NATIONAL ISSUE IN THE POLITICAL IDEOLOGY OF RIGHT-WING CONSERVATISM: IMPERIAL AND REGIONAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

The article analyzes the views of right-wing-conservative parties and organizations of the beginning of the 20th century on the national issue. The positions of the right wingers in relation to the Russian people, non-Russian nationalities of inner Russia and the nationalities of national fringes are examined; factors of such differentiation are identified. Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of the national policy carried on by the right-wing conservative parties and organizations of the Volga region dictated by the multinational and multi-confessional composition of the region. The author singles out positions similar to the All-Russian right-wing parties among the Volga conservatives, in particular in defending the principle of unity and indivisibility of the Russian Empire, preventing dismemberment of the country. The distinctive features of the national issues in the right monarchical parties of the Volga region were determined, they were expressed in the fact that their program platforms included provisions on granting foreigners civil rights which were equal to the ones given to the Russians, on admitting the right to believe in the faith of one’s choice to the non-Orthodox, on using national languages in parallel with the state Russian language. The factors of radicalization among right-wing conservatives of national themes in the conditions of the First World War were noted.