| Summary: | This article shows that, just as the other social phenomena, social movements and organizations have their own history. Russians would usually start to take an active part in social movements whenever the country was going through a transformation process. Today, we can single out four stages of the country's history when social movements and organizations began to emerge: (1) following Catherine the Great's Charter to the Nobility in 1763; (2) following the 1861 reforms; (3) the first years of the 20th century before and during the revolutions; (4) the inception of the Soviet Union. We take a close look at the activities and history of a number of social institutions, which allows us to draw a conclusion about the general features of the historical periods listed above. The very first non-governmental organization in Russia was the Free Economic Society, which was founded on October 31, 1765, and functions until the present day, which makes it a perfect example of the historical changes that social organizations were going though. During the second period of social organization development in Russia (following the 1861 reform), the further development of self-governance was greatly influenced by the creation of a new local authority with elected members – “the zemstvo”. The “zemstvo's” work proved very fruitful, which is illustrated primarily by their achievements in improving the life in local communities, including the economy and social activity. This article proves that the eager interest in charity and education, which the first Russian social organizations began to show from the outset, later on became a fundamental, traditional feature of practically all the social organizations and movements that followed.
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