Authors

Discussion

This paper discusses Tsarist government's attempts to reconcile the principles of freedom of conscience, as pronounced in the Edict of Toleration, and the concept of the “tripartite Russian nation,” which officially comprised of the Russians, the Ukrainians and the Belarusians. Based on primary sources from the archives of Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Vatican, the paper demonstrates how three powerful actors - the Tsarist government, the Holy See and the Catholic clergy – confronted each other over the issue of the supplementary services in the Catholic churches. It also touches upon the nature of the Romanov Empire as a nationalizing state, as well as the weakness of the Tsarist administration facing Catholic/Polish resistance.