State-Confessional Relations in the Ideology and Activities of Russian Liberal Parties in the Early 20th Century: Historical Sources

The subject of the research is the state-confessional relations in historical sources. The object of the research is the liberal political parties of Russia in the early 20th century, as well as historical sources on the formation of their ideology and practical activities, such as legislative acts of the Russian Empire, party documents (programs, protocols of congresses and meetings of the Central Committee, etc.), stenographic reports of meetings of the State Duma of the Russian Empire, documentation of religious organizations (primarily the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as Muslim and Roman Catholic communities, as the three most numerous confessions in the state), personal sources, and materials from the archives of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus (in particular, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the State Archive of Vitebsk Oblast, and the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Belarus). The author employed problem-chronological and historical-comparative research methods. The problem-chronological method allows for the demonstration of the development of specific historical processes over time. The application of the historical-comparative method helped to identify the commonalities and differences in historical sources on the thematic problem. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the theoretical and practical significance of the ideological and theoretical views and practical activities of Russian liberals in the early 20th century concerning state-confessional relations. It is also driven by the growing public interest in religion and the church. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the author's examination of the extent to which issues of state-confessional relations are reflected in the ideology and activities of Russian liberal parties in the early 20th century through the lens of both political and church history. After reviewing the information on historical sources related to the stated problem, one may arrive at the following conclusions. A comprehensive analysis of various types of historical sources allows for the construction of an objective picture of reality that reflects issues of state-confessional relations in the theory of Russian liberalism and in the practical activities of liberal political parties in the early 20th century. Furthermore, the source base enables the formation of an understanding of the positions of representatives of both all-Russian and national liberal parties, primarily Tatar (Muslim) and Polish (Roman Catholic), regarding the relationship between the Church and the state in the pre-revolutionary period of Russian history.