![Chertkov with tolstoy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Chertkov_with_tolstoy.jpg)
The Tolstoyan movement is a
social movement
A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of group action and may ...
based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
(1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the
ministry of Jesus
The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with his baptism in the countryside of Roman Judea and Transjordan, near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples.''Chri ...
, particularly the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
.
Tolstoy expressed "great joy" that groups of people "have been springing up, not only in Russia but in various parts of Europe, who are in complete agreement with our views."
However, the author also thought it was a mistake to create a specific movement or
doctrine
Doctrine (from la, doctrina, meaning "teaching, instruction") is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system ...
after him, urging individuals to listen to their own
conscience
Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system. Conscience stands in contrast to elicited emotion or thought due to associations based on immediate sens ...
rather than blindly follow his. In regard to a letter he received from an adherent, he wrote:
Beliefs and practices
Tolstoyans (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
:''Толстовцы'', ''Tolstovtsy'') identify themselves as
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
, but do not generally belong to an institutional
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
. Tolstoy was a harsh critic of the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
, leading to his
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
in 1901. Tolstoyans tend to focus more on following the
teachings of Jesus, rather than on his
miracles
A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...
or
divinity
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine ...](_blank)
. They attempt to live an
ascetic
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
and
simple life
Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...
, preferring to be
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism m ...
, non-smoking,
teetotal
Teetotalism is the practice or promotion of total personal abstinence from the psychoactive drug alcohol, specifically in alcoholic drinks. A person who practices (and possibly advocates) teetotalism is called a teetotaler or teetotaller, or is ...
and
chaste
Chaste refers to practicing chastity.
Chaste may also refer to:
* Aymar Chaste (1514–1603), Catholic French admiral
* Chaste (Marvel Comics), a fictional Marvel Comics martial arts enclave
* Chaste (canton) - see List of townships in Quebec
T ...
. Tolstoyans are considered
Christian pacifists
Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Chri ...
and advocate
nonresistance Nonresistance (or non-resistance) is "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy. It is considered as a form of pri ...
in all circumstances. Tolstoy's understanding of what it means to be Christian was defined by the Sermon on the Mount and summed up in five simple propositions:
#
Love your enemies
Matthew 5:44, the forty-fourth verse in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament, also found in Luke 6:27–36, is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the second verse of the final antithesis, that on the commandment ...
# Do not be angry
# Do not fight evil with evil, but return evil with good (an interpretation of
turning the other cheek
Turning the other cheek is a phrase in Christian doctrine from the Sermon on the Mount that refers to responding to insult without retort and allowing more insult. This passage is variously interpreted as accepting one's predicament, commanding n ...
)
# Do not lust
# Do not take oaths.
They do not support or participate in the
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
which they consider immoral, violent and corrupt. Tolstoy rejected the state (as it only exists on the basis of physical force) and all institutions that are derived from it – the police, law courts and army. Thus, many now regard them as
Christian anarchists
Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately ans ...
. Historically, Tolstoy's ideas have had some influence on
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
thought, specifically on
anarcho-pacifism
Anarcho-pacifism, also referred to as anarchist pacifism and pacifist anarchism, is an anarchist school of thought that advocates for the use of peaceful, non-violent forms of resistance in the struggle for social change. Anarcho-pacifism rejects ...
. They were also cited as an inspiration by
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
in the formation of his own philosophy of nonviolence from both
Jainism and Hinduism.
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
summed up Tolstoy’s social philosophy, on the basis of his writings, in five “programmatic theses":
# "It is not some kind of iron sociologic laws that produce the enslavement of peoples, but legal codes."
# "Modern slavery rests on three statutes: those on land, taxes and property."
# "Not alone the Russian state but every state is an institution for committing, by violence and with impunity the most horrible crimes."
# "Genuine social progress is attained only through the religious and moral self-perfection of individuals".
# "To get rid of states it is not necessary to fight against them with external means. All that is needed is not to take part in them and not to support them.”
Vegetarianism
The
vegetarian movement started in Europe in the 19th century. The first
Vegetarian Society
The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism.
History
In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...
was founded in Manchester in 1847. Tolstoy became a prominent influence on the movement. He became vegetarian, along with his two daughters in 1885. His relevant essay ''
The First Step'' (1891), and others were promoted by vegetarian societies internationally.
His vegetarianism was part of a Christian philosophy of non-violence that he developed. At that time, vegetarian restaurants were few, and they often served as meeting spaces for Tolstoyans, and other social reformers. The movement was mostly
ovo-lacto vegetarian
Lacto-ovo vegetarianism or ovo-lacto vegetarianism is a type of vegetarianism which forbids animal flesh but allows the consumption of animal products such as dairy and eggs. Unlike pescetarianism, it does not include fish or other seafood. A ...
at the time.
According to the medical science at the time, mostly influenced by German medicine, vegetarianism was seen as unhealthy. On the other hand, the vegetarians usually highlighted the physical strength and sporting abilities of vegetarians.
Groups and colonies
Africa
![Gandhi Tolstoy Farm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Gandhi_Tolstoy_Farm.jpg)
Mohandas Karamchand
(later Mahatma) Gandhi set up a cooperative colony called
Tolstoy Farm
Tolstoy Farm was an ashram initiated and organized by Mohandas Gandhi during his South African movement. At its creation in 1910 the ashram served as the headquarters of the campaign of satyagraha against discrimination against Indians in Transv ...
near
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, South Africa, having been inspired by Tolstoy's ideas. The colony comprising was funded by the Gandhian
Hermann Kallenbach
Hermann Kallenbach (1 March 1871 – 25 March 1945) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish South African architect who was one of the foremost friends and associates of Mahatma Gandhi. Kallenbach was introduced to the young Mohandas Gandhi while they were b ...
and placed at the disposal of the
satyagrahis from 1910.
America
Ernest Howard Crosby
Ernest Howard Crosby (November 4, 1856 – January 3, 1907) was an American reformer, georgist, and writer, author.
Early life
Crosby was born in New York City in 1856. He was the son of the Rev. Dr. Howard Crosby (minister), Howard Crosby (1 ...
was a notable Tolstoyan in the United States. He was a supporter of the Christian Commonwealth Colony in
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...
, which was established in 1896 by a number of
Christian socialists and comprised . The residents were also influenced by the views of
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
and
Edward Bellamy
Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 – May 22, 1898) was an American author, journalist, and political activist most famous for his utopian novel ''Looking Backward''. Bellamy's vision of a harmonious future world inspired the formation of numerou ...
.
Europe
In Russia censorship meant that many of Tolstoy’s non-fiction works in the 1880s and 1890s were published abroad first, either in Russian or in translation, delaying the author's influence in his country of birth. However, with
Vladimir Chertkov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Chertkov (russian: Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Чертко́в; also transliterated as Chertkoff, Tchertkoff, or Tschertkow ( – November 9, 1936) was the editor of the works of Leo Tolstoy, and one of the mo ...
(1854–1936) as a key promoter of Tolstoy's ideas, a movement started over the 1890s. The movement continued to grow after the writer’s death and was at its strongest in the years immediately following the
revolutions of 1917 with agricultural communities established in the provinces of
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...
,
Tver
Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population:
Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...
,
Samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
,
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
,
Perm
Perm or PERM may refer to:
Places
*Perm, Russia, a city in Russia
** Permsky District, the district
**Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005
**Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005
**Perm Governorate, an administra ...
and
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. The Tolstoyan communities that proliferated between 1917 and 1921 were eventually wiped out or stripped of their independence as
collectivisation
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
and ideological purges got under way in the late 1920s.
Colonies, such as the
Life and Labor Commune The Life and Labor Commune was a Tolstoyan agricultural commune founded in 1921 and disbanded as a state run collective farm on January 1, 1939. The commune was founded near Moscow but was later resettled in central Siberia, not far from Novokuz ...
, relocated to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
to avoid being liquidated. Several Tolstoyan leaders, including
Yakov Dragunovsky (1886-1937), were put on trial and then sent to the
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
s.
In England John Coleman Kenworthy of the
Brotherhood Church
The Brotherhood Church is a Christian anarchist and pacifist community. An intentional community with Quaker origins has been located at Stapleton, near Pontefract, Yorkshire, since 1921.
History
The church can be traced back to 1887 when a ...
established a colony at
Purleigh
Purleigh is a village on the Dengie peninsula about south of Maldon, Essex, Maldon in the English county of Essex. The village is part of the Purleigh ward of the Maldon (district), Maldon district.
The place-name 'Purleigh' is first attested ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
in 1896. This community closed a few years later but its residents spawned the
Whiteway Colony
Whiteway Colony is a residential community in the Cotswolds in the parish of Miserden near Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The community was founded in 1898 by Tolstoyans and today has no spare land available with over sixty homes and 1 ...
in Gloucestershire and
Stapleton Colony in Yorkshire, both of which are still going today.
Although given Whiteway soon abandoned Tolstoy's principles, it has been regarded by many, including
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
who visited in 1909, as a failed Tolstoyan experiment.
Johannes van der Veer was the key figure in the Dutch Tolstoyan movement, and Tolstoy directly addressed van der Veer's anti-war stances in an 1896 essay. In the Netherlands two colonies were started, a short-lived one at
Bussum
Bussum () is a commuter town and former municipality in the Gooi region in the south east of the province of North Holland in the Netherlands near Hilversum. Since 2016, Bussum has been part of the new municipality of Gooise Meren.
Bussum had ...
in
North Holland
North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...
and a more successful one at nearby
Blaricum
Blaricum () is a municipality and village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It is part of the region of Gooiland and part of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (Metropoolregio Amsterdam). It is known for its many monumental farm buil ...
.
The reasons attributed to the failure of Tolstoyan communities across Europe have included the personal incompatibility of the participants and a general lack of practical agricultural experience.
Prominent followers
One of the prominent followers of Tolstoy was the celebrated philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
. His interest in Tolstoy began in the First World War after he read his book, ''
The Gospel in Brief
''The Gospel in Brief'' (russian: Краткое Изложение Евангелия) is a 1902 synthesis of the four gospels of the New Testament into one narrative of the life of Jesus by Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
Included in a larger vo ...
''. He carried this book with him everywhere and recommended it to others.
In particular, the pacifism of Tolstoy was very influential. Alexander Fodor wrote:
We know that olstoy'spacificism, his advocacy of passive resistance to evil through nonviolent means, has had incalculable influence on pacificist movements in general and on the philosophical and social views and programs of Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and Cesar Chavez.
Another prominent follower of Tolstoy's teachings was
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and anarchist who, after a bohemian youth, became a Catholic without abandoning her social and anarchist activism. She was perhaps the best-known ...
, an American social activist, and a founder of the pacifist
Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in the United States in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus ...
.
[Walter G. Moss]
WISDOM FROM RUSSIA: THE PERSPECTIVES OF DOROTHY DAY AND THOMAS MERTON. (DOC file)
2011
See also
*
Christian anarchism
*
Doukhobor
The Doukhobours or Dukhobors (russian: духоборы / духоборцы, dukhobory / dukhobortsy; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are one of many non-Orthodox ethno-confessional faiths in Russia a ...
*
Gandhism
Gandhism is a body of ideas that describes the inspiration, vision, and the life work of M.K. Gandhi. It is particularly associated with his contributions to the idea of nonviolent resistance, sometimes also called civil resistance.
The term " ...
*
Jesuism
Jesuism is a belief system considering itself to be the true representation of the teachings of Jesus and contrasts itself from the teachings of mainstream Christianity.Owen J. Flanagan. ''The Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World.'' ...
*
New Monasticism New Monasticism is a diverse movement, not limited to a specific religious denomination or church and including varying expressions of contemplative life. These include evangelical Christian communities such as " Simple Way Community" and Jonathan ...
*
Purleigh Colony
* ''
The Kingdom of God Is Within You
''The Kingdom of God Is Within You'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Царство Божие внутри вас, Tsárstvo Bózhiye vnutrí vas) is a non-fiction book written by Leo Tolstoy. A Christian anarchist philosophical trea ...
'', an 1894 non-fiction book by Leo Tolstoy
*
Whiteway Colony
Whiteway Colony is a residential community in the Cotswolds in the parish of Miserden near Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The community was founded in 1898 by Tolstoyans and today has no spare land available with over sixty homes and 1 ...
*
Leo Tolstoy bibliography
This is a list of works by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910), including his novels, novellas, short stories, fables and parables, plays, and nonfiction.
Prose Fiction
Novels
*''War and Peace'' (Война и мир 'Voyna i mir'' 1 ...
References
External links
Collection of works on the Tolstoyan movementat
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
Review of ''Memoirs of Peasant Tolstoyans in Soviet Russia.'', William Edgerton, ed.*
ttp://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/tolstoj/tolstoy2.htm#contents Tolstoy's Legacy for Mankind: A Manifesto for Nonviolence, Part 2
{{simple living
Political repression in the Soviet Union
Russian culture
Anarcho-pacifism
Christian theological movements
Christian anarchism
Simple living