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The Religious and Educational Activity of Protestants in Russia: on the Example of Mennonite Publishing House «Rainbow» (1908–1920)
Purpose: The aim of the work is to analyze the religious and educational activity of the largest and well-known Protestant publishing house in Russia in the early XX century – "Rainbow" in the period from 1908 to 1920. This allowed us to trace the features of the functioning of the non-Orthodox Christian press in the acute social and political crisis in the country.
Methods: We analyzed the printed heritage of «Rainbow», genres and directions of its work. The study tested the great contribution of the publishing house in the distribution of Christian and spiritual and moral literature, in the publication of books and brochures of the leader of the Evangelical movement I. S. Prokhanov. The publishing house took an active part in the spiritual, social and political life of the Mennonite community.
Discussion: We have proved that the launch year of publishing should be consid-ered as 1908, not 1909, the heyday of the publishing house occurred in the pre-war period (1911–1913). The authors of the article made clarifications on the date and circumstances of the closure of the publishing house, associated not so much with the events of the Civil war, but with the beginning of the nationaliza-tion of enterprises.
Results: The events of the Revolution of 1905 and the subsequent democratiza-tion of life, including in the field of printing, had a great influence on the output of publishing activities of the Mennonites of the South of Russia on the all-Russian level. The positive reputation of the Mennonites as hard-working and useful settler owners saved the publishing house from closure during the World War I, despite the strengthening of the anti-German campaign and the pressure of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Protestants as «accomplices» of Germany.
Methods: We analyzed the printed heritage of «Rainbow», genres and directions of its work. The study tested the great contribution of the publishing house in the distribution of Christian and spiritual and moral literature, in the publication of books and brochures of the leader of the Evangelical movement I. S. Prokhanov. The publishing house took an active part in the spiritual, social and political life of the Mennonite community.
Discussion: We have proved that the launch year of publishing should be consid-ered as 1908, not 1909, the heyday of the publishing house occurred in the pre-war period (1911–1913). The authors of the article made clarifications on the date and circumstances of the closure of the publishing house, associated not so much with the events of the Civil war, but with the beginning of the nationaliza-tion of enterprises.
Results: The events of the Revolution of 1905 and the subsequent democratiza-tion of life, including in the field of printing, had a great influence on the output of publishing activities of the Mennonites of the South of Russia on the all-Russian level. The positive reputation of the Mennonites as hard-working and useful settler owners saved the publishing house from closure during the World War I, despite the strengthening of the anti-German campaign and the pressure of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Protestants as «accomplices» of Germany.
Mennonites, «Rainbow», Protestant Publishing House, Religious and Educational Activity, Anti-german Campaign