Conservative party: leaders, program. Conservative parties of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century

In connection with the revolutionary events of 1905, there were about fifty political parties in Russia, both small and large, with a network of cells throughout the country. They can be attributed to three areas - radical revolutionary-democratic, liberal-opposition and monarchist conservative parties in Russia. The latter are mainly discussed in this article.

The process of creating lots

Historically, various political parties are formalized with an exact system. The opposition left parties are the first to form. During the revolution of 1905, that is, a little later than the signing of the October Manifesto, numerous centrist parties were formed, uniting, for the most part, the intelligentsia.

And finally, already a reaction to the Manifesto, the right-wing monarchist and conservative parties of Russia appeared. An interesting fact: all these parties disappeared from the historical scaffold in the reverse order: the February revolution revolutionized the right , then the October Revolution abolished the centrists. And most of the leftist parties joined with the Bolsheviks or self-dissolved in the 1920s, when demonstrative trials began over their leaders.

List and leaders

The Conservative Party - none - was not destined to survive in 1917. They were born all at different times, and died almost simultaneously. The Conservative Party "Russian Assembly" existed longer than all the others, because it was created earlier - in 1900. It will be described in more detail below.

The Conservative Party "Union of the Russian People" was founded in 1905, the leaders - Dubrovin and from 1912 - Markov. "Union of Russian people" existed from 1905 to 1911, then to 1917, it was purely formal. VA Gringmut in the same 1905 founded the Russian monarchist party, which later became the "Russian monarchical union."

The noble aristocrats also had their own conservative party - the United Nobility, created in 1906. The famous Russian People's Union named after Michael Archangel was headed by VM Purishkevich. The National Conservative Party "All-Russian National Union" disappeared already in 1912, Balashov and Shulgin directed it.

The party of moderately right-wingers ended their existence in 1910. The All-Russian Dubrovin Union of the Russian People was formed only in 1912. Later, the conservative party Patriotic Patriotic Union was formed by the leaders Orlov and Skvortsov in 1915. AI Guchkov assembled his "Union of the Seventeenth October" in 1906 (the same Octobrists). Here are just about all the main conservative parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

"Russian Assembly"

St. Petersburg was the birthplace of the RS - "Russian Assembly" in November 1900. The poet VL Velichko complained in a narrow circle that he was constantly haunted by vague but obviously visionary visions of how some dark forces capture Russia. He proposed to create a kind of commonwealth of Russian people, ready to resist the future misfortune. That's how the PC party started - beautiful and patriotic. Already in January 1901 the RS charter was ready and the leadership was elected. As the historian AD Stepanov put it at the first meeting, the Black-Hundred movement appeared.

So far, this did not sound as threatening as, let's say, in eighteen or twenty years. The charter was approved by Senator Durnovo and is fastened with warm words full of bright hope. Initially, the meetings of the RS were similar to the literary and art club of Slavophile persuasion.

There intellectuals, officials, clergy and landlords gathered. At the forefront of cultural and educational goals. However, after the 1905 revolution, thanks to its activities, the RS ceased to be similar to other conservative parties in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. It became vividly right-monarchical.

Activities

In the beginning, the RS arranged discussion of the reports and arranged thematic evenings. The meetings took place on Fridays and were devoted to political and social problems. "Literary Mondays" were also popular. All the "Fridays" first engaged in V. V. Komarov, but they became popular and influential in the autumn of 1902, when VL Velichko headed them.

Since 1901, apart from the "Mondays" and "Fridays", separate meetings have started (here we should note the activity of the Okhrinnogo department, where Professor AM Zolotarev presided, later this department became an independent organization of the "Russian marginal society"). Since 1903 under the guidance of NA Engelgardt, literary Tuesdays have become increasingly popular.

Already in 1901 the "Russian Assembly" numbered more than a thousand people, and in 1902 - six hundred more. Political activities boiled down to the fact that, beginning in 1904, the Tsar received periodic petitions and allegations, organized deputation to the palace and carried out propaganda in the periodical press.

Deputies at various times decorated with their presence princes Golitsyn and Volkonsky, Earl Apraksin, archpriest Bogolyubov, and also no less famous people - Engelhardt, Zolotaryov, Mordvinov, Leontiev, Puryshev, Bulatov, Nikolsky. The Emperor received the RS delegation with enthusiasm. Conservative political parties, Nikolai II, one might say, loved and trusted them.

RS and revolutionary turmoil

In 1905 and 1906, the "Russian Assembly" did not do anything special, and nothing happened to it, except for the post-revolutionary circular, which was forbidden to be in any political communities to servicemen of the tsarist army. Then the liberal and conservative parties lost a lot of their members, and the RS left his founder - AM Zolotarev.

In February 1906 RS organized the All-Russian Congress in St. Petersburg. In fact, the party "Russian Assembly" was only in 1907, when the Conservative Party program was adopted and amendments to the charter were made. Now the RS could elect and be elected to the State Duma and the State Council.

The motto of the program was the motto: "Orthodoxy, Autocracy, Nationalism". Not a single monarchical congress "Russian Assembly" is not missed. However, an independent political faction was created very soon. The first and second dumas did not give a chance to the RS, so the party decided not to nominate candidates, on the contrary - to vote for the extreme left (such cunning against the Octobrists and Cadets). The political position at the Third and Fourth Dumas definitely did not recommend its deputies to block with centrists (Octobrists) and even with moderate right-wing nationalist parties.

Splits

Until the end of 1908 in the monarchist camp raged the passions, the outcome of which were the splits of many organizations. For example, the conflict between Purishkevich and Dubrovin split the Union of the Russian People, after which the Union of the Archangel Michael appeared. Opinions in the RS also divided. The party was followed by quarrels, disappearances and deaths, but especially bureaucratic corpses.

By 1914, the leaders of the RS decided to completely depoliticize the party, seeing in the enlightenment and cultural direction the right way to settle conflicts. However, the war deepened all the faults in the relationship, since the Markovites were for an immediate conclusion of peace with Germany, and the supporters of Purishkevich - on the contrary, they needed a war to the finish. As a result, by the February Revolution, the "Russian Assembly" has outlived itself and turned into a small circle of Slavophile trends.

NRC

"Union of the Russian people" is another organization representing conservative parties. The table shows how much passionarity was at the beginning of the twentieth century - all kinds of societies, communities multiplied, like mushrooms under autumn rain. The NRC started functioning in 1905. Its program and activities were entirely based on chauvinistic and even more anti-Semitic ideas of a monarchical nature.

Orthodox radicalism particularly distinguished the views of its members. The NRC was actively opposed to any kind of revolutions and parliamentarism, advocated the indivisibility and unity of Russia and advocated joint actions by the authorities and the people, which will be an advisory body to the sovereign. This organization, of course, was banned right after the end of the February Revolution, and recently, in 2005, it tried to recreate.

Historical Background

Russian nationalism has never been alone in the world. Nineteenth century is universally marked by nationalist movements. In Russia, active political activity could appear only during the state crisis, after the defeat in the war with the Japanese and the cascade of revolutions. The king only then decided to support the initiative of right-wing social groups.

First there appeared the above-mentioned elite organization "Russian Assembly", which had nothing in common with the people, and the intelligentsia did not find its response sufficient. Naturally, such an organization could not resist the revolution. As, however, other political parties - liberal, conservative. The people were already required not for right-wing, but for left-wing, revolutionary organizations.

The Union of Russian People united only the highest nobility in its ranks, idealized the pre-Petrine era and recognized only the peasantry, the merchant class and the nobility, the cosmopolitan intelligentsia did not recognize either the class or the stratum. The course of the government of the SLL criticized the international loans it had taken, believing that thus the power was ruining the Russian people.

NRC and terror

The Union of the Russian People, the largest of the monarchist unions, was created on the initiative of several people simultaneously: Doctor Dubrovin, Hegumen Arseny and artist Maikov. The leader was the member of the "Russian Assembly" Alexander Dubrovin. He was a good organizer, politically sensitive and energetic person. He easily got in touch with the government and administration and convinced many that only mass patriotism can save the current order, that a society is needed that will conduct both mass actions and individual terror.

Conservative parties of the 20th century are beginning to engage in terror - it was something new. Nevertheless, the movement received support of all kinds: police, political and financial. The king blessed the NRC with all his heart in the hope that even terror is better than inactivity, which is demonstrated by other conservative parties in Russia.

In December 1905, a mass rally was organized at the Mikhailovsky Arena of the NRC, where about twenty thousand people gathered. Prominent people - famous monarchists, bishops - appeared. The people showed unity and enthusiasm. "The Union of the Russian People" published the newspaper "Russian banner". The tsar accepted deputation, listened to the reports and received gifts from the leaders of the Union. For example, the distinctive signs of the members of the NRC, which the Tsar and the Tsesarevich occasionally wore.

In the meantime, the calls of the NRC for absolutely pogromic anti-Semitic content were replicated to the people by the millions of rubles received from the treasury. This organization grew at a tremendous pace, regional sites were opened in almost all major cities of the empire, in a few months - more than sixty branches.

Congress, charter, program

In August 1906, the NRC charter was approved. It contained the main ideas of the party, the program of its actions and the concept of development. This document was rightly considered the best among all the statutes of monarchical societies, because it was brief, clear and precise in the formulations. At the same time, a congress of leaders from all regions was convened to coordinate activities and centralize it.

The organization became paramilitary because of the new structure. All rank-and-file party members were divided into dozens, dozens were shot down into hundreds, and hundreds - into thousands, respectively, with obedience to the dozens, hundreds and thousands. The organization of such a plan was a great help to the popularity among the people. An especially active monarchist movement was in Kiev, and a large part of the NRC members lived in Little Russia.

In the Mikhailovsky Manezh, on the occasion of the consecration of the banners, as well as the banner of the NRN, the deeply revered John of Kronstadt - the All-Russian priest, as he was called - arrived. He said a welcoming speech and later himself joined the NRC, and until the very end was an honorary member of this Union.

To prevent revolutions and maintain order, the NRC kept self-defense, often armed, ready for action. "White Guard" from Odessa - a particularly well-known squad of such a plan. The principle of the formation of self-defense is a military Cossack with the captains, atamans and ten's. At all the factories in Moscow and St. Petersburg there were such squads.

Crumbling

At its fourth congress, the NRC was the first among the Russian monarchist parties. He had more than nine offices, and the vast majority of delegates were members of this Union. But at the same time, contradictions among the leaders also began. Purishkevich tried to remove Dubrovin from his duties, and soon he succeeded. He pulled all the publishing and organizational work to himself, many leaders of the local branches had not listened to anyone except Purishkevich. This also affected many of the founders of the NRC.

And there was a conflict that went so far that the most powerful organization quickly came to naught. Purishkevich in 1908 created his "Union named after Archangel Michael", the Moscow department left the NRC. The Tsar's Manifesto on October 17 finally split the NRC, as the attitude towards the creation of the Duma was polar different. Then there was a terrorist attack with the murder of a prominent State Duma deputy, in which Dubrovin's supporters and himself were accused.

The Petersburg branch of the NRC in 1909 simply ousted Dubrovin from power, leaving him an honorary membership in the Union, and very quickly ousted his like-minded people from all posts. Until 1912, Dubrovin tried to fight for a place under the sun, but realized that nothing was to be returned, and in August registered the charter of the Dubrovin Union, after which the regional offices began to break away from the center one by one. All this did not add to the authority of the NRC organization, and it finally collapsed. Conservative parties (rightists) were sure that the government was frightened of the power of this Union, and Stolypin personally played a huge role in his collapse.

Prohibition

It got to the point that in the elections to the State Duma of the NRC was a single bloc with the Octobrists. Subsequently, attempts were repeatedly made to recreate a single monarchist organization, but no one has succeeded here. And the February Revolution, the monarchist party banned, instituting proceedings against the leaders. Then came the October Revolution and the Red Terror. Most of the NRC leaders in those years were waiting for death. The rest reconciled, erasing all past contradictions, the White movement.

Soviet historians considered the NRC to be an absolutely fascist organization, much anticipating their appearance in Italy. Even the NRC participants themselves wrote many years later that the "Union of the Russian People" had become the historical predecessor of fascism (one of the leaders - Markov-2, wrote about it with pride). V. Laker believes that the Black Hundreds passed about half way from the reactionary movements of the nineteenth century to the right-wing populist (that is, fascist) parties of the twentieth century.