Jewish Pogroms in the Historical Context of the First Russian Revolution

Authors

DOI::

https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2018.47.115-127

Abstract

The article studies the place and role of Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire in thehistorical context of the First Russian Revolution of 1905 – 1907. It was proved that Jewish pogroms were a trigger mechanism used by opposition and revolutionary groups in the Russian Empire and beyond, in order to provoke a political confrontation with the Russian government, which was postfactum declared to be the fault of the «mass murder of peaceful Jews». The corresponding propaganda of the «pogrom policy of autocracy» was supported by the opposition and revolutionary periodical press. According to the logic of the Russian opposition it should, firstly, destabilize the internal situation in the country, and, secondly, discredit the autocracy in the eyes of the world community. The confrontation was critical when both sides of the conflict began to resort to the method of pogroms provocation. If anti-government groups used this method at the beginning of the revolutionary events, the Russian authorities turned to the corresponding «services» of the monarchists and the Russian citizens loyal to the regime at the final stage of the revolution when the government demanded more determination in its suppression. The author believes that the First Russian Revolution failed to solve the Jewish question. Accordingly, Russian Jewry again turned into a hostage in the confrontation of the autocracy with the opposition political groups, and the territory of the Jewish Pale of Settlement remained a human capacity and source of energy in the development of the Russian revolutionary movement in subsequent years as well, because if the autocracy succeeded in breaking out the victory of the hands of Jewish revolutionaries in 1905 – 1907, it was only at the cost of victims of their own citizens.

Keywords: Jewish pogroms 1905 ‒ 1907, First Russian Revolution, Bund, Jewish self-defence, Russianempire

Author Biography

Oleksandr Bezarov, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

PhD in History, Associate Professor, the Department of Modern and Contemporary History

References

A. Bezarov, Evrejskie pogromy 1881 – 1882 gg. v Rossijskoj imperii i krizis revoljucionnogo narodnichestva [Jewish pogroms from 1881 to 1882 in the Russian Empire and the crisis of revolutionary populism], in «Trudy po evrejskoj istorii i kul’ture. Materialy ХХI ezhegodnoj konferencii po iudaike», vyp. 50, M., Sjefer, 2014. s. 86-97.
A. Kisiljov, Revoljucionnyj terror i chinovniki MVD belorusskih gubernij v 1905 – 1907 gg. [Revolutionary terror and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Belarusian provinces in 1905 – 1907], https://zapadrus.su/zaprus/istbl/55-1905-1907.html.
A. Mindlin, Pleve i evrei [Pleve and the Jews], in «Paralleli: russko-evrejskij istoriko-literaturnyj i bibliograficheskij al’manah», № 2-3. s. 88-89.
A. Zel’cer, 1905 rik na Podilli [1905 in Podillia], ch. II, robitnychyj ruh ta dijal’nist’ revoljucijnyh organizacij 1904 – 1906 rr., Vinnycja, 1925, s. 64.
Central’nij derzhavnij іstorichnij arhіv, m. Kiїv, f. 1597 Ekaterinoslavskoe ohrannoe otdelenie, op. 1, spr. 109 Kopii konspirativnyh pisem, adresovannyh chlenam RSDRP i drugih partij i izjatyh DP, zhandarmskimi upravlenijami razlichnyh gorodov Rossii i preprovoditel’nye k pis’mam, 13 janvarja 1906 g. – 26 janvarja 1907 g., 355 ark., ark. 19.
D. Kudinov, Istorychnyj dyskurs prychyn jevrejs’kyh pogromiv v Ukrai’ni u zhovtni 1905 roku: seljans’kyj vymir [Historical Discourse of the Causes of Jewish Pogroms in Ukraine in October 1905: Peasant Dimension], in «Etnichna istorija narodiv Jevropy: zbirnyk naukovyh prac’», vyp. 42, K., 2014, s. 85-93.
D. Pihno, V osade. Politicheskie stat’i [Under siege. Political Articles], K., Tipografija Tovarishhestva I. N. Kushnar’ova i Ko., 1905, s. 64.
G. Kuznecov, Revoljucionnaja bor’ba i pogromy v period Pervoj russkoj revoljucii (1905 – 1907 gg.) [Revolutionary struggle and pogroms during the First Russian Revolution (1905 – 1907)], avtoreferat dissertacii na soiskanie uchjonoj stepeni kand. ist. nauk, M., 2011, 28 s.
H.-D. Ljove, Ot «ispravlenija» k diskriminacii: novye tendencii v gosudarstvennoj politike po otnosheniju k evrejam (1881 – 1914) [From «correction» to discrimination: new trends in public policy towards Jews (1881 – 1914)], per. s angl. D. Harman, in «Istorija evrejskogo naroda v Rossii. Ot razdelov Pol’shi do padenija Rossijskoj imperii», I. Lur’e, t. 2, M., Mosty kul’tury, Gesharim, 2012, s. 55.
Omel’janchuk, Kryvavyj zhovten’ 1905 roku: splanovane nasyl’stvo chy styhijnyj vybuh [Bloody October 1905: Planned violence or spontaneous explosion], in «Personal. Zhurnal intelektual’noi’ elity», 2006, №9, s. 22-34.
Izveshhenie o VII s’ezde Bunda; otchjot i doklad «O samooborone» CK Bunda s’ezdu, rezoljucii s’ezda sentjabr’ 1906 g. [Notice of the VII Congress of the Bund; report and report «On Self-Defense» of the Central Committee of the Bund to the Congress, Congress Resolution September 1906], in «Bund. Dokumenty i materialy. 1894 – 1921», M., ROSSPJeN, 2010, s. 686.
J. Frenkel’, Prorochestvo i politika. Socializm, nacionalizm i russkoe evrejstvo, 1862 – 1917 gg. [Prophecy and politics. Socialism, nationalism and Russian Jewry, 1862 – 1917], per. s angl. V. Il’ina, Ierusalim, Gesharim, M., Mosty kul’tury, 2008, s. 433.
Ja. Kopanskij, Krovavye sobytija 1903 goda i mirovaja demokraticheskaja obshhestvennost’ [The Bloody Events of 1903 and the World Democracy], in «Kishinjovskij pogrom 1903 g.: sbornik statej», I. Je. Levit, Kishinjov, Liga, 1993, s. 62-87.
Ju. Lavrinovich, Kto ustroil pogromy v Rossii? [Who organized the pogroms in Russia?], Berlin, J. Ladyschnikov Verlag Gmbh, s. 75.
K. Palen, Tajnaja dokladnaja zapiska Vilenskogo gubernatora o polozhenii evreev v Rossii [Secret report of the Governor of Vilna on the situation of Jews in Russia], Zheneva, Izd-vo Bunda, 1904, 73 s.
K. Zhignja, K voprosu o vozdejstvii kishinevskogo pogroma 1903 goda na obshhestvennuju i politicheskuju zhizn’ bessarabskogo evrejstva [On the impact of the Chisinau pogrom of 1903 on the social and political life of Bessarabian Jewry], in «Materialy Sed’moj ezhegodnoj mezhdunarodnoj mezhdisciplinarnoj konferencii po iudaike», ch. I, M., Probel, 2000, s. 111.
Kievskij i Odesskij pogromy v otchjotah senatorov Turau i Kuz’minskogo [Kiev and Odessa pogroms in the reports of senators Turau and Kuzminsky], I. Nepomnjashhij, SPb, Letopisec, s. 74-77.
Krovavaja politika i Belostokskij pogrom [Bloody politics and the Bialystok pogrom], M., Russkoe svobodnoe izdatel’stvo, 1906, s. 131-139.
M. Gauhman, Jevrejs’ke pytannja na Pravoberezhnij Ukrai’ni (1905 – 1914 rr.): bjurokratychni praktyky proty jevrejs’kogo proektu [Jewish Issue in Right-Bank Ukraine (1905 – 1914): bureaucratic practices against the Jewish project], in «Historians», 05 March 2012, http://historians.in.ua/index.php/en/doslidzhennya/163-mykhailo-haukhman-yevreiske-pytania-na-pravoberezhnii-ukraini-19051914-r-biurokratychni-praktyky-proty-ievreiskoho-proektu.
M. Volhonskij, Nacional’nyj vopros vo vnutrennej politike pravitel’stva v gody Pervoj russkoj revoljucii [The national question in the internal policy of the government in the years of the First Russian Revolution], in «Otechestvennaja istorija», 2005, №5, s. 60.
O. Budnickij, Evrei v rossijskih politicheskih dvizhenijah [Jews in Russian political movements], in «Istorija evrejskogo naroda v Rossii. Ot razdelov Pol’shi do padenija Rossijskoj imperii», I. Lur’e, t. 2, M., Mosty kul’tury, Gesharim, 2012, s. 355.
Otchjot CK Bunda Internacional’nomu socialisticheskomu kongressu v Shtutgarte, avgust 1907 g. [Report of the Central Committee of the Bund to the International Socialist Congress in Stuttgart, August 1907], in «Bund. Dokumenty i materialy. 1894 – 1921», M., ROSSPJeN, 2010, s. 780.
Otchjot CK Bunda Internacional’nomu socialisticheskomu kongressu v Shtutgarte, avgust 1907 g., s. 781.
P. Struve, Intelligencija i revoljucija [Intelligentsia and the Revolution], in «Vehi: sbornik statej o russkoj intelligencii», SPb., Azbuka-Attikus, Avalon, 2011, s. 202.
P. Tokalenko, Podii’ Pershoi’ rosijs’koi’ revoljucii’ u Pivdennij Ukrai’ni na materialah Derzhavnogo arhivu Mykolai’vs’koi’ oblasti [Events of the First Russian Revolution in Southern Ukraine on the materials of the State Archives of Mykolaiv region], in «Molodyj vchenyj», 2017, №3 (43), berezen’, s. 197.
Pervaja revoljucija v Rossii: vzgljad cherez stoletie [The First Revolution in Russia: A Vision Through the Century], M., Pamjatniki istoricheskoj mysli, 2005, s. 323.
Prilozhenie 18, A. Peredovaja «Kievljanina», Kiev, 19 oktjabrja 1905 g. [Annex 18, A. Advanced «Kievlyanina», Kiev, October 19, 1905], in «Shul’gin V. V. «Chto nam v nih ne nravitsja …»: ob antisemitizme v Rossii», SPb., Hors, 1992, s. 242.
Prilozhenie №8, D. Chto proishodilo v Kievskoj gorodskoj dume 18 oktjabrja 1905 g. [Appendix No. 8, D. What happened in the Kiev City Duma on October 18, 1905], in «Shul’gin V. V. «Chto nam v nih ne nravitsja…»: Ob antisemitizme v Rossii», SPb., Hors, 1992, s. 246.
Protokoly, rezoljucii i izveshhenie o VI konferencii Bunda, fevral’ – mart 1905 g. [Protocols, resolutions and notification of the Sixth Conference of the Bund, February-March 1905], in «Bund. Dokumenty i materialy. 1894 – 1921», M., ROSSPJeN, 2010, s. 446.
S. Dubnov, Evrei v Rossii i Zapadnoj Evrope v jepohu antisemitskoj reakcii [Jews in Russia and Western Europe in the era of anti-Semitic reaction], kn. II, M., Pg., 1923, s. 75.
S. Dubnov, Pis’ma o starom i novom evrejstve [Letters on the Old and New Jewry], in «S. M. Dubnov, B.-C. Dinur. Dve koncepcii evrejskogo nacional’nogo vozrozhdenija», N. Prat, Biblioteka-Alija, 1990, s. 205.
S. Nefjodov, Istoki 1905 goda: «Revoljucija izvne?» [The origins of 1905: «Revolution from the outside?»], in «Voprosy istorii», 2008, №1, s. 49.
S. Nefjodov, Istoki 1905 goda: «Revoljucija izvne?», s. 50.
S. Stepanov, Chernaja sotnja [The Black Hundred], M., Jeksmo, Jauza, 2005, s. 80.
S. Vitte, Izbrannye vospominanija, 1849 – 1911 gg. [Selected memories, 1849 – 1911], M., Mysl’, 1991, s. 564.
V. Hiterer, Evrejskie pogromy na Ukraine v oktjabre 1905 g. [Jewish pogroms in Ukraine in October 1905], http://history.pedclub.ru/lessons9/1905.htm.
V. Kel’ner, Missioner istorii: Zhizn’ i trudy Semjona Markovicha Dubnova [Missionary History: Life and Works of Semyon Markovich Dubnov], SPb., Izd. dom «Mіr», 2008,s. 364-366.
V. Medem, Iz moej zhizni: vospominanija [From my life: memories], per. s angl. O. V. Borisovoj, M., Novyj hronograf, 2015, s. 299.
V. Shhukin, A. Pavljuk, Zemljaki. Ocherki istorii evrejskoj obshhiny goroda Nikolaeva (konec ХVIII – nachalo ХХ vv.) [Countrymen. Essays on the history of the Jewish community of the city of Nikolaev (late XVIII – early XX centuries)], N. Shitjuk, Nikolaev, Izdatel’stvo Iriny Gudym, 2009, s. 157-158.
V. Shul’gin, «Chto nam v nih ne nravitsja …»: Ob antisemitizme v Rossii [«What we do not like about them ...»: On anti-Semitism in Russia], SPb., Hors, 1992, s. 40.
V. Shul’gin, Dni. 1920: Zapiski [Days. 1920: Notes], D. A. Zhukov, Ju. V. Muhachjova, M., Sovremennik, 1989, s. 90-99.
V. Suhomlinov, Vospominanija [Memories], L. M. Luris, M., Berlin, Direkt – Media, 2016, s. 134.
V. Zhabotinskij, Evrejskaja kramola [Jewish sedition], in «Zhabotinskij V. Izbrannoe», Ierusalim, SPb., Gesharim, Rosprint, 1992, s. 53.
V. Zhabotinskij, V traurnye dni [On mourning days], in «Zhabotinskij V. Izbrannoe», Ierusalim, SPb., Gesharim, Rosprint, 1992, s. 43.

Published

2018-06-30

How to Cite

Bezarov, O. (2018). Jewish Pogroms in the Historical Context of the First Russian Revolution. History Journal of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, (47), 115-127. https://doi.org/10.31861/hj2018.47.115-127