PERIODICAL PRESS OF THE RIGHT-WING PARTIES OF THE VOLGA REGION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY: A RETROSPECTIVE OF PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES

This scientific article examines the periodicals of the Volga right-wing-monarchical parties of the early XX century as sources that make it possible to expand the understanding of the main directions in the conservatives’ socio-political activities. The object of the study is the print media of the right-wing parties of the Volga region at the beginning of the XX century, the subject of the analysis is the specificity of the informative material placed on the pages of these publications and reflecting different aspects of the party life. The retrospective, historical-comparative, problem-chronological, statistical methods used for research analysis enable us to consider the publishing activities of the Volga region right-wing conservatives in dynamics, to give prominence to their problematic aspects. 
 
The right-wing-monarchist parties that emerged against the background of revolutionizing the socio-political life of the late Russian Empire, like other political forces in general, sought to use party periodicals as a mouthpiece for broadcasting their ideas. Published for this main purpose, the party periodicals, along with this, also became a relatively accessible platform for guiding the activities of the party. The country’s social and political life was reflected on the pages of the periodical press, informational, critical and polemical articles were published, the chronicle of the life of the party was reflected. The most important purpose of periodical press was to convey in an accessible form to readers and subscribers the ideological attitudes and programmatic positions of the parties they represented. In addition, newspaper publications became a source reflecting a complex relationship between political parties of various political trends. The far ambiguous nature of relations between the right-wingers and local and imperial authorities was also reflected in the periodical press. In addition, the print media make it possible to correlate statistical data on opening right-wing departments in the Volga region provinces, supplement information about their leaders. The circulations of the published editions give a certain idea on the degree of demand for them from the readership.