Today, the words "Black Hundred" are often associated with a caste of brutal murderers who create lawlessness and bring death and destruction. But this primordially Russian nationalist movement got its terrifying name from the word "rabble".
The name "Black Hundred" comes from the word "rabble", that is, simple, people, the lower class, and wearing dark clothes, which became an integral part of the movement, was dictated by the poverty of its adherents.
Even in the era of Peter the Great, the black hundred were called the taxpayers, who, unlike the representatives of the white hundred, were burdened with a wide variety of duties, even earlier they called the inhabitants of the passads from the lower classes black hundreds.
Politics outside the estates
The Black Hundred, as an official organization that appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, had serious differences from other political movements, because under its leadership it united representatives of any classes, from well-known figures of science and culture to ordinary peasants. It was officially registered in 1905, and its members received the name Black Hundreds and considered themselves to be the successors of the people's militia movement, created under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky. The Black Hundred united several organizations that were of a purely monarchical nature, which is why in 1917 the Black Hundred was declared illegal, and its members joined the so-called White movement, emigrated or eventually passed under the banner of the USSR.
Black Hundred movement
Today, the Black Hundred movement, revived in 1992, is associated, first of all, with radical groups striving to restore the monarchical system, the imposition of a nationalist policy, which in recent years has been weakened, in their opinion, by the ideas of democracy and tolerance, the unification of the clergy and secular power, strengthening the economic independence of Russia from other states, improving the moral and ethical principles of society by radical methods. The Black Hundreds have an uncompromising attitude to any manifestation of paganism, illegal actions related to the sale of weapons and drugs, complain about the right of citizens to receive free education and medical care.
It is impossible to form an unambiguous attitude towards the Black Hundred movement, along with clear evidence of their cruelty and intransigence, there is quite serious evidence of the good intentions of the members of this movement, many historical facts indicate that the Black Hundreds fought bravely under the banner of the fatherland, not taking either the red or the white side and always stood for their own ideals, among which they called faith, nationality and autocratic power.
