100 years ago, the Historical Museum began collecting everything related to the First World War. But it has become possible to see unique exhibits and documents only now, a century after the events that took the lives of millions of people and radically changed the political picture of the world.
Guns and endless rows barbed wire, whose deadly web will very soon entangle the whole of Europe... But when the secret telegram that the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, had just been sent in Sarajevo, according to rumors, by a Serbian terrorist, peace was still possible. It will be a month before war is declared. Germany's ambitions will grow, they are marked in red on the world map.
"The whole Baltic region for sure. Poland for sure. Lithuania for sure. Kyiv for sure, see? But as for northern Europe- the same. We see vast territories in Africa that Germany would like to have. We see China here. We see America with you. So the ambitions were indeed very great,” says exhibition curator Irina Zhuravskaya.
On August 1, 1914, Germany will declare war on Russia, and then the whole world will be drawn into the conflict, which, it seemed, was just waiting for a reason to send troops to the front. As a result, Europe will be in ruins. More than twenty million will die. Four empires will disappear - Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman. And the soldiers will spend four long years in the trenches and will organize their lives. The British will warm themselves with homemade vests, the Russians will start making mugs from shell casings or chairs from the butts of captured German rifles. And right in the trenches try to modernize weapons in order to survive in this meat grinder.
“An elongated butt, beveled down, and a special tool on the butt, which made it possible to attach a periscope. Thus, the shot was fired, and the soldier did not raise his head above the edge of the trench, that is, to some extent, this saved the shooter’s life,” shows one of the exhibits is the director of the State Historical Museum Alexey Levykin.
The warring armies invented ever more sophisticated methods of mass murder. Tanks appeared on the battlefields. There is also archival footage of the use of weapons of mass destruction - gas is sprayed along the front line. The soldiers do not yet know that they are already doomed.
Gas mask as a means of protection against poisonous gases. The First World War once and for all put an end to romantic ideas about war. For the first time, they killed not with a bayonet in the stomach, but from three kilometers from a cannon or a bomb dropped from an airplane. Without seeing the enemy's eyes. Anonymous war, nothing personal.
Fights - not only on land, but also at sea. Then torpedo boats and submarines were used for the first time, and real air battles between aviators took place in the sky. The British flew in special leather suits. They were supposed to protect from wind and cold in an open cockpit. Only the aces were capable of fighting heavenly battles.
“It was very difficult to fight, because there were no such reliable and proven aviation small arms systems of machine guns that could work by pressing a conventional trigger, which is located on the pilot’s handle, and that could fire through the aircraft’s propeller,” explains Alexey Levykin.
Newsreel footage: the last one Russian Emperor with headquarters officers he wears a Circassian hat, which is now an exhibit of the Historical Museum. Next door in the museum display cases are dragoon checkers and the first automatic rifles. Bloomers of the Algerians, they fought on the side of the Allies, and helmets German soldiers.
“What they called them - “pickelhilma” or “pickelhaube”. They were made of felt. And during the war, a cover was put on so that the sparkling part would not give away. So the helmet was preserved better. They were made from felt later in Germany, when interruptions in supply began leather and felt, sometimes helmets were made, pressed from potato peelings,” says a researcher at the State University. Historical Museum Andrey Matveev.
Artists were also sent to the front. Special order from Nicholas II - to draw everyone St. George Knights to collect portraits of heroes in the Museum after the victory Great War. But this was not destined to happen. For Russia, four years of fighting sparked a revolution. She gave birth to new heroes. It was not customary to talk about the courage of Russian soldiers and officers who fought in the war, which in Soviet textbooks was called nothing less than “imperialist.” But even after a hundred years they continue to watch from thousands of portraits and newsreels. Young, with medals on their chests...
In 2014, the beginning of the First World War is remembered in Russia and abroad.
The spark of the “world fire” flared up instantly; all of Europe, which had never known such a scale of war before, was engulfed in flames.
War 1914-1918 was both the first and the last. First World War and the last war for four empires: Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman. With its beginning, the “long nineteenth century” ended and the “short twentieth” began.
Materials about the First World War are in various collections of the Manuscripts Department; they began to arrive at the Imperial Public Library when the war was still going on, and they continue to replenish our collections now. A significant part of the presented documents have not been exhibited before and are being presented for the first time.
Among the exhibits are field books, letters, diaries, maps, articles, autographs of famous politicians and cultural figures.
First autographs and letters from the emperor are presented Nicholas II and his cousin and the Kaiser's main opponent William II, Grigory Rasputin and the Grand Duke Konstantina Romanov. Here are prophetic verses Igor Severyanin, and diaries full of anxiety and uncertainty Zinaida Gippius, dry reports, colorful sketches and maps from the sites of military operations and uncensored documents. There are also ingenuous letters from soldiers from the front, including the “last news” from one of thousands forgotten heroes that war, the Cavalier of St. George Fyodor Chachua, and next to it is a letter about his death.
A unique, miraculously preserved collection of handwritten leaflets is also on display. They were written by Russian soldiers in the trenches, addressing soldiers and officers of the German army. Calls were written on plywood, fabric, and wrapping paper. At the beginning of the war they were full of hatred for the enemy, and already in 1917 they had a sincere desire to end the bloody, unnecessary confrontation.
The exhibition presents the most valuable documents of that time - handwritten journals of Russian prisoners of war.
The exhibition in the Department of Manuscripts is a kind of documentary chronicle of the First World War. The exhibits not only tell in detail about the stages of the war and the people who participated in it, but also convey the atmosphere of that time.
The virtual exhibition of documents from the Manuscripts Department, to a certain extent, repeats the exhibition that opened in the Department on September 18, 2014, as part of events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the First World War. The presented exhibits will complement the full-scale exhibition “Faces of the Great War: The First World War in the collections and funds of the National Library of Russia."
Preparation of the exhibition: Bogdanov Andrey Albertovich, n. With. OR
Smirnova Maria Alexandrovna, n. With. OR
Preparing digital copies: Belozerov Dmitry Pavlovich, chief. library OR;
Lyakhovitsky Evgeniy Aleksandrovich, head. LKIiNTED OR
On June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated—a month later, World War I began. The participating countries began preparing for the centenary of this date more than a year ago, collecting and systematizing everything that could still be found. Ulyana Volokhova studied digital archives dedicated to the First World War and selected the 10 most interesting projects and 10 most impressive exhibits
"Europeana 1914-1918"
The largest collection of digitized historical sources about the First World War
Project
Digitization of 400 thousand museum exhibits and historical documents, stored in archives and libraries around the world, began back in 2011; Soon the initiative was supported by private people, who began to replenish the collection with photographs, letters, diaries and other documents about the war from family archives. In total, it was possible to collect about 90 thousand such private artifacts - each is equipped with a detailed commentary, a story about its owner and the history associated with it.
www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en
Exhibit
A homemade illustrated book with ditties and poems from a brother and sister from the German Kepke family. Outraged by the “unfair attacks of enemies” on Germany, the children ask in poetry to punish their opponents and rejoice at German victories.
"European Film Base 1914"
Online archive of films 1914-1918
Project
Almost 3,000 documentaries, feature films, propaganda and animated films made during the war are the majority of the films that have survived to this day. The genre and geographical dispersion is quite high: here you can find a British propaganda film about the everyday life of a defense plant worker, and the Spanish full-length romantic tragedy “Kiss of Death” of 1916, and a documentary chronicle - the review of troops by Nicholas II or the visit of French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau to the front line in Belgium. As a bonus - an almost complete selection of the newsletter Soviet Russia"Film Week", published in 1918, from which you can find out what and how the country lived during the civil war.
www.europeanfilmgateway.eu
Exhibit
A 15-minute film about a camp for Turkish prisoners of war in Egypt.
British National Archives Project
Recently launched campaign to digitize documents related to the First World War
Project
The National Archives plans to digitize and put online most of Britain's First World War letters, maps, diaries and photographs over the next five years. Already now, 300 thousand pages of soldiers’ and officers’ diaries, 150 secret MI5 dossiers, as well as many thematic online collections are available on the site.
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war
Exhibit
MI5's personal file on Mata Hari, in which, in addition to a selection of newspaper clippings with articles and photographs, you can find letters and reports of interrogations of the spy.
Archive of Soldiers' Children
Photo gallery dedicated to military children
Project
Part of a large cultural project at the Imperial War Museum in London dedicated to military children. The section, launched to mark the anniversary of the First World War, collects war postcards of children and group photographs that families took before their husbands and fathers were sent to the front, mostly anonymous. The curators' idea was that this nameless collection, thanks to descendants, would gradually become overgrown with family stories and stories about those depicted in these photographs. There are not many such stories yet, but there are still almost two months until the anniversary of the start of the war.
www.archhistory.co.uk
Exhibit
The story of Gary Blakely, the great-grandson of British private James McCarthy, about what the First World War meant for his family. Having discovered in family archive Gary Blakely sent the same postcard as on the site to the curators of the project copies of all the documents of his great-grandfather that came from the front after his death.
Culinary Study of the First World War
Online exhibition on the role of food in the First World War
Project
The National Museum of the First World War has collected an interesting collection of documents relating to the food aspect of the First World War: examples of soldier rations from participating countries, information about the distribution of food in the rear and attempts to support civilians Agriculture without able-bodied men. The food policy of the United States is analyzed in more detail - a good half of the exhibition is devoted to how America made provisions a kind of “means of warfare”, and as the main illustration of how the war affected the American diet, the site provides a cookbook by a wartime housewife.
exhibitions.theworldwar.org/#/in-the-kitchen
Exhibit
A letter from an English soldier about how German and English soldiers from neighboring trenches together met the first military New Year, exchanging dry rations, and a few hours later continued fighting against each other.
"Color photographs of the First World War"
The titanic project of an amateur enthusiast who has collected on one site the largest collection of French color photographs of the First World War
Project
Most of the color photographs that have come down to us from the First World War are French: it was in France that color photography became a mass phenomenon during these years. The only online archive of World War I color photographs contains more than 500 color images taken during the last two war years. The set of subjects is quite exhaustive: houses in camouflage netting, destroyed villages, scenes from peaceful life and trench photographs.
www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/index.html
Exhibit
Photos of Algerians and Senegalese from the French colonial forces who fought for the country during the First World War.
"Great War"
Interactive book about the role and fate of Russia in the First World War
Project
The book was conceived as an addition to the exhibition of Russia's first museum of the First World War in Tsarskoe Selo, which will open in August this year, but can also be used as an independent resource. There is everything here - from an analysis of the situation in Russia and European countries on the eve of the war and a gallery of Knights of St. George to songs of the First World War and newsreels. Additionally, you can download the photo gallery "The Last Parade of the Russian Guard. Krasnoye Selo, July 24, 1914" and a collection of propaganda leaflets "Russian popular print 1914-1917".
itunes.apple.com/ru/app/velikaa-vojna/id827670849?mt=8
Exhibit
Reproduced in 3D samples of the most modern at that time military equipment and animated maps of military operations.
The Telegraph Archive 1914-1918
Daily updated archive of The Telegraph files for all war years
Exhibit
The issue dedicated to the Sarajevo murder will be published after June 28. Before that, you can study a selection of the main military technologies invented in the First World War, from barbed wire and steel helmets to depth charges and flamethrowers, published in the eighth issue of Inside the First World War.
"Enemy at Home"
Online exhibition dedicated to Germans interned in Australia
Project
In fact, this is not really an exhibition, but rather a detailed story with illustrations about how, in Australia, far from the war, Germans and Austrians by origin were taken to concentration camps as hostile foreigners. After a series of anti-German laws on the continent, the process of relocation to one of the five camps was simplified - a report from neighbors or a chance meeting with a policeman was enough. As the war progressed, the number of prisoners increased, however, despite the difficult life and bullying of the guards, the isolated Germans managed to build entire states in the camps - with newspapers, theaters, industry, small businesses, beach parties and clubs.
www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/enemyathome/the-enemy-at-home
Exhibit
Archive of photographs by German photographer Paul Dubotsky. Before the outbreak of war, he went on business trips to German New Guinea and South Australia, in 1915 he was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to concentration camp. Throughout his imprisonment, Dubotsky filmed life in the camp; his recently discovered photographic archive is one of the main documents for studying the history of German internees in Australia.
"On the roads of the great war"
Online exhibition about how, where and why people moved during the war
Project
This is a large-scale study of migration routes during the First World War: how soldiers from the colonies flocked to Europe after the start of the war, the civilian population dispersed around the world, trying to avoid hostilities, and 140 thousand Chinese came to Europe to work. A separate section is devoted to how, after the war, families and friends of the victims traveled to the sites of hostilities in the hope of finding the burial places of their loved ones.
virtualexhibition.1418remembered.co.uk
Exhibit
A photograph of the cargo hold of a ship leaving Weihai for Europe, crowded with Chinese coolie workers.
Yesterday, July 31, the opening of the exhibition “Two wars in the destinies of our fellow countrymen” took place at the city museum of local lore in Kropotkin. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the start of the First World War of 1914-1918. within the framework of the cultural and educational program “If we remember this war, what right do others have to forget”, designed for 2014-2018. This year, as part of this program, the museum has prepared a series of events “Chronicle of a Forgotten War” for the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War (1914-1918).
The exhibition presents local history material: photographs of fellow countrymen who participated in the war, memories of eyewitnesses, fragments of bladed weapons from the First World War, a symbolic map of Europe 1914-1915.
For the first time, a sheet from the newspaper “Chronicle of War in Russia” No. 14761 dated April 3, 1915 from the “Printed Products” stock collection is presented.
A special place in the exhibition was occupied by a memorial display dedicated to Mikhail Vasilyevich Cherevchin, a holder of two St. George Crosses of the 3rd and 4th degree, a participant in the First World War, the Civil War and the Great War. Patriotic Wars. The display case contains documents, photographs and archival certificates confirming Mikhail Vasilyevich’s participation in the First World War.
The exhibition section “White Doves”, dedicated to the sisters of mercy during the First World War, presents photographs, postcards (copies) of the sisters of mercy, medical instruments of the early twentieth century: glass syringes and needles, glass jars for storing medicines and a Petri dish.
The exhibition concluded with the section “Achievements of Technology and Weapons during the First World War,” which presented photographs of new weapons and military equipment developed during the war.
As part of the opening of the exhibition, a ceremonial meeting was held with representatives of the Cossack society of the region and the city.
WITH welcoming speech The chairman of the Council of Old Men of the City Cossack Society, Yuri Ivanovich Bezvershenko, and the centurion of the Kropotkinsk City Cossack Society, Honored Cultural Worker of the Kuban, Vladimir Nikolaevich Fomenko, spoke. A pleasant surprise for museum workers was a gift from Vladimir Nikolaevich - two volumes of the book “Pages of Cossack Glory” about the participation of the Cossacks of the Caucasian department of the Kuban Cossack army in the First World War 1914-1917.
From Art. Temizhbekskaya, the ataman of the Cossack organization “Lineets”, captain Nikolai Dmitrievich Sitnikov, and the deputy chieftain, captain Vasily Fedorovich Klimenko, came to the event at the city museum. Nikolai Dmitrievich read poems of his own composition about the Cossacks who took part in the First World War. Vasily Fedorovich handed over to the museum funds a photo report on the installation of a monument to the participants of the First World War on the territory of the Holy Archangel Michael's Church of St. Temizhbekskaya. Among the honored guests of the event were the captain of the city Cossack army Vladimir Adolfovich Kozhukhar, chairman of the Kropotkin primary organization of the Krasnodar regional branch Russian society historians-archivists (ROIA), director of the Central Library Library Lyubov Mikhailovna Trepilchenko.
The honorary donor of the museum, Vladimir Adolfovich, donated to the museum a machine gun box (cartridge box) for the Maxim machine gun model 1911. and a model of a two-masted sailboat, made by hand. Lyubov Mikhailovna Trepilchenko donated to the Kropotkin Museum a selection of the newspaper “Notes of an Archivist” for 2017 and the first half of 2018, and the candidate political sciences, professor, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia Anatoly Vasilyevich Marinchenko - monograph “Bloody Hard Times”.
Deputy Ataman of the regional Cossack society, Jr., spoke about the participation of the Cossacks in the First World War. sergeant Alexander Nikolaevich Ignatov and member of the society of historians and archivists Konstantin Vladimirovich Kataley.
Ataman of the Cossack organization "Lineets" captain Nikolai Dmitrievich Sitnikov and the centurion of the Kropotkin city Cossack society, honored cultural worker of the Kuban Vladimir Nikolaevich Fomenko were awarded the "Award St. George's Cross"in honor of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War of 1914-1918.
For the students of the “Patriot” club and guests of the event, GKM researcher I.V. Vinnikov. gave a lecture “Residents of the Romanovsky farm on the Caucasian front of the First World War.”
History is always a lesson. Only by mastering it can you confidently step into the future without repeating the mistakes of the past.
