If we talk about the ideological sources of the Black Hundreds, then first of all we should name the “theory of official nationality,” the main content of which was reduced to the three-part formula “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.” Formulated in the first third of the 19th century by the Nikolaev minister Uvarov, it survived as a state doctrine until the beginning of the 20th century. Among their spiritual fathers, the Black Hundreds also counted the Slavophiles - A.S. Khomyakov, brothers I.S. and K.S. Aksakov, brothers I.V. and P.V. Kireevskikh, Yu.F. Samarina and others. The Slavophil thesis about the opposition between Russia and the West was actively used. In fact, the recognition of Russia’s “special” path was characteristic of various political movements - right up to populism. Such ideas were based on objective differences in levels of economic development, government systems, religions, etc. In the interpretation of the Black Hundreds, the Slavophil thesis about the “rotting West” meant the unacceptability of bourgeois values for Russia; the West was accused of exporting lack of spirituality, narrow materialism, selfishness and individualism.

Capitalism, which was considered an artificially cultivated and organically alien economic system for Russia, was sharply criticized. In their program documents, the Black Hundreds proceeded from the idea of Russia as an agricultural country and gave preference to a patriarchal economy over

commodity, small craft production - before large-scale. At the same time, they did not encroach on private property and, of course, were alien to socialist aspirations.

Democracy seemed to the Black Hundreds the most terrible evil that the West gave birth to. In their understanding, a person has always been part of a certain community - a community, class, tribe. They were convinced of the fundamental unattainability of democracy, no matter what electoral systems or electoral institutions were created for this purpose. Also K.P. Pobedonostsev called the constitution “the great lie of our time” and arrogantly found that “the majority, i.e. the mass of voters gives their vote by herd custom.” And former Narodnaya Volya member L.A. Tikhomirov, who became one of the ideologists of monarchism, argued: “After centuries of practice, no one can doubt that in parliamentary countries the will of the people is represented by the government in the extreme. The role of the people is almost exclusively to choose their rulers, and if their actions are particularly arbitrary, to replace them, although the latter task - with a good organization of political parties - is far from easy.”

From the point of view of the extreme right, for Russia, with its multinational population, an autocratic monarchy was the only possible form of government, “the best way for our Motherland to bring 140 million minds and wills to a single denominator.” But if in defending the inviolability of autocracy the extreme right completely aligned itself with conservative circles, then criticism of the administrative apparatus sharply distinguished them from representatives of the protective movement. The Black Hundreds argued that autocracy had lost its true appearance, for “...Russian sovereigns, starting with Peter I, although they continued to call themselves autocrats, this autocracy was no longer Orthodox-Russian, but very close to Western European absolutism, based not on Orthodox church and zemstvo-state unity and communication between the tsar and the people, and on the right of the strong...” Hence the idealization of the pre-Petrine era, as well as the ideal of social harmony. It should be noted that the Black Hundreds already in 1906-1907. They refused to do anything like convening a Zemsky Sobor or restoring the patriarchate.

Social issues were poorly represented in the programs of the extreme right. They shied away from specific proposals in the agricultural sector, limiting themselves only to indicating that “no measures aimed at improving the life of peasants should violate the inviolability of land property.” But the program on the national issue was developed in extremely detail. In essence, the Black Hundreds occupied an empty niche, since Russian Social Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries, and anarchists proclaimed themselves internationalists. Although Armenian, Jewish, Latvian, Polish, and Finnish parties operated in the empire, there were no parties that associated themselves exclusively with the Russian population. The Black Hundreds were not slow to take advantage of this situation and declared their monopoly on patriotism. The popular thesis in revolutionary circles about the right of nations to self-determination up to and including separation from Russia and the creation of their own national states was countered by the slogan “Russia for Russians.”

The Black Hundreds proclaimed that “the Russian nation, as the gatherer of the Russian land and the organizer of the Russian state, is a sovereign nation, dominant and superior.” They demanded that Russians be given the exclusive right to participate in public administration and serve in government, judicial, zemstvo and city bodies. A set of economic benefits and privileges were provided for the Russians: the exclusive right to settle the outskirts, purchase and lease land, develop natural resources, etc. It was declared that “tribal issues in Russia should be resolved in accordance with the degree of readiness of an individual nationality to serve Russia and the Russian people.” Accordingly, all the peoples inhabiting Russia were divided into “friendly” and “hostile”.

It must be borne in mind that the Black Hundreds meant by Russians the entire Slavic population of the Russian Empire. They denied Ukrainians and Belarusians the right to national culture precisely because they considered their languages to be dialects of Russian. In addition, the term “truly Russian” did not mean ethnic, but rather political affiliation. It did not seem strange to readers of Black Hundred newspapers that the Moscow publicist Gringmut or the Yalta mayor Dumbadze were called “true Russians.” No one was surprised by the plans of the Black Hundred leadership to create a Muslim Union of the Russian People from the Kazan Tatars.

“True Russians” were contrasted with “foreigners,” primarily Jews. Due to economic and religious factors, Judeophobic traditions have long existed in Russia. Anti-Semitic sentiments were equally widespread both in the ruling spheres and among ordinary people. Russian legislation provided for a “Pale of Settlement”, beyond which the residence of persons of the Jewish religion was prohibited. However, the Black Hundreds went further, proclaiming the Jews “enemies of the human race.” Despite the fact that the social stratification among Jews was as deep as among other peoples, they declared that the Jews represented a cohesive ethnic community with the goal of achieving world domination. Anti-Semitic literature explained that Russia was chosen as the first victim of this diabolical plan: “The Russian character, the features of the national way of life of the Russian people, the excellent historical hospitality of the Slavs in general, and especially the Russians, are perfectly weighed and taken into account by the Jews; it is not for nothing that Russia is literally besieged by the Jews.” Pointing to the widespread participation of the Jewish bourgeoisie in trade and industry in the southwestern regions, the Black Hundreds spoke about the economic dominance of Jews in all spheres of life, and the active participation of Jews in the revolutionary movement gave them reason to repeat that the revolution is “the work of the hands almost exclusively of Jews and is being carried out on Jewish money."

The Black Hundreds sought strict implementation of special legislation on Jews, and also planned to introduce new restrictive measures. The Union of the Russian People promised to achieve recognition of all Jews living in the empire as foreigners, although without the privileges that citizens of other states had. Jews were to be forever denied access to public service, teaching, journalism, advocacy, and medical practice. In addition to the notorious “percentage norm,” which limited the access of Jews to educational institutions, it was proposed to expel persons of the Jewish faith from all gymnasiums and universities in which at least one Christian youth was studying. At the same time, it was planned to prohibit Jews from opening their own schools.

It is paradoxical that anti-Semites found common ground with Zionism, a relatively young movement at that time. The mass exodus of Jews to their historical homeland is what attracted the Black Hundreds to the ideas of Theodor Herzl. The Union of the Russian People in its program documents even promised to raise the issue of creating a Jewish state with foreign governments and to facilitate the eviction of Jews to Palestine, “no matter what material sacrifices such eviction may require from the Russian people.”

party duma black hundred

Black Hundreds of the early twentieth century - who are they?

DefinitionGreat Soviet Encyclopedia reads:

"Black Hundreds, “Black Hundred”, members of a reactionary public organization in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, which, advocating the preservation of the inviolability of autocracy on the basis of great-power chauvinism,in the fight against the revolutionary movement, they complemented the punitive apparatus of tsarism. Predecessors Black Hundreds should be considered"Sacred Squad" and the “Russian Assembly” in St. Petersburg, which united from 1900 reactionary representatives of the intelligentsia, officials, clergy and landowners. During the Revolution of 1905–07, in connection with the intensification of the class struggle, arose: in St. Petersburg"Union of the Russian People" , in Moscow"Union of Russian People" , “Russian Monarchist Party”, “Society for Active Struggle against the Revolution”, in Odessa “White Double-Headed Eagle”, etc. The social basis of these organizations was made up of the most diverse elements: landowners, representatives of the clergy, large and petty urban bourgeoisie, merchants, townspeople, artisans , irresponsible workers, as well as declassed elements. The activities of Black Hundred organizations were directed"Council of the United Nobility" and found moral and material support from the autocracy and the court camarilla. Despite some differences in the programs of the Black Hundred organizations, what was common to their activities was the fight against the revolutionary movement. Black Hundreds conducted oral campaigning in churches, at meetings, rallies, lectures, served prayer services, held mass demonstrations, sent delegations to the Tsar, etc. This agitation contributed to the incitement of anti-Semitism and monarchical frenzy and led to a wave of pogroms and terrorist attacks against revolutionaries and progressive public figures. Black Hundreds published the newspapers “Russian Banner”, “Pochaevsky Listok”, “Zemshchina”, “Bell”, “Groza”, “Veche”, etc.; materials Black Hundreds Right-wing newspapers were also published - Moskovskie Vedomosti, Grazhdanin, Kievlyanin. Prominent figures of the Black Hundred organizations were A.I.Dubrovin , V.M.Purishkevich , NOT.Markov , lawyer P. F. Bulatzel, priest I. I. Vostorgov, engineer A. I. Trishaty, monk Iliodor, Prince M. K. Shakhovskoy and others. In order to unite their forces, the Black Hundreds held four all-Russian congresses; The “Main Board” was elected (in October 1906) of the all-Black Hundred organization “United Russian People”. After the Revolution of 1905–07, the all-Russian Black Hundred organization collapsed, the Black Hundred movement weakened, and the size of their organization decreased sharply. During the February Revolution of 1917, the remaining Black Hundred organizations were officially abolished. After the October Revolution, the leaders and many ordinary members of these organizations fought against Soviet power. The term “Black Hundred” was subsequently used in relation to extreme reactionaries, militant opponents of socialism, etc.”

I took the entire definition from TSB (it’s not that big). But the details from it need to be dealt with in more detail.

Since the definition is taken from Soviet encyclopedia, it is natural that revolutionaries are presented in it as unambiguously positive characters, and defenders of the old government as reactionaries and retrogrades. However, after the cancellation of the Soviet project in our country, another point of view on the Black Hundreds appeared. It is presented by historians Vadim Kozhinov (for example, chapter"Who are the Black Hundreds" in the book “Russia of the XX century (1901-1939)”), Anatoly Stepanov (a number of books of which he was the author, co-author or compiler) and some others. They see only the positive side in the ideology of the Black Hundreds, proving its positivity by the participation of many prominent people in the movement: chemist Dmitry Mendeleev, artists Viktor Vasnetsov and Mikhail Nesterov, philosopher Vasily Rozanov and others; as well as glorified saints: Saint Righteous John of Kronstadt, Saint Patriarch Tikhon and others. According to these historians, although there were Jewish pogroms, they were far from being in such numbers as is attributed to the Black Hundreds.

However, I will return to this difference in views on the Black Hundreds. First you need to figure out where this movement “came from.”

The name "Black Hundreds" dates back to the 17th century, to the townspeople "difficult people" : “Heavy people are part of the population of the Russian state, obligated to perform natural duties in favor of the state and pay taxes to it. The draft people included peasants and townspeople. The heavy population was divided into black settlements and black hundreds.
Townspeople settled in the black settlements, supplying various supplies to the royal palace and working for palace needs. The tax was paid from the place and from the fishery. Duty is communal. Taxes and duties were distributed by the community. The tax was paid based on the number of households, and not on the number of people. Simple townspeople, engaged in small trade, crafts and trades, were brought together into the black hundreds. Each Black Hundred constituted a self-governing society with elected elders and centurions.”

Vladimir Gringmut, a right-wing radical politician, one of the founders and ideologists of the Black Hundred movement, tried through the name to identify the Black Hundreds also with the people’s militia of Kuzma Minin, with the Nizhny Novgorod “Black Hundreds”. That is, by calling the monarchical organization “Black Hundreds,” the leaders sought to show that it was “truly national.”

The monarchical movement of “true Russian people” appeared back in the 1900s in the form of disparate organizations. But even in their best years, during the revolution of 1905-1908, the Black Hundreds were represented by more or less large-scale various associations.

However, the prerequisites for the emergence of such a monarchical movement arose back in the 19th century. Ideologically, it is a continuation and development of Slavophilism, whose positions were held by Ivan Kireevsky, Khomyakov, Tyutchev, Gogol, Yuri Samarin, Konstantin and Ivan Aksakov, Dostoevsky, Konstantin Leontiev...

Soon after the assassination of Emperor Alexander II on March 1, 1881, the nobles created the secret “Sacred Squad,” which was primarily engaged in the protection of Emperor Alexander III and members of the imperial family. The squad included officers and senior military officials, as well as representatives of Russian aristocratic families. It did not last long, but, nevertheless, served as a prototype for other monarchical organizations that arose at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The emergence of the Black Hundred was a typical reaction of the conservative part of society to revolutionary events and was undertaken, if not on the initiative, then with the approval and support of the ruling circles. The Black Hundreds were supporters of an unlimited autocratic monarchy, a class system, and a united and indivisible Russia.

The first monarchical organization can be considered the “Russian Assembly”, organized in 1900 (if you do not take into account the short-lived “Russian squad”). However, the basis of the Black Hundred movement became the organization “Union of the Russian People”, which arose at the end of 1905, headed by Dubrovin. In 1908, Purishkevich disagreed with Dubrovin and left the RNC, forming his own “Union of Archangel Michael.” In 1912, a second split occurred in the “Union of the Russian People”, this time a confrontation occurred between Dubrovin and Markov. At the same time, Dubrovin leaves the Union, forming his own ultra-right All-Russian Dubrovinskaya “Union of the Russian People.”
Thus, the three main leaders of the monarchists come to the fore - Dubrovin (VDSRN), Purishkevich (SMA) and Markov (SRN).

But there were many smaller organizationswith their leaders.

"Russian Assembly" - the oldest monarchist and nationalist organization (party) in Russia, created in St. Petersburg in October-November 1900, continued to exist after the February Revolution of 1917.
On January 26, 1901, the comrade of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Senator P. Durnovo, approved the charter of this first political organization of the Russian people. The party united representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, officials, clergy and landowners of the capital. Initially, the “Russian Assembly” was a literary and artistic club; cultural and educational activities came to the fore; politicization intensified only after 1905. The first founders of the “Russian Assembly” were 120 people.
The “Russian Assembly” had branches in Kharkov, Kazan, Odessa and other cities. The party switched to political activity in the fall of 1904 with such actions as submitting addresses to the Tsar, delegations to the Tsar, and propaganda in the press. The 1st Congress of the Russian Assembly (1906) approved the program platform:
. autocratic and indivisible Russia;
. the dominant position of Orthodoxy in Russia;
. recognition of the legislative capacity of the State Duma.
The slogan was adopted - “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality."

"Union of Michael the Archangel" (full name - “Russian People's Union named after Michael the Archangel”) is a Russian monarchist, Black Hundred organization (party), which arose in early 1908 as a result of the withdrawal of a number of public figures led by V. M. Purishkevich from the “Union of the Russian People”. It existed until 1917.
The “Union” had its own cells in many cities of Russia, especially large organizations in Moscow, Odessa, and Kyiv.
The "Union" advocated the preservation of the historical foundations of Russia - Orthodoxy and autocracy, fought for the deprivation of voting rights of Jews and the limitation of the representation of Poland and the Caucasus. At the same time, the “Union” supported the existence of the State Duma and approved the Stolypin reform aimed at destroying the peasant community.
The "Union" distributed newspapers, books and brochures, held meetings, readings, and mass anti-Semitic campaigns.

"All-Russian Dubrovinsky Union of Russian People" (VDSRN) is a Russian Orthodox-monarchist patriotic organization that existed in the Russian Empire in 1912-1917.
It was formed as a result of a split in the “Union of the Russian People” - the largest monarchist organization in the Russian Empire.
In August 1912, the charter of the “All-Russian Dubrovinsky Union of the Russian People” was officially registered, according to which the goal of the “Union” was proclaimed “the preservation of Russia united and indivisible - with the dominance of Orthodoxy in it, with the unlimited power of the Tsarist Autocracy and the primacy of the Russian People.” Members of the Union could be “only natural Orthodox Russian people, of both sexes, of all classes and conditions, who recognized themselves as aware of the goals of the Union and devoted to them. Before joining, they are required to promise not to enter into communication with any communities pursuing goals that are inconsistent with the objectives of the Union.” The candidate had to secure the support of two members of the Union. Foreigners could only be accepted by decision of the Main Council. Jews, persons whose at least one parent was a Jew, and persons married to a Jew were not accepted into the union. The same rules were spelled out in the Charter of the “Union of the Russian People”, adopted in 1906.

"Russian monarchist party" - Russian monarchist, Black Hundred organization, arose in the spring of 1905 in Moscow. Since 1907 - “Russian Monarchical Union”.
Until his death in 1907, the party leader was V.A. Greenmouth. He was replaced by Archpriest John Vostorgov. Instead of Gringmut, he also became chairman of the “Russian Monarchist Assembly” - the intellectual headquarters of the monarchists of Moscow. The members of the party were exclusively nobles and Orthodox clergy, which is partly why it was a small organization and its influence on the political situation in Russia was limited.

"Union of Russian People" - a Russian national-monarchist organization that existed in Moscow from 1905 until actually 1910-1911, formally until 1917. The founders and main figures are counts Pavel Dmitrievich and Pyotr Dmitrievich Sheremetev, princes P. N. Trubetskoy and A. G. Shcherbatov (1st chairman), Russian publicists N. A. Pavlov and S. F. Sharapov.
The task of the “Union” is to promote, through legal means, the correct development of the principles of the Russian Church, Russian Statehood and the Russian national economy on the basis of Orthodoxy, Autocracy and the Russian Nationality.
Members of the “Union” could become Russian Orthodox (including Old Believers) people, as well as, by decision of the general meeting, non-Russian or heterodox (except Jews). According to social status, representatives of the noble aristocracy stood out among the members of the "Union", then the proportion of representatives of the intelligentsia, students and employees began to increase.

"All-Russian National Union" - Russian Orthodox-monarchist right-wing conservative party that existed in the Russian Empire in 1908-1917. It was created in 1908-1910 as a union of a number of parties, organizations and factions of the State Duma - the Russian Party of the People's Center, the Legal Order Party, the Moderate Right Party, the Tula Union "For the Tsar and Order", the Bessarabian Center Party, the Kiev Club of Russian Nationalists and a number of other provincial organizations, two factions of the Third State Duma - the Moderate Right and the Russian National.
The founding congress of the Supreme National Assembly took place on June 18, 1908. The main ideologist of the party was the Russian publicist M. O. Menshikov, the chairmen were S. V. Rukhlov (1908-1909) and P. N. Balashov (1909-1917).
The ideology of the “Union” was based on the triad “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality”; among the goals of the Supreme National Assembly were indicated “the unity and indivisibility of the Russian Empire, the protection in all its parts of the dominance of the Russian nationality, the strengthening of the consciousness of Russian national unity and the strengthening of Russian statehood on the basis of the autocratic power of the Tsar in unity with legislative popular representation."
In relation to foreigners, the Supreme Council proposed to pursue the following policy:
. restriction of political (electoral) rights of foreigners at the national level;
. restriction of the rights of foreigners to participate in local life;
. restriction of some civil rights of foreigners (when entering the civil service, when engaging in business and liberal professions);
. limiting the influx of foreigners from abroad.
At the same time, it was declared that “given the loyal attitude of foreigners to Russia, the Russian people cannot help but meet their aspirations and desires.”
Persons “belonging to the indigenous Russian population or organically merging with the Russian people” could become members of the Supreme Council. The latter was understood as a political merger, that is, the guidance by foreigners of the interests of the Russian Empire.
The largest regional organizations of the VNS were organizations on the national outskirts (mainly in the west of the Empire), as well as in the capitals.
The VNS consisted of famous Russian scientists prof. I. A. Sikorsky, prof. P. N. Ardashev, prof. P. Ya. Armashevsky, prof. P. E. Kazansky, prof. P. I. Kovalevsky, prof. P. A. Kulakovsky, prof. N. O. Kuplevasky and others. The government of P. A. Stolypin supported the Union. After 1915, it actually disintegrated and finally ceased to exist in 1917.

Council of Monarchical Congresses - a collegial body created to coordinate the monarchist movement in the Russian Empire in November 1915. The creation of such a body was caused by the need to unite monarchical forces in the face of growing opposition to the Autocracy, revolutionary propaganda, and growing instability in the country, as a counterbalance to the consolidation of anti-monarchical forces, expressed, in particular, in the creation of the Progressive Bloc in the IV State Duma.
In addition, the creation of such a body was intended to smooth out the contradictions and hostility between the “Markov” and “Dubrovin” Unions of the Russian People by including representatives of both organizations in it.
The Council held meetings at which issues of coordination of the monarchist movement were considered, issued statements and appeals in which, in particular, it condemned attempts to hold “alternative” monarchist congresses, not under the auspices of the SMC.

"Union of the Russian People" led by doctor A.I. Dubrovin, this is the largest organization of Black Hundreds, which has formed into a kind of party with a charter, ideology and program. The "Union" came into being in November 1905, shortly after the Manifesto of October 17, 1905: The Supreme Manifesto on the improvement of the state order (October Manifesto)

The “Union,” which had all the signs of a political party (program, charter, governing bodies, network of local organizations, etc.), categorically denied its party character, posing as a national association, and in the broad sense of the word identified itself with the entire Russian nation . With this interpretation, belonging to the “Union” was not a voluntary choice, but a sacred duty of every loyal subject, while membership in any other political organization was equated to high treason.

The “Union of the Russian People” relied on the national question. The goals, ideology and program of the “Union” were contained in the Charter, adopted on August 7, 1906. Its main goal was the development of national Russian self-awareness and the unification of all Russian people for common work for the benefit of Russia, united and indivisible. This benefit, according to the authors of the document, lay in the traditional formula “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.” Particular attention was paid to Orthodoxy as the fundamental religion of Russia.

The “Union” aimed to bring the tsar closer to the people by liberating himself from bureaucratic dominance in the government and returning to the traditional concept of the Duma as cathedral body. For the authorities, the charter recommended respect for freedom of speech, press, assembly, association and personal integrity, within the limits established by law.

The charter noted the primacy of the Russian people in the state. Russians meant Great Russians, Belarusians and Little Russians. In relation to foreigners, strict principles of legality were prescribed, allowing them to consider it an honor and a blessing to belong to the Russian Empire and not be burdened by their dependence.

The section on the activities of the union set the tasks of participating in the work of the State Duma, educating the people in the political, religious and patriotic spheres, by opening churches, schools, hospitals and other institutions, holding meetings, and publishing literature. To assist the members of the “Union” and the events organized by it, the creation of the All-Russian Bank “Union of the Russian People” with branches in the regions was prescribed.

The Union paid much attention to the Jewish question. The activities of the union were aimed at protecting the state-forming people, including from oppression by Jews. The “allies” were also concerned about the increased activity of Jewish organizations and the active participation of Jews in politics and the revolutionary movement. In general, the "Union" advocated stricter enforcement of the law regarding the Jewish population of the empire, and against the softening of legislation that took place in pre-revolutionary times.

Individual members of the union had different points of view on the Jewish question. Some advocated the complete deprivation of Jews of all rights and expressed openly anti-Semitic positions. This was the attitude of many of the main ideologists of the “Union”, such as Georgy Butmi and A.S. Shmakov. Publications controlled by the “Union” published a lot of literature denouncing Jews, including provocative materials, such as “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Other members of the organization held a different point of view, condemning the rabid Judeophobes, and often coinciding with the Zionists in supporting the desire of the Jews to gain their own state in Palestine.

The Black Hundred unions, as the extreme right themselves stated, were aimed primarily at “simple, black, working people.” They managed to attract more members to their banner than all Russian political parties combined. A comprehensive analysis of sources allows us to establish that at the time of the greatest flowering of the Black Hundreds, which occurred in 1907-1908, there were more than 400,000 members in the ranks of monarchical organizations. The downside of mass membership was the looseness and amorphous nature of the Black Hundred organizations. Most members of monarchical unions were registered in them only in name.

The social composition of the extreme right unions was extremely diverse and, along with peasants, artisans, and factory workers, the intelligentsia and student youth were represented in the monarchical unions. Leading positions in monarchical organizations were most often occupied by nobles. Representatives of the clergy, both white and black, played a major role in organizational and educational activities; quite a few of them were subsequently canonized.

Declassed elements made up a small part of the members of the extreme right unions. However, this picture changes dramatically when looking at the composition of the Black Hundred fighting squads. Criminal elements set the tone in the fighting squads. And although the number of vigilantes was not comparable to the number of members of monarchical unions, in public opinion the image of the Black Hundreds was associated with them.

About the Black Hundred terror - in the next post.

Union of the Russian People, mass patriotic organization. It emerged in October 1905 in St. Petersburg to fight the revolutionary movement, the Jewish and liberal-Masonic underground. The founder of the Union is a doctor A. I. Dubrovin (Chairman of the Main Council). The Union united the most conscious, nationally-minded part of the Russian people - townspeople, landowners, and intelligentsia.

Outstanding public and government figures, scientists, writers, and artists took part in the patriotic activities of the “Union of the Russian People.” Among them is the king himself Nicholas II , St. John of Kronstadt and future Patr. Tikhon , archim. Anthony (Khrapovitsky), Archpriest Ioann Vostorgov , Archpriest Mikhail Alabovsky, archimandrite. Pochaev Lavra Vitaly (Maksimenko), archim. M. Gnevushev; statesmen (ministers, members of the State Council and State Duma)...

Union of the Russian People (Stepanov, 2008)

THE UNION OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE (URN), the largest Black Hundred organization created in the present day. XX century to fight the revolution under the slogan “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Russian Nationality.”

The RNC was created in October - November 1905 at the height of the revolution. The inspiration for its creation was Ig. Resurrection Missionary Monastery near St. Lyuban near St. Petersburg Arseny (Alekseev), who in his memoirs about the events of Oct. 1905, immediately preceding the establishment of the RNC, emphasized that the Union was created by the direct and unequivocal command of the Mother of God. The first treasurer of the RNC, merchant I.I. Baranov, in testimony to the Extraordinary Investigative Commission of the Provisional Government, stated that the first organizational meeting took place on October 22. 1905 on the feast of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God (the memory of the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612) in his apartment...

Black Hundreds (KPS, 1988)

BLACK HUNDS - participants in military organizations of an extremely monarchical nature in Russia in 1905-1907, the so-called “Black Hundreds” *, created with the support of the government and, in contact with the police, carried out pogroms and bandit attacks on revolutionary workers, democratic intelligentsia and their organizations. They became especially widespread during the years of the Stolypin reaction (1908-1912). The name has become a household word to describe representatives of extremely reactionary movements and organizations.

Brief political dictionary. M., 1988, p. 457.

Union of the Russian People (Orlov, 2012)

"UNION OF THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE" - a mass organization of Black Hundreds, uniting representatives of conservative circles (landowners, urban petty bourgeoisie, clergy, declassed urban elements, part of the intelligentsia, workers and peasants). Founded in October 1905 by A. I. Dubrovin (chairman of the Main Council), V. M. Purishkevich, V. A. Gringmut and others. The Union was patronized by Nicholas II. The union program was aimed at protecting the existing system in Russia: strengthening the autocracy and its unity with the people on the basis of an advisory body (Zemsky Sobor); preservation of a united and indivisible Russia; inviolability of private property, including landownership; maintaining the dominant position of Russians and the Russian Orthodox Church; great-power chauvinism, anti-Semitism, etc...

Bulletin of the Russian Assembly

"Bulletin of the Russian Assembly", weekly magazine, organ Russian Assembly(PC). The first issue was published on January 27, 1906. The editor-publisher of the magazine was initially a hereditary honorary citizen. A.K. Puryshev, member of the Council and treasurer of the PC. The magazine was published weekly, except for the summer months, and contained mainly information about the current activities of the PC. In order to increase the effectiveness of the journal PC Council 4 Jan. 1907 asked the new Chairman of the Council, the famous publicist Prince, to head it. M. L. Shakhovsky. On February 2, 1907 (No. 4), the prince became the new editor-publisher of the magazine.

Astrakhan People's Monarchist Party

Astrakhan People's Monarchist Party (ANMP), one of the most numerous and active regional Black Hundred organizations. The party was organized on November 13, 1905. The program defined its goals as follows: “1) To prevent Russia from disintegrating. 2) Protect the Tsar. 3) Stop the turmoil. 4) To support among the people the feelings that have been inherent in them since time immemorial: devotion to the Throne and the Holy Orthodox Church and not to allow them to be mocked. 5) Maintain among the people the consciousness of the high importance of military service.

Ufa Tsarist People's Russian Society

Ufa Tsarist People's Russian Society, monarchical organization. Appeared on 11 Feb. 1906. The political program was adopted by analogy with the Astrakhan People's Monarchist Party and the Kazan Tsar's People's Society: “In the unity of the Autocratic Tsar with the free people - the strength and greatness of a single indivisible Russia.” At the founding meeting of the society, a loyal telegram was sent in which the monarchists asked the Emperor to preserve his Autocracy and not to exclude from the code of laws the words sanctified by God: “Unlimited Monarch.”

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Black Hundreds Wikipedia, in. Kozhinov Black Hundreds and revolution
Black Hundreds- a collective name for representatives of extreme right-wing organizations in Russia in 1905–1917, who acted under the slogans of monarchism, great-power chauvinism and anti-Semitism.

Initially they called themselves “true Russians”, “patriots” and “monarchists”, but then (through Gringmut) quickly adapted this nickname, tracing its origins to the Nizhny Novgorod “black (grassroots) hundreds” of Kuzma Minin, who brought Russia out of the Time of Troubles .

The Black Hundred movement did not represent a single whole and was represented by various associations, such as, in particular, the “Russian Monarchist Party”, “Black Hundreds”, “Union of the Russian People” (Dubrovin), “Union of the Archangel Michael”, etc.

In 1905-1907, the term “Black Hundred” came into widespread use to refer to far-right politicians and anti-Semites. “Small Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language” by P. E. Stoyan (Pg., 1915) Black Hundred or Black Hundred - “Russian monarchist, conservative, ally.”

The social basis of these organizations was made up of heterogeneous elements: landowners, representatives of the clergy, large and petty urban bourgeoisie, merchants, peasants, workers, burghers, artisans, Cossacks, police officers who advocated the preservation of the inviolability of autocracy on the basis of Uvarov’s formula “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationality” . The period of special activity of the Black Hundreds occurred in the years 1905-1914.

1 Ideology
2 History
3 Activities of the Black Hundred movement
4 Role in pogroms
5 Terror against the Black Hundreds
6 Weakening and end of the Black Hundred movement
7 Modern Black Hundreds
8 Notes
9 Literature
10 Links
- 10.1 Early 20th century editions
- 10.2 Websites of modern Black Hundred organizations

Ideology

The ideology of the Black Hundreds was permeated with the spirit of great power and xenophobia.

In the economic sphere, the Black Hundreds advocated a multi-structural system. Some Black Hundred economists proposed abandoning the commodity backing of the ruble.

Some of the Black Hundred ideas - both programs of organizations and topics discussed in the Black Hundred press - assumed a conservative social structure (there were significant disputes over the admissibility of parliamentarism and generally representative institutions in an autocratic monarchy), and some curbing of the “excesses” of capitalism, as well as strengthening social solidarity, a form of direct democracy.

Story


Organizations
Russian collection
Union of the Russian People
Union of Michael the Archangel
All-Russian Dubrovinsky Union of the Russian People
Russian monarchical the consignment
Union of Russian People
Holy squad
All-Russian Congress of Russian People
Tsarist-People's Muslim Society
Largest representatives
Pavel Bulatzel
Georgiy Butmi
Ioann Vostorgov
Vladimir Gringmut
Alexander Dubrovin
Nikolay Zhevakhov
Ivan Katsaurov
Emmanuel Konovnitsyn
John of Kronstadt
Pavel Krushevan
Andrey Kukarnikov
Nikolay Markov
Mikhail Menshikov
Vasily Orlov
Vladimir Purishkevich
Rafail Rizpolozhensky
Alexander Solovyov
Anthony Khrapovitsky
Seraphim Chichagov
Georgy Shechkov
Alexey Shmakov
Nikolai Yuskevich-Kraskovsky
Modern times
Konstantin Dushenov
Leonid Ivashov
Vyacheslav Klykov
Mikhail Nazarov
Oleg Platonov
Alexander Turik
Alexander Shtilmark

The Black Hundreds trace their origins to the grassroots Nizhny Novgorod militia of the Time of Troubles, led by Kuzma Minin, who “stood for the house of the Most Holy Theotokos and the Orthodox Christian faith, took up arms against the destroyers of the Russian land for the sake of saving the father’s faith and the fatherland from destruction” (In Russia in the 14th-17th centuries, “blacks” "the land plots of the black-growing peasants and tax-paying urban population were called. In historical sources, the “black” lands are contrasted with the “white” lands, which were in the possession of the feudal lords and the church).
The Black Hundred movement came out at the beginning of the 20th century under the slogans of defending the Russian Empire and its traditional values of “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.”

The first Black Hundred organization was the Russian Assembly, created in 1900.

A significant source of funding for the Black Hundred unions were private donations and collections.

According to a number of scientists, the participation of famous figures in Black Hundred organizations was subsequently significantly exaggerated. Thus, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Sergei Lebedev believes that

Modern rightists... like to increase this already long list at the expense of those figures of Russian culture who were not formally members of the Black Hundred unions, but did not hide their right-wing views. These include, in particular, the great D. I. Mendeleev, the artist V. M. Vasnetsov, the philosopher V. V. Rozanov...

The “Black Hundred” of 1905-1917 are several large and small monarchist organizations: “Union of the Russian People”, “Union of the Archangel Michael”, “Russian Monarchist Party”, “Union of Russian People”, “Union for the Fight against Sedition”, “Council” United Nobility", "Russian Assembly" and others.

The Black Hundred movement at various times published the newspapers “Russian Banner”, “Zemshchina”, “Pochaevsky Listok”, “Bell”, “Groza”, “Veche”. Black Hundred ideas were also preached in the major newspapers Moskovskie Vedomosti, Kievlyanin, Grazhdanin, and Svet.

Among the leaders of the Black Hundred movement, Alexander Dubrovin, Vladimir Purishkevich, Nikolai Markov, and Prince M.K. Shakhovskoy stood out.

In October 1906, various Black Hundred organizations held a congress in Moscow, where the Main Council was elected and unification under the roof of the United Russian People organization was proclaimed. The merger did not actually happen, and a year later the organization ceased to exist.

The Black Hundred organizations, which were small in number, were nevertheless able to create the appearance of popular support for the monarchy. Thus, shortly before the February Revolution, when the Chairman of the IV State Duma M.V. Rodzianko tried to draw the tsar’s attention to the growing discontent in the country, Nicholas II showed him a large stack of telegrams from the Black Hundreds and objected: “This is wrong. I also have my own awareness. These are the expressions of popular feelings that I receive daily: they express love for the Tsar.” The loyal telegrams of the Black Hundreds to Empress Alexandra Feodorovna had a particularly convincing effect.

After the February Revolution of 1917, Black Hundred organizations were banned and partially remained underground. During the Civil War, many prominent leaders of the Black Hundreds joined the White movement, and in exile they loudly criticized the emigrant activities. Some prominent Black Hundreds eventually joined various nationalist organizations.

Activities of the Black Hundred movement

Role in pogroms

Members of the Black Hundred carried out raids (with unofficial government approval) against various revolutionary groups and pogroms, including against Jews.

Researcher of the “Black Hundred”, historian Maxim Razmolodin, believes that this issue is debatable and requires further study.

Black Hundred organizations began their formation not before, but after the first, most powerful wave of pogroms. Doctor of Historical Sciences, historian of the Black Hundred movement Sergei Stepanov writes that in the subsequent period, the combat squads of the “Union of the Russian People” and other far-right organizations became a weapon of Black Hundred terror. Maxim Razmolodin argues that as the activities of the Black Hundred organizations unfolded, the wave of pogroms began to subside, which was pointed out by many prominent figures of this movement and recognized by political opponents.

Black Hundred organizations were most active in regions with a mixed population - in Ukraine, Belarus and in 15 provinces of the Pale of Settlement, where more than half of all members of the Union of Russian People and other Black Hundred organizations were concentrated. After the organization of the Black Hundred movement, only two major pogroms were recorded. Both of them occurred in 1906 on the territory of Poland, where the Russian Black Hundreds had no influence. The leaders of the Black Hundred movement and the charters of organizations declared the law-abiding nature of the movement and condemned the pogroms. in particular, the chairman of the Union of the Russian People, A.I. Dubrovin, in a special statement in 1906, defined pogroms as a crime. Although the fight against “Jewish dominance” was one of the foundations of the movement, its leaders explained that it should not be waged by violence, but by economic and ideological methods, that is, mainly by increasing discrimination against Jews. Razmolodin claims that the Black Hundred newspapers, despite their general anti-Semitic orientation, did not publish a single direct call for a Jewish pogrom.

However, Sergei Stepanov argues that policy documents and actual activities were very different from each other. There are facts indicating the active propaganda of anti-revolutionary violence by the Black Hundreds. J. D. Klier and Shlomo Lambroso quote the words of M. Dubrovin, spoken in front of 300 members of the Odessa organization of the RNC:

The extermination of rebels is a sacred Russian cause. You know who they are and where to look for them... Death to the rebels and the Jews!

Original text (English)

The Holy Russian cause is the extermination of the rebels. You know who they are and where to find them… Death to the rebels and the Jews.

Terror against the "Black Hundred"

Radical socialist parties launched a campaign of terror against the Black Hundreds. The leader of the Social Democrats, V. I. Lenin, wrote in 1905:

Detachments of the revolutionary army must immediately study who, where and how the Black Hundreds are composed, and then not limit themselves to preaching alone (this is useful, but this alone is not enough), but also act with armed force, beating the Black Hundreds, killing them, blowing up their headquarters etc. etc.

On behalf of the St. Petersburg Committee of the RSDLP, an armed attack was carried out on the Tver teahouse, where workers of the Nevsky Shipyard, who were members of the Union of the Russian People, were gathering. First, two bombs were thrown by Bolshevik militants, and then those running out of the tea shop were shot with revolvers. The Bolsheviks killed two and wounded fifteen people.

Revolutionary organizations carried out many terrorist acts against members of right-wing parties, mainly against the chairmen of local departments of the Union of the Russian People. So, according to the police department, only in March 1908, in one Chernigov province in the city of Bakhmach, a bomb was thrown at the house of the chairman of the local union of the RNC, in the city of Nizhyn the house of the chairman of the union was set on fire, and the whole family was killed, in the village of Domyany the chairman of the department was killed, In Nizhyn, two department chairmen were killed.

Weakening and end of the Black Hundred movement

Despite massive support among the urban bourgeoisie and the sympathy of the Russian Orthodox clergy and influential aristocrats, the Russian radical right movement remained underdeveloped from its very appearance on the Russian public scene for the following reasons:

The Black Hundred movement failed to convince Russian society of its ability to offer a positive program according to the then demands for political ideology; the explanation of all the problems and ills of society by the subversive activities of the Jews seemed overly one-sided even to those who did not sympathize with the Jews;
The Black Hundred movement failed to offer an effective alternative to the liberal and revolutionary, radical left ideas that had won wide circles of the intelligentsia in Russia;
Continuous splits and internal strife in the Black Hundred movement, accompanied by numerous scandals and mutual accusations (including serious criminal offenses) undermined public confidence in the movement as a whole; for example, the most famous figure in the right-wing movement, Fr. Ioann Vostorgov was accused by right-wing political competitors of poisoning right-wing political figure P.A. Krushevan, murdering his own wife out of a desire to become a bishop, stealing sums from monarchical organizations;
A strong public opinion has formed that the Black Hundred movement is secretly financed from secret sums of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and all conflicts in the movement are caused by the struggle for individuals’ access to these sums;
The latter's participation in the murders of Duma deputies M.Ya. had an unfavorable impact on public opinion about the Black Hundreds. Herzenstein and G.B. Yollosa; as well as those put forward by former Prime Minister Count S.Yu. Witte is accused of attempting to kill him by blowing up his house;
The activities of deputies of the right faction in the Third State Duma, primarily V.M. Purishkevich and N.E. Markov 2nd, was provocative, shocking in nature and was accompanied by numerous scandals that did not contribute to the formation of respect for these political figures; activities of A.N. Khvostov's tenure as Minister of Internal Affairs ended in a loud scandal related to his alleged attempt to organize the murder of G.E. Rasputin and subsequent quick resignation.

Despite certain political successes, after the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Black Hundred movement was unable to become a monolithic political force and find allies in the multi-ethnic, multi-structured Russian society. But the Black Hundreds managed to turn against themselves not only influential radical left and liberal centrist circles, but also some of their potential allies among supporters of the ideas of Russian imperial nationalism.

Some competition with the Black Hundred movement came from the All-Russian National Union and the associated nationalist faction in the Third Duma. In 1909, the moderate-right faction merged with the national faction. The new Russian national faction (in common parlance “nationalists”), unlike the right, managed to position itself in such a way that their votes, together with the Octobrists, formed a pro-government majority in the Duma, while the government had no need for the votes of the right. Right-wing deputies compensated for the insignificance of their faction's votes during voting with aggressive, provocative behavior, which further turned faction members into political outcasts.

The elections to the Fourth Duma took place in a favorable environment for the Black Hundred movements: nationalists competing with them due to a personal conflict between the faction leaders and Prime Minister V.N. The Kokovtsovs lost government support, and significant administrative resources during the elections were directed to supporting right-wing candidates. However, although the number of the right-wing faction increased to 65 deputies (versus 49-53 in the Third Duma), it again failed to take a significant position in the Duma. After the formation of the Progressive Bloc, which united the majority of the Duma, the importance of the right in parliamentary politics fell sharply.

Frightened by the radical rhetoric and episodic violence of the Black Hundreds, the powers in power saw Russian ethnic nationalism as a threat to the Russian state. They managed to convince Tsar Nicholas II, who sympathized with the “allies,” and court circles to turn away from the Black Hundred movement, which contributed to the weakening of the Black Hundreds on the Russian political scene on the eve of the 1917 revolution. The First World War, to which many ordinary people and activists of Black Hundred organizations volunteered, also contributed to some weakening of the movement.

In the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Black Hundred movement played virtually no role; In essence, the self-liquidation of the Black Hundred movement occurred. The Provisional Government did not perceive the Black Hundreds as viable political rivals to such an extent that it did not undertake any significant repression against them (while former right-wing government figures were promptly arrested). After the victory of the Bolsheviks, who saw Russian ethnic nationalism as one of the main threats to the Soviet system created on the basis of proletarian internationalism, the remnants of the Black Hundred movement were mercilessly destroyed, regardless of the degree of their active participation in post-revolutionary political life.

Modern Black Hundreds

The revival of the Black Hundred movement was observed at the end and after perestroika. So, in 1992, a member of the “Memory” society A. R. Shtilmark began publishing the newspaper “Black Hundred”, at the same time his group “Black Hundred” separated from the “Memory” society. Since 2003, “Orthodox Alarm” has been the main publication of the Black Hundred movement, led by Shtilmark. The Black Hundreds include the “Union of the Russian People”, recreated in 2005, the newspaper “Orthodox Rus'”, organizations led by Mikhail Nazarov, founded by Konstantin Kinchev among fans of the Alice group “Red-Black Hundred”, as well as many small organizations. A significant part of modern Russian nationalism, if it does not directly derive itself from the Black Hundreds of the early 20th century, does not at least deny the ideological influence of this movement.

There are Black Hundred organizations in many cities in Russia and abroad: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tikhvin, Kostroma, Novosibirsk, Kyiv and others. In the cities of Efremov and Tomsk, musical ensembles called “Black Hundred” were created.

Notes

Sharova V. L. Right-wing radical ideology in Russia: origins and continuity // Political and philosophical yearbook. - M.: Institute of Philosophy RAS, 2008. - V. 1. - P. 121.
S. Stepanov “THE BLACK HUNDRED”
"Black Hundreds" article in Encyclopedia Britannica
article “Black Hundreds” in TSB
Sergey Stepanov. "Black Hundred in Russia"
Bizyukin S.S. Economic views of the right-wing monarchist (Black Hundred) movement in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century // View from the third millennium: Collection of abstracts. Ryaz. state ped. University named after S. A. Yesenina - Ryazan, 2003.
Information about the organization on the Chronos website
The ideology of right-wing radicalism at the beginning of the 20th century
Kulikov S.V. Emperor Nicholas II during the First World War. St. Petersburg 2000. P. 285
Black Hundreds
Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History
Black Hundreds
1 2 3 4 Razmolodin M. L. Some thoughts about the so-called. "Jewish pogroms". Chronos website. Retrieved April 11, 2012. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012.
1 2 Black Hundred terror 1905-1907
Lambrozo S. Klier J.D. Pogroms: Anti-Jewish Violence in Modern Russian History. - Cambridge University Press, 1992. - P. 224. - ISBN 978-0-521-40532-4.
Compare: The Times, October 9, 1906; In their monograph, J. D. Klier and Shlomo Lambroso refer to the next day's issue of the Times, October 10, which published the end of the "Russia" article. The name of Dubrovin was again mentioned by a correspondent for the London Times in the article “Russian Black Hundred” dated March 8, 1911.
Lenin. Tasks of the units of the revolutionary army
The first militant organization of the Bolsheviks. 1905-1907 - M., 1934. - P. 221.
Circular of the Police Department dated March 8, 1908 // Political police and political terrorism in Russia (second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries): Collection of documents. - M.: AIRO-XXI, 2001. - ISBN 5-88735-079-2

Literature

Kiryanov Yu. I. Right parties in Russia. 1911-1917. - M.: ROSSPEN, 2001. - 472 p. - ISBN 5-8243-0244-8.
Lavrikov S.V. Right-wing monarchist movement in the Tver province, 1905-1915: dissertation. ...cand. ist. Sciences: 07.00.02. - Tver, 1996. - 204 p.
Razmolodin M. L. Black Hundred organizations of the provinces of the Upper Volga region in 1905-1914. (based on materials from the Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Vladimir provinces. - Yaroslavl: Alexander Rutman Publishing House, 2001;
Razmolodin M. L. On the conservative essence of the Black Hundred / Ed. prof. Yu. Yu. Ierusalimsky. - Yaroslavl: Nuance, 2010.
Razmolodin M. L. The Russian question in the ideology of the Black Hundred / Ed. prof. Yu. Yu. Ierusalimsky. - Yaroslavl: Nuance, 2010.
Stogov D.I. Black Hundreds: Life and Death for Great Russia / Rep. ed. O. A. Platonov. - M.: Institute of Russian. civilization, Algorithm, 2012. - 672 p. - ISBN 978-5-4261-0004-6.

Black Hundreds Information About

Initially, the words “Black Hundred” and “Black Hundreds” sounded almost like offensive nicknames. So at the beginning The 20th century was dubbed people with conservative, extreme right-wing views. But then the Black Hundreds themselves rethought these words. They began to remind everyone that in XVI-In the 17th century, the urban common people were called the Black Hundred.

“Yes, we are Black Hundreds! Kuzma Minin’s Black Hundred saved Russia!” - they now said with pride. For the intelligentsia, of course, the word “Black Hundred” still sounded like an insult.

The origins of the Black Hundreds

The first Black Hundred organization - the Russian Assembly - arose in January 1901. It was a small literary-aristocratic circle headed by the prince Dmitry Golitsyn. The circle set itself mainly cultural tasks: studying Russian folk life, preserving the purity of Russian folk speech, etc.

At first, the authorities were even going to ban this organization, suspecting sedition, but then they changed their attitude towards it. Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav Pleve became a patron and honorary member of the society.

The Black Hundreds considered the society of pre-Petrine Rus' to be the healthiest. They saw in him a kind of ideal of unity and harmony of all classes. What disrupted this social harmony? The introduction of alien, foreign influence starting with Peter I. The famous “window cut into Europe” played a fatal role. One of the leaders of the Black Hundreds, journalist Vladimir Gringmut noted that Peter ordered Russia to “forget the original Russian traditions, rush in pursuit of European customs and institutions indiscriminately, not distinguishing in them the precious gold from the deceptive tinsel.”

As a result, a “mediastinum” grew up between the tsar and the people - bureaucracy with its own interests, alien to the people. The program of the most famous Black Hundred organization that emerged later, the “Union of the Russian People” (SRN), said: “The “Union of the Russian People” recognizes that the modern bureaucratic system, carried out in the vast majority of cases by godless, wicked half-educated and re-educated people, has obscured the bright image of the Tsar from people."

The intelligentsia also fought against the bureaucracy. But the Black Hundreds believed that the intellectuals themselves wanted to stand “between the sovereign and the people” and replace the people’s interests with their own. One of the proclamations of the capital's RNC in 1905 called: “Peasants, townspeople and working people! Listen to what the gentleman is up to. Gentlemen sit in city dumas and zemstvos, and in big cities there are lawyers, professors, students, teachers, burnt-out landowners, noble merchants and other gentlemen who call themselves the intelligentsia... Do not recognize it as the authorities and the government, tear it to pieces, remember that you are in the state strength, there are a hundred million of you, but there won’t be even five intelligentsia. It’s enough to put up with this intelligent trash...”

The Black Hundreds were equally critical of the bourgeoisie. In 1907, in the Black Hundreds newspaper “ Russian banner“It was noted: “Our home-grown bourgeoisie is not national, and it was born with us with a corrupted core. The Russian bourgeoisie, lacking original freshness, became infected with the rottenness of the West... Our bourgeoisie will always remain as alien to the people as it is at the present time.”

The Black Hundreds saw a way out for society in a return to “the original principles: Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality.” The power of the sovereign should express the interests not of individual classes, they believed, but of the entire nation as a whole. To do this, it must be free from all kinds of “constitutions and parliaments.”

As for Orthodoxy, the Black Hundreds saw the main misfortune of the church in its subordination to the state. The clergy merged with the bureaucracy, the church turned into an appendage of the state. The root of this evil also goes back to Peter’s reforms, they believed. Many Black Hundreds advocated the restoration of the patriarchate in Rus', as it was in the pre-Petrine era.

Finally, the Black Hundreds considered their most important task to be protecting the Russian people from all kinds of “foreign influences.” They put forward the slogan “Russia is for Russians!” The Black Hundreds considered the Jewish one to be the most dangerous of the “foreign influences.” They ultimately advocated the wholesale eviction of Jews from Russia to their “own state.”

The first Black Hundred organizations remained small salon circles; a turning point in the development of the movement occurred in 1905.

After the Tsar's manifesto of October 17, 1905, which granted freedom, a wave of demonstrations swept across the country. The revolutionaries celebrated their first victory and called for more. This was accompanied by a symbolic destruction of the attributes of the monarchy. Demonstrators burned portraits of Nicholas II, smashed his busts, and collected money for the “funeral of the Tsar.”

Of course, all this deeply hurt the monarchical feelings of part of the population. The presence of Jews and other “foreigners” among the revolutionaries caused especially hostile talk.

For example, in Kyiv, after the appearance of the Tsar’s manifesto, a revolutionary crowd seized the building of the City Duma and tore up portraits of Nicholas II and his ancestors in the meeting room. Some student came out onto the Duma balcony with a portrait of the Tsar. He made a hole in the canvas, stuck his head through and shouted to the crowd: “Now I am the sovereign!” Revolutionary speakers spoke from the Duma balcony. Journalist Vasily Shulgin recalled: “Whether it happened by accident or on purpose - no one would ever know... But during the height of the speeches about the “overthrow,” the royal crown, fixed on the Duma balcony, suddenly fell off or was torn off and, in front of a crowd of ten thousand, crashed onto the dirty pavement. The metal rang pitifully against the stones... And the crowd gasped. The words ran through her in an ominous whisper: “The Jews threw off the royal crown...”.”

On the same day, many people immediately had the idea to respond to the revolutionary uprisings with spontaneous “patriotic demonstrations.” As V. Shulgin recalled, four readers came to the editorial office of the newspaper “Kievlyanin” on October 18, 1905: a worker, an artisan, a merchant, and an official. He relayed the conversation to the editorial office like this:

“What right do they have! - the shopkeeper suddenly became terribly angry. - You worship a red rag - well, to hell with you! And I worship the tricolor. Both fathers and grandfathers worshiped. What right do you have to prohibit me?

Mr. Editor, we also want, like them, a demonstration, a manifestation... Only they are with the reds, and we are with the tricolors...

Let’s take the portrait of the Emperor and go around the whole city... That’s what we want... We’ll serve a prayer service and go in a religious procession...

They are with red flags, and we are with banners...

They tear up the royal portraits, and we, so to speak, will publicly restore them...”

It was decided to gather at the walls of churches for “patriotic processions” everywhere. They began with church services. Hundreds of thousands of people attended such demonstrations across the country. They carried Russian flags, icons, and portraits of the Tsar. They celebrated partly the manifesto on October 17, partly the anniversary of the accession to the throne of Nicholas II (October 21). Some people shouted that it was necessary to beat the troublemakers - students and Jews.

Having started with a simple procession, events developed progressively. Some demonstrators stopped passers-by and demanded that they take off their hats in front of the portrait of the sovereign. Those who did not want to bare their heads had their hats knocked off. Of course, this caused retaliatory outrage, and stones were often thrown at the demonstrators. In Ivanovo-Voznesensk, the Bolshevik V. Morozov, in response to a demand to remove his hat, called Nicholas II a bastard, shot at the portrait and shot two demonstrators. For this he was severely beaten, arrested and sentenced to hard labor.

They shot at Black Hundreds in other cities as well; for example, in Odessa, bombs were thrown at demonstrators, and one of the throwers, anarchist Yakov Breitman, was blown up and killed. Sometimes street fights broke out between revolutionaries and Black Hundreds. Such incidents almost everywhere developed into pogroms directed against “intellectuals and foreigners,” mainly Jews.

In some places, demonstrators simply smashed shop windows and windows of houses owned by Jews with stones. But most often this was accompanied by robbery: the crowd broke into houses and threw property into the street. Any attempt at self-defense aroused the indignation of the crowd and entailed numerous casualties.

They said that the tsar himself allowed the punishment of the “seditious people.” The following characteristic case took place in Tomsk. The procession approached the store, and one of the demonstrators loudly asked the royal portrait: “Do you have permission to destroy, Your Majesty?” “I allow,” answered the man carrying the portrait...

V. Shulgin described the picture of the pogrom this way:

“This was the street along which the “pogrom” took place.

What is this? Why is she white?...

Fluff... Fluff from feather beds.

A terrible street... Disfigured pathetic Jewish huts... All the windows are broken... In some places the frames are broken... All these shacks seem to be blinded. Between them, eyeless, covered in fluff and dirt - all the pathetic junk of these houses, mangled, broken... Chairs, sofas, mattresses, beds, curtains, rags... half pressed into the dirt, broken plates... - everything that was in these shacks, mangled , trampled underfoot...”

Within two weeks of the manifesto, street riots occurred in more than a hundred cities. According to historian S. Stepanov, 1,622 people died and 3,544 people were injured. The victims included both Jews and Russian “troublemakers” - students, intellectuals. Of those killed and wounded whose nationality is known, Jews made up 50%, Russians and other Slavs - about 44%.

"Union of the Russian People"

In October 1905, the Black Hundred movement for the first time grew into a mass movement and spread throughout the country. In November, the largest Black Hundred organization emerged - the Union of the Russian People (URN). The first issue of her newspaper “Russian Banner” was published.