Charity and donations in the cities of Zabaykalsky Krai during the World War I: interaction between society and the government

Abstract

During the World War I, due to the grand scale of mobilization, it would have not been possible to provide assistance to families of the soldiers without help received from charitable organizations, local authorities and individuals. Public and private charity became a part of supporting those in need. The object of this research is charity and donations during organized during the World War I. The subject of this research is the cooperation between the government and the public in the area of charity and donations. The forms, methods and specificity of such interactions are viewed based on the example of a remote administerial peripheral region – Zabaykalsky Krai, with consideration of the overall trends and regional peculiarities. The main forms and vectors of the work are described. Four key trends can be highlighted in interaction between the government and the city residents: 1) the organization of support for the families of mobilized soldiers (both, legal who received state rations, but also had the opportunity to use charitable support, and civil, who did not have the right to receive state rations); social assistance to children; aid to the refugees; collecting donations for the military needs (air fleet, Red Cross, mobile military infirmary, provision and shipment of things for the army). The author notes that due to a wide variety of charitable organizations (local and nationwide), secular and religious patronages, committees (established upon the local initiative and departments under the aegis of the Romanovs family), the composition of active participants often overlapped: same people were the members of several organizations. An important role in all organizations was played by the government officials; however, their motivation requires additional attention. Largest charity fundraisers were the events that received organizational and information support from the local authorities, or mass actions that became a part of public space of the cities.