Black Hundred
Encyclopedia
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, or Chornaya sotnya, chernosotentsy) was an ultra-nationalist movement in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in the early 20th century. They were a supporter of the House of Romanov and opposed any retreat from the autocracy
Autocracy
An autocracy is a form of government in which one person is the supreme power within the state. It is derived from the Greek : and , and may be translated as "one who rules by himself". It is distinct from oligarchy and democracy...
of the reigning monarch. The Black Hundreds were also noted for extremist russocentric doctrines, xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
, anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and incitement to pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s.
Pre-formation
"Svyashchennaya druzhina" (Священнaя дружинa, or The Holy Brigade) and "Russkoye sobraniye" (Русское собрание, or Russian Assembly) in St. Petersburg are considered to be predecessors of the Black Hundred. Starting in 1900, the two organizations united representatives of the conservative intellectualIntellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
s, government officials, clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
and landowners. A number of black-hundredist organizations were formed during and after the Russian Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
, such as "Soyuz russkovo naroda" (Союз русского народа, or Union of the Russian People
Union of the Russian People
The Union of Russian People — a loyalist right-wing nationalist party, the most important among Black-Hundredist monarchist and antisemitic political organizations in the Russian Empire of 1905–1917....
) in St. Petersburg, "Soyuz russkikh lyudey" (Союз русских людей, or Union of the Russians), "Russkaya monarkhicheskaya partiya" (Русская монархическая партия, or Russian Monarchist Party) and "Obshchestvo aktivnoy bor'by s revolyutsiyey" (Общество активной борьбы с революцией, or Society of Active Struggle Against Revolution) in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, "Belyy dvuglavyy oryol" (Белый двуглавый орёл, or White Two-headed Eagle) in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and others.
Predecessors
Members of these organizations came from different social strata, such as landowners, clergymen, highBourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
and petty bourgeoisie, merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s, artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s, workers and the so-called "declassed elements". "Sovet ob’yedinyonnogo dvoryanstva" (United Gentry Council) guided the activities of the black-hundredists. The tsarist regime provided moral and financial support to the movement. The Black Hundreds were founded on a devotion to Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
, church and motherland, expressed by the tsar's motto, Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and National Character (Pravoslavie, Samoderzhavie i Narodnost). Despite certain program differences, all of the black-hundredist organizations had one goal in common, namely their struggle against the revolutionary movement. The black-hundredists conducted oral propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
in churches by holding special services, during meetings, lectures and demonstrations. Such propaganda provoked antisemitic sentiments and monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
ic "exaltation" and caused numerous pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s and terrorist acts against revolutionaries and certain public figures, performed by their armed wing, the Yellow Shirts.
Popularity and power
The Black Hundred movement published newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s, such as Znamya
Znamya (newspaper)
Russkoye Znamya — a newspaper, organ of the Union of the Russian People established in Petersburg by Alexander Dubrovin on , notoriously known for its antisemitic bias.Discontinued on by the order of Petrograd Soviet.-History:...
(The Banner) or Russkoye znamya (Russian Banner), Pochayevsky listok (The Pochayev Page), Zemschina, Kolokol (Bell), Groza (Thunderstorm), Veche and other. Many rightist newspapers, such as Moskovskiye vedomosti (Moscow News), Grazhdanin (Citizen) and Kievlyanin (Kievan), published their materials, as well. Among the prominent leaders of the Black Hundred movement were Alexander Dubrovin, Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich , was a Russian politician before the Bolshevik revolution, noted for his monarchist and antisemitic views...
, Nikolai Markov, Pavel Bulatzel, Ivan Vostorgov, A. I. Trischatiy, Sergei Trufanov, M. K. Shakhovskoy and others.
Incitement to violence
When two DumaDuma
A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...
delegates, Grigori Borisovich Iollos (Poltava
Poltava
Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 ....
province) and Mikhail Herzenstein
Mikhail Herzenstein
Mikhail Yakovlevich Herzenstein was a Russian Jew converted to Christianity, elected for the Constitutional Democratic Party to the First State Duma of the Russian Empire, representing the city of Moscow...
(b. 1859, d. 1906 in Terijoki), both from the Constitutional Democratic Party, were assassinated by the Black Hundreds terrorists, the organ of Black Hundreds Russkoe Znamya declared openly that "Real Russians assassinated Herzenstein and Iollos with knowledge of officials, and expresses regret that only two Jews perished in crusade against revolutionaries."
The Black Hundred and the Ukrainian question
The Black Hundred movement actively campaigned against Ukrainian self-determination, as well as against promoting of Ukrainian culture and language in general, and against the cult of the great Ukrainian poet Taras ShevchenkoTaras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
in particular.
All Russian Congresses
The black-hundredist organized four all-Russian congressCongress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different nations, constituent states, independent organizations , or groups....
es with the purpose of uniting their forces. In October 1906, they elected the so-called glavnaya uprava (a kind of board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
) of the new all-Russian black-hundredist organization "Ob’yedinyonniy russkiy narod" (Объединённый русский народ, or Russian People United). After 1907, however, this organization disintegrated and the whole Black Hundred movement became weaker with membership rate steadily decreasing. During the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917, the remaining black-hundredist organizations were officially abolished. After the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, many leaders and regular members of these organizations fought against the Soviet authorities, although overall their participation was much lower than that of more moderate forces of the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
.
After emigrating abroad, black-hundredists became the main right-wing critics of the White movement
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
. They blamed the movement for not moving out monarchism as its key ideological foundation, and being run under the influence of liberals and Freemasons. One former member of the Black Hundreds, Boris Brasol
Boris Brasol
Boris Leo Brasol , lawyer and literary critic, was a White Russian immigrant to the United States.-Biography:...
(1885–1963), later emigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and befriended Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
, who gave Brasol a job on the The Dearborn Independent
The Dearborn Independent
The Dearborn Independent, a/k/a The Ford International Weekly, was a weekly newspaper established in 1901, but published by Henry Ford from 1919 through 1927. It was notorious for its antisemitic content , and its publication in English of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion...
. Brasol also helped in the production of The International Jew
The International Jew
The International Jew is a four volume set of booklets or pamphlets originally published and distributed in the early 1920s by Henry Ford, an American industrialist and automobile manufacturer....
.
In popular culture
- In Jack LondonJack LondonJohn Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
's 1908 novel The Iron HeelThe Iron HeelThe Iron Heel is a dystopian novel by American writer Jack London, first published in 1908.Generally considered to be "the earliest of the modern Dystopian", it chronicles the rise of an oligarchic tyranny in the United States. It is arguably the novel in which Jack London's socialist views are...
, which predicts the rise of a nationalist government in the US, the hired thugs who are loyal to the regime and specialise in attacking labour meetings use the name of the Black Hundreds. - In Bernard MalamudBernard MalamudBernard Malamud was an author of novels and short stories. Along with Saul Bellow and Philip Roth, he was one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseball novel, The Natural, was adapted into a 1984 film starring Robert Redford...
's 1966 novel The FixerThe Fixer (Malamud novel)The Fixer is a 1966 novel by Bernard Malamud inspired by the true story of Menahem Mendel Beilis, an unjustly imprisoned Jew in Tsarist Russia. The notorious "Beilis trial" of 1913 caused an international uproar that forced Russia to back down in the face of world indignation. The Beilis case is...
, which portrays Yakov Bok as a Jewish man from the pogrom moving to KievKievKiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Yakov changes his last name to sound more Russian and soon becomes employed by a member of the Black Hundred. - In Edward Rutherford's 1991 novel RusskaRusska (novel)Russka is a historical novel by Edward Rutherfurd, published in 1991 by Crown Publishers. It quickly became a New York Times bestseller. -Plot summary:...
, a young Bobrov (one of the fictional families portrayed in the novel) is beaten in the street by a gang of young Black Hundreds for being Jewish-looking and being the son of a social-democrat. - IrishIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Black MetalBlack metalBlack metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
band PrimordialPrimordial (band)Primordial is an extreme metal band from Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. It was formed in 1987 by Pól MacAmlaigh and Ciarán MacUiliam . Their sound melds black metal with Irish folk music.-Biography:...
included a song named "The Black Hundred" on their 2011 release Redemption at the Puritan's HandRedemption at the Puritan's HandRedemption At The Puritan's Hand is the seventh studio album by the Irish black metal band Primordial, recorded at Foel Studio, Wales, with producer Chris Fielding and released on April 22, 2011. The album has made it into the charts in Finland , Germany , Sweden and Switzerland .-Track...
.
Further reading
- Laqueur, WalterWalter LaqueurWalter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
. Black Hundred: The Rise Of The Russian Extreme Right (1993) - Donald C. Rawson. Russian Rightists and the Revolution of 1905 (1995)