ДИНАМИКА ЧИСЛЕННОСТИ ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНИЦ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ В ГОДЫ ПЕРВОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ

Abstract

The article shows the dynamics of the number of women working on the Russian Empire’s railways during the First World War. The article provides comparative statistics on the number, percentage and positions occupied by women on the railways before the war (1913) and on the front-line and home front railways during the war (1914–1917), based on the analysis of records of civil and military authorities. The author has established that the initial phase of changes in the personnel policy of the Ministry of Railways and local railway administrations in favour of recruiting more women to railway service dates back to the second half of 1915. The changes in personnel policy were primarily due to the mobilisation of reserve soldiers, many of whom had previously worked on the railways. Initially seen by the Ministry of Railways as a temporary and forced measure, the trend of replacing the men who had gone to the front by women gained momentum in 1916, as a result of which the scope of women’s work in the railway industry was constantly expanding. The article draws a conclusion about the all-Russian trend of gradual expansion of the sphere of women’s labour on the railways, demonstrates the growth of the absolute number of female railway workers, which was conditioned by the needs of military and civil authorities during the First World War.