Kamianets-Podilskyi and the War on the «Home Front»(1915–1917): the Everyday Aspect

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to analyze the features of everyday life of the inhabitants of Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1915–1917. The methodology is based on the fundamental principles of scientific knowledge of dialectics and determinism and the general scientific principles of historicism and objectivity. To reveal the topic, the author used general scientific, special and interdisciplinary methods of historical research. Scientific novelty. In the proposed article, for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, the daily life of Kamianets-Podilskyi during the First World War is highlighted within the framework of the concept of the «home front». Conclusions. In 1915, the residents of Kamianets-Podilskyi became convinced that their hopes for the swift nature of the war were in vain, although it was the belief in a quick victory that was the basis of the pro-government cheer-patriotic sentiments of 1914. The First World War transformed into a total war of attrition , the result of which was largely determined in the rear, where there was a fierce confrontation on the «home front». The issues of the purity of public morals, the struggle against the internal enemy in the context of the crystallization of international relations at the home-foreign level, and the problem of providing the population with basic necessities for their daily needs have become the most fierce. However, the relative proximity of Kamianets-Podilskyi to the front line after a year of war gave it an unexpected advantage over most Ukrainian cities in such a socially sensitive area as housing. As a result of the retreat of Russian troops at the time, local officials and employees of a number of enterprises and institutions left the Podil provincial center for the east, which prevented the aggravation of the housing issue, which covered most of the Ukrainian rear urban space. Since for the collective perception of reality «the turn of 1915» meant a change in everyday attitudes and practices, since then it can be said that the «home front» in Kamianets-Podilskyi increasingly overshadowed the events of the war, even after the «Brusylov breakthrough» widely circulated by military propaganda.