The Prerequisites for the Greco-Bulgarian Strife as Shown in Russian Historiography of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article analyzes the preconditions of the Greco-Bulgarian strife from the point of view of Russian pre-revolutionary researchers. The author shows what points of view Russian historians adhered to in relation to this issue, which side of the conflict they sympathized with and how objective their assessments were. The article also shows what sort of conflict this strife was to a greater extent — ecclesiastical or political. The author examines the views of a number of pre-revolutionary historians — Archbishop. Macarius (Bulgakov), professors E. E. Golubinsky, N. I. Petrov, A. P. Lopukhin, researcher V. A. Teplov — idenifying the most interesting and historically significant of their ideas. As a result of the study, one can come to the conclusion that the national-political reasons were the main driver of the conflict, while the religious component of the issue was to a great extent a shell behind which the aforesaid prerequisites were hidden. All these tendencies have been quite correctly characterized by Russian historians. The then Russian society was very sympathetic to the Bulgarian church liberation movement, which is reflected in the studies of historians — sometimes with bias toward the Greek side of the conflict, which, however, does not prevent them from drawing generally correct conclusions regarding the reasons for this confrontation.