Russia's First World War: A Social and Economic History

by Peter Gatrell

The story of Russia’s First World War remains largely unknown, neglected by historians who have been more interested in the grand drama that unfolded in 1917. In Russia’s First World A Social and Economic History Peter Gatrell shows that war is itself ‘revolutionary’ – rupturing established social and economic ties, but also creating new social and economic relationships, affiliations, practices and opportunities. Russia’s First World War brings together the findings of Russian and non-Russian historians, and draws upon fresh research. It turns the spotlight on what Churchill called the ‘unknown war’, providing an authoritative account that finally does justice to the impact of war on Russia’s home front

Genres: History, Russia, Economics, World War I, 20th Century, Politics

340 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2005

About the author

A historian specializing in population displacement in the modern world and the economic and social history of Russia, Peter Gatrell is emeritus professor at the University of Manchester. He earned his undergraduate and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge.

Reviews

[Dropbear123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 and being very generous rounding up for Goodreads.

It's basically a textbook of Russia's homefront in during WWI, ending with the start of the Russian Civil War. Topics included are chapters on the experiences of the different classes, state authority and it's decline over the course of the war, the financing of the war, industry and infrastructure, the food supply and ethnicity/nationalism. The author has wrote other books specifically about the Russian Empire's wartime refugees in this period so there is a relatively large amount on them in each chapter as well. Apart from the final conclusion the last two chapters focus on the impact of the February and October revolutions on Russia's war effort. The book is 260 pages (but with notes/sources at the end of each chapter so actually a bit shorter) and the writing style is fine for a textbook but nothing amazing. There is further reading for each topic suggested which focuses on English language sources but many of these are either very old and/or going to hard for an ordinary reader to find.

I'd recommend this only if you are specifically interested in Russia's WWI home front (in which case it is pretty good) and you can find a cheap used copy. Otherwise it might be quite pricey and boring.