Black-Hundred Counter-Revolution: Political Violence, Pogroms, Terror and Responsibility of Russian Royalist Parties for Those Actions*

Abstract

In the article the author addresses in more detail the problem of the Black-Hundred terror during the First Russian Revolution (1905–1907). Most of the focus in on the attitude of right-wing parties and unions towards violence, Jew bashings, armed detachments forming and political killings. The article illustrates different attitude of right royalists and extreme left-wingers towards strong-arm methods of struggle and draws attention to the policy of double standards, which was widely used in respect of right-wingers by revolutionary and opposition journalists. The author emphasizes that the problem of violence by the right-wingers cannot be viewed separately from similar problem with the left-wingers, and considering the general political situation and radicalization of the society as a whole. It is shown that in spite of the sympathy of some Black-Hundred politicians for pogroms and right terror as well as involvement of some members of the Black Hundred with political killings and other acts of violence, the leaders of royalist parties and unions never proclaimed terror as the method of their struggle and publicly condemned it. At the same time, armed resistance to extreme left-wingers at the height of revolution was regarded by the Black-Hundred leaders as assistance to the legal authorities and fulfillment of loyalist duty to protect the monarchist statehood.