Eastern European Baptist History: New Perspectives, 2007

49 (July 1895), pp. 219-220. ” Executive Council Minutes, 13 July 1893. 8’ Executive Council Minutes, 17 January 1895; EC, vol. 49 (April 1895), pp. 127-128. ” Executive Council Minutes, 14 March 1895. 31 leader of the All-Russian Evangelical Christian Union), then in his mid- twenties, who studied at the Bristol Baptist College for a year.” It was clear that there was a growing groundswell of opinion in favour of an approach to the new Tsar. In 1895, a petition signed by one thousand evangelicals was prepared for presentation to the tsar by Prokhanov, but this was not delivered, as Prokhanov was travelling and making Evangelical Alliance, Mennonite and Baptist contacts outside Russia.*' At the Alliance Confer- ence in London in 1896, celebrating fifty years of Alliance life, Baedeker gave an address on Russia. He spoke movingly of evangelical leaders in chains, treated as criminals, and suggested that the revival in Russia was one of the most remarkable in history. Another speaker was Prokhanov, introduced by Baedeker as “my dear young friend”. Prokhanov argued that representations to the tsar by the Alliance were not fruitless; they did influ- ence the Russian educated classes and encouraged evangelicals. Subse- quently a memorandum from the 1896 Conference was sent to the tsar, and Radstock tried to see him, but failed.*’ Victory in the evangelical fight for religious freedom seemed elusive. Conclusion The year 1896 is a suitable year at which to conclude this study. By this time A.J. Arnold, who had done much to foster Alliance links with Eastern Europe, was too old to continue as Secretary and for a time the Alliance lost momentum. This was also the year, however, in which it was agreed that a suggestion from Radstock should be taken up and that an official branch of the Evangelical Alliance should be established in St Petersburg.** The period from the 1850s to the 1890s was one in which increasingly strong links developed between the Evangelical Alliance in Britain and evangelicals, especially Baptists, in Eastern Europe. Personal contacts through people like Baedeker were vital in the fostering of these connec- tions. Such contacts also raised questions about how far Baptists wished to 8° Prokhanoff, In the Cauldron of Russia, pp. 97-100. 8! Executive Council Minutes, 12 September 1895; Prokhanoff, In the Cauldron of Russia, chapters 12 and 13. 82 Jubilee of the Evangelical Alliance: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference Held in London, June-July, 1896 (London: J.F. Shaw, 1897), pp. 307-313. 83 Executive Council Minutes, 12 November 1896. > *4 Executive Council Minutes, 16 January 1896. Alliance development was reported in The Times (10 March 1897). See Executive Council Minutes, 11 March 1897. 32 have a distinctive identity and how far they were willing to be seen simply as evangelicals. At various points the Alliance hoped that its representa- tions to gove