Mixed Marriages in Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century: Comparing Russia and Norway

Abstract

This article compares interethnic and interreligious marriages in Russia and Norway during the decades around 1900. State churches dominated religious life in both countries with over 90 percent of the population but both were losing influence during the period we focus on—rapidly in Russia after the 1917 Revolution. The part on Norway employs nominative and aggregate census material which from 1865 asked questions about religious affiliation, while the Russian case study utilizes the database of church microdata being built for Ekaterinburg—a railway hub and an industrial city in the Middle Urals, in Asia—in addition to census aggregates. Our main conclusion is that religion was a stronger regulator of intermarriage than ethnicity. Religious intermarriage was unusual in Ekaterinburg, even if official regulations were softened by the State over time—the exception is during World War I, when there was a deficit of young, Russian men at home and influx of refugees and Austro-Hungarian Prisoners of War (mostly Catholics and Lutherans). The situation was also affected by the 1917 Revolution creating equal rights for all religious denominations. The relatively few religious intermarriages in Norway were mostly between members of different Protestant congregations—nonmembers being the only group who often outmarried. We conclude that representatives of ethnic minorities and new religions seldom outmarry when religion was important for maintaining their identity.

The contribution of social norms and religious practices towards low death registration in 3 HDSS sites of Uganda

“…On the contribution of religious practices toward low death registration, the current study shows that mixed marriages in families undermined death registration due to religious conflicts. This is consistent with the findings in a study conducted in Norway in which religious intolerance was observed in the 19 th and twentieth centuries [ 22 ]. Religious fanatics could not associate with the dead who had converted from their traditional religions including registering such deaths.…”

Between Economy and Social Coercion: Nuptiality in Transition. The Case of the Don Army Territory (Southern Russia), 1867–1916

“…Orthodox: The Alliance of Church and Tradition Tested by Economy, Demography, and Ecology While Upper Don Orthodox perpetuated early marriage (brides aged [17][18], conceding over the years a slight upward trend, urban Orthodox adopted a slightly later marriage (20 years until 1889, 22 years after) and Lower Don Orthodox (19 years until 1889, 20 years after) fell between these two models. Figures 2 to 5 showed that all Orthodox groups are distinct from other denominational groups, even (rural) Buddhists and rural Old Believers, who might have been thought to be close by virtue of their rurality and their participation in the irregular army as Cossacks.…”

“…16 Most lived as self-governing communities. The case of the Don Army Territory is not exceptional: In the governorate of Ekaterinburg around 1900, Glavatskaya et al 17 on individual data also found few religious intermarriages. The largest denominational group remained the Orthodox (90% of the Don Army Territory's population), especially in the countryside.…”