THE ROLE OF RUSSIAN RIGHT-WING RADICALS IN THE EXTENSION OF INTERETHNIC RELATIONS IN VOLHYNIA DURING 1906 – 1914THE ROLE OF RUSSIAN RIGHT-WING RADICALS IN THE EXTENSION OF INTERETHNIC RELATIONS IN VOLHYNIA DURING 1906 – 1914

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to expose the role of Russian right-wing radicals in complicating interethnic relations in the Volhynian Governorate and to find out about the involvement of Orthodox clergy and authorities in these processes. The research methodology is based on the principles of author’s objectivity, multifactoriality of sources, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization), mathematical (statistical) and special-historical (historical-systemic, comparative, retrospective) methods. The research novelty is that on the basis of previously researched documents the complex of actions, carried out by the Black Hundreds with the purpose of discrediting the representatives of other ethnic groups and confessions, was found out. The Conclusions. The causes of the Black Hundred Movement are identified and its main tasks are analyzed. It is determined that, compared to other political structures that operated in the Russian Empire during the period under study, right-wing radicals enjoyed the support and patronage of not only the higher authorities but also the imperial family. That is why they had considerable financial capacity to expand their advocacy activities in several directions. In fighting for the economic and political domination of the Russians in the Volhynian Governorate, the Black Hundreds used any means, which negatively affected the socio-political processes in the region. These trends intensified during the First World War, when a flurry of baseless accusations fell on the German agrarian colonists, who were overwhelmingly politically passive. Russian right-wing radicals justified the expediency of depriving some ethnic groups, especially Jews, of the right to receive secondary and tertiary education and to have access to public service. To this end, articles of similar content were often published on the pages of the press. It was the Russian right-wing radicals who greatly influenced the intensification of interethnic relations in the early twentieth century both in Volhynia and in the empire.