Ukrainian Old Believers and Russian Government (the end of the XVIII - the beginning of the twentieth century).
The paper is devoted to the main stages of the legal status the Old Believers in Ukraine, in particular in the Katerinoslav’s region. The main reason for the appearance of them is the settlement of new, annexed lands to the Russian Empire. As you know, the Old Believers appear after the reform of the church, which was conducted by Patriarch Nikon. Since its inception and for more than one century, the Old Believers have been a “disagreeable” mass of the population of the Russian Empire, with which both the government and the dominant church have fought. As the history of oppression, persecution, and conclusion did not yield the expected results: the Old Believers continued to practice the old faith. The paper describes the time of the XVIII-XIX centuries. In the XVIII century the territory of the Katerinoslav’s Governorate was settled by Old Believers and they influenced the other national and religious communities of the province. Relations between Old Believers and the authority was very tense and inconstant. For two centuries, there has been a warming of relations, to a noticeable confrontation on the part of officials. The authorities were not consistent in their actions towards the Old Believers, each of the rulers had their own plans and thoughts about the Old Believers. But they all tried to quickly eliminate the manifestations of a split in society by all available methods. A certain liberalization came during the reign of Catherine II, but with the accession to the throne of Nicholas I, the loyalty to the Old Believers ended. The repressive policy of the government regarding the followers of the old faith were suspended for Alexander II, and it was only in 1905 the Old Believers gained religious freedom.