MOBILIZATION AND SANITATION AT THE RUSSIAN ARMY HOME FRONT IN 1914–1918: SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Written on the basis of archival sources drawn for the first time, the article is devoted to the problem of changing the sanitary and ecological conditions of the theatre of military operations at the Russian front during the First World War. The aim of the article is to analyze the sanitary and hygienic state of the theatre of military operations on the western outskirts of Russia during the First World War and the factors of its deterioration; to evaluate the effectiveness of combating the negative aspects of the sanitary state of the front-line territory; to identify the actual environmental practices of the front-line territory and their interrelation with the social aspects of the struggle for the improvement of the territory in conditions of total war. The focus is on the pre-war sanitary situation in the western region of Russia, reflecting its cultural and socio-political peculiarities, its exacerbation during the war and mobilization, as well as sanitary and hygienic measures taken both in eliminating epidemics of contagious diseases and in "sanitating" the front-line territory. The issue is considered in the light of total war, which formed a unified, front and rear, landscape of sanitary hazards. Attention is paid to the activities of society, bureaucracy and military commanders, who generally succeeded in transforming the belligerent landscape and localizing the spread of disease. The technical activities of the engineering and sanitary services of the front and rear are described in detail. The author concludes that the Great War was an important impulse and frontier in solving the problem of improving the ecological condition of Russia's western outskirts. During the war, the belligerent landscape was transformed into an anthropogenic landscape, becoming the basis for the area's future infrastructure in terms of sanitation and hygiene