Social portrait of front-line soldiers of the First World War: information opportunities

Abstract

Introduction. Soviet historiography has traditionally seen the front-line soldiers as supporters of the Bolshevik Party, active participants in the establishment of Soviet power in the localities. This approach was convincingly supported by evidence from the memoirs of participants in the events. There are almost no special memories of the World War - participation in it was not a matter of pride; mainly about staying at the front was reported in connection with subsequent revolutionary events. Modern historiography considers front-line soldiers more variably, but essentially uses the same source base. Since millions have returned from the front, and thousands have left memoirs, the conclusions drawn from these sources are quite vulnerable, especially if researchers insist on their universality. Many judgments are about the unwillingness of soldiers to fight, the desire to get land at home, etc. - made not on the basis of source facts, but logical reasoning. Materials and methods. This article attempts to analyze the sources of personal origin of the frontline soldiers of one region - the Orenburg province. A complete collection of memoirs, autobiographies, etc., is reflected in the catalog published in 2021 and includes materials from the archives of the Orenburg region (state archives, museum archives) and archives of adjacent territories (Samara, Ufa, Chelyabinsk) - a total of 167 authors, as well as autobiographies from the personal files of the personnel department of the Orenburg Regional Committee of the CPSU - 240 texts. In total, these documents can be considered as a natural sample, which made it possible to create a social portrait of front-line soldiers in the southeast of the European part of the country with fixation of variants of certain aspects. The data obtained in some cases do not agree with the generally accepted judgments of the all-Russian scale. Results. The process of returning from the fronts dragged on until 1919. The thesis accepted in historiography that the peasant soldiers were in a hurry to get home in order to have time to receive land under the decree on land, does not find any support in the sources. The thesis about the mass revolutionary moods of the front-line soldiers and their readiness and desire to fight for the new government does not find support either. The vast majority of those who returned from the war sought to arrange a normal peaceful life. Those who could not find work immediately left for the Red Guard (and later the Red Army) as volunteers - service in the Red Guard was an alternative source of livelihood. Conclusion. A significant number of peasants got back to farming on land, and were drawn into the confrontation of the civil war only through the mobilization of 1919.