Labor Practices on the Russian Front of World War I

The article examines the population contingents involved in labor for defense during World War I, analyzing the conditions of their work and their perceptions of labor efforts. The focus is on gender, social, ethnic, and age differences in attitudes toward labor. Special attention is given to work in the most extensive areas: trench work, labor in defense industries, and humanitarian work aiding the sick and wounded. Alongside significant successes in mobilizing broad segments of the population for labor, the article highlights the lack of adherence to labor technology and motivation required by the demands of industrial warfare. The article provides numerical data on types and scales of labor activities, based on archival materials, most of which are introduced into academic circulation for the first time.