--- Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> Chris:
>
> > weren't all controlled by the state. Personally I
> > doubt that the Okhranka was involved, since I
> don't
> > see what they would have to gain from a pogrom
> > (property damage was immense, and they hurt the
> > Empire's image abroad badly. The Okhranka were not
> morons.).\
>
> Venting of popular frustrations, which were very
> intense.
I think this is plausible for the 1881 and 1903 pogroms (esp. the former, considering context), but seems less likely in the case of the Godzilla-sized pogroms of 1905 and thereafter. That was after the 1905 Revo, the tsar had signed the Manifesto and Russia had shifted from an autocracy to a constitutional monarchy. The pro-samoderzhavie (autocracy forces) were in a weak position.
Stepanov, whom I trust, says that there is no evidence that the Okranka ordered the 1905 pogroms. In fact IIRC the Okhranka was so alarmed by the events that they were put in the curious position of having to undermine the anti-Semitic propaganda they had been putting out themselves a short time before.
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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