EGO-DOCUMENT AS REGIONAL ARCHIVE DATA RESOURCE ON THE HISTORY OF WORLD WAR I (1914-1918)

The modern historical science, strivingto understand the role of a manin varioussocial processes, increasingly more and more often resorts to ego- documents. A researchnot drawing upon these sources is scarcely imaginable. Documents of this type have specific features and properties, defined both by concept of identity and concept of the document. Autobiographies, journals, scribbling-diaries, letters provide data for more than writing memoirs. They contain a source of personal memory and a viewof the events in which the author participated. In historical studies thepersonal provenance documentsshould be used with caution because of their subjectivity. However, the ego-documents contain some unique information manyaspects of everyday life of a man from the country-side in the wartime. Personalattitudesexposed by the author clear up the relationshipsbetweencalled to arms, relations with the superiors, the soldier's inner world, theirsentimentsabout events in the country. Sometimes, it's the only source on some aspects of the research subject. According to the author, the significance of studying personal provenance documents concerning of World War I(1914-1918) in the regional archivesis undeniable. Such historical datacollection isunderrepresented in the State Archive of Volgograd Region, yetcapturesdifferentoutlooksonsome events of world history. The author has an increased focus on to the memories of little-known representatives of the region: A. C. Beshencev, L.Y. Mart'janov, N.V. Nedelin, F.P. Shilenko and other participantsof World War I(1914-1918). The articleinvestigates problems that concerned the public and of searching of historical sources andusing of them in research, assesses their value as an information resource for studying military history. It should be noted that the ego-documents of the State Archive of Volgograd Region give mostly a true view of the events of theWorld War I (1914-1918). This information resource requires careful historiographic analysis, and yet isof considerable interestfor culture-historical research.