Moscow, the third Rome: A contribution to history of Russian messianism, 2nd part

pages: 105-128

Abstract

In the second part of the text about the Filofei’s doctrine of “Moscow, Third Rome,” the author deals with its reception in later periods of Russian intellectual and political history. Although this doctrine in its original form had no explicit imperial or foreign-political connotation, this paper analyzes the interpretations of the “Third Rome idea” that had significant political consequences. Internally, this idea was used by Prince Kurbskii for the criticism of Ivan the Terrible’s politics (XVI Century), as well as the rejection of the church reforms of Patriarch Nikon in the Old Believers’ literature (XVII Century). However, the revival of interest in the idea of the “Third Rome” characterized the Russian nineteenth century when the discussions on the relationship between Russia and the West emerged. Criticizing the reforms by Peter the Great, the classical Slavophiles found confirmation of the Russian cultural originality and superiority in the past of traditional Muscovy. The author highlights the differences between religious-philosophical and geopolitical interpretations of Russian messianism in the works of Russian Slavophiles and Panslavs. In the final section of this article, Russian messianic ideas are put in a relation with the birth of nationalism in the context of the Russian Empire. In this way, the author’s findings call into question the widespread interpretation of the “Third Rome messianism” as a distinctive and exceptional Russian characteristic. Keywords: Russian history, the Third Rome, messianism, empire, nationalism