scholarly journals Institutions for the Administration of Vilnius at the Beginning of the German Occupation during the First World War

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-174
Author(s):  
Edmundas Gimžauskas
Keyword(s):  
Empty Space ◽  
First World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Administrative Structures ◽  
First World

The entrenched opinion in historiography is that during the First World War, the German army, after entering the lands belonging to the Russian Empire, created its own occupying administrative structures essentially in an empty space. This also applies to the case of Vilnius. Nevertheless, the diaries and memoirs of witnesses of the events of that time cast doubt on this very entrenched stereotype. Indeed, the entry of the Germans into Vilnius in September 1915 meant radical changes in the development of the city’s administration, but from an administrative point of view, the arriving conquerors did not really find an empty space here. Certain structures, the city magistrate, police and Citizens’ Committee were approved for retention. This was done not at the initiative of the Russian government that carried it out, but of the local public itself. After the Germans marched in, they did not destroy the structures of civil administration they found, but adapted them to meet their own interests. Along with this, they created military structures, leaving civilian rule on the sidelines. As the Germans gradually established themselves, the rudiments of occupation civilian rule, which were drawn from cadres of local Poles, began to emerge. This was associated with the trend the German authorities expressed in the first months of the occupation to link the future of the Vilnius region with Poland. The Poles of Vilnius, dominating in the structures of the civil administration, hoped for a liberal system of government, similar to that of occupied ethnic Poland. However, in the late autumn of 1915, at the initiative of the highest German military command in the East, a special administrative formation, the Oberost, began to be created, which was to become an economic and military colony of Germany. The Vilnius region was also to be part of it. From then on, the creation of the German civil administration began on a purely military basis, with the suppression of the Polish identity and the gradual restriction and pressure on all former local administrative structures, which was fully revealed at the beginning of 1916.

scholarly journals Perception of the Slovenian issue in Russian official circles in 1914–1915

Slovenica ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
Lyubov Kirilina
Keyword(s):  
Russian Empire ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Future ◽  
Common Problems ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First World

The ruling circles of the Russian Empire began to show interest in Slovenes only during the First World War, and they were interested in them only in the context of common problems concerning the future of Primorye (fi rst of all, Trieste). In the article, based on the materials of Russian archives and historical studies, are revealed some plans of Russian government circles, including the fate of Slovenes, as well as attempts by Slovene patriots to provoke the interest of the Russian government towards their people and thus infl uence its policy.

scholarly journals SLAVIC IDEA IN OLGERD BOCHKOVSKYI’S INTERPRETATION

2019 ◽  
pp. 116-125
Author(s):  
Zoya BARAN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Interethnic Relations ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Right ◽  
First World

Background: Slavic idea, which was based on the idea of the ethnic, linguistic-cultural and historical affinity of the Slavs, was intensified at the beginning of the twentieth century in conditions of political enslavement of the majority of Slavic peoples. It became an integral part of such concepts as Austro-Slavism, Illirism-Yugoslavism, Russian imperial Pan-Slavism, and neo-Slavism. In the interwar period, the ideas of Slavic unity aroused interest in almost all Slavic states and became the subject of discussion on the pages of the special periodicals. The Ukrainian intellectual O. Bochkovskii outlined his point of view. Purpose: The purpose of the article is to analyze the interpretation of O. Bochkovsky (in 1916, investigating so-called non-historical nations, distinguishing three phases in the process of their national revival: national awakening, economic emancipation, politicization of the movement), the idea of Slavic unity in all its manifestations at various stages of historical development . Results: O. Bochkowski believed that in the process of national revival, the desire of small Slavic peoples to rally on the grounds of belonging to the Slavs played a positive role: in uniting, the peoples hoped to stand in the struggle for their own existence, seeking support from the most numerous and strongest people. Therefore, among the Balkan and Austrian Slavs, Slavophilism was often identified with Russophilism. O. Bochkovsky criticized the philosophy of Slavophilism for lack of concrete measures in the program to solve the most important - the national problem in Russia. In Pan-Slavophilism, he identified two opposite directions: Pan-Russianism and Austro-Slavism. Pan-Russianism (Russian political Pan-Slavism) was used by the official Russian authorities outside the Russian Empire (in Austria-Hungary, the Balkans) to mask their imperialist goals. Austro-Slavism regarded as a typical manifestation of the Slavophilism of the enslaved Slavic peoples, who began on the path of rebirth. O. Bochkovsky considered contradictory statements of the new course of Neo-Slavism: taking the principle of national self-determination and independence of the Slavic peoples, Neo-Slavism neglected the national movement of the Ukrainian people. Scientist called the First World War, which actualized the national question, a signal for the enslaved peoples, a process that initiated the formation of future interethnic relations. Evaluating the difficulties of the process of national consolidation of Yugoslavia after the end of the World War, the scientist assessed Illrimism as a consonant ideology, believing that Serbo-Croatian dualism was primarily due to cultural differences. He positively appreciated the formation of the "Kingdom of Serbia, Croats and Slovenes" and expressed regret over the degeneration of Illirism-Yugo-Slavism in Pan-Serbian central-ism. The scholar explained the formation and effective functioning of the Czechoslovak state in the absence of the Czech-Slovak antagonism. O. Bochkovsky assessed negatively appearance in the 1920-th a new Russian ideology – Eurasianism. O. Bochkovsky acknowledged for every nation the right to independence and the formation of their own state. He considered Pan-Slavism to be utopia, since after the First World War, there was an urgent need to protect the Slavs, and the isolation of a single Slavic people, which could have become a leader for the whole of the Slavic region, would constitute a threat to the independence of the weak Slavic peoples . More he considered the creation of political unions within continents, such as Pan-Europe, Pan-Asia, Pan-Africa, Pan-Amerika. Key words: Austro-Slavism, O. Bochkovsky, illirism, Eurasianism, neoslavism, Pan-Slavism, slavophilia, Yugoslavism.

scholarly journals Documents from the Latvian State Historical Archive on the Situation of German Citizens in Riga at the Beginning of the First World War

2020 ◽  
pp. 368-379
Author(s):  
Alexandra Yu. Bakhturina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Standard Procedure ◽  
First World War ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Record Keeping ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First World

The article discusses the information potential of the documents from the Latvian Historical Archive for studying policy of the Russian government towards subjects of adversary states in the First World War. Citizens of Germany and Austria-Hungary who were in Russian regions, where at the beginning of the First World War the martial law was imposed, were subject to administrative deportation to the Central and Eastern gubernias of the Russian Empire as prisoners of war. This problem is being studied mainly on the basis of documents from the central archives, which does not permit to reconstruct the complete picture of what had happened. The article analyses the lists, petitions of deported German citizens, correspondence of police officials, statistical data, and orders of the administration of the governorate of Livonia. Drawing on these documents, it studies social and age composition of the deportees, reconstructs courses of action of the gubernia government. It is noted that petitions of deportees have a strong emotional impact, as they draw pictures of difficult life circumstances of those forced to leave their place of residence and travel far into Russian lands. The emotional intensity of these documents needs to be balanced by using record keeping documents. Lists of deportees have notations on canceling of deportation for various reasons; they permit to introduce into scientific use statistics on the number of deportees. The archival documents suggest that the practice of deportation of adversary state subjects was not a standard procedure. At request, many of them were given a brief reprieve, some received permission to return to Riga later. By the winter of 1914-15, within German and Austrian subjects there were exuded categories of persons not to be subject to deportation (Czechs, Slovaks, French, widows who had previously been Russian subjects, their minor children, persons of over 60 and the sick).

The Development of Flight Deck Displays

1984 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-231
Author(s):  
F. S. Stringer
Keyword(s):  
Engine Speed ◽  
High Technology ◽  
First World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
The First World War ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Flight Deck ◽  
First World

In this review of the evolution of displays and controls in military and civil fixed-wing aircraft, the author traces the development of flight instruments, largely in this country, from their rudimentary beginning before the first World War to the present high degree of automation and suggests certain pitfalls from the pilot's point of view in high-technology solutions.The Wright Brothers' aeroplane flew with only a stopwatch, a tachometer to measure engine speed, and an anemometer, all for measuring performance; the pilot had no instrumentation to help him fly the aircraft. There was little change up to the beginning of the first world war in 1914. The cockpit hardly existed as such: controls varied in design; some were levers, and often there was a wheel which, in the early days, controlled wing warping to change the lift of each wing to allow the aircraft to bank.

The East’s Eastern Front: The Ottoman–Russian Clash in the Great War and Its Legacies

2019 ◽  
pp. 096834451982733
Author(s):  
Michael A. Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Ottoman Empire ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Great War ◽  
First World

This article provides an overview of the neglected Caucasian front of the First World War and explores its impact on the overall course of the war and its legacy for the Middle East and Eurasia. By unexpectedly prolonging hostilities and leading the Russian empire to overextend itself, the conflict with the Ottoman empire contributed critically to Russia’s revolutionary crisis and collapse and thereby altered decisively the fate of the Middle East and Eurasia. The article places the Ottoman–Russian conflict in the context of the relentless growth of Western European military and economic might from the eighteenth century onward.

PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN OF UKRAINE IN MILITARY FORMATIONS IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR: CURRENT HISTORIOGRAPHY

2019 ◽  
pp. 46-52
Author(s):  
Mariia Huk
Keyword(s):  
Military History ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
First World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Participation Of Women ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Military ◽  
First World ◽  
The Way

The article is focuses on the study of the issues of participation of women of Ukraine in military formations in the First World War by modern Ukrainian historiography (1991-2016). Based on the topic, the author tried to solve the following research tasks: to identify which aspects of women's military history are within the interest of historians, to analyze the scale, character and level of research of the topic. The author found that the study of women's military history is gaining momentum. Historians are actively searching women's stories in the sources of those times; they are in the process of gathering information. They call military history “personal” because research on the subject is partially based on reports of the press about women volunteers and mainly on participants' personal documents, memoirs and letters. In the letters, women wrote about the way to the front, military life, a little about participation in battles, relations with soldiers; they also left information about each other. At the same time, each of the women had personal experience of war, own motives and results. Therefore, historians concluded that "this experience is quite difficult to summarize ". Modern researchers approach the study of women's stories not only in terms of heroism but trying to understand the causes and consequences of women's actions. The authors mention such main reasons as boredom of everyday life, escape from duties and national impulse. Inspired by the new fashionable views on life, the girls tried to escape from their everyday duties; they wanted to overcome social barriers and to prove that women were capable to cope with any work. The escape to the front was an attempt to change the way of life. Women who came to the front and participated in hostilities had to adapt quickly to difficult conditions and trials; they had to fight and to protect their own lives. The authors also analyze how society perceived the phenomenon of women in the war. Military commanders heroized their actions with the reason to raise the fighting spirit. However, the views of military men varied: the village guys welcomed and supported the girls; on the contrary, the men from the intelligent circle condemned women regarding them as competitors. Civil women believed that the girls had forgotten their traditional duty, they could have been more helpful in hospitals and doing charity. The author of the article also found that the participation of women in the military unit of the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen was better studied. The researchers concluded that the Ukrainian women who lived in the Russian Empire supported the call in 1917 of the Provisional Government and Maria Bochkareva to form women's combat battalions. Women were motivated to go to the front by the same reasons as women in the ranks of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen: failures in love, the desire to escape from violence and humiliation in the family, domestic problems, the desire to avenge the dead relatives and loved ones. In big cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Poltava, the Ukrainian women willingly enrolled in the army. Anyway, the inclusion of women in the combat units of the army of the Russian Empire was found out fragmentary, there are almost no names and characteristics of the activity of the women's battalions. Only a few researchers pay attention to the messages in the then newspapers about escapes and the heroic deeds of girls in the war. These issues require the search of information and detailed study. The author came to the conclusion that most of the questions remain scientifically open requiring the search for information about women in the ranks of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen and the army of the Russian Empire for the generalization of information and creation of a coherent picture of the military service of women at the front of the First World War.

“Owners of a mutilated affair”: establishment of a support system for military invalids in the Russian Empire during the First World War

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
Svetlana V. Bukalova ◽  
Pavel P. Shcherbinin
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
First World War ◽  
Russian History ◽  
World War ◽  
Working Ability ◽  
Public System ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First World

We describe emerged in the Russian Empire an organizational basis of support for the First World War invalids. The policy of charity for military invalids generated with the participation of official, public and charitable elements. We reveal the complex relationship between the main actors in this process – one of the “crown” charity committees (Special Commission of Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna), the Central bodies of the County Union and the Union of Cities, and local self-government. Using archival materials, the main guidelines for creating a war-mutilated charity system are identified. We determine the leading approaches to the architecture of the state and public system of support to former military personnel who have lost their working ability. In addition, we discuss in details the topic of war-mutilated registration, which was sup-posed to be the first stage of building a national system of care for war invalids, but it was never carried out. We also focus on the financial aspects of supporting military invalids. We conclude that the system for the war-mutilated charity could have become the first fully implemented direction of state social policy in Russian history, but it failed to realize its potential due to political contradictions between the official government and liberal associations.

scholarly journals F.L. Tuma on the February and October Revolutions in Russia

Monitor ISH ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Ljubov Aleksejevna Kirilina
Keyword(s):  
First World War ◽  
The Other ◽  
World War ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
Entire Time ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The First World War ◽  
First World

The article examines some still unexplored aspects of the Slovenian attitude to the February and October revolutions in the Russia of 1917. The research was carried out primarily on the basis of press materials – memoirs of the Slovenian patriot Tuma, which were published in twenty issues of a Trieste newspaper, Edinost, in 1919. Tuma’s notes are very important sources for studying this topic, in particular because he was the only Slovenian intellectual and patriot who spent almost the entire time of the First World War, from 1914 to 1918, in Petrograd. He was also the only Slovenian who had access to the Russian government. The goal of the study is to reveal the peculiarities of the Slovenian perception of Russian reality during the two revolutions and to assess the objectivity of Tuma’s attempts at analysis. The conclusion is that, although he was an eyewitness of great events, his judgments cannot be regarded as completely objective. On the other hand, the publication of Tuma’s memoirs undoubtedly helped to shape a matrix of Slovenian notions about Tsarist and Bolshevik Russia.

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