| Front of National Revolutionary Action | |
| Native Name: | Фронт национал-революционного действия |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Colorcode: |
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| Abbreviation: | FNRD (English) ФНРД (Russian) |
| Founders: | Ilya Lazarenko |
| Founded: | (SRM) (FNRD) (FNRD-PNF) |
| Headquarters: | Moscow, Russia |
| Newspaper: | Nash Marsh (Our March) Narodniy stroy (People's system) |
| Ideology: | Russian ultranationalism Revolutionary nationalism Neo-fascism Neo-Nazism Strasserism Antisemitism Russian imperialism Orthodox fundamentalism |
| Position: | Far-right |
| National: | National Salvation Front (1992) National Bolshevik Front (1993) |
| International: | NSDAP/AO |
| Colours: | Black Yellow White |
| Slogan: | "God, Empire, Labor!" (ru|"Бог, Империя, Труд!") |
| Country: | Russia |
The Front of National Revolutionary Action (FNRD; ru|Фронт национал-революционного действия; ФНРД; Фронт национал-революционного действия, FNRD) was a youth national-patriotic organization that existed in Russia at the end of the 20th century. Until the end of 1992, it was called the Union of Russian Youth (SRM).[1]
The predecessor of the FNRD, the Union of Russian Youth, was formed on 11 November 1991. Officially, this was to mark the birthday of Fyodor Dostoevsky; however, according to the members of the SRM, the day was chosen due to its proximity to the date of Hitler's beer hall putsch on 9 November.[2] It was founded by leader and ideologue . At first, the Union of Russian Youth subscribed to typical Russian national-patriotic ideas of its time: Orthodox fundamentalism, antisemitism, and monarchism were preached in the ranks of the SRM while the Russian Empire and the White movement were glorified. But even at the time, the SRM stood out for its radicalism; the members of the SRM called themselves "monarcho-fascists" and criticized the White movement for the absence of a pogromist, Black Hundredist worldview.[3]
The Union of Russian Youth did not have official registration, although attempts were made to register the organization. The social base of the organization were students and high-schoolers; any Russian young man no older than 25 could become a member of the SRM.
For a short period, the SRM was considered the youth branch of the Christian Revival Union (KhV),[4] headed by Vladimir Osipov and Vyacheslav Demin, and also worked closely with the Russian Assembly,[5] which was headed by taxi driver Igor Shcheglov,[6] and Cossack organizations near Moscow.
The SRM did not organize its own actions (at least officially), but took an active part in many conservative events. These were mainly congresses, rallies, prayers, and processions held by the KhV Union and the Pamyat Society, as well as mass events organized by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (for example, a rally for the preservation of the USSR on 23 February 1991 on Manezhnaya Square in Moscow).
Already in 1992, a disengagement with traditional Orthodox-monarchist organizations took place: the SRM declared itself the legal successor of the All-Russian Fascist Party and the All-Russian National Revolutionary Labor and Workers 'and Peasants' Party of Fascists, which operated in the 30-40s among the White émigrés. The name of the organization also changed; it was now called the Union of Russian Youth - National Revolutionary Action (SRM-NRD) (ru|Союз русской молодёжи — Национал-революционное действие (СРМ-НРД)), and since January 1993, the Front of National Revolutionary Action (FNRD).
The evolution of the group's name and ideology can be clearly traced in the newspaper Nash marsh, published by the organization since October 1992 with a circulation of up to 40,000 copies. The newspaper contained the first positive material about white power skinheads on the pages of Russian-language media. In the program articles "The Third Rus" by Ilya Lazarenko[7] and "National Revolution" by Alexei Shiropayev,[8] the authors disavow traditional Russian nationalists (from Pamyat and similar organizations) and proclaim themselves the "new right". The transition from an archaic ideology to a radical concept of a national revolution, against the background of failed liberal-market reforms in Russia in the early 1990s, attracted new members to the organization. The front is replenished its ranks not only with former members of allied and like-minded organizations (RNU, Werewolf Legion, Nash Sovremennik magazine, etc.), but also with radicals from the left camp. The organization contained ex-members of the Democratic Union, the Living Ring Union, and Labour Russia.
The FNRD called on “nationally oriented youth to organize to fight against Jewish agitation, against the occupation regime.” The goal of the FNRD was to establish, through a Russian national revolution, a “Great National Socialist Russian Empire.” The leaders of the FNRD criticized Italian fascism (for “inconsistent racial policies”) and German Nazism (for preserving the capitalist system), calling for “total radicalism” and “national socialism of the Stalin-Strasser type” instead.
Lazarenko formulated the FNRD’s strategic program for the reconstruction of Russia:
Less grandiose plans were outlined in the populist "Political Principles" published in May 1993. An attempt was made again to register the organization, as evidenced by the Charter of the Front of National Revolutionary Action, dated 4 August 1993 - a document prepared for official registration and brought into compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation in force at that time.[10]
Around the same time in spring 1993, an unofficial supplement to the newspaper Nash marsh appeared - the samizdat mini-newspaper Listovochka, which from 1995 would be renamed into Oruzheiny plutony,[11] and then (1997-2000) into Khuliganist.[12] The editors of this publication emphasized their affiliation with the FNRD even after the formal termination of the organization's activities.[13] In addition, the FNRD published several pamphlets: "Glory to Russia!", dedicated to the activities of the head of the Russian Fascist Party Konstantin Rodzaevsky;[14] "The Ideology of German National Socialism";[15] "Letter to the Pope" by Léon Degrelle,[16] and others.
The Charter of the Front of National Revolutionary Action sets out the following rules for the organization's symbols:
Flag of the FNRD:
The design of the FNRD symbols was developed by Shiropayev, an artist by training. For the Moscow (central) branch of the FNRD, five flags were made, four of which were lost for various reasons during the events of October 1993.[3] In addition to these flags, the FNRD also used the black-yellow-white banners traditional for Russian nationalists.
Since its inception, the FNRD has been proclaimed a right-wing radical organization, implying cooperation with foreign organizations of a similar kind. The first of these organizations was the NSDAP/AO (Foreign Organization of the NSDAP).[17] Later, NSDAP/AO leader Gary Lauck ended up in an Austrian prison. Photographs published by the media show that the wall in Lauck's prison cell was decorated with three newspapers: two published by him - the English-language New Order, the German-language NS Kampfruf - and the third - the Russian newspaper Nash marsh, published by Ilya Lazarenko, with a portrait of Anastasy Vonsiatsky on the front page.[18] The FNRD had correspondence with the Ku Klux Klan and contacts with Western European, Serbian, Bulgarian, and other nationalists. One of the most notorious actions of the FNRD was the rally on 22 March 1994 at the Embassy of South Africa in Moscow against the dismantling of apartheid.[19] [20] Another well-known event of the FNRD-PNF is the annual Freedom for Texas event,[21] [22] event, which has been held in various forms on 14 February for over 12 years.[23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
The FNRD was also looking for allies within Russia. At the end of 1992, the organization participated in the work of the National Salvation Front and in all actions of the Irreconcilable Opposition.[28] The closest cooperation occurred between the FNRD and the Arctogaia publishing house,[29] headed by Alexander Dugin: in February 1993, at the evening of the Elementy magazine,[30] they proclaimed the creation of the New Right Movement.
On 1 May 1993, the New Right Movement, the FNRD, and the National Radical Party, led by Eduard Limonov, formed the National Bolshevik Front,[31] [32] which took part in the Irreconcilable Opposition march on 9 May 1993. However, the movement did not go further than this joint demonstration. Also on 1 May, members of the FNRD participated in clashes with riot police on Gagarinskaya Square on 1 May 1993.[33]
After the shooting of the White House and the defeat of the opposition, sanctions from the executive branch followed against the FNRD (as well as against many other organizations): by order of the Minister of Press and Information of the Russian Federation Vladimir Shumeyko No. 199 dated 14 October 1993, the newspaper Nash marsh was banned.[34]