The Russian Chursh Abroad and Vietnam war according to emigre ecclesiastical periodicals

• Main Author: Anashkin Dmitrii
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 2015-03-01
• Series: Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svâto-Tihonovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta: Seriâ II. Istoriâ, Istoriâ Russkoj Pravoslavnoj Cerkvi
• Subjects: Russian Orthodox Church Abroad; the War in Vietnam; Anticommunism; the Cold War; Church Conservatism
• Online Access: http://periodical.pstgu.ru/en/pdf/article/2923
• ISSN: 1991-6434; 2409-4811

Soon after the end of World War II, there arose in the world two opposing systems, between which there began an intense conflict. One manifestation of this confl ict was the outbreak of local wars in different parts of the world. The most violent was certainly the war in Vietnam. For the Russian Church Abroad, which comprised the most conservative elements of the Russian emigration, the war in Vietnam was a war with the evil power of this world: communism. In this war the United States protected not only its own interests but also those of the entire free world against the God-fighters who had seized their homeland, Russia. It was precisely communism that the Russian Church Abroad opposed, not the Vietnamese people, towards whom it was very sympathetic. The church press reported enthusiastically about the heroism of American soldiers, particularly those of Russian heritage serving in the American armed forces. At the same time, it noted various problems among the American soldiers in Vietnam, particularly the widespread use of narcotics. The various anti-war demonstrations were regarded by the Church Abroad as a capitulation of the free world in the face of evil. The peace talks in Indochina were likewise regarded negatively. At the same time, this intense anticommunism had its negative sides, making any objective analysis of events very diffi cult, which in turn led to one-sided views.