Participation of the Black Hundreds in the elections in Volyn in 1906 – 1912

Abstract

The article investigates the participation of the Pochaev Department of the Union of Russian People in the elections to the State Duma in 1906 - 1912, analyzes the key directions of their activity in this direction in the province and their election program. The position of the Black Hundreds regarding the power and role of deputies in the social and political life of the empire is analyzed. Their relation to other political groups that functioned in the empire was determined. The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in strengthening the positions of the Black Hundreds in the region has been clarified.

Important attention is paid to the analysis of propaganda publications of the Black Hundreds, which were distributed in Volyn during election campaigning. Their research suggests that the representatives of this political group pursued a frank Russification policy and stood in the position of preserving imperial power. The most irreconcilable position they occupied with respect to Jews, who in the study period were the second largest ethnic group in the province. Trying to hold supporters of the Russian autocracy to the Duma, they also opposed the Polish land aristocracy trying to allow their victory in the elections. And they succeeded with the support of the Orthodox clergy. But this activity, as well as other areas of activity of this political group, contributed to the complication of inter-ethnic relations in the country, which negatively affected the socio-political situation in Volyn in the early ХХth century.