Voronezh province during the First World War.

On August 1 (July 19, old style), 1914, Germany declared war on Russia. Thus, our country entered into one of the largest and bloodiest armed conflicts in the history of mankind, which was later called the First World War...*

During a period of severe trials
According to local historians, almost half of the male population of the Voronezh province (47%) was drafted into the army. Many did not return from the battlefields...

In the Voronezh province, mobilization was successful. Among the newly minted warriors, the majority were so-called “hunters,” that is, volunteers. The achievements of our fellow countrymen in organizing mobilization were repeatedly reported in the special publication of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, “Police Bulletin.” Dozens of Voronezh residents who worked in military presences, in modern terms - in military commissariats, and were responsible for mobilization, were awarded medals “For their work in the excellent implementation of the general mobilization of 1914.” There was practically no anti-war sentiment at the beginning of the war.

“Civilian” people also did not sit on the sidelines - they made huge donations for the needs of the army. Moreover, both state and private enterprises, merchants, nobles, the wealthy and the poor donated funds. The governor constantly received requests to organize charitable activities in the province.

Local authorities encouraged such gatherings. However, in the first months of the war, some charitable projects were refused due to the fact that Voronezh residents simply became impoverished, giving their last to the needs of the front.

The mass mobilization of peasants complicated the situation in the village. There are almost no workers left there. The ruin of farms and a sharp drop in living standards led to a wave of riots sweeping across the province. In 1914 - 1916, more than 20 peasant uprisings were registered.
The main task of the industry has become. Most enterprises were transferred to the production of military products.
Due to the shortage of food and essential goods, a card system was introduced in Voronezh in the summer of 1916.

In honor of the centenary of the First World War, two extensive photographic exhibitions were opened in Voronezh. The exhibition “On the Battlefields of the First World War” in the Moskovsky Prospekt shopping center tells about the events in the rear and at the front of those four terrible years.

And Voronezh residents took part in the creation of the exhibition housed in the Diorama Museum. Chairman of the “Voronezh Public Committee for the 100th Anniversary of the First World War” Sergei SOBOLEV launched a cry among the townspeople with a request to send scanned photographs of their great-grandparents who participated in the First World War and tell stories about them. More than a hundred people responded, and the exhibition was called “Voronezh People in the First World War.”

In addition to photographs, the Diorama Museum also contains a recreated uniform from the First World War, awards, weapons, and a Cossack traveling chest.

The famous local historian Vladimir Yeletskikh also attended the opening of the exhibition and provided photographs from his archive for the exhibition. We asked a local historian to tell us about interesting facts of the war related to Voronezh.

Few people know that during the First World War, Emperor Nicholas II was in Voronezh, says Yeletskikh. - For the exhibition, I submitted a photograph showing the triumphal arch, which was built for the arrival of the sovereign. The emperor went around the provinces because there was not enough money to provide for the army, so he decided to raise money. Then in his diary he noted that the hospitals in Voronezh were in good condition.

The arrival of the Emperor on December 6, 1914 in the rear of Voronezh became a big event for the townspeople. Near the station they built a tent in ermine furs and with a huge gilded double-headed eagle, illuminated with electric lights. A wooden triumphal gate with turrets was installed next to Petrovsky Square. They made them in just one day.

The Tsar arrived in the uniform of His Majesty's Cavalry Regiment (the Tsar's personal guard) accompanied by cavalry guards.

Nicholas II in Voronezh attended a prayer service in the Mitrofanovsky Monastery, awarded the wounded soldiers directly in the hospital, which was located in the Nikolaevskaya hospital in the building of the Community of Sisters of Charity of the Red Cross Society (F. Engels St., 72 and 72a). Many Voronezh residents could see the emperor at the station and driving a car through the streets of the city.

Voronezh residents took part in the battle under the terrible name “Attack of the Dead”. In 1915, on July 24 (August 6), during the defense of the Osowiec fortress (now located in Poland), the German army used a chlorine attack. A toxic cloud of chlorine covered 60 Voronezh soldiers who had no effective means of protection... When the caustic gases dissipated, the surviving soldiers of the 8th and 13th companies of the 226th Zemlyansky regiment, spitting out pieces of their lungs, went on the attack... The Germans did not expect anyone to survive and fled.

On May 17, 2014, on the REN-TV channel in the program “Military Secret”, the author and presenter of which is our fellow countryman Igor Prokopenko, a story about the feat of Voronezh soldiers was released.

On August 6, 1915, at the height of the First World War, soldiers of the Zemlyansky Regiment, natives of the Voronezh region, accomplished a feat that, according to the author of the program, “is now undeservedly forgotten for many years.”

Hospitals

Home for wounded soldiers
The need for medicine increased sharply with the appearance of wounded in the city. Already in October 1914, the head of the garrison reported to the governor about 743 soldiers who were being treated in Voronezh, and the soldiers continued to arrive. There were not enough places in medical institutions. Then various buildings began to be converted into hospitals. One of them was located in the building now known as the Officers' House. And at that time there was the Mariinsky Women's Gymnasium. Its cast-iron openwork staircase “remembers” the legs of schoolgirls in dark brown dresses and the stern, confident step of Nicholas II. Its structure was perfectly suited for the wounded. It was convenient to transport them on stretchers along the wide corridors; there was a lot of air in the rooms with high ceilings...
Voronezh residents collected funds for medical care. Thanks to this, by 1915 there were already 75 hospitals in the province, organized with public money. They could accommodate almost 6,000 patients. In 1915, thousands of soldiers who were wounded at the front were undergoing treatment in Voronezh and other cities of the province. Even wealthy townspeople gave up their mansions for wounded front-line soldiers.

The house of the tradesman Ryzhkov with an ice floor was a hospital and clinic

One of the main attractions of Gusinovka is the ruins of a house built shortly before the First World War by the tradesman Ryzhkov. Ryzhkov lived in this building with his family, and used some of the rooms as an apartment building.

During the First World War, this building housed a hospital, and during the Second World War, an infectious diseases hospital for Red Army soldiers. In 1942, when the German occupiers were approaching the Right Bank, a hasty, chaotic evacuation began from Voronezh. All the patients were left in the hospital, which was also overcrowded. The Nazis took the wounded soldiers from the hospital to Peschany Log and shot them.

During the war, the upper part of the building was damaged by artillery shells. And now it is clear that the upper part of the brickwork is more modern than the main one. After the war, a clinic was located in Ryzhkov’s house, which served the residents of the hillocks. According to old-timers, it was a calm, cozy medical institution, with kind doctors who knew each patient personally.

In 1996, water finally came to the building, and the clinic moved. Then they wanted to give the building to a municipal veterinary hospital and a boarding house for stray dogs and cats, but it didn’t work out.

Now there are no windows in Ryzhkov’s house, there is garbage inside. To the left of the building there is an unfrozen stream, and inside the house there is approximately two to three meters of water filled. In summer it is impossible to get through here, but in winter there is a real ice floor here.

Despite the uniqueness of this place, the former hospital is little known to Voronezh residents and guests of the city. Local residents do not see anything unique in it, and diggers prefer to only post photographs of the house with an ice floor, trying not to talk about its location.

Warriors in white coats
The founder of Russian neurosurgery knew firsthand about the war. At the front, he led Red Cross institutions, trained novice doctors, operated in hospitals... Nikolai Nilovich was the first in field surgery to use primary wound treatment and sutures for skull injuries. Back then, only a few survived with such injuries. The new method helped save many people.

The most difficult campaigns of 1914 - 1917 passed. (born in the Alekseevka settlement, Voronezh province) What he experienced was close in spirit and impact to Remarque’s famous work “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Here is just one excerpt: “The dressing station was set up in the powder magazine. These are long corridors without light, covered with a mountain of earth... There are few dressings, there are no stretchers for the wounded, there are not even wagons for evacuating the sick... And we are in the very heart of the war.”

Grand Duchess at the front
Many girls enrolled in medical courses and then went to the combat zone as nurses. Among those who selflessly cared for the wounded was the daughter of Alexander III,. She worked in an army hospital, which wandered behind the front line. Subsequently, Olga Alexandrovna was awarded the St. George Medal for her personal courage. The unhappy and, in fact, formal marriage with the princess’s son was dissolved at the height of the war, in 1916. After this, Olga Alexandrovna, who renounced all her privileges, married officer Nikolai Kulikovsky.

In the fall of 1914, Prince Alexander of Oldenburg became the supreme commander of the sanitary and evacuation unit - all the difficulties of organizing the treatment of the wounded fell on his shoulders. There was not enough medicine for them - before the war, Russia imported 80% of medicines, but now supplies from abroad have stopped. Alexander Oldenburgsky called on the population to collect and donate medicinal plants. For the first time, not village healers, but the state used herbs in official medicine.

Famous Mikhailovites

The Orlyonok park is involved in military history. Before the revolution, there was a parade ground for the Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps,** whose graduates participated in all the major military operations that Russia waged in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. During the First World War, 500 cadets trained in the corps. The Cadet Corps itself was located opposite - along the current Feoktistov Street. Even part of the building has been preserved - a former bathhouse. Now this is house number 3 on the street. Student's, now there is the Faculty of Pharmacology of VSU.
The hero of the Brusilov breakthrough was a cavalryman who in his youth studied at the Voronezh Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps. It was his 8th Army that during this operation delivered a decisive blow in the direction of the city of Lutsk, which made it possible to defeat the Austro-Hungarian forces and advance our troops far forward. For his services in this battle, Kaledin was awarded the Order of St. George, III degree. . Nicknamed “Russia’s second saber.” He dedicated his entire life to the army and Russia. He did not accept the October Revolution and until the end of his days he fought the Bolsheviks with all the means that the honor of an officer could allow him.

The name of the person who rammed an enemy plane for the first time in the world is known to many - this is Pyotr Nesterov. But about Alexandra Kazakov(1889–1919), who accomplished this feat for the second time, is known only to aviation historians. Although the ramming of Alexander Kazakov in March 1915, according to military historians, was no less significant. And not least because the pilot survived...

Kazakov also studied at the Voronezh Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps in 1899–1906, then at the Elisavetgrad Cavalry School. In 1908, he was promoted to cornet of the 12th Belgorod Lancers Regiment, after which he became interested in the then young aviation and entered the Officers' Aeronautical School, which he graduated in 1914. During the First World War, he shot down 17 enemy aircraft personally and another 15 in a group. Kazakov was buried 250 km from Arkhangelsk. A tombstone made of two crossed propellers was installed on the grave, and the inscription was written on a white board: “Pilot Kazakov. Shot down 17 German planes. Peace to your ashes, hero of Russia."

Sergey Ulagai(1875–1944) graduated from the Voronezh Mikhailovsky Cadet Corps and the Nikolaev Cavalry School in 1897. Participated in the Russo-Japanese and First World Wars in the ranks of the Kuban Cossack Division and the 1st Line Regiment of the Kuban Cossack Army. In January 1917, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, “for the fact that in the battle on June 26, 1916, commanding three hundreds and a machine-gun platoon, under heavy artillery, rifle and machine-gun fire, he crossed with hundreds and a machine-gun platoon through three branches R. Stokhoda near the village of Rudni-Chervishche and quickly dug in on the enemy bank in front of the enemy's wire barriers, immediately opening the most intense fire on him. This dashing crossing of hundreds, led by their valiant commander, greatly contributed to the crossing of our infantry with relatively few losses, and enabled it to gain a foothold on the enemy shore.” In the spring of 1917, Sergei Ulagai was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the 2nd Zaporozhye Regiment.

Warlord with an Angel Heart
Our fellow countrymen fought on all fronts of the First World War. Among them is a military officer who is said to have predicted all the major geopolitical conflicts of the 20th century, a native of Ostrogozhsky district Andrey Snesarev. At that harsh time, he commanded a regiment, then a brigade, divisions, a corps, and an army. Participated in the famous Brusilov breakthrough. He was awarded the Order of St. George IV and V degrees, St. Anne and St. Stanislav I degree with swords, and the St. George's Arms. Andrei Evgenievich not only led military operations, but also inspired the soldiers with his personal example on the battlefield. And his contemporaries also said about him that he always tried to minimize losses and take care of people. His subordinates treated him with great respect. This is evidenced by a special gift from them: the St. George saber with the inscription “To our valiant, fearless eagle commander with an angelic heart.”

Our fellow countrymen were part of the crew of the first combat aircraft

At the beginning of the First World War, pilots manually dropped bombs and shot each other on the fly with pistols. But the domestic aircraft industry did not stand still. The best bomber of the First World War was our Ilya Muromets. By the beginning of the war, only four Muromets were built. The Emperor decided to create the Ilya Muromets bomber squadron, which became the world's first bomber formation. Aircraft production continued until 1918.

During the war years, a squadron of 60 aircraft made about 400 sorties and destroyed many ground targets and even 12 enemy fighters. Mitrofan Rakhmin from Voronezh was the assistant commander of the Ilya Muromets-16 airship. On September 12, 1916, as part of the squadron, he carried out a raid on Boruny in the Vitebsk region, was able to break through the enemy’s barrage of artillery fire and entered into a fierce air battle with four German aircraft. Rakhmin forced three planes to descend, and he himself penetrated behind enemy lines. Having reached Borunov, the pilot, along with the aircraft, died from artillery fire, giving the main forces of the squadron the opportunity to reach the target and cause serious harm to the enemy.

Defense complex
The First World War set industrial priorities in a new way. Its main task was to supply the army with everything necessary. By February 1917, there were already ten enterprises working for defense in Voronezh: four industrial and six food. The most significant role in this “clip” was played by the Pipe Factory, located in the building where the fat plant was located in Soviet times (it is now lost). During the war, fuses for shrapnel shells, which were then called “distance tubes,” were produced here. In 1917, the company employed 2,435 people - a kind of record for Voronezh at that time. In second place “in terms of personnel” was the Stoll Mechanical Plant. By the way, the labor of prisoners of war was also used here.
The Voronezh Pipe Plant is also famous for the fact that two of our famous writers worked there at the same time - Samuil Marshak and Andrei Platonov. Both were hired at the Pipe Factory in 1916. Marshak wrote to his family: “On Tuesday I have to go to the pipe factory and work for a few days as a test.” The salary will be 60 rubles. We'll have to give lessons..."

– What is 60 rubles in 1916? – Before the First World War, this was the monthly salary of an infantry lieutenant, and a laborer in the Otrozhensky locomotive repair workshops received 14 rubles a month. It seems that 60 rubles was a lot, but during the war, Russia, like other participating countries, began a large-scale issue of paper money, canceling the circulation of gold and silver coins, so the purchasing power of the ruble dropped significantly.

Marshak worked in a factory office as a documentation translator. Most likely, these were instructions for imported machines with which the plant was equipped. Platonov entered the pipe factory as a foundry worker in July 1916, after working for a year and a half as an office worker in the management of the Southern Eastern Railway.

– Why did the clerk become a proletarian? I believe there are two reasons: work at a defense plant was exempt from military service and was paid much better than office work, although it was very hard. Platonov himself wrote in the story “Seryoga and I”: “The workshop crushed and ate our souls. People there became evil. We spent the whole day carrying a stretcher filled with shavings and garbage...” It was at this plant that Platonov met both revolutions of 1917,” said the guide.

The plant of the joint stock company "Richard Pole" was evacuated from Riga to Voronezh in 1915. He made explosive devices and steel belts for military truck tires. The Otrozhen steam locomotive repair workshops (now the Telman Voronezh Car Repair Plant), in addition to their main products, produced many products for defense needs, and also equipped several ambulance trains and heated cars for transporting troops.

How bast shoes became a shortage

By the fall of 1915, many Russian cities were already experiencing a shortage of bread and other food products. On July 16, 1916, a law was passed to reduce meat consumption, which prohibited the sale of meat products and their serving in restaurants from Tuesday to Friday.

Leather shoes became in short supply. Prices for bast shoes, which wealthy peasants almost never wore before the war, increased 4-5 times (from pre-war 20 kopecks to a ruble). And now the authorities even had to take measures to preserve linden forests - the handicraft production of traditional rural shoes has grown so much.

There were few men left in the rear, but prisoners of war began to arrive in the city. In Voronezh they could freely communicate with local residents and lower ranks of the military. They were usually used in agricultural work and in enterprises. It happened that “foreign” soldiers begged on the streets. Sometimes the wounded Russians did the same thing.

The influx of population into the city was also due to refugees. As a result, the number of residents of Voronezh more than doubled in the first two years of the war: from approximately 80 thousand people before the war to more than 170 thousand in the fall of 1916 - in terms of the number of food cards.

“All this has led to a rush of demand for housing. But in the summer of 1915, Voronezh governor Georgy Petkevich forbade raising rent for housing for the duration of the war and demanding money from the families of front-line soldiers more than one month in advance, and from other tenants more than three months in advance,” said Evgeny Kiselev. “Therefore, many unscrupulous owners sought to survive the previous guests by any means in order to rent out the apartment to refugees who were ready to pay more because of their plight.

Voronezh priests buried the dead under bullets

The tradition of Orthodox clergy serving in the army is quite old. It was introduced by Peter I in the first quarter of the 18th century. During the First World War, approximately 4 to 5 thousand priests served. Among them were many students of the Voronezh seminary. However, there is not much information about them.

As a rule, a priest did not stay long in one regiment. Usually every five years the confessor changed his place of service. For example, a graduate of the Voronezh seminary, Ivan Pokrovsky, managed to travel almost half of Russia. He served on the cruiser General Admiral, the battleship Navarin, participated in the campaigns of 1904 - 1905 against the Japanese, and by 1917 he became the chief priest of the armies of the Northern Front. This position is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant general. John of Pokrovsky had almost all the awards that a priest could receive. The number was even greater than that of many representatives of the officer corps.

In addition to divine services, burying the dead, and teaching the law of God, military priests helped bandage wounds, supervised the removal of the dead and wounded from the battlefield, notified relatives of the death of soldiers, set up field libraries, and organized societies in their units to help the families of the killed and wounded.

In March 2014, the Nikitin Library hosted a conference dedicated to forgotten pages of the history of the region. A series of unusual facts was recalled by a teacher at the Voronezh Seminary, Deacon Pavel Ovchinnikov. Five graduates of the Voronezh Seminary immediately received the highest award for military valor - the Order of St. George.

– It would seem, how can a clergyman deserve such an award? During the First World War, priests more than once had to inspire soldiers by personal example to get out of the trench when an officer was killed. And the soldiers went on the attack, seeing the courage of the clergy,” said Pavel Ovchinnikov.

Voronezh residents immortalized the names of 36 heroes of the First World War

A memorial sign to the full Knights of St. George was unveiled at the Thorn Cemetery.

On August 1, 2014, on the Day of Remembrance of Russian soldiers who fell in the First World War, a memorial sign was unveiled at the Ternovoe cemetery in Voronezh to the Voronezh residents - full holders of the military Order of St. George the Victorious. The names of 36 participants in the war of 1914-1918 are engraved on the memorial.
A memorial complex in honor of Voronezh residents who died during the First World War was proposed in October 2013 by the head of the region, Alexei Gordeev.
Relatives of the heroes whose names were immortalized at the Thorn Cemetery came to Voronezh for the unveiling of the memorial sign. The father of a resident of the Ramonsky district, Evgeniy Gridyaev, served in the 10th Turkestan Infantry Regiment with the rank of lieutenant. One of the crosses was personally presented to the full Knight of St. George Vasily Gridyaev by Tsar Nicholas II.
“When the Germans used gas, my father led his company to a hillock. When the enemy launched an attack the next day, our soldiers met him with machine guns and rifles. We repulsed five attacks. At this time the king arrived at the regiment. When he was informed about the gas attack and the results, Nicholas II wanted to meet the hero. When the father was brought in, the king shook his hand, thanked him for his service, took the cross from his chest and hung it on his father, the hero’s son said.
After the war, the Knight of St. George worked on a collective farm in the village of Glushitsy, Ramonsky district. Now a rural street is named after him.

“The First World War ended in the Voronezh region”

At the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the First World War in the Diorama Museum, local historian Vladimir Eletskikh spoke about another little-known fact. A local historian found materials confirming the information that the First World War ended in the Voronezh region. On March 3, 1918, an agreement was signed in Brest-Litovsk, which marked Russia’s exit from the war. However, military operations continued, including in the south of the Voronezh province. And on May 28, 1918, Commissar Vladimir Ivanov, on Lenin’s orders, arrived in Voronezh to negotiate a truce. At the Evstratovka station near Rossosh, the fact of Russia’s withdrawal from the First World War was legally confirmed in an armored train.

Used materials.

Municipal budgetary educational institution

"Gymnasium"

Scientific work on history

Nizhny Novgorod province during the First World War: everyday life and exploits

Sadova E.,

10b grade student

Supervisor:

History and Social Studies Teacher

Gracheva Natalia Evgenievna

Introduction

The First World War (1914-1918) is one of the longest, bloodiest and most significant in consequences in the history of mankind. In total, it lasted 1,568 days. It was attended by 38 states out of 59 that had state sovereignty at that time. The population of the warring countries amounted to over 1.5 billion people, that is, about 87% of all inhabitants of the Earth. A total of 73.5 million people were put under arms. More than 11 million were killed and 20 million people were injured. The armed struggle was carried out on fronts with a total length of 2500-4000 km. In this war, for the first time in the history of all wars, tanks, aircraft, submarines, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns, mortars, grenade launchers, bomb throwers, flamethrowers, super-heavy artillery, hand grenades, chemical and smoke shells, and toxic substances were widely used. The First World War was the greatest test for the peoples of Europe. The burden of its hardships has become unbearable for many countries.

In August, Russia entered the war with Germany. This military campaign caused a huge patriotic surge in Russian society. The manifesto of Nicholas II, published the day after the declaration of war, stated: “In the terrible hour of trial, let internal strife be forgotten. May the unity of the tsar with his people be strengthened even more closely, and may Russia, rising as one man, repel the daring onslaught of the enemy.”

The war required an unprecedented effort on the part of the Russian Empire. Provincial and zemstvo districts played a significant role in restructuring the economy of the rear and the life of the population on a military basis. The Nizhny Novgorod province did not stand aside during these difficult years for the entire country.

The purpose of this study is to characterize the situation of the Nizhny Novgorod province during the First World War and evaluate the contribution of the province to the victory over Germany.

Achieving this goal will be facilitated by solving the following tasks:

Find out how industry developed in the Nizhny Novgorod province during the First World War;

find out what policy the leadership of the province pursued regarding refugees.

The object of this study is the Nizhny Novgorod province during the First World War.

Main part

Nizhny Novgorod province world war

Representatives of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial zemstvo committee sought to make their feasible contribution to the common cause of defeating the German army. This committee began its work in the second half of July 1915. The general meeting took place on July 21, 1915. Organizational and practical issues were discussed, reports were heard on completed and ongoing military orders. It turned out that even before the creation of the committee in the fall of 1914 - winter of 1915. The Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo supplied the army with 35 thousand sheepskin coats and 130 thousand matting. The furrier's workshop played a major role in the production of these products. Bolshoye Murashkino, as well as workshops in Lukoyanovsky and Sergach districts.

In Arzamas district, in particular, in the winter of 1914-1915. clothing, food, tobacco, and money came to the district government from private individuals and rural communities. A total of 85 receipts were issued for donations received from the public. The zemstvo government, having received the appropriate permission, sent all donations free of charge to the soldiers on the front line. According to zemstvo data of that period, the total amount of donations from the population of the county amounted to 4,435 rubles. In addition, 4,280 pounds of rye crackers were received from the peasants, which were delivered to the front free of charge through the headquarters of the Moscow Military District. In January 1915, a telegram arrived in Arzamas: “The lower ranks of the 10th Park Artillery Brigade offer their sincere gratitude and appreciation to all residents of the county who sent warm things for the holiday of the Nativity of Christ.”

As a result of the exchange of views, it became clear that the province could help the front even more effectively. For these purposes, mechanical workshops of the Arzamas and Balakhninsky districts were involved, in Knyaginsky - forges, in Lukoyanovsky - a technical school, in Nizhny Novgorod - a handicraft business for the production of wire.

The All-Russian Zemstvo Union was provided with a list of weapons and equipment that could be produced within the Nizhny Novgorod province. At the same July meeting, a proposal from the provincial government was adopted to organize county and district army supply committees.

Thus, from the very first days of the war, the Nizhny Novgorod zemstvo began a great deal of work to provide the troops with everything they needed.

The committee involved zemstvo enterprises, partnerships, and private owners in fulfilling military orders. His most fruitful activity was in 1916: the province produced 117 types of various items supplied to the army.

Sormovichi supplied locomotives and carriages, workers from Kulebak and Vyksy rolled rails and railway ramps. In 1915-1916 New factories were built and military production expanded. A cannon and shell workshop was equipped in Sormovo, and a telephone plant was erected by Siemens and Halske in the country house of Manse. The Nizhny Novgorod Exchange Society set up two factories behind the Kanavinskaya Sloboda, in the Shuvalskaya forest dacha: a grenade and a shrapnel factory.

A number of enterprises were evacuated to Nizhny Novgorod from the western provinces. In 1915, the uniform workshop was relocated from Warsaw.

annotation

This article is devoted to the study of the dynamics of movement and indirect losses of the population of the Oryol province during the First World War. The work is based on information from regional statistics and metric books of settlements in the Oryol province for 1900-1914, stored in the State Archive of the Oryol Region. For the study, typical settlements of Bolkhovsky, Kromsky and Livensky districts of the Oryol province were taken. The result of the study was the conclusion about the adverse impact of the war on peasant demography, manifested in a significant decrease in all demographic indicators, especially marriage rates.

Key words and phrases: demography, peasantry, Oryol province, World War I, indirect losses.

Annotation

The article is devoted to the study of the dynamics of motion and indirect losses of population of the Oryol province in the years of First world war. Work information of regional statistics and metrical books of settlements of the Oryol province is the basis of after 1900-1914 years, kept in the State archive of Oryol region. For the study were taken from typical settlements Bolkhovsky, Kromsky and Livensky districts of Orel province. The result of the research was the conclusion about the adverse effects of war on the peasant population, manifested in a substantial decrease in all demographics, especially marriage.

Key words and phrases: historical demography, the peasantry, Oryol province, The First world war, the indirect losses.

About the publication

Indirect losses in the rear provinces of Russia in the 1st World War (on the materials of the Oryol gubernia)

Due to its geographical location, the Oryol province was far from the theater of operations of the First World War. But, naturally, the tragic events that took place at the fronts could not help but be reflected, albeit indirectly, on the internal life of the province, including demographic processes.

According to the materials of the First General Census of the Russian Empire in 1897, 2,033,798 people lived in the Oryol province. The predominant class in the province were peasants. In rural areas, peasants accounted for 96.47%. It is clear that the belonging of the bulk of the rural population to the peasantry predetermined the traditional nature of its demographic behavior.

We can follow the growth of the population in the Oryol province in the pre-war period (1900-1913) from the information collected by the provincial statistical committee (Table 1).

Table No. 1.

Population growth in the districts of the Oryol province in 1900–1913.

	1900	1913
Counties	Abs.	Abs.	Rel.
Bryansk	221731	294857	33%
Bolkhovsky	146430	175989	20%
Dmitrovsky	113623	127931	12,5%
Yeletsky	299929	370966	23,6%
Karachevsky	144699	168109	16,2%
Kromskoy	116261	140502	20,9%
Livensky	312191	418560	34%
Maloarkhangelsk	186863	234219	25,3%
Mtsensky	109875	129021	17,5%
Orlovsky	218535	274865	25,7%
Sevsky	164776	201033	22%
Trubchevsky	142846	179991	26%
All counties	2177759	2589388	19%

According to these data, over 14 years the population of the Oryol province increased by 19%. The most significant increase in residents was noted in the eastern (Livensky, Yeletsky) and western (Bryansky, etc.) districts. This happened despite the increased migration flow of the Oryol peasantry outside the province during the Stolypin agrarian reforms. Such a significant increase in population became possible due to the high rate of natural increase among the inhabitants of the province. Over the same period, this figure ranged from 27,000 in 1905 to almost 52,000 in 1911, with an average of about 37,000 people. Total natural increase from 1900 to 1913 amounted to more than 540,000 inhabitants.

The rapid growth of the population was ensured by the still high birth rate, especially preserved in the western and partly in the eastern districts of the province, as well as a decrease in mortality among its residents. From 1900 to 1913 the total number of births in the province was 1,558,308 people, an average of 119,000 per year. The number of deaths during the same time was 1,015,586, and the average for the year was about 78,000.

Thus, on the eve of the First World War, a population explosion was observed in the Oryol province. The parish data can support this assertion. We analyzed information about the natural movement of the population in 8 different parishes of the province. Six parishes showed steady population growth, while two saw a slight decline. Figures on the natural movement of the population in parishes indicate, in general, an increase in the birth rate and a gradual decrease in mortality among parishioners, which corresponds to the district and provincial indicators.

Russia's entry into the First World War could not but affect the demographic behavior of the Oryol peasantry. First of all, it is worth noting the significant decrease in the marriage rate of residents of the region during the war years. In the whole province, this reduction in the number of marriage registrations was as follows: 1914 - 65.6%, 1915 - 41.5%, and in 1916 - only 15.8% of the pre-war 1913 level. At the level of individual parishes studied, the decrease marriage was no less noticeable. If in 1913 the marriage rate in them averaged 9.7‰, then in 1915-1916. in all parishes fell to minimum values ​​of 1%-3%.

This phenomenon was an undoubted consequence of the influence of wartime on the level of marriage activity of the population, since during the war years more than 255,000 people, mostly peasants, were mobilized from the province to the front. The agricultural census of 1917 cites the figure of 254,670 conscripts from rural areas by the second half of 1917. The conscription included men of childbearing age, which, naturally, could not but affect the marriage rate and, to an even greater extent, the birth rate among the peasant population. The First World War, with its gigantic massive conscription, for the first time in Russian history significantly invaded the sphere of peasant demography.

The dynamics of the decline in the birth rate as a whole in the Oryol province: 1914 - 97% of the level of 1913, 1915 - 87.4%, 1916 - 62%. In absolute figures, the total number of hypothetically unborn children during the First World War on the territory of the province (excluding 1917) was about 60,000 people.

Birth rates at the parish level also showed a downward trend. On average, in the parishes studied, the number of births in 1916 decreased by 35-40% from the 1913 level.

The expected positive decrease in the mortality rate of the population in the province (without taking into account direct combat losses at the front) against the background of a decrease in the birth rate was not observed in the first two years of the war, and only in 1916 the number of deaths decreased by 13% from the pre-war 1913. The same trends were observed in parish mortality statistics.

There were no significant outbreaks of infectious diseases in the province during the war years, but the mortality rate did not decrease. The increase in mortality, especially among the adult population of the region, could have occurred for completely different reasons, not characteristic of peacetime.

Beginning in 1915, there was an acute shortage of workers in the countryside. Women were involved in difficult types of rural labor, which affected their health and childcare. This most likely led to an increase in mortality among women and children and, to some extent, to a decrease in the birth rate. In mid-1916, there was a shortage of bread in the province, prices were clearly inflated, and there was a shortage even though there was a sufficient supply of goods. Even in the grain-growing Oryol province, this could not but affect the nutrition of the population, and, accordingly, its demographic behavior.

During 1914‑1915 Positive natural population growth remained in the province, but in 1916 it decreased by more than ¼. This was a consequence of a sharp decline in the birth rate with a low rate of decline in the mortality rate. Natural growth in the studied Oryol parishes remained relatively high. Despite the martial law, it did not fall below 1%.

Thus, we can conclude that even the influence of wartime on demographic processes in the province could not stop the natural growth of its population, although it decreased significantly. More than 60,000 children not born in the province can be considered pure indirect losses, and the correlation between the size of natural population growth and the reduction in its number for the period 1913-1916. allows us to estimate its decline at approximately 460,500 people. This number included not only all men mobilized for the war, but also women who left the province at that time. More precise calculations are not possible because maintaining civil statistics has been difficult. The documents of the military institutions involved in conscription and the provincial statistical committee have not been fully preserved.

Most of those who left would begin to return to their native places already in 1917, but even by 1920 the population of the province had not reached the pre-war level. Negative trends in the demographic development of the Oryol province during the First World War were gradually compensated for in the post-war period, when the population temporarily returned to the traditional model of population reproduction, but in general the process of modernization of the demographic behavior of the residents of the Oryol region was not completely stopped.

List of literature / Spisok literature

In Russian

1. Review of the Oryol province for 1900. Orel, 1901. Review of the Oryol province for 1913 - Orel, 1914.
2. Review of the Oryol province for 1900. Orel, 1901; Review of the Oryol province for 1901. Orel, 1902; Review of the Oryol province for 1902. Orel, 1903; Review of the Oryol province for 1903 Orel, 1904; Review of the Oryol province for 1905. Orel, 1906; Review of the Oryol province for 1906. Orel, 1907; Review of the Oryol province for 1907. Orel, 1908; Review of the Oryol province for 1908. Orel, 1909; Review of the Oryol province for 1909. Orel, 1910; Review of the Oryol province for 1910. Orel, 1911; Review of the Oryol province for 1911. Orel, 1912; Review of the Oryol province for 1912. Orel, 1913; Review of the Oryol province for 1913. Orel, 1914; Review of the Oryol province for 1914. Eagle, 1915.
3. First General Census of the Russian Empire 1897. Publication of the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. – T. XXIX. Oryol province / Ed. ON THE. Troinitsky. – St. Petersburg, 1904.
4. Shchekotikhin E.E. Military glory of the Oryol region. – Orel, 2007. – P. 59.

English

1. Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1900 g. Orel, 1901. Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1913 g. – Orel, 1914.
2. Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1900 god.Orel, 1901; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1901 god.Orel, 1902; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1902 god. Orel, 1903; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1903 god Orel, 1904; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1905 god. Orel, 1906; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1906 god. Orel, 1907; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1907 god.Orel, 1908; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1908 god.Orel, 1909; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1909 god. Orel, 1910; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1910 god. Orel, 1911; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1911 god. Orel, 1912; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1912 god. Orel, 1913; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1913 god. Orel, 1914; Obzor Orlovskoj gubernii za 1914 god. Orel, 1915.
3. Pervaja Vseobshhaja perepis’ naselenija Rossijskoj imperii 1897. Izdanie Central’nogo statisticheskogo komiteta Ministerstva vnutrennih del. T. XXIX. Orlovskaja gubernija / Pod red. N.A. Trojnickogo. – SPb., 1904.
4. Shhekotihin E.E. Ratnaja slava Orlovskogo kraja. – Orel, 2007. – S. 59.

Smolensk during the First World War

On August 1, 1914, Russia entered the First World War. The very next day, August 2, martial law was introduced in Smolensk and the district, a prayer service was served in the Assumption Cathedral for the granting of victory to the Russian army, and in the evening a crowded demonstration took place in the city.

At an emergency meeting, the Smolensk City Duma decided to organize assistance to the wounded, called for donations to be collected for them, and sent a telegram to the Tsar expressing loyal feelings. Nicholas II responded by cordially thanking the residents of Smolensk. At the same time, in Moscow, at a meeting of authorized zemstvos and cities, the All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Assistance to Sick and Wounded Soldiers was formed. The provincial committee of the union was created on July 27, 1914 under the chairmanship of the chairman of the provincial zemstvo government, Alexander Mikhailovich Tukhachevsky. Many famous figures of that time became members of the committee: the provincial leader of the nobility Prince V. M. Urusov, a member of the provincial zemstvo government P. A. Vakar, the Smolensk mayor B. P. Rachinsky, Princess M. K. Tenisheva and many others. The Committee launched extensive activities in two directions: in organizing hospitals and reception centers for sick and wounded soldiers and in providing out-of-hospital care. For this purpose, 280 beds in provincial zemstvo hospitals and 50 thousand rubles were allocated.

On the eve of the war, the 13th Army Corps was stationed in the city and province. Three of his regiments were stationed here - Sofia, 3rd Narva and 4th Koporsky, as well as the 13th engineer battalion and the 1st army brigade. The corps headquarters was located on the street. Royal (now Lenin Square). The corps was commanded from June 1912 to August 1914 by a talented military leader, infantry general Mikhail Vasilyevich Alekseev, the future creator of the Volunteer Army. He lived with his family in a house on the street. Bolshaya Blagoveshchenskaya, opposite Sosnovsky Garden (now Pioneer Park), and then on the street. Verkhne-Pyatnitskaya (now Vorovskogo Street).

The 13th Army Corps was formed from Smolensk. His fate turned out to be tragic. Already on August 17, 1914, he was defeated in East Prussia, out of 80 thousand of his soldiers, 30 thousand were captured, 6 thousand died, 20 thousand were wounded. This defeat became a tub of cold water for Smolensk. Ultra-patriotic sentiments instantly disappeared in the province. In August 1914, 41 trains with 18,318 wounded and 1,291 patients passed through the Smolensk station, with about 9,500 dressings performed. Four mobilizations in 1914 supplemented six mobilizations in 1915. The forced confiscation of cloth began, and all shoemakers and tailors were recruited to carry out military orders. Front-line Smolensk became one of the main rear bases of the Western Front. It was flooded with troops. The city turned into a center for sorting, treating and evacuating wounded front-line soldiers and refugees who arrived on ambulances and freight trains. The examination of wounded soldiers and officers was carried out by the surgeon on duty at the dressing station, accompanied by paramedics and nurses. The seriously wounded were removed from the trains and sent to local hospitals. Initially, this was done by volunteers, and then by a team formed for this purpose from the lower ranks of the work company. At the request of the city government, the Union Electric Company allocated a tram with three specially designed platforms to transport the wounded. They were covered from the rain with a tarpaulin, and each could accommodate 6 stretchers with wounded. To transport the wounded, in addition to zemstvo funds, private cars were also used. The provincial leader of the nobility, Prince, also donated his car for these needs. V.M. Urusov. For the same purposes, Princess M.K. Tenisheva provided her personal car, and landowner A.P. Rachinsky organized a car squad of six cars.

Medical assistance to the wounded and sick was also organized at the Vyazma and Dorogobuzh stations, where special cars of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union were equipped for this purpose.

By January 1, 1915, about 60 hospitals, infirmaries and hospitals were deployed on the territory of the Smolensk province, of which 32 medical institutions were under the jurisdiction of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union: the Smolensk hospital of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union in Vyazma, the Vyazma hospital of the resettlement center for infectious patients (for 18 beds), 20 infirmaries of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union. In addition to the zemstvo hospitals, the following operated in the province: the 291st reserve field hospital (with 210 beds), Smolensk; 269th reserve field hospital (with 200 beds) in Smolensk district, Smolensk city hospital in (premises of a trade school with 350 beds), 3 military department infirmaries, 3 Green Cross society infirmaries, 3 military department infirmaries, 3 Green Cross societies, one each - Polish-Lithuanian, Evangelical-Catholic, Jewish societies, cooperatives of the Smolensk province; infirmaries of the free firemen's society, ladies' society, employees and workers of the Yartsevo manufactory, etc. Eight infirmaries were maintained at the personal expense of nobles and merchants: Prince Meshchersky, Princess M.K. Tenisheva (2 infirmaries), nobles A.A. Sinyagin, N.N. Lopatina, etc. To receive the wounded in all district and district hospitals, within the limits of capacity, beds were allocated and infirmaries were created at them, including at the inter-district hospital in the village. Nikolo - Pogoreloe (Pogorelskoe).

A huge number of refugees passed through Smolensk from the war zone. The first train with refugees arrived in the city on June 17, 1915. Starting from that day, up to 10 thousand people passed through Smolensk every day. In total, a quarter of all Russian refugees migrated this year - about 630 thousand people. They all needed food and shelter. Food cards did not save the situation, since the city’s food supply was unsatisfactory.

In December 1915, in the Smolensk region there were over 3,500 beds for the admission and treatment of the wounded and sick. The buildings of gymnasiums, schools and a number of administrative institutions were occupied for hospitals and infirmaries.

The best zemstvo doctors - the chief physician of the provincial zemstvo hospital S. A. Alexandrov, surgeon E. I. Neverovich, nurse A. I. Esmont and others - did everything possible to save the wounded soldiers and officers. For more effective treatment, the latest means in the field of medicine were used: an X-ray room was equipped in the Tenishev infirmary, and the Smolensk Bacteriological Institute was engaged in conducting complex clinical tests.

During these difficult days for the country and the province, from the autumn of 1916, a young doctor, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov, a future famous writer, worked at the Sychevsky district hospital.

By the end of 1916, the number of military personnel increased sharply and amounted to about 70 thousand people. In Smolensk, in particular, the future famous avant-garde artist K. S. Malevich, drafted into the army in June 1916, served.

By 1916, the situation in the city had deteriorated sharply. The situation was vividly described in his diary by historian V. I. Grachev: “There is no sugar in the city; in the bakery, white bread is sold in great demand; by nine in the morning the bakeries are already closed; prices are rising by leaps and bounds; A crowd of thousands has been besieging shops since early morning, the crush is impossible, the streets are crowded with people; The poor part of the population groans at the extortionate high prices that have turned the ruble into an insignificant small coin...”

During the First World War, the Smolensk region was one of the main rear bases of the Western Front.

This year on August 1st it will be 90 years since the start of the First World War. Today, few people know that at that time in Russia it was officially proclaimed the second domestic one. However, in a warring country there was another point of view. The Bolsheviks believed that this war was imperialist, predatory, and therefore they wanted the defeat of the tsarist government, its transformation from imperialist to civil. And so it happened - the First World War on the territory of the Russian Empire turned into a civil war and therefore remained “lost in the memory of posterity.” All of Europe is covered with monuments to the soldiers of 1914-1918, but we don’t have them, nor do we have objective historical material on this topic.
Kursk 1914, st. Avraamovskaya (Dobrolyubova), restaurant "London"

In order to fill the factual gap, we bring to your attention unknown pages of that distant war, which were restored from documents and materials stored in the state archive of the Kursk region.

ON THE SECOND day of the war, August 2, 1914, the highest manifesto was published. It noted that Russia, following its historical covenants, united in faith and blood with the Slavic peoples, never looked at their fate indifferently. After Austria-Hungary presented Serbia with demands that were obviously unacceptable for a sovereign state and hastily launched an armed attack, opening the bombing of defenseless Belgrade, Russia took forced precautions, beginning to transfer the army to martial law. “...But valuing the blood and property of our subjects, we made every effort to achieve a peaceful outcome to the negotiations that had begun,” the text of the manifesto says. Germany began to demand the immediate cancellation of these measures and, having met the refusal, declared war on Russia.

Further, Emperor Nicholas II clearly and unambiguously formulated his goals: “Now we no longer have to stand up only for our unjustly offended kindred country, but to protect the honor, dignity, integrity of Russia and its position among the great powers.”

The Tsar really hoped that in this terrible hour internal strife would be forgotten and deeply believed “in the rightness of our cause.” At first, these hopes were justified to some extent - in August-December 1914 there was a decline in the strike movement; in total, 70 strikes and 35 thousand participants were recorded. It was only in 1916 that the economic situation worsened and strikes became more frequent.

Mobilization in the Kursk province took place at a high level, and in some places it was quite extraordinary. For example, the priest of the village of Polkotelnikova, Oboyansky district, Ilya Fedyushin, in addition to the traditional divine liturgy and religious procession, organized a tea party for recruits at school.

DURING the war years, the Kursk Orthodox clergy proved to be at the height of their pastoral service. At the very beginning of August 1914, messages from the Holy Synod emphasized that “the All-European, and for us, the Great Patriotic War has begun.” Monasteries, churches and the Orthodox flock were encouraged to donate to the healing of wounded and sick soldiers and to help the families of military personnel. In all churches, after each service, there was a constant collection of donations; monasteries and monasteries were ordered to equip their hospital premises.

The clergy had the responsible task of morally influencing the flock, that is, practically all residents of the province, and financially supporting the families of soldiers called up for war.

At first, when volost trustees and government agencies were just deciding how to help, the clergy, with personal donations and deductions, and collections from parishioners, satisfied the urgent need of 6,352 families in the amount of 16,836 rubles. In addition, during the first nine months of the war, 1050 church trustees of the diocese provided assistance to 36,646 families in the amount of 74,735 rubles 63 kopecks. Also, up to 8 thousand pounds of flour, 750 pounds of rye, 1,449 loads of firewood, 4,275 loads of straw, up to 400 pounds of cow butter and lard, up to 400 pounds of oats were distributed to the needy, and other agricultural products cannot be counted.

During these days, on the Kursk land, on the initiative of priests, new forms of social assistance were born, which were then developed in other historical conditions. In villages during the war, a common picture was when a priest, having gathered students from a church school, went with them to the gardens of families called up to fight , where children eagerly and joyfully dug potatoes and chopped wood. In the winter, under the influence of the law-teaching fathers, they brought heaps of straw for fuel to the houses of those who had gone to war, shared breakfasts with their children, in the spring they guarded the livestock and carried manure from the yard.

In women's parochial schools, under the guidance of mothers and teachers, girls and adult women sewed underwear for soldiers, made warm sweatshirts, knitted stockings and gloves. Thus, in Fatezhsky district, before April 1, 1916, they produced 300 pairs of underwear, up to 200 pairs of gloves, more than 300 pairs of stockings and many other small things - scarves, towels, pouches.

After two months of war in Kursk, on the initiative and blessing of the local bishop, a hospital for sick and wounded soldiers with 35 beds was organized and equipped. It is noteworthy that it was located in a country bishop's house in Znamenskaya Grove.

With the active participation of the clergy, infirmaries were established in county towns and towns. The example of Fatezh, remote from the provincial center and the railway, is illustrative. The hospital was created here on the initiative of the cathedral archpriest, who managed to overcome seemingly serious obstacles. Governor Muratov, taking into account the remoteness of the town from Kursk, did not allow wounded and sick soldiers to be sent there. But the Fatezhans obtained horses and comfortable carriages, and, having received permission, began to bring the wounded to their hospital at their own expense.

At the instigation of the bishop in Kursk, with donations from the city clergy, nurseries were set up for children whose fathers were at war, and whose mothers were at work in the morning. More than two dozen of these children, starting from the age of two, were fed and supervised. Nurseries at parochial schools began to be created in other places - in total there were 40 of them organized in the province. In the largest, for example, at the Streletskaya parochial school, there were up to 120 children.

The monasteries also did not remain aloof from social service during the difficult times of war. On August 19, 1916, a rare event in church life took place - a congress of all abbots and abbess. It was decided that the monasteries should “intensify their sacrifices and labors for the Fatherland.” Afterwards, hospitals were opened in the Korennaya Hermitage, in the Kursk and Trinity convents, expanded in the Belgorod monastery, and with the funds of nine others, an infirmary for 30-40 people began operating in the building of the parish school at the Resurrection Cathedral of Kursk.

In the fall of 1915, a wave of refugees reached the Kursk province. The diocese created a committee to care for refugees from Galicia and Western Russia. Almost all of them were in dire need, so clothing warehouses were opened in the charitable districts. In January 1916, 10,558 Orthodox refugees and, in addition, 443 families lived in the parishes of the Kursk diocese. The church ministers firmly believed in victory in the war. Priest Joasaph Sergeev from the village of Goryainovo, Oboyansky district, in April 1915, addressing the believers, emphasized: “If all Russians are unanimous and do not indulge in drunkenness and listen to the harmful speeches of troublemakers, accomplices in the plans of our enemies, then victory will be for our fatherland. This "The war as a people's war is similar to the war of 1812. It will be difficult. Let us prove ourselves worthy sons of our glorious ancestors." Archpriest Ilya Bulgakov, in his teachings on the day of the Nativity of Christ, noted that in the time of the Great Patriotic War, the prophetic song “God is with us” sung on this holiday strengthens faith in the triumph of victory over the enemy.

According to the responses of contemporaries, patriotic church sermons caused by the current military operations spoke not only about the causes of the war, its liberating nature, but also about other important points.

In some parishes of the Kursk province, rumors began to spread about internal unrest, about unusual victories of enemy armies, about the appearance of some gangs of robbers. These speculations were actively refuted by the clergy, explaining the true state of affairs and healing souls by conducting church-liturgical and extra-liturgical interviews and explanations.

At the front, the clergy fulfilled their professional duty as psalm-readers and priests.

Pupils of educational institutions of the Kursk diocese did not stand aside either. The seminary organized eight sanitary detachments of eight people each and during the academic year they took part in the disembarkation and transportation of the wounded arriving in the city. In addition to participating in sanitary squads, some seminarians performed night shifts for free with the sick and wounded in two Red Cross hospitals. Since 1916, pupils of church schools began to be actively involved in procuring and growing vegetables for the troops.

Many seminarians were eager to go to the front. In the year and a half since the beginning of the war, 40 people resigned with the permission of their parents to enroll as volunteer orderlies in the active army and for short-term officer courses...

By order of the ruling bishop, a commission was created to collect and publish information about the activities of the clergy of the Kursk diocese during the Patriotic War of 1914-1915. Archpriest Vasily Ivanov was appointed its chairman. The report on the activities was regularly published in the Kursk Diocesan Gazette; the information it contains is an invaluable source for historians and anyone interested in the history of their native land today.

UNDER the heading “German atrocities,” newspapers of that time introduced contemporaries to facts, documents, testimony, statements of victims or wounded. Germany has clearly shown that international law does not exist for it. Her government firmly adhered to the principle that when there is superior force, there is no need to respect any law. Germany and Austria-Hungary began to restore the ancient barbaric methods of merciless struggle in order to eliminate the enemy.

To verify these facts, an emergency investigative commission was created by decree of the emperor, chaired by Senator A. Kravtsov. She mainly analyzed the testimony of escaped prisoners and disabled people returned to their homeland in the first batch that arrived in Petrograd on August 4, 1915. Getting acquainted with the description of the terrible scenes of inhumane treatment of Russian prisoners, you realize that many abuses were then widely used by the Germans in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against the civilian population. And you involuntarily ask the question: what is more here - an accident or a pattern?

Let's look at just a few episodes. Among the papers that fell into the commission, there were two unsent letters from killed soldiers of the German army, in which they informed their relatives that “... in the event that the offensive becomes too difficult, we take Russian prisoners and drive them in front of us against their own compatriots , so they at least somewhat reduce our losses..." “We don’t know what to do with the prisoners. From now on, every Russian who surrenders will be driven ahead of the line of our fortifications to be shot...” There is no doubt about the ferocity of the Germans. On June 2, 1916, in the village of Gossenzas, 500 Russian prisoners refused to dig trenches for the enemy. In response, the order was given to shoot every tenth person. When four were killed (among them was Kuryan F. Lunin), others agreed to work to save the lives of the others.

And here is the testimony of our fellow countryman. Soldier Aleinikov, who returned from six months of captivity from Novy Oskol, told how they were fed. The daily menu of the prisoners, according to his stories, looked like this: breakfast - bran mash, lunch - unpeeled carrots, dinner - “bone mash”. Or for breakfast - corn mash, lunch - chestnut soup, dinner - barley stew with husks. This also includes “chatter with bean husks”, or “soup with swamp grass”.

According to historians, from 1914 to 1917, 190 thousand Russian military personnel died in captivity.

THE FATE of Russian prisoners of war was bitter not only because of the bad attitude towards them from the enemy. Even in the third year of the war, they quite rightly considered themselves forgotten in their homeland, offended and left to the mercy of fate. If the Belgians, French, and British from the very beginning of the war enjoyed the constant support of relatives, they were helped by the embassies of neutral powers and the Red Cross, then the Russians were deprived of this for a long time.

Among parishioners and soldiers going to the front, explanatory work was carried out about the shame of captivity and the need to defend their homeland to the last drop of blood. A brochure, “What awaits a voluntarily surrendered soldier and his family,” began to be distributed among the soldiers and in the rear, which reflected the official point of view. I will give some excerpts from this propaganda material, which became in full demand at another time. One of the cornerstone provisions of the brochure read: “The Russians are in vain to think that by surrendering they will save their lives... If some of the prisoners remain alive, it will be after the defeat of the German army and the conclusion of peace over all those who voluntarily surrendered upon their return to Russia will carry out the sentence of a military court. The families of soldiers who voluntarily surrendered into captivity, according to the law approved by the Supreme on April 15, 1915, are deprived of all benefits... Named lists of those who voluntarily surrendered into captivity are immediately transferred to the governors for publication and deprivation of benefits. benefits, starving members and children will undoubtedly curse their former breadwinner, who, by vile betrayal of the Tsar and the Motherland, deprived them not only of government rations, but also of the good name and respect of honest people. Those who voluntarily surrendered as traitors to the Motherland according to the verdicts of rural societies, villages are expelled from members societies".

A significant number of military personnel could fall under such royal justice, since 1 million 865 thousand people were listed as deserters. The civil war prevented the implementation of this punitive measure. But the ideology of attitude towards deserters was improved and put into practice in another historical era...

These are just some new facts about the upcoming memorable event in Russian history. I hope that the 90th anniversary of the start of the First World War will serve to reveal the blind spots in it and make us look at many things differently.