Tolstoyans and the European Pacifist Movement in the 1920-1930s: Тhe Early History of European Transnational Solidarity
Tolstoyans and the European Pacifist Movement in the 1920-1930s: Тhe Early History of European Transnational Solidarity

Summary/Abstract: This paper explores the transnational history of Tolstoyism and religious anarchism that were part of the international pacifist movement of the 1920–1930s. For a long time this history was underestimated due to the lack of access to the main archives of the Russian Tolstoyans. With the opening up of the archives, it became possible to deepen our knowledge about the Tolstoyan pacifist movement as a primarily transnational phenomenon. Its goals and activities were initially framed to overcome state boundaries. The participants in the movement were ordinary people who can be described as non-governmental, grassroots activists. The paper traces some transnational trends of the movement on the basis of Bulgarian Tolstoyans’ periodicals and archives. It demonstrates the solidarity and broad-scale collaboration between Bulgarian and Soviet Tolstoyans in disseminating nonviolence ideas, debating the problem of nonviolent protest, as well as defending prisoners of conscience. The paper is a starting point for further research of the pacifist movement on the basis of the archives of transnational organizations and local activists.

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