Sociopolitical activities of archpriest Ioann Vostorgov and emergence of political parties in the right-wing monarchist movement in the Russian Far East

Korneeva Galina Andreevna

The emergence of right-wing party branches within the administrative boundaries of the Russian Far East in 1908–1909 remains outside the scope of historical research. The aim of this article is to examine the propaganda and organizational activities led by the Moscow allies in 1908 and 1909 in the Primorsky and Amursky Regions. The study is based on the territorial and chronological approach providing a complete overview of the general trends and specific aspects of how right-wing party branches emerged in the Asian Russian regions (Siberia and the Russian Far East). Representatives of the Moscow monarchist centre played a key role in the creation of the right-wing party branches in the region. The branches of the Union of the Russian People began to form during the trip of I. Vostorgov to the region in 1908, but chronologically the first branches were opened in 1909, mainly by the Russian People's Union of the Archangel Michael, due to the efforts by the Moscow allies. The right-wing forces were consolidated by the local spiritual ideologists around the doctrine of "Autocracy" that was organically linked to the concepts of "Nationality" and "Orthodoxy". The clergy played a leading role in unifying the patriotic forces. The main goals were formulated within the political doctrine and economic program of the secular right-wing movement. The specifics of the social structure in the Far East, a virtual absence of any response to the propaganda "from below", and the creation of branches by the right-wing parties "from above" by relying on the clergy prevented the formation of stable ("locally rooted") branches. The emergence of right-wing party branches coincided with the onset of a permanent crisis in the Principal Council of the Union of the Russian People. This doomed these branches to organizational weakness from the very start; it was further aggravated, inter alia, by the divisive actions of V.G. Orlov and F.A. Slepov in the Primorsky Region.

Keywords:Russian Far East, Primorsky and Priamursky Regions, branches of the Union of the Russian People and the Russian People's Union of the Archangel Michael, Archpriest Ioann Vostorgov, Moscow allies V.G. Orlov, F.A. Slepov.