Patriarch Tikhon and the civil war 1918-1920

The article shows that in the context of the Civil War and the anti- church campaigns of the Soviet state, St. Patriarch Tikhon considered it expedient to limit the external activity of the clergy exclusively to the protection of the Orthodox Church. In those conditions, this was impossible without proclaiming the Church’s non-interference in politics and neutrality in bloody civil strife, as well as loyalty to the Soviet regime. This position of the Patriarch was gradually formed under the influence of a number of factors since the end of 1918, was shared by the Holy Synod and the Supreme Church Council. Finally and definitely, it was expressed in the patriarchal message of September 25 / October 8, 1919. It is likely that Patriarch Tikhon internally sympathized with the anti-Bolshevik movement, although he doubted seeing the “strength of the Reds” in his final success. However, the patriarch refused to bless the fratricide, from whom it came, to share the flock that was in the ranks of all belligerents...