of the Tsarist system.
• A report published in 1858 that criticised the education and quality of rural clergy was a major concern.
• Alexander II responded to the report in 1862 by setting up an inquiry looking into Church organisation and practice.

  
  

  This did little to improve the quality of local priests in rural areas but the Church kept its grip.
• In 1863, Alexander II removed education from Church control and placed it under the authority of the zemstva.

  
  

  The aim of this was to get schools to have a forward-thinking curriculum based on more scientific and technical content.
• Under Alexander III, access to education was restricted through higher school fees and the only schools allowed to expand were parish elementary schools controlled by the Church.

  
  

  This meant that Church control over education was highly significant.
• By 1894, the Orthodox Church remained an important influence within Russian society.

  
  

  However, its grip on Russia was weakening as Russian society changed due to industrialisation.
• The Church had less influence in cities by 1894 and many workers were increasingly attracted to the atheist ideology being promoted by radical socialist groups.