Activities of the All-Seminary union during the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907 based on the example of the Penza theological seminary

In this article, the author builds a chronology of events related to the revolutionary events of 1905-1907 that took place at the Penza Theological Seminary, although unrest there, like in other seminaries of the Russian Empire, began long before this period. From the end of the 19th century magazines published by young students, including seminarians, began to appear in Penza; there were also so-called self-education circles, which, in fact, were revolutionary. During approximately 1901-1907, the events that took place in the seminaries, including the Penza Seminary, were influenced by the All-Seminary Union. Since 1905, his coordinating activity has become most noticeable. Union congresses were held, and they were attended by delegates, as a rule, from the majority of theological seminaries in Russia. The participation of Penza seminarians in almost all congresses has been documented. The congresses were held under the strictest secrecy, and various demands were put forward according to the political situation. By 1906 they had acquired a political connotation - the struggle for civil rights. Only by the middle of 1907 did the government succeed in a number of measures to prevent the holding of congresses. The strongest unrest at the Penza Seminary occurred in October 1905 (with its subsequent closure) and in Feb-ruary-April 1906. The demands put forward by the seminarians were often supported by priests, and the speeches themselves were approved at diocesan and deanery meetings. The Penza prov-ince was under the strong influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries, and by 1907 the seminarians began to participate more in the revolutionary movement, along with representatives of other par-ties. One of the elements of the activities of the Socialist Revolutionaries was political assassina-tion: in May 1907, the rector of the seminary was shot dead by a former seminarian.