РАБОТА ВЫСШИХ УЧЕБНЫХ ЗАВЕДЕНИЙ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ НА НУЖДЫ ОБОРОНЫ В ГОДЫ ПЕРВОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ

Abstract

At the beginning of the twentieth century, many sectors of Russian industry were dependent on imports from European countries, including Germany. After Russia's entry into the First World War, the army began to experience shortages of fuel, transport, ammunition and medicines. Based on archival documents and periodicals, the article analyses the involvement of staff and students of higher educational institutions in the activities to overcome the supply crisis. Two periods of their participation in the work for defense purposes are distinguished: at the first stage (1914–early 1915) the assistance was mainly limited to the creation of infirmaries and sanitary teams to serve the needs of wounded and sick soldiers; from the spring of 1915 the military department began to actively use the scientific, methodological, material and personnel potential of higher education institutions. The author concludes that the work of higher educational institutions contributed not only to the provision of the army, but also to the liberation of domestic industry from foreign dependence.