Black Hundreds were members of Russian patriotic organizations of 1905-17 who adhered to the positions of monarchism, anti-Semitism and great-power chauvinism. These organizations applied terror to the rebels. The Black Hundred parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century participated in the dispersal of rallies, demonstrations, and meetings. Organizations supported the government, carried out Jewish pogroms.
To understand this movement at first glance is quite difficult. The Black Hundred parties included representatives of organizations that by no means always acted jointly. However, if we dwell on the most important thing, we can see that the Black Hundreds had common ideas and directions of development. Let us briefly introduce the main Black Hundred parties in Russia and their leaders.
Key organizations and leaders
"Russian Assembly", established in 1900, can be considered the first monarchical organization in our country. We will not take into account its predecessor, the "Russian squad" (this underground organization did not last long). However, the main force behind the movement of the Black Hundreds was the "Union of the Russian People", which arose in1905
It was headed by Dubrovin. Purishkevich in 1908 disagreed with him and left the RNC. He created his own organization, the Archangel Michael Union. In 1912, the RNC experienced a second split. The confrontation this time arose between Markov and Dubrovin. Dubrovin has now left the Union. He formed the far-right Dubrovinsky Union of the Russian People. Thus, 3 leaders of the monarchists came to the fore: Markov (NRC), Purishkevich (SMA) and Dubrovin (VDSRN).
The main Black Hundred parties are those listed above. You can also note the "Russian Monarchist Union". However, the representatives of this party were the Orthodox clergy and nobles, so this association was small and not of significant interest. In addition, after a while the party split. Part of the organization went to Purishkevich.
Origin of the word "Black Hundreds"
The word "Black Hundreds" comes from the Old Russian word "Black Hundred", meaning township taxable population, divided into military-administrative units (hundreds). Representatives of the movement we are interested in were members of Russian monarchist, right-wing Christian and anti-Semitic organizations. "Black Hundred" is a term that has become widely used to refer to far-right anti-Semites and politicians. Representatives of this movement put forward, in contrast to democratic principles, the principle of individual, absoluteauthorities. They believed that Russia had 3 enemies that needed to be fought. This is a dissident, an intellectual and a foreigner.
Black Hundreds and teetotalism
Partially the Black Hundreds party was formed from the people's movement to combat drunkenness. These organizations have never denied teetotalling. At the same time, it was believed that the consumption of beer in moderation is an alternative to vodka poisoning. Part of the cells of the Black Hundreds was even framed in the form of sobriety societies, reading for the people, tea and even beer.
Black Hundreds and peasantry
Black Hundreds - a party whose program of action was not properly developed, with the exception of the call to beat Jews, intellectuals, liberals and revolutionaries. Therefore, the peasantry, which had practically no contact with these categories, remained almost unaffected by these organizations.
Pogroms of the intelligentsia and Jews
The Black Hundred parties made the main bet on inciting ethnic and national hatred. The result of this was the pogroms that swept across Russia. It must be said that the pogroms began even before the deployment of the Black Hundreds movement. The intelligentsia by no means always avoided the blow that was aimed at the "enemies of Russia." Its representatives could easily be beaten and even killed on the streets, often along with the Jews. It did not even save that a significant part of the organizers of the Black Hundreds movement consisted of conservative intellectuals.
Not all pogromscontrary to popular belief, it was the Black Hundred parties that prepared it. In 1905-07, these organizations were still rather small in number. However, the Black Hundreds were very active in areas where the population was mixed (in Belarus, Ukraine and in 15 provinces of the so-called "Pale of Jewish Settlement"). More than half of all representatives of the Union of the Russian People, as well as other similar organizations, were in these regions. The wave of pogroms, as the activities of the Black Hundreds developed, began to subside rather quickly. Many prominent figures in these parties have pointed this out.
Funding organizations, publishing newspapers
An important source of funding for the unions of the Black Hundreds were government subsidies. Funds were allocated from the funds of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in order to control the policy of these associations. At the same time, the Black Hundred parties also collected donations from private individuals.
At different times, these organizations published the newspapers "Pochaevsky Leaf", "Russian Banner", "Thunderstorm", "Bell", "Veche". The Black Hundred parties of the early 20th century also promoted their ideas in such major newspapers as Kievlyanin, Moskovskie Vedomosti, Svet, and Grazhdanin.
Congress in Moscow
The organizations held a convention in Moscow in October 1906. It elected the Main Council and united all the Black Hundreds, creating the "United Russian People". However, their merger did not actually happen. Organizationceased to exist a year later.
It must be said that the constructive ideas of the Black Hundreds (both the topics discussed by the press and the programs of organizations) suggested the creation of a conservative society. There has been considerable controversy over the need for parliamentarism and representative institutions in general. The Black Hundreds are a party whose program was outlined only in general terms. Therefore, and also for a number of other reasons, these organizations turned out to be unviable.
Black Hundred parties: program
The theory of "official nationality" was at the heart of the program of these organizations. She was nominated by S. S. Uvarov, Minister of Education, back in the 1st half of the 19th century. This theory was based on the formula "Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality." Autocracy and Orthodoxy were presented as primordially Russian principles. The last element of the formula, "nationality", was understood as the adherence of the people to the first two. The Black Hundred parties and organizations adhered to unlimited autocracy in matters of the internal structure of the country. Even the State Duma, which appeared during the revolution of 1905-07, they considered an advisory body under the tsar. They perceived the implementation of reforms in the country as a hopeless and impossible undertaking. At the same time, the programs of these organizations (for example, the RNC) declared freedom of the press, speech, religion, unions, assembly, personal immunity, etc.
As for the agricultural program, it was uncompromising. The Black Hundreds are notwilling to make concessions. They were not satisfied with the option of partial confiscation of the lands of the landlords. They offered to sell state-owned vacant land to peasants, and to develop credit and lease systems.
Killing cadets
The Black Hundred parties of the early 20th century during the revolution (1905-07) mostly supported the government's policies. They killed two members of the Central Committee of the Kadet Party - G. B. Iollos and M. Ya. Herzenstein. Both of them were their political opponents: they were liberals, Jews and former deputies of the State Duma. The Black Hundreds were particularly angry with Professor Gertsenstein, who spoke out on the agrarian question. He was killed on July 18, 1906 in Terioki. Members of the "Union of the Russian people" were convicted in this case. These are A. Polovnev, N. Yuskevich-Kraskovskiy, E. Larichkin and S. Alexandrov. The first three were sentenced for complicity and given 6 years each, and Aleksandrov received 6 months for not informing about the impending crime. Alexander Kazantsev, the perpetrator of this murder, was himself killed by that time, so he did not appear before the court.
Black Hundreds losing influence
The Black Hundreds are a party that, after the revolution, failed to become a single political force, despite some successes. Its representatives could not find enough allies in the multiform, multiethnic Russian society. But the members of this movement turned against themselves the radical left parties and liberal centrist circles, which were influential at that time. Even some of the potential allies represented by supporters of the imperialnationalism also rebelled against them.
Frightened by the episodic violence and radical rhetoric of the Black Hundreds, the sovereigns who were in power saw ethnic nationalism as almost the main threat to the state. They were able to convince Nicholas II, who sympathized with the "allies", as well as court circles, of the need to turn away from this movement. This further weakened the Black Hundreds in the political arena on the eve of the events of 1917. The First World War also contributed to the weakening of this movement. Many activists and ordinary members of the Black Hundred organizations volunteered for it. The movement we are interested in did not play a significant role in the revolution of 1917. The Black Hundreds are a party whose remnants were mercilessly destroyed after the victory of the Bolsheviks, who saw nationalism as a threat to the Soviet system.
Prohibition of organizations and the fate of their members
Black Hundred organizations after the February Revolution were banned. They remained only partially underground. Many prominent leaders during the Civil War joined the white movement. Once in exile, they criticized the activities of Russian emigrants. Some prominent representatives of this movement eventually joined the nationalist organizations.
