Military Affairs in Russia's Great War and Revolution, 1914-22, Book 1: Military Experiences

646 Pages·2018·26.856 MB·English

by  John W Steinberg, Laurie Stoff, Anthony Heywood, B I Kolonietiskii

Military Affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution,
1914–22.
Book 1: Military Experiences
Russia’s Great War and Revolution
As we mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War, public attention
has turned to the conflict’s significance in shaping human history. Centennial
commemorations have inspired researchers to revisit and reflect on the war
and its meanings, and have provided a singular opportunity for scholars to
engage, educate, and sometimes re-educate general audiences.
These opportunities have particular importance for historians of Russia.
For most of the 20th century Russia’s Great War was a historical afterthought.
Overshadowed by the Bolsheviks’ revolution, Civil War, and consolidation
of power, the war took a back seat within professional scholarship as Soviet
and Western experts focused their energy on explaining the origins and rise
of Russian Communism. But in recent years researchers have begun to re-
examine and re-evaluate the significance and meaning of the war for Russia.
Buttressed by new archival findings and freed from the ideological baggage
of earlier historical debates, they have begun to analyze Russia’s Great War
not as a prelude to “Red October,” but as a key phenomenon in its own right,
a colossal human catastrophe that plunged Russia into a violent “continuum
of crisis” that would last from 1914 to the early 1920s, and, in the longer term,
initiated the transformation of Eurasia and much of the world.
“Russia’s Great War and Revolution” is a multinational scholarly effort
that aims to promote and transform understanding of Russia’s “continuum
of crisis” during the years 1914–22. With over 250 contributors worldwide,
this project seeks to take stock of the past century of historical research, re-
conceptualize core concepts such as the traditional view of the 1917 events as a
watershed in Russian and global history, stimulate new directions of research,
and enhance scholarly and public awareness of Russia’s contributions to the
history of the 20th century.
Series General Editors: Anthony Heywood, David MacLaren McDonald, and
John W. Steinberg
M a r ’ G W
ilitary ffairs in ussias reat ar and
r , 1914–22
evolution
B 1: M e
ook ilitary xperiences
e
dited By
l s. s
aurie toff
a J. h
nthony eyWood
B i. k
oris olonitskii
J W. s
ohn teinBerG
Bloomington, Indiana, 2019
Each contribution © 2019 by its author. All rights reserved.
Cover design by Tracey Theriault.
Cover: War Bond poster by Efrim Mikhailovich Chepstov, published
circa November 1915. “The more money, the more shells,” with a
promised return of 5.5 percent.” Shortages of arms and ammunition
were all too common experiences for Russian army soldiers during 1914–
15. This poster advertised the Russian Government’s War Bond issue of
November-December 1915—the first bond to be aimed specifically at the
general population.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Stoff, Laurie, editor. | Heywood, Anthony, editor. |Kolonitskii,
B. I., editor. | Steinberg, John W., editor.
Title: Military affairs in Russia’s Great War and Revolution, 1914-22 /
Laurie S. Stoff, Anthony J. Heywood, Boris I. Kolonitskii, and John W.
Steinberg, eds.
Description: Bloomington, Indiana : Slavica Publishers, 2018. | Series:
Russia’s Great War and Revolution ; 5 | Includes bibliographical
references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018043320 | ISBN 9780893574314
Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1914-1918--Russia. | World War,
1914-1918--Campaigns--Eastern Front. | Soviet Union--History--
Revolution,
1917-1921.
Classification: LCC D550 .M53 2018 | DDC 940.4/0947--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018043320
Slavica Publishers [Tel.] 1-812-856-4186
Indiana University [Toll-free] 1-877-SLAVICA
1430 N. Willis Drive [Fax] 1-812-856-4187
Bloomington, IN 47404-2146 [Email] [email protected]
USA [www] http://www.slavica.com/
This book is dedicated to the memory of Allan K. Wildman

Contents
From the Series Editors ......................................................................................... xi
Acknowledgments ............................................................................................... xix
John W. Steinberg, Laurie S. Stoff, Anthony J. Heywood, Boris I. Kolonitskii
Introduction: Experiences of the “Front” during
Russia’s Great War and Revolution ............................................................... 1
Soldiers
Alexandre Sumpf
The Russian Perception of “No Man’s Land”
during the First World War .......................................................................... 17
Liisi Esse
Estonian Soldiers in World War I: A Distinctive
Experience of a Small Nation in the Russian Army ................................. 39
Oleg Budnitskii
Jews in the Russian Army during the First World War ........................... 63
Franziska Davies
Muslim Soldiers from the Volga-Ural Region in
the Russian Army, 1914–February 1917 ...................................................... 83
Laurie S. Stoff
Russia’s Women Soldiers of the Great War ............................................... 109
viii Contents
Denis A. Bazhanov
Disciplining Baltic Fleet Sailors (1914–February 1917) ............................ 137
Evgenii O. Naumov
Adaptation to Extreme Conditions: The Everyday Life of
1st Army Soldiers on the Red Army’s Eastern Front, 1918 ..................... 159
Karen Petrone
“I Have Become a Stranger to Myself”:
The Wartime Memoirs of Lev Naumovich Voitolovskii ......................... 199
Command, Supervision, and Support
Paul Robinson
Coping with Command:
Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich at the Front ........................................ 221
Aleksandr B. Astashov
Russian Military Censorship during the First World War:
The Experience of Control over Mood ....................................................... 241
Laurie S. Stoff
Russia’s Sisters of Mercy of World War I:
The Wartime Nursing Experience ............................................................. 265
Dietrich Beyrau
Sermons, Rituals, and Miracles: The Russian Orthodox
Clergy in WWI and Piety in the Trenches ................................................ 291
Anthony J. Heywood
The Militarization of Civilians in Tsarist Russia’s
First World War: Railway Staff in the Army Front Zones ...................... 327
Contents ix
Disintegration, Captivity, and Death
Aleksandr B. Astashov
The “Other War” on the Eastern Front during the First
World War: Fraternization and Making Peace with the Enemy ........... 371
Paul Simmons
Desertion in the Russian Army, 1914–17 .................................................. 393
Alexandre Sumpf
An Amputated Experience of War: Russian
Disabled Soldiers in the Great War, 1914–18 ............................................. 415
Oksana Nagornaia
Russian Prisoners of War in the First World War:
The Camp Experience and Attempted Integration into
Revolutionary Society (1914–22) ................................................................ 441
Julia Walleczek-Fritz
The Habsburg Empire’s Russian Prisoners of War and
Their Experiences as Forced Laborers on the
Austro-Hungarian Southwestern Front, 1915–18 .................................... 463
Matthias Egger and Christian Steppan
Captured and Forgotten? A Comparison of
Russian and Austro-Hungarian Welfare Provision
for Prisoners of War, 1914–18 ........................................................................ 491
Boris I. Kolonitskii
Understanding the Kerenskii Offensive: Russian Revolutionary
Military Propaganda and the Soldiers’ Motivation to Fight,
April–June 1917 ............................................................................................. 517
Alexandre Sumpf
“Velikaia Boinia”: Death and Burials in
the Front Zone, 1914–18 ................................................................................ 551
x Contents
William G. Rosenberg
Conclusion: Assessing the Frontline Experience and
Its Implications ............................................................................................. 577
Notes on Contributors ........................................................................................ 595