Russian Political Jokes - Imperial Russia

Imperial Russia

In Imperial Russia most political jokes were of the salon type told by educated society. Few popular political jokes remained recorded. Some of them were printed in a 1904 German anthology.

  • A man was reported to have said: "Nikolay is a moron!" and was arrested by the policeman. "No, sir, I meant not our respected Emperor, but another Nikolay!" - "Don't try to trick me: if you say "moron", you obviously refer to our tsar".
  • A respected merchant Sevenassov wants to change his surname and asks the Tsar for permission. The Emperor writes his resolution: "Allowed to deduct two asses down".

There were also numerous political themed Chastushki in Imperial Russia.

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