The word "party" comes from the Greek partio, which means both "part" and "deed", perhaps some kind of common. A political party, therefore, is an association of like-minded people who have common ideas and goals that can be realized through access to power structures in order to represent the interests of certain groups of the population. The political parties of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century developed in a turbulent environment during the reign of Nicholas II. This Russian autocrat replaced Alexander III, who was called a peacemaker for the absence of wars during the era of his reign. The accession to the throne of Nicholas II was accompanied by the death of a thousand people on the Khodynka field, so his reign was unsuccessful from the very beginning.
Historical background foractivities of various parties
The reputation of the ruler of the Russian Empire was unsuccessfully affected by the war with Japan in 1904-1905, which led to territorial and significant human losses. Against the background of the weakening authority of the tsar, radical sentiments began to intensify, which were manifested primarily by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Black Hundreds. Nicholas II, in order to improve the situation after the revolution, went on a number of political reforms, among which was the establishment of the State Duma. Until that time, there was no representative body in the country at all. The formation of political parties in Russia by that time took place in three directions: socialist, monarchist and liberal. And each of them had its own characteristics and significant differences in political programs, methods for achieving goals.
Nationalism in the politics of the time
Monarchist political parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were quite numerous. Among them were: "Russian Assembly", "Union of the Working People", the Monarchist Party, "Russian People's Union. Michael the Archangel, etc. These political currents did not have uniform programs, but they preached pro-nationalist ideas and were for the preservation of landowner rule on earth. "Russia is for the Russians" - such was the slogan of many monarchist movements, who preferred to leave the power of the tsar unlimited, and the Russian Empire - an autocratic monarchy. But not all political parties in Russia were so aggressive. The table presents their comparative characteristics.
The Black Hundreds were monarchists
It was believed that the number of monarchists most often included small merchants, cab drivers, that is, urban "people" of Russian-speaking origin, there were also merchants, landowners, petty bourgeois, Cossacks and even policemen, especially committed to the tsarist regime. For these people, party activists preached slogans of assimilation of other peoples, forced resettlement, organization of riots, terrorist acts. What else is known for the monarchist political parties in Russia? Briefly - the formation of Black Hundred squads, which in 1905-1914. actively set in motion the above-mentioned policy of chauvinism, Russian nationalism and anti-Semitism. A prominent figure in the monarchist movement was Purishkevich, who came from a landlord environment.
Name after historical document
The liberal political parties of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were mainly represented by the Cadets and Octobrists (representatives of the Union of October 17). In October 1905, precisely on the seventeenth, Nicholas II adopted a manifesto on the improvement of the state order, which shared the right of the tsar to rule (previously sole) with the State Duma. The first congress of the Cadets (constitutional democrats) took place in the same year 1905, when the main course of this party movement was fixed.
The state as the main initiator of reforms
The left-liberal Cadets (under the leadership of Milyukov) consisted of intelligentsia, zemstvo leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists and believed that Russia should have a market economy,the status of the rule of law, democracy in terms of individual rights under the general regime of government in the form of a parliamentary monarchy. They proposed to resolve the difficult peasant issue by transferring land from the landlords (leaving them half a thousand acres) for use (not possession) by the peasants for a ransom, which the state had to pay. At the same time, the peasant community remained in the village. The peculiarities of political parties in Russia for this wing consisted in the fact that the Cadets saw the main conductor of reforms, in fact, the state and wished to improve the position of the working class through the introduction of an 8-hour working day, the arrangement of trade unions and the possibility of holding strikes. Representatives of this party were not against expanding the independence of Finland and Poland, as well as granting the peoples of Russia the right to cultural definition.
They didn't want to shorten the working day
The history of political parties in Russia includes such a name as A. Guchkov, who led the Octobrist party. This movement was liberal, but conservative, center-right. It was based on representatives of the bourgeoisie (the union of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie of large cities) and the moderate wing of the opposition zemstvos, who proposed to carry out reforms through parliament without armed struggle. The Octobrists were for the indivisibility of Russia, the preservation of the system in the form of the Duma monarchy, the solution of the peasant issue by providing land in Siberia to those in need, endowing the peasants with the same rights as in other classes, the preservation of landlord lands with their possible redemption for a large reward,sale of state lands to peasants. Since the party was led by industrialists, they were against the 8-hour working day (instead of 11-12 hours), as they believed that people had enough rest due to church holidays.
SRs wanted to form a federation of peoples
The socialist political parties of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century were represented by the Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Social Democrats (RSDLP). The first was headed by V. M. Chernov. They intended to establish the power of the people, to convene a Constituent Assembly, to equip Russia as a federation of peoples with the right of nations to independently resolve certain issues. They wanted to take away the land from the landowners, transfer it to the public use of peasant communities. The Social Revolutionaries preferred terror tactics, attracting the intelligentsia into their ranks - students, teachers, doctors, etc. The party was the most popular among the peasants.
The driving force of the revolution is the proletariat
The political parties of Russia in 1905 included two established "branches" of the Social Democrats. The formation of this party was formalized in 1903 abroad, in Brussels, where the charter, maximum and minimum programs of the party itself were adopted. The Social Democrats relied on the working class, and not on the peasants (among whom at that time there were 80% of illiterates). They wanted to overthrow the autocracy, introducesuffrage, to separate church from state. For workers, it was supposed to introduce a working day of no more than eight hours, pensions and insurance were planned, they wanted to abolish child labor and reduce the use of female power. The peasants were supposed to receive their allotments, which were determined for them during the reform of 1861. In the course of discussions on the main issues, disagreements emerged in the party, and the Bolshevik Party (led by V. I. Lenin) and the Menshevik Party (led by Martov) began to enter into its composition.
The Mensheviks believed that their party would be accessible to the general population, the revolutionary processes should be led by the bourgeoisie in alliance with the proletariat. The Mensheviks considered the peasantry a relic of the past, they offered to take the land from the landowners and transfer it to municipal ownership while maintaining small plots from those working on the land.
Secret organization and closeness of the party
The Bolshevik Party believed that their association should be a secret, closed organization. Lenin's supporters represented the proletariat in alliance with the peasantry as the driving force of the revolution, and considered the bourgeoisie a relic of the past. They wanted to change the system by force and to replace the tsarist regime with dictators from the proletariat. The Party's agrarian program envisaged the liquidation of church and landowner estates and the transfer of land in favor of the state. It must be said that with such ideas, the Bolshevik Party of 1917 (April - the time of the announcementLenin "April Theses") was not very popular both in the political environment and among the people. Therefore, the agents of the party launched a wide-ranging agitation campaign among the military, peasants, workers, etc., in order to increase the number of supporters. And they succeeded, since it was this political force that carried out the Great October Socialist Revolution. The Communist Party was formed from representatives of this political movement.
It must be said that the programs of the political parties of that time were somewhat similar to each other. For example, the Cadets proposed to expand the independence of the two territories, while the Bolsheviks wanted to give all nations the right to self-determination, including the possibility of secession. But, as history has shown, the Communist Party, as the successor of the Bolsheviks, on the contrary, gathered the territories of almost the entire Russian Empire into a single whole, only with a different social system.
