The Activities of the Moscow Provincial Office for the Affairs of Public Organizations and Their Assessment by Contemporaries (1906-1917)

The revolution of 1905 was one of the greatest upheavals in the Russian history of the XXth century. It had a great impact on future life of the country. In an attempt to stop the incessant strikes and uprisings, the Russian government promised freedom of press, meetings, and unions. Freedom of unions was one of the most anticipated concessions for Russian society. On March 4, 1906, the Temporary rules on organizations and unions were issued. This research is devoted to the question of the establishment of public organizations in 1906-1917 in the Moscow province. The issues of creating legal background and functioning of the system toward establishing organizations have been already studied in numerous works. However, the question of establishing organizations in different provinces and its assessment by contemporaries has not been researched in its entirety yet. The current work deals with the creation and functioning of state institutions for the establishment of public organizations – Provincial offices for the Affairs of Public Organizations. This research also focuses on how the Temporary rules were implemented. Questions about the dynamics of the establishment of organizations in the Moscow province, the types of registered organizations, and the assessment of requests for establishment in the offices are also analyzed in the framework of this study. Special attention if given to the assessment of the application of the Temporary rules in the Moscow province by contemporaries. To conclude with, despite obvious imperfection of the Temporary rules, the Moscow authorities managed to organize effective registration regime for organizations. Both the government and the Russian society were assured that the existing situation was imperfect. However, they were ready to put up with that until the publication of a permanent law on organizations and unions.