The legal basis for the establishment and operation of charitable organizations and mutual aid societies of Russian emigration in Germany and France in 1919-1939

The aim of the article is to study the historical context and legal basis for the creation and activities of charitable organizations of Russian emigration in Germany and France in 1919-1939. The study is based on the analysis of archival materials from the National Archives of France, the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF) and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI). The authors of the article also relied on the achievements of Russian and foreign historiography. The article analyzes the development of national legislation in Germany and France in terms of regulating public organizations: how it was projected onto Russian emigrant organizations, and what problems they encountered in their activities (including financial ones). In this study, comparative-historical, comparative-legal and historical-systemic methods are used. The emergence of charitable organizations and societies of Russian emigrants in Germany and France was caused by the difficult conditions of existence of Russian refugees. At the same time, both in Germany and France, since the second half of the 19th century, experience was accumulated in the activities of Russian charitable organizations, which were usually created under the patronage of either the church, or the Russian embassy, or members of the royal family. The emergence of such societies was greatly facilitated by the general European social culture of charity. The Russian emigration in the two interwar decades, although forced, successfully used the traditions of providing assistance developed by their predecessors - creating public organizations and associations aimed at helping different groups of the emigrant community. In the early 1920s, legislation regarding immigrants was quite liberal in Germany until 1933, and in France until 1939. This made it possible to create charitable organizations and mutual aid societies with minimal costs for interaction with government agencies. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1923 and France in 1924 did not in any way affect the activities of emigrant aid organizations in legal terms. Changes began in Germany with the rise to power of the Nazis, and in France with the beginning of World War II. The increasingly complex political situation and the politicization of society led to the fact that charitable organizations and societies of Russian emigrants gradually began to decline and ceased their activities on their own or were banned by the authorities.