Christian Martyrdom in Russia: Persecution of the Spirit-Wrestlers (or Doukhobortsi) in the Caucus.

TOLSTOY, Leo. Vladimir Tchertkoff.

$175.00

Item Number: 135138

London: The Brotherhood Publishing Co, 1897.

First edition of Tchertkoff’s work on the persecution of the Doukhobors. Octavo, original wrappers. In good condition.

When Nicholas I succeeded Alexander as Tsar, on February 6, 1826, he issued a decree intending to force assimilation of the Doukhobors by means of military conscription, prohibiting their meetings, and encouraging conversions to the established church. On October 20, 1830, another decree followed, specifying all able-bodied members of dissenting religious groups engaged in propaganda against the established church should be conscripted and sent to the Russian army in the Caucasus while those not capable of military service, and their women and children, should be resettled in Russia's recently acquired Transcaucasian provinces. With other dissenters, around 5,000 Doukhobors were resettled in Georgia between 1841 and 1845.