The Russian army leisure activities during the First World War

Abstract

The subject of the research is the problem of organizing the activities of soldiers and officers of the Russian Imperial Army on the fronts of the First World War in the periods between hostilities. The relevance of studying the problem is dictated by the fact that military conflicts accompany all periods of human development, and the results obtained can be rethought and transferred to modern times, taking into account existing realities. Within the framework of military-historical anthropology, the value of the quality of organization of army leisure is determined by the fact that it largely shaped the degree of psychological stability of combatants and their readiness to endure the difficult conditions of war. The objectives of the study include identifying the main aspects of the life of military personnel based on the study of historical sources. The methodological basis of the study is based on general scientific methods of synthesis, analysis, generalization and systematization. In accordance with the principles of historicism and objectivity, the authors widely use specialized periodicals of the war period, materials from historical sources, both of memoir origin, reflecting the impressions of more educated layers of society, and sources capturing the experience of ordinary soldiers. This approach allows us to comprehensively assess the degree of readiness of the army to organize the front-line life of a soldier as a most difficult task for any military command. The results of the study formulate conclusions about the characteristics of army life military personnel during the First World War, approaches to organizing leisure time are defined and the main components of army life are summarized.