The religious Issue in the Policy of the German Occupation Authorities on the Territory of the Pskov Province in 1918

Based on the analysis of archival documents and materials from periodicals published in the occupied territory of the Pskov Province, the article traces the attitude of the German authorities towards the Russian Orthodox Church. It is emphasized that under the conditions of the strictest occupation regime, divine services and religious processions continued, payments of salaries to the clergy and teachers of the Law of God in educational institutions of Pskov canceled by the Soviet government were carried out, assistance was provided in the activities of the Ostrovsky Orthodox Brotherhood. Along with this, the religious factor was important in the development of widespread anti-Soviet propaganda and in the formation of the Pskov Separate Volunteer Corps of the Northern Army in the occupied territory in the summer and autumn of 1918, which did not find wide support either among the local population or among the clergy. It is concluded that the religious policy of the German authorities, carried out under the conditions of the most severe occupation regime, could not rally the population in the struggle against the Soviet regime, even in the conditions of the beginning of anti-religious persecution.