Social movements as separate mass communities of people united by a common goal arose a very long time ago. Their appearance is associated with the development of absolutism in the second half of the seventeenth century. The first social movements in Russia were in the nature of uprisings and arose as a response to the economic, political and cultural changes taking place in society.
An example of the social movement of the seventeenth century is the Salt Riot that took place in Moscow in 1648 . The reason for this uprising was the tax reform of the boyar B. Morozov (1647), during which he proposed the introduction of an additional, destructive for ordinary people, levy - a salt tax. The result of this plan was a reduction in salt consumption by the population of the city and a sharp increase in the discontent associated with it.
A year later, the salt tax was canceled, but additional direct taxes were introduced instead . This time, not only the common population, but also representatives of the nobility began to express their dissatisfaction. The tense situation in Moscow was further intensified after the townspeople who decided to submit their petition to him were dispersed by the archers of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In the summer of 1648, mass pogroms of boyars' houses began, the instigators of this social movement demanded that they be given to the slaughter of Morozov and others involved in the tax reforms of recent years. The result of the uprising was the formation of a union of posad people, nobles and archers, demanding the convocation of the next Zemsky Cathedral. After some time, imitating Moscow, residents of some southern and northern regions of the country organized similar riots.
From this example, we see that the first social movements in Russia arose spontaneously as a response of citizens to the actions of people close to power. Such movements were of a mass character, had their own leader, but you cannot call them fully planned. Of great importance in them was the collective behavior of people, which differs from clearly planned actions by spontaneity, lack of organization and a strong leader, unplanned actions of participants in the movement.
The heyday of social movements in Russia falls on the 19-20 centuries. It was during this period that the first revolutionary ideas arose in the minds of many activists and public figures. The first revolutionaries, as a rule, were students from Moscow and St. Petersburg universities. In the second decade of the 19th century, the first secret organizations of officers (the Sacred Artel) and patriotic organizations (the Union of Salvation) arose in St. Petersburg. These social movements differed from previous ones by the presence of leaders and a specific goal (the abolition of serfdom, the overthrow of the current government), strict conspiracy, and the duration of their existence. In the second half of the 19th century, on the basis of Moscow University, circles of Slavophiles, Westerners, social utopians, etc. were created. In the province, mass discontent is growing with the prevailing plight of the Russian peasantry.
As for the 20th century, the most striking social movements of this period were strikes and strikes of workers in the factories of Moscow, Donbass, the Urals, political parties of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Social Democrats, more peaceful unions - writers and intellectuals.
Modern social movements in Russia are very diverse, most of them pursuing, as a rule, quite peaceful goals. Their activities are aimed at protecting the interests of certain categories of the population of the country, the fight against the violation of the rights of its citizens and nationalism. The existence and activities of extremist public organizations are prohibited, as a rule, at the legislative level.