Freemasonry in Pre-1917 Russia Free

Freemasonry in Pre-1917 Russia

Free Masonry in Pre-1917 Russia

The Freemasons were a movement founded in Europe in the 1300's, although freemasonry did not enter Russia until much later. The founding philosophies of the group encompassed ideals including scientific discovery, intellectualism, and deism. Although there have been some unofficial sects that permitted women members, the group has been predominantly male. While most associate the Freemasons with numerous governmental conspiracy theories, the reality is that the group existed to further education, enlightenment, and prosperity among the people. Members of freemasonry across the globe have historically included men from royalty, aristocracy, military, and even occasional tradesmen. While many of the conspiracy theories about the group are simply legend, the Freemasons have been responsible for many changes and advances throughout the course of history.

Unlike other groups at the time, freemasons were neither religious extremists nor enlightenment enthusiasts. As argued in Walter Moss's a History of Russia:

They viewed God not as a personal being who answered daily prayers, but as the great lawmaker or "divine clockmaker," who created a marvelous clock (the universe) that would run perfectly if mankind just discovered and applied its laws… they were critical of intolerance that had often accompanied them and were sympathetic to the secularist idea of separating church and state.

It was these particular principles along with the group's overall distain for illogical non-progressive ideas that often got them into trouble with various rulers.

Introduction to Russian Society

Freemasonry did not enter Russia until the seventeenth century as a result of Ivan the Terrible's expansion of trade. Prior to Ivan, Russia had remained a closed and isolated country that did not trade or interact with the rest of the world. During Ivan's rule, the boarders of Russia were expanded and ports opened. While some countries, such as Germany, did not trust the king due to his arrest of some tradesman, he did make much successful progress with England. During his rule, England gained nearly exclusive trade rights with Russia, opening Russian ports to foreign trade and influence. In fact, it was directly the result of the newly opened ports that brought freemasonry into Russia (Hosking, 117). As the ports opened, military and aristocracy from other countries, especially England, entered Russia seeking both asylum and a fresh start (Wolffin, 82). While there are not any known activities that occurred by the hands of the freemasons at this time, it is well-known that there was already an established Freemason membership by the end of Ivan's rule. The reason that this assumption can be made is the influence that the Freemasons had on the next ruler, Peter the Great.

Peter the Great

Peter the Great was a dual successor to the throne of Russia. For the first part of his rule, he ruled alongside his half-brother who was mentally unable to actually rule himself. At his half-brother's death, he took over the throne (Riasonovsky, 214). During his reign, many of his actions offended the aristocracy, but forced the culture to westernize. Some of his more famous actions included requiring that Russian nobility shave their beards and eliminating arranged marriage entirely, arguing that it resulted in domestic violence as the spouses typically distained one another. This desire for westernization is exactly why many historians point out and strongly believe that Peter the Great was an active member of the Freemasons. According to early writings, he was influenced by Sir Christopher Wren of England to join the society and the result was the start of his campaign to educate and instruct the people of Russia. In fact, there are reports that Peter the Great may have given the Masons a building to use for their first official lodge in Russia.

Peter the Great's advancements of his country brought many foreigners to the ports of Russia. According to records found in Moscow,

Accompanied by the advances in commerce and aided by external political events, like the Jacobite rebellions, Peter the Great's reforms (and his trip to Europe) initially, fostered the increase in contacts between Europe and Russia in the first decades of the century and contributed to the influx of foreign population in Russia. At the early stages of the development of Freemasonry in Russia, ports became the first and the main centers of Masonic activity. In fact by 1710, Russia had replaced Sweden along the whole stretch of the Baltic coast from Riga to Vyborg and gained control of the Northern trade. The commercial treaty of 1734 provided a steady flow of northern raw materials to Great Britain from Russia and of Western manufactured goods from Britain to Russia, and Britain became Russia's main trading partner. British Trade Companies Narva. Estimations made by a.V. Demkin. (Moscow: Rossiiskaiia Akademiia Nauk, Institut Rossiiskoi Istorii, 1988)

Through opening up commerce and improving the overall wealth of his people, he was also able to improve their education and knowledge of the world. Along with this influx was an increase in the amount of Masonic activity within Russia. According to historical records of the Masonic order there were at least 3,000 active Mason members under Peter's rule and this time period saw the greatest increase of working Russian citizens to enter the ranks of the Masons.

During the reign of Peter the Great, Russia and Europe was exiting the Enlightenment era. This era, while inviting in new ideas of education and experience, also brought with it new premises within the Church that resulted in much disagreement and conflict among monarchs. This is one issue that the Freemason's fingerprint can be seen in influencing. In fact, according to historians, there are numerous Freemason publications challenging and questioning the church (Wolffin, 82). These publications, are in agreement with the actions of Peter the Great, who during the later part of his reign reformed the Russian Orthodox Church where he even refused to name a successor to the church in order to instead establish what became known as the Holy Synod, a council of ten clergy members who from that point forward ran the church (Dmytryshyn, 18).

Another example of Free Mason influence during Peter's reign was his transformation and modernization of the Russian military. Whereas prior to Peter's reign, the military was entirely Russian based, under Peter the Great, the military became transformed, bringing in leaders from Britain. These influences are especially noted in the Russian Navy:

By recruiting from sixty to as many as five hundred British subjects to enter Russian service as naval captains, lieutenants, bombardiers, shipbuilders, smiths, and gun-founders on his visit to Britain, Peter made a major contribution to the development of the Russian navy, creating the foundations, at the same time, for the beginning of the long-standing tradition of the British presence in the Russian navy, many of whom, were Freemasons. The estimates of how many British navy specialists Peter recruited vary widely. (Cross, 37)

So, once again, Peter the Great saw a need within Russia to modernize and improve his forces. Instead of turning to leaders within Russia, he turns to his fellow Freemasons from Britain and chose to learn from the strongest navy in the world.

This growth and use of the Freemasons continued and their numbers grew even greater thanks in part to the support of political leaders during this time.

In the end Russia greatly benefited from the reverence of Peter III towards Frederick of Prussia, who, as it was widely known at the time, was a Freemason himself. Imitating Frederick the Great, Peter allegedly patronized the brotherhood and gave a house in St. Petersburg as a gift to the lodge of Postoianstva (of Constancy) that worked in St. Petersburg and its suburb Oranienbaum since 1762. It is often assumed that Peter III not only sympathized with Freemasonry but also was a Master at a lodge in Oranienbaum (probably, the lodge of Constancy). This story is indirectly supported by the reference to Peter III's involvement with a lodge in Oranienbaum by Volkov, Freemason and Peter's confidant. Volkov was questioned by Catherine II's orders to find out "who during the reign of the previous monarch was with him in the Masonic lodge and what is the aim of this sect disagreeable with God and where are the printed books and who is known to him as a member of this sect." Andrei Bolotov (1738- I 833) was a naturalist, writer, an educator, and the founder of the Russian agricultural science. Because of his impeccable German, during the Seven Y ears ' War he was sent to Konigsberg to the Chancellery of the Russian Governor of the East Prussia. He worked closely with General Lieutenant Baron Korff, whom he mentions as the connecting link between Friedrich and Peter III in the Masonic affairs. Bolotov stayed in East Prussia from 1758 until 1762. In his memoirs, he repeatedly stressed that his experiences in the Baltic Sea provinces and the interactions with their German inhabitants played decisive role in his lire. Later, during 1776- 1796, he managed the Bogoroditsk region. Active participant of many intellectual activities, founding member the Free Eeonomic Society and editor and publisher of the Country Dweller magazine, Bolotov contributed to the Economic Magazine published by the leader of Moscow Freemasons and his one-time friend N.I. Novikov. It is not clear whether Bolotov himself was a Mason, but he certainly personally belonged to the same social circles as many leading Freemasons in Russia. In his Entsiklopediia, 128, 990, Serkov mentions Bolotov as a possible member of the Konigsberg military lodge of Joanna Krestitelia (John the Baptist) working in Elagin's system around 1773. (Cross, 105)

The Freemasons continued to grow and improve Russian society until the death of Peter III, when his wife Catherine took over the throne. During the reign of Peter III, the numbers and lodges grew substantially and it became fashionable in Russia to be a member of the Freemasons. In fact, many nobles from other countries were traveling to Russia to be a part of the new and growing movement.

Catherine the Great

One of the longstanding rules and traditions of the Freemasons is that members must be men, as women were believed to be easily corruptible and not of equal character. Thus, when Peter III died, so did the royalty's membership in the Freemasons. While Catherine did continue modernizing Russia and thus following in the footsteps of her father, she did not consider the Freemasons in a positive light. In fact, she detested and actively sought to end the group. According to Cross, even during her husband's reign, Catherine did not consider the group as highly as her husband and held them responsible for many political pranks and tricks in Russia. Once her husband passed away, she began a formal investigation into the Freemason society to determine whether they were attempting to bring her brother to the throne in her place. During this time, she required that all Freemason activities be held under police watch and all activities reported. Additionally, she began questioning known royal members of the groups, assuming ties with enemy countries. Those questioned by Catherine included Prince Golovin, Prince Zakhar, and Ivan Chernyshevs.

Under Catherine's reign, the Freemasons became a more secretive order to avoid further questioning and interrogations from Catherine. According to historians,

Looking back at the interrogation, General Prozorovskii pointed out that early lodges in Russia did not seem to have any serious intellectual interchange with foreign lodges. mentioning that the loges he inspected "did not have any correspondence with the lodges in other places." Prozorovskii's underestimation or unawareness of early international Masonic activities involving Russia can be attributed to the fact that the first Freemasons in Russia did not leave any significant documentary traces of their activities. During Elizabeth's reign, Freemasons were so cautious that they "met only occasionally, by stealth, and not in a regular house but often even in an attic of a remote building." (Beber, 556.)

It was a wise move of the group at this time to seek secrecy in its ranks, as Catherine's investigations would continue and become even more harsh toward the group. As a result of the secrecy, however, the group also lost much of its grounding with the original ideals of freemasonry. According to memoirs of Ivan Perfil evich Elagin,

He was intrigued by Masonic secrecy; on the other, he wanted to reap the benefits of mingling with the people "who ... accomplished a lot" and were superior in their "rank, stature, and recognition." As Elagin put it, by participating in a lodge, he "conceitedly hoped" to enlist "friends who could assist in reaching his happiness." But soon he became disillusioned with the brotherhood in Russia as it existed in the 1750s and made another attempt at discovering the secrets of the Craft under the guidance "of people well-versed in Freemasonry" only in the late 1760s. In the 1750s, Elagin could not find "any avail" in early Freemasonry in Russia because there was "no trace of any learning or moral advancement," but only "inapprehensible things, weird ceremonies, land irrational actions." During the lodge meetings, he "heard inconceivable symbols, absurd catechisms, stories contrary to any reasoning, land explanations not understandable by common sense, all of which was taught by tasteless and ineloquent Masters who did not want to explain or did not know anything themselves." To him, lodge meetings seem to be "an amusement for people who want to entertain themselves, sometimes inexcusably and indecently, at the expense of a newly initiated member," when everyone could 'joke with a respectable exterior at an open meeting, shout unintelligible songs in dissonance at the ceremonial banquet, drink good wine in excess at the expense of others, and end this dedication to Minerva with a worship of Bacchus...Thus Elagin was by no means the only one who did not take early Freemasonry seriously.

It is questionable as to whether these observations and actions by the group were intentional, to avoid more serious attention by Catherine, or unintentionally related to the fact that at this time the Freemasons had no official guidelines or rules that dictated how their meetings should be held or the responsibilities of the group.

Regardless of the intentions of the group, Catherine's investigations continued. According to Moss's a History of Russia,

Novikov's Masonic and publishing activities in Moscow, where he had moved in 1779 led to Catherine's distrust of him. By 1790, Catherine was highly suspicious of Moscow Masons and ordered them watched carefully. She believed Freemasonry had helped bring about the French Revolution, and by 1792 she also came to suspect Moscow Masons of being involved in a conspiracy against her fueled by suspricious papers found in a search of Novikov's estate, she feared these Masons were conspiring with more senior Rosicucian Masons in Berlin and with the Prussian court. She suspected they were attempting to recruit Grand Duke Paul and possibly put him on the Russian throne.

Although an investigation failed to unearth enough evidence to substantiate her worst fears, she belived it sufficient to sentence Novikov to fifteen years incarceration in Schlusselburg Fortress. (279)

His incarceration did not last long and he was freed four years later when Paul took over the throne. Once Catherine no longer ruled, the Masons were free to continue expanding their ideals and practices within Russia and continued to influence the modernization of the country as a whole.

Hostilities toward the group would continue for an entire century after Catherine the Great. In Russia, the freemasons would be forbidden from meeting and any Russian Masons were hunted down and imprisoned. Most Russian Mason leaders fled the country and sought refuge in France and England. Those that remained held meetings in absolute secrecy, typically in attics and were very careful to even invite new members to the group as there were always spies seeking out Masons. This began to change under the rule of Alexander II.

Alexander II

While freemasons were not given the same government endorsement that they had received under Peter the Great, they were also no longer actively hunted out and instead were permitted to meet and act, so long as their actions were peaceful. Alexander II was a very modern ruler who desired to pull Russia into the manufacturing and goods era that existed at the time. In order to do this, his first prerogative was to determine the necessary actions to take with the Serfs. Under previous kings, Serfs became tied to their land. They were not permitted to travel elsewhere and had to produce a certain required amount of farming goods annually. This kept the class of people poor and enslaved to their particular landlords. Alexander saw the abject poverty of this class and the futility of forcing so many citizens of Russia to do nothing but farming and decided to do something about it.

While not known for certain, this decision and many of Alaxander's late decisions as ruler were said to have been influenced by the Masons. Being a Mason himself, Alexander would hold to the same values as his fellow Masons for freedom and modernism of the people of Russia. In fact, had Alexander not been assassinated, he was to release a new Parliamentarian government for Russia, which would have completely modernized the Russian government and could have prevented the later overthrow (Radzinsky, 413).

Alexander had many other modern ideas that lead scholars to believe that he was actively learning and engaging with the Mason leaders at the time. Among these practice included are the elimination of capital punishment, the creation of serf committees in those areas less willing to eliminate their serfs entirely, and an attempt at making peace with the revolutionaries in Russia at the time.

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic War, like many political wars, was an antecedent of everything that freemasonry stood for and hoped to accomplish. The entire purpose of freemasonry was to modernize the world in a way that countries got along and worked together to further science and invention. As a result, the Napoleonic wars revealed the true nature of the Freemasons at the time, who were forced to fight for whichever country they were currently residing. This meant that many of the French soldiers under Napoleon's command were British or Russian. Because of this, the masons in agreement with the British government passed a decree to protect fellow masons during the war and treat the prisoners of war fairly. According to this law:

whereas the commissioners for conducting His Majesty's transport service and for the care and custody of French officers and Sailors detained in England have been pleased to grant…leave to reside in…upon condition that he gives his parole of honour not to withdraw one mile from the boundaries prescribed there without leave for that purpose from the said Commissioners, that he will behave himself decently and with due regard to the laws of the kingdom, and that he will not directly or indirectly hold any correspondence with France during his continuance in England, but by such letter or letters as shall be shown to the agent of the said commissioners under whose care he is or may be in order to their being read and approved by the superiors, he does hereby declare that having given his parole we will keep it inviolably.