Vasiliki M - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
I have studied academically, of and off for some twenty years. I started with a Bachelor of Arts and Theology, an Honours in Theology focusing on early church history, then became a teacher for a few years. My intellectual interests shifted from academia to fiction, with the publishing of two novels from my trilogy: Daughter of Odysseus.
I came back to academic study, completing an Honours in Arts - History. I combined my interest in the Orthodox Church with revolutionary history. My Thesis: The Orthodox Church and Russian Revolutionaries, 1900-1905, explores the rise of revolutionary movements in Orthodox Russia, focusing specifically on the role of the Bolsheviks up to the end of 1905, and their attempts to both undermine and challenge the role and centrality of the Russian Orthodox Church in the lives of the people, a people who lived a life of true suffering and degradation.
I come from a Greek Orthodox background, thus my interest is both very personal and rooted in lived experience. Although I am no longer a practicing Orthodox Christian, and identify as Marxist, I recognise the centrality of faith in the lives of people and their culture. I am likewise fascinated with how Russia - an Empire steeped in a distinct political theology - became the focal point of worldwide socialist revolution.
I would like to do further studies, focusing particularly on the Bolsheviks and Religion after the revolution of 1917, and their attempts to create a new culture, society and humanity, that saw them do battle with religion and the church.
I also seek to challenge conspiratorial views of Russian history that reduce complex historical, objective events to some supposed conspiracy, often rooted in antisemitism. These interpretations seek simplistic narratives that attempt to whitewash the crimes of Tsarist Russia, and therefore, the Orthodox Church.
Supervisors: Matthew Fitzpatrick
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Papers by Vasiliki M
Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same t... more Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same time, rooted in the feudalistic traditions of the past. Industrialisation and a dominant rural population lived within an empire governed by an autocratic government, that ruled with the assistance of a political theology that saw the Russian Orthodox Church legitimate and sanctify the political and social status quo. Nevertheless, revolutionary movements that emerged from the nineteenth century onward attempted to challenge this status quo, seeking various ways to overthrow Russia’s autocracy. It was the Marxist revolutionary group, the Bolsheviks, who would eventually prove successful in this endeavour, and this thesis explores the role the Bolsheviks played from the early twentieth century in their struggle against autocracy and the church. The focus will be on the tactics of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against religion, the events leading up to and including the first Russian Revolution of 1905, the key role the priest Father Gapon played, and the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, which would see the Bolsheviks go on the offensive and see Vladimir Lenin write Socialism and Religion at the end of this crucial year.
Thesis Chapters by Vasiliki M
Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same t... more Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same time, rooted in the feudalistic traditions of the past. Industrialisation and a dominant rural population lived within an empire governed by an autocratic government, that ruled with the assistance of a political theology that saw the Russian Orthodox Church legitimate and sanctify the political and social status quo. Nevertheless, revolutionary movements that emerged from the nineteenth century onward attempted to challenge this status quo, seeking various ways to overthrow Russia’s autocracy. It was the Marxist revolutionary group, the Bolsheviks, who would eventually prove successful in this endeavour, and this thesis explores the role the Bolsheviks played from the early twentieth century in their struggle against autocracy and the church. The focus will be on the tactics of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against religion, the events leading up to and including the first Russian Revolution of 1905, the key role the priest Father Gapon played, and the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, which would see the Bolsheviks go on the offensive and see Vladimir Lenin write Socialism and Religion at the end of this crucial year.
Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same t... more Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same time, rooted in the feudalistic traditions of the past. Industrialisation and a dominant rural population lived within an empire governed by an autocratic government, that ruled with the assistance of a political theology that saw the Russian Orthodox Church legitimate and sanctify the political and social status quo. Nevertheless, revolutionary movements that emerged from the nineteenth century onward attempted to challenge this status quo, seeking various ways to overthrow Russia’s autocracy. It was the Marxist revolutionary group, the Bolsheviks, who would eventually prove successful in this endeavour, and this thesis explores the role the Bolsheviks played from the early twentieth century in their struggle against autocracy and the church. The focus will be on the tactics of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against religion, the events leading up to and including the first Russian Revolution of 1905, the key role the priest Father Gapon played, and the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, which would see the Bolsheviks go on the offensive and see Vladimir Lenin write Socialism and Religion at the end of this crucial year.
Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same t... more Early twentieth century Russian society was in a state of major transformation, yet at the same time, rooted in the feudalistic traditions of the past. Industrialisation and a dominant rural population lived within an empire governed by an autocratic government, that ruled with the assistance of a political theology that saw the Russian Orthodox Church legitimate and sanctify the political and social status quo. Nevertheless, revolutionary movements that emerged from the nineteenth century onward attempted to challenge this status quo, seeking various ways to overthrow Russia’s autocracy. It was the Marxist revolutionary group, the Bolsheviks, who would eventually prove successful in this endeavour, and this thesis explores the role the Bolsheviks played from the early twentieth century in their struggle against autocracy and the church. The focus will be on the tactics of the Bolsheviks in their struggle against religion, the events leading up to and including the first Russian Revolution of 1905, the key role the priest Father Gapon played, and the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, which would see the Bolsheviks go on the offensive and see Vladimir Lenin write Socialism and Religion at the end of this crucial year.