DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-23-32
УДК 625.1(094)(470)«1914/1918»
ББК Т3(2)-534-68-234(28-8)
Semen N. BLINJAEV, Andrey A. DANILOV, Mikhail Yu. KHARITONOV
Key words
Kazan governorate, prisoners of war, food supply, food ration, material and living conditions, clothing allowance, sanitary control standards, room heating.
Abstract
Currently, Russia is involved in an armed conflict (conducting a special military operation in Ukraine and, within its framework, a counter-terrorism operation in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, where an appropriate legal regime was introduced), which creates problems associated with the arrival of captured combatants. Modern military operations are fueling the public interest in retrospective coverage, in the context of comparative analysis, of the issue of the material and living situation of war prisoners during the World War I on a strictly documentary basis, without opportunistic political considerations and excessive ideologization, since this area of research remains not fully understood. Consideration of this problem is relevant because it makes it possible to identify such aspects of military captivity as peculiarities of everyday life of war prisoners, their relationships with the local population, and this helps to understand the deeper aspects of the war. In addition, coverage of the issue of material maintenance, heating, development and implementation of food standards for war prisoners, and compliance with sanitary control standards during the World War I gives the opportunity to talk about military captivity as a multifaceted and important problem that requires careful study at various levels to understand the processes taking place in the country at that time.
The purpose of the study is to study the organization by local authorities of the social and living conditions for German and Austro–Hungarian war prisoners during the First World War in the territory of Tsivilsky, Cheboksarsky and Yadrinsky uyezds of Kazan governorate, which are currently administratively included in the Republic of Chuvashia.
Materials and methods. A retrospective analysis of the topic’s historical aspects was carried out on the basis of unpublished archival documents of the State Historical Archive of the Chuvash Republic, the State Archive of Ulyanovsk region and scientific publications of Russian researchers devoted to the topic under study. In developing the problem, general historical methods of analysis and generalization and special historical methods (historical-comparative, structural-functional, problem-chronological) were used.
Results. Due to the deployment of German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners on the territory of Tsivilsky, Cheboksarsky and Yadrinsky districts of Kazan governorate during the World War I, regional public, military and administrative structures faced the problem of coordinating and executing the decisions of the center on organization of social and living conditions for war prisoners. Using specific examples, the issues of material maintenance, heating, development and implementation of food and household allowances for war prisoners, and compliance with sanitary control standards in relation to them are considered. To provide war prisoners with uniforms, the authorities of Kazan governorate created workshops for sewing clothes and repairing shoes, and purchased used boots. In order to administratively regulate the issue of cooking, heating and lighting of buildings, a standard for the consumption of firewood fuel was introduced. To prevent infectious diseases, military commanders introduced sanitary and hygienic rules for prisoners. The article presents facts indicating a significant deterioration in the material and living conditions of captured combatants due to prolongation of the war. This expressed in a decrease in the level and quality of household, food and medical care.
Conclusions. During the World War I, on the territory of Tsivilsky, Cheboksarsky and Yadrinsky districts of Kazan governorate, local authorities implemented within the legislative framework with varying degrees of success, measures to organize social and living conditions for the detention and food supply of German and Austro-Hungarian war prisoners. As the war dragged on, the basic diet and the material and living conditions of the lower-ranking prisoners at the disposal of the military and civilian authorities changed for the worse, and the rules for the detention of captured officers became more rigorous. The results obtained eliminate gaps in the regional history of military captivity during the World War I and can be used to summarize information and systematize knowledge on the history of the first World conflict at the regional level.
References
Information about the authors
Semen N. Blinjaev – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of General Education Disciplines, Chuvash State Agrarian University, Russia, Cheboksary (semen-blinjaev@rambler.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1686-1214).
Andrey A. Danilov – Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Journalism Department, Chuvash State University, Russia, Cheboksary (danilov.andrey@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7083-417X).
Mikhail Yu. Kharitonov – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Document Science, Information Resources and Auxiliary Historical Disciplines, Chuvash State University, Russia, Cheboksary (muha21@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8498-6978).
For citations
Blinjaev S.N., Danilov A.A., Kharitonov M.Yu. Problems of material and domestic maintenance of war prisoners in the territory of Kazan governorate during the World War I. Vestnik Chuvashskogo universiteta, 2025, no. 1, pp. 23–32. DOI: 10.47026/1810-1909-2025-1-23-32 (in Russian).
