Black Repartition (; also known as Black Partition) was a

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develope ...

organization in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

in the early 1880s. Black Repartition (BR) was established in August-September 1879 after the split of

Zemlya i volya Land and Liberty (russian: Земля и воля, Zemlya i volya Zemlia i volia; also sometimes translated Land and Freedom) was a Russian clandestine revolutionary organization in the period 1861–1864, and was re-established as a politic ...

(Land and Liberty). The name comes from the Russian countryside, where rumors circulated among

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

s about the approaching

repartition Repartition (russian: передел, translit=peredel) was a practice in the Russian Empire of the periodic redistribution of the peasant's arable land by the village community. The traditional household did not permanently hold a particular a ...

. "Chyornyi" in this context does not literally mean "black", but instead "general" or "universal". Originally, the BR members shared the ideas of ''Zemlya i volya'', renounced the necessity of political struggle and were against

terror Terror(s) or The Terror may refer to: Politics * Reign of Terror, commonly known as The Terror, a period of violence (1793–1794) after the onset of the French Revolution * Terror (politics), a policy of political repression and violence Emoti ...

and

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics Military tactics encompasses the art of organizing and employing fighting forces on or near the battlefiel ...

Narodnaya Volya Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

. BR preferred propaganda and agitation ('agitprop') as their tactics. The organizers of BR’s central body in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

were

Georgi Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (; rus, Гео́ргий Валенти́нович Плеха́нов, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ plʲɪˈxanəf, a=Ru-Georgi Plekhanov-JermyRei.ogg; – 30 May 1918) was a Russian revoluti ...

, Pavel Akselrod, Osip Aptekman, Lev Deich,

Vera Zasulich Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (russian: link=no, Ве́ра Ива́новна Засу́лич; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary. Radical beginnings Zasulich was born in Mikhaylovka, in the Sm ...

and others. This group organized a print shop and started publishing magazines ''Black repartition'' and ''Core'' (''Зерно'', or Zerno), simultaneously developing ties with students and workers. BR’s

peripheral A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by th ...

organs were active in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Kharkov Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering ...

Perm Perm or PERM may refer to: Places *Perm, Russia, a city in Russia **Permsky District, the district **Perm Krai, a federal subject of Russia since 2005 **Perm Oblast, a former federal subject of Russia 1938–2005 **Perm Governorate, an administrat ...

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901 ...

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population ...

and other cities. After Plekhanov, Deich, Zasulich and some other BR members had

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

d in the beginning of 1880,

Anatoly Bulanov Anatoly (russian: Анато́лий, Anatólij , uk, Анато́лій, Anatólij ) is a common Russian and Ukrainian male given name, derived from the Greek name ''Anatolios'', meaning "sunrise." Other common Russian transliterations are Ana ...

, M.Reshko, K.Zagorsky, M.Sheftel and others replaced them as BR’s leaders. They opened a new printing-house in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

and widened their contacts with workers. BR’s central body moved to Moscow. In the spring of 1880, BR members

Yelizaveta Kovalskaya Yelizaveta Nikolayevna Kovalskaya (; June 17 (29), 1849 or 1851 – 1943) was a Russian revolutionary, narodnik, and founding member of Black Repartition. Early life Kovalskaya was born near Kharkiv. Her mother was a serf, who belonged to he ...

and

Nikolai Schedrin Nikolay Pavlovich Schedrin (''Николай Павлович Щедрин'' in Russian) (1858 — 10 January 1919) was a Russian revolutionary and narodnik. Biography Nikolay Schedrin graduated from a military gymnasium in Omsk. In 1876, h ...

organized the Worker’s Union of Southern Russia (''Южнорусский рабочий союз'', or Yuzhnorusskiy rabochiy soyuz), which comprised several hundreds of workers. By this time, BR’s vision of

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

had changed in a number of ways. The arrests in 1880-1881 significantly weakened the organization. Seeing the success of ''Narodnaya Volya'', many BR members (

Yakov Stefanovich Yakov Vasilevich Stefanovich (Russian: Яков Васильевич Стефанович) (10 December (28 November old style) 1854 –14 April 1915) was a Ukrainian narodnik revolutionary. Stefanovich led an unsuccessful attempt to incite a peas ...

, Bulanov and others) adopted its ideology. By the end of 1881, BR ceased to exist as an organization but separate BR clubs continued to operate up until the mid-1880s. Plekhanov, Deich, Zasulich and other ex-members of BR took sides with

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialec ...

and created the first Russian Marxist organization called

Emancipation of Labor Emancipation of Labour (russian: Освобождение труда) was the first Russian Marxist group. It was founded in exile by Georgi Plekhanov, Vasily Ignatov, Vera Zasulich, Leo Deutsch, and Pavel Axelrod, at Geneva (Switzerland) in 1883. ...

(''Освобождение труда'', or Osvobozhdeniye truda) in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

in 1883.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control 1879 establishments in the Russian Empire 1881 disestablishments in the Russian Empire Defunct socialist parties in Russia Political parties established in 1879 Political parties disestablished in 1881 Political parties in the Russian Empire Secret societies in Russia