Union of the Russian People
Encyclopedia
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.
Founded in October–November 1905 in Petersburg
, URP has soon shown itself as a counter-revolutionary party of reactionary
representatives of the urban
lower middle class
and middle class
, landowners, nationalist intelligentsia
, clergy
, workers and peasantry. Its leaders organized a series of political assassinations of deputies and other representatives of parties which supported the Russian Revolution of 1905
. Some modern academic researchers review URP activities in the context of Russian Fascism of 1900–10 model. Soon after the February Revolution
of 1917 URP was suspended and its leader Alexander Dubrovin was arrested.
Abbreviations: English
: URP (from translated
name), SRN (from transcribed
"Soyuz russkogo naroda"); .
" ("Russkoye sobraniye") Vladimir Purishkevich
and Alexander Dubrovin.
On the October Manifesto
was issued, allowing the formation of political parties. Five days after Purishkevich, A. A. Maikov (a son of poet Apollon Maykov
), Pavel Bulatzel’, Baranov, Vladimir Gringmut and some others gathered at Dubrovin's home. At this meeting they concurred with Dubrovin's idea to set up a political organization (Dubrovin opposed to calling it a party). In a couple of weeks initiators worked out an organizational structure, devised a program, and on formally announced the founding of the Union of the Russian People. Dubrovin was electing its chairman.
Besides merchants and priests who supported ideas, and right-radical organizations like Moscow Banner-carriers, Dubrovin was in contact with senior officials and secret services of Russia. Minister of the Interior Pyotr Durnovo was completely in the know about the foundation of the URP while his subordinates actively worked upon creation of an open organizations to counteract the influence of revolutionaries and liberals among the masses. Around the same the head of the political section of gendarmes department Pyotr Rachkovsky
reported his chief, colonel (later general) Alexander Gerasimov about such attempts and proposed Gerasimov to introduce him to Dubrovin. Their meeting took place in late October 1905 in the apartment of Rachkovsky.
With a powerful administrative support and funding at their disposal URP managed to organize and conduct its first mass public event less than in a fortnight after its creation. The first public rally of URP with about 2,000 attendance was held on in Mikhailovsky Manege, a popular venue in Petersburg
. Orchestra was playing, the church choir sang "Praise God" and "Tzar Divine"; leaders of URP (Dubrovin, Purishkevich, Bulatsel’, Nikolsky) addressed the mob from a rostrum erected in the centre of the arena. Special guests from the "Russian Assembly
": Prince M. N. Volkonsky, journalist from "Novoye Vremya" Nicholas Engelhardt and two bishops also welcomed the new party with their speeches.
Members of the tzar's entourage like Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, Alexander Trepov
, many of government and clergy "unquestionably welcomed a movement such as this". Sergei Witte
was a rare occasion among high-ranking officials being "unequivocally hostile to the URP" (in his memoirs he calls Dubrovin a "high-handed and abusive leader").
inspector of parochial schools a.s.c. P. N. Spassky and two students, V. V. Yermolaev and A. D. Muretov; in Moscow — by N. N. Oznobishin and V. A. Balayev. Odessa
branch was set up on with Prince A. I. Konovnitsyn, N. N. Rodzevich and B. A. Pelikan. In a relatively short time URP became numerically and organizationally the strongest of the right-wing movements and parties.
By 1907 it is said about up to 900 local URP branches in many cities, towns and even villages. Apart from abovenamed, the largest were in Kiev
, Saratov
and Astrakhan
; Volhynian Governorate
is also mentioned among the largest by the representation of URP.
The charter
of URP was adopted in August 1906. URP stood for unity and indivisibility of Russia, preservation of autocracy
and russification of non-Russian population.
URP’s became the main instigator (through meetings, gatherings, lectures, manifestations and mass public prayers) of the pogrom
s against Jews
(especially in 1906 in Gomel, Yalta
, Bialystok
, Odessa, Sedlets and other cities), in which the URP members often took active part. In October 1906, they formed a black-hundredist organization called Ob’yedinyonniy russkiy narod (Объединённый русский народ, or Russian People United).
In 1908 URP members from clergy claimed for a right to carry weapons, however this petition was denied.
The Union actively campaigned against Ukrainian self-determination and in particular, against the "cult" of the popular Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko
.
In 1908-1910, the infighting in the URP broke the organization into several smaller entities, which were in constant conflict with each other - Soyuz Mikhaila Arkhangela (Союз Михаила Архангела, or Union of Archangel Michael), Soyuz russkogo naroda (Союз русского народа, or Union of the Russian People ), Vserossiysky dubrovinsky Soyuz russkogo naroda v Peterburge (Всероссийский дубровинский Союз русского народа в Петербурге, or Dubrovin’s All-Russian Union of the Russian People in Petersburg) etc. After the February Revolution
of 1917, all of the black-hundredist organizations were forcefully dissolved and banned.
URP chairman Alexanedr Dubrovin, Pavel Krushevan
, Vladimir Purishkevich, Pavel Bulatsel’ and some other "radical temperament anti-Semitic rabble rousers".
The methods of URP were not what the Russian assembly considered proper conduct. Save lawyer an journalist Bulatsel’, another leading intellectual of URP was B. V. Nikolsky, privatdozent
(senior lecturer
) at Petersburg University.
and engineer A. I. Trishatny
. From six other board members (Pavel Bulatzel’, George Butmi, P. P. Surin and others) four belonged to the merchant estate, and two were peasants by origin. A merchant from Petersburg I. I. Baranov was a treasurer
of URP, and barrister
Sergei Trishatny
(elder brother of a deputy chairman) performed as secretary.
Later the Main Board increased to 12 members, among which S. D. Chekalov, M. N. Zelensky, Ye. D. Golubev, N. N. Yazykov, G. A. Slipak are mentioned.
was Russkoe znamya (Russian Banner), a newspaper which first published notorious "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
. In provincial Russia
Pochayevsky listok (The Pochayev Circular) was the most popular URP newspaper. URP also printed its propaganda
materials in Moskovskiye Vedomosti (Moscow News), Grazhdanin (Citizen), Kievlyanin (Kievan) and others.
. The Union's main activities can be described as national patriotic with strong emphasis on the Russian Orthodox Church
and revival of Russian traditions gone into the past after the October Revolution
.
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
right-wing nationalist party, the most important among Black-Hundredist monarchist and antisemitic political organizations in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
of 1905–1917.
Founded in October–November 1905 in Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, URP has soon shown itself as a counter-revolutionary party of reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
representatives of the urban
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
lower middle class
Lower middle class
In developed nations across the world, the lower middle class is a sub-division of the greater middle class. Universally the term refers to the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the upper middle class associated with the higher realms of the middle...
and middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
, landowners, nationalist intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
, 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....
, workers and peasantry. Its leaders organized a series of political assassinations of deputies and other representatives of parties which supported 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...
. Some modern academic researchers review URP activities in the context of Russian Fascism of 1900–10 model. Soon after 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 URP was suspended and its leader Alexander Dubrovin was arrested.
Abbreviations: English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: URP (from translated
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
name), SRN (from transcribed
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
"Soyuz russkogo naroda"); .
1905: creation and promotion
The idea to create the union originated between several public figures of Russia who entered its political arena before the 1905 Russian Revolution. Among them were active members of the "Russian AssemblyRussian Assembly
Russian Assembly was Russian loyalist right-wing monarchist political group . Founded in Petersburg in October — November 1900, dismissed in 1917.-Leaders:...
" ("Russkoye sobraniye") Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich , was a Russian politician before the Bolshevik revolution, noted for his monarchist and antisemitic views...
and Alexander Dubrovin.
On the October Manifesto
October Manifesto
The October Manifesto was issued on 17 October, 1905 by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia under the influence of Count Sergei Witte as a response to the Russian Revolution of 1905....
was issued, allowing the formation of political parties. Five days after Purishkevich, A. A. Maikov (a son of poet Apollon Maykov
Apollon Maykov
Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov was a Russian poet.He was born into the artistic family of Nikolay Apollonovich Maykov, a painter and an academic. In 1834 the family moved to Petersburg. In 1837-1841 Maykov studied law at Saint Petersburg University. At first he was attracted to painting, but he soon...
), Pavel Bulatzel’, Baranov, Vladimir Gringmut and some others gathered at Dubrovin's home. At this meeting they concurred with Dubrovin's idea to set up a political organization (Dubrovin opposed to calling it a party). In a couple of weeks initiators worked out an organizational structure, devised a program, and on formally announced the founding of the Union of the Russian People. Dubrovin was electing its chairman.
Besides merchants and priests who supported ideas, and right-radical organizations like Moscow Banner-carriers, Dubrovin was in contact with senior officials and secret services of Russia. Minister of the Interior Pyotr Durnovo was completely in the know about the foundation of the URP while his subordinates actively worked upon creation of an open organizations to counteract the influence of revolutionaries and liberals among the masses. Around the same the head of the political section of gendarmes department Pyotr Rachkovsky
Pyotr Rachkovsky
Pyotr Ivanovich Rachkovsky was chief of Okhrana, the secret service in Imperial Russia. He was based in Paris from March 1885 to November 1902.-Activities in 1880s-1890s:...
reported his chief, colonel (later general) Alexander Gerasimov about such attempts and proposed Gerasimov to introduce him to Dubrovin. Their meeting took place in late October 1905 in the apartment of Rachkovsky.
With a powerful administrative support and funding at their disposal URP managed to organize and conduct its first mass public event less than in a fortnight after its creation. The first public rally of URP with about 2,000 attendance was held on in Mikhailovsky Manege, a popular venue in Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. Orchestra was playing, the church choir sang "Praise God" and "Tzar Divine"; leaders of URP (Dubrovin, Purishkevich, Bulatsel’, Nikolsky) addressed the mob from a rostrum erected in the centre of the arena. Special guests from the "Russian Assembly
Russian Assembly
Russian Assembly was Russian loyalist right-wing monarchist political group . Founded in Petersburg in October — November 1900, dismissed in 1917.-Leaders:...
": Prince M. N. Volkonsky, journalist from "Novoye Vremya" Nicholas Engelhardt and two bishops also welcomed the new party with their speeches.
Members of the tzar's entourage like Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, Alexander Trepov
Alexander Trepov
Alexander Fyodorovitch Trepov was the prime minister of Russia from November 1916 until January 1917.- Life :Educated in His Majesty's Page Corps. Worked in the Ministry of the Interior . Elected Marshal of Nobility of Pereiaslavl Uezd...
, many of government and clergy "unquestionably welcomed a movement such as this". Sergei Witte
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
was a rare occasion among high-ranking officials being "unequivocally hostile to the URP" (in his memoirs he calls Dubrovin a "high-handed and abusive leader").
1906: upswing
By the end of 1905 URP started to absorb many of the smaller unions and leagues that had been springing up in the provinces. Usually, a branch was set, becoming a primary unit of the URP regional structure. On two local branches were opened. In Novgorod it was set by eparchialEparchy
Eparchy is an anglicized Greek word , authentically Latinized as eparchia and loosely translating as 'rule over something,' like province, prefecture, or territory, to have the jurisdiction over, it has specific meanings both in politics, history and in the hierarchy of the Eastern Christian...
inspector of parochial schools a.s.c. P. N. Spassky and two students, V. V. Yermolaev and A. D. Muretov; in Moscow — by N. N. Oznobishin and V. A. Balayev. 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,...
branch was set up on with Prince A. I. Konovnitsyn, N. N. Rodzevich and B. A. Pelikan. In a relatively short time URP became numerically and organizationally the strongest of the right-wing movements and parties.
By 1907 it is said about up to 900 local URP branches in many cities, towns and even villages. Apart from abovenamed, the largest were in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev 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....
, Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
and Astrakhan
Astrakhan
Astrakhan is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of below the sea level. Population:...
; Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit initially of the Russian Empire, created in 1792 after the Second Partition of Poland from the territory of the Kiev Voivodeship and Wołyń Voivodeship...
is also mentioned among the largest by the representation of URP.
The charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
of URP was adopted in August 1906. URP stood for unity and indivisibility of Russia, preservation of 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...
and russification of non-Russian population.
URP’s became the main instigator (through meetings, gatherings, lectures, manifestations and mass public prayers) of the 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 against Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
(especially in 1906 in Gomel, Yalta
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
, Bialystok
Bialystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Located on the Podlaskie Plain on the banks of the Biała River, Białystok ranks second in terms of population density, eleventh in population, and thirteenth in area, of the cities of Poland...
, Odessa, Sedlets and other cities), in which the URP members often took active part. In October 1906, they formed a black-hundredist organization called Ob’yedinyonniy russkiy narod (Объединённый русский народ, or Russian People United).
In 1908 URP members from clergy claimed for a right to carry weapons, however this petition was denied.
The Union actively campaigned against Ukrainian self-determination and in particular, against the "cult" of the popular Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko
Taras 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 1908-1910, the infighting in the URP broke the organization into several smaller entities, which were in constant conflict with each other - Soyuz Mikhaila Arkhangela (Союз Михаила Архангела, or Union of Archangel Michael), Soyuz russkogo naroda (Союз русского народа, or Union of the Russian People ), Vserossiysky dubrovinsky Soyuz russkogo naroda v Peterburge (Всероссийский дубровинский Союз русского народа в Петербурге, or Dubrovin’s All-Russian Union of the Russian People in Petersburg) etc. After 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, all of the black-hundredist organizations were forcefully dissolved and banned.
Ideology
The antisemitic spirit was brought into URP by its ideological core which seceded from the Russian assemblyRussian Assembly
Russian Assembly was Russian loyalist right-wing monarchist political group . Founded in Petersburg in October — November 1900, dismissed in 1917.-Leaders:...
URP chairman Alexanedr Dubrovin, Pavel Krushevan
Pavel Krushevan
Pavel Aleksandrovich Krushevan was a journalist, editor, publisher and an official in the Imperial Russia. He was an active Black Hundredist and was known for his far-right, ultra-nationalist and openly antisemitic views and was the first publisher of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.Born...
, Vladimir Purishkevich, Pavel Bulatsel’ and some other "radical temperament anti-Semitic rabble rousers".
The methods of URP were not what the Russian assembly considered proper conduct. Save lawyer an journalist Bulatsel’, another leading intellectual of URP was B. V. Nikolsky, privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
(senior lecturer
Senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. Especially in research-intensive universities, lecturers lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
) at Petersburg University.
Party leaders and bodies
The supreme body of URP was called Main Board . Its chairman Alexander Dubrovin had two deputies: noble landowner and future Duma Deputy Vladimir PurishkevichVladimir Purishkevich
Vladimir Mitrofanovich Purishkevich , was a Russian politician before the Bolshevik revolution, noted for his monarchist and antisemitic views...
and engineer A. I. Trishatny
Alexander Trishatny
Alexander Iosifovich Trishatny — a Russian right wing politician, one of the founders and leaders of the Union of the Russian People , a loyalist right-wing nationalist party, the most important among Black-Hundredist monarchist and antisemitic political organizations in the Russian Empire of...
. From six other board members (Pavel Bulatzel’, George Butmi, P. P. Surin and others) four belonged to the merchant estate, and two were peasants by origin. A merchant from Petersburg I. I. Baranov was a treasurer
Treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
of URP, and barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
Sergei Trishatny
Sergei Trishatny
Sergei Iosifovich Trishatny — an elder brother of Alexander Trishatny, with whom he worked in the supreme bodies of the Union of the Russian People , a loyalist right-wing nationalist party, the most important among Black-Hundredist monarchist and antisemitic political organizations in the Russian...
(elder brother of a deputy chairman) performed as secretary.
Later the Main Board increased to 12 members, among which S. D. Chekalov, M. N. Zelensky, Ye. D. Golubev, N. N. Yazykov, G. A. Slipak are mentioned.
Newspapers
URP’s chief 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...
was Russkoe znamya (Russian Banner), a newspaper which first published notorious "Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a fraudulent, antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for achieving global domination. It was first published in Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the twentieth century...
. In provincial Russia
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
Pochayevsky listok (The Pochayev Circular) was the most popular URP newspaper. URP also printed its 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....
materials in Moskovskiye Vedomosti (Moscow News), Grazhdanin (Citizen), Kievlyanin (Kievan) and others.
Revival and current activity
This organisation has seen a revival around 2005 in Russia now and has many followers and 17 offices in large cities. The first chairman of the refounded group was Vyacheslav KlykovVyacheslav Klykov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Klykov was a Russian sculptor who specialized in public monuments to key figures of national history and culture....
. The Union's main activities can be described as national patriotic with strong emphasis on the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
and revival of Russian traditions gone into the past 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...
.