Tolstoyan

The tolstoyans were followers of the philosophy of Leo Tolstoy. They were christians, though outside of any instituted church. They were opposed to government and institutions, considered as evil. They were extreme pacifists, and preached non-violence in all circumstances, including non-resistance rather than self-defense. They may be technically described as anarchists, though they didn't claim the title. Tolstoyans had problems with the tsarist[?] regime, and even more so with the bolshevik. By 1930, Tolstoyans had to relocate to Siberia to avoid being liquidated as kulaks, but Stalin's police nevertheless arrested them and sent all of them to labor camps from 1936 to 1939.

External Link:

• Review of Memoirs of Peasant Tolstoyans in Soviet Russia., William Edgerton, ed. (http://www2.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=26947846532999)