The Austro-German propaganda in the South-Western Front at the end of 1914 – June 1917, and fraternization in 1917

Author(s):  S.V. Kuritsyn, Institute of Russian history of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Center of Military history of Russia), Moscow, Russia, sergejj-88@yandex.ru

Issue:  Volume 46, № 1

Rubric:  Topical issues of russian history

Annotation:  The author attempted to investigate the extent of the propaganda of the Central empires against the armies of the South-Western Front, since the end of 1914 to June 1917. Only those armies that were on the South-Western Front in the first half of 1917, namely the Special, 11th, 7th and 8th armies were considered. The study of the array of proclamations distributed by the Austro-German soldiers on the South-Western Front of the Eastern European theatre from the end of 1914 to the middle of 1917 showed that the nature of propaganda during this period has undergone a significant evolution both quantitatively and in relation to the appeals contained in the leaflets. It should also be noted that the sharp increase in propaganda of Austria-Hungary and Germany in the spring of 1917 was associated with the hope of concluding a separate peace with the Provisional government that came to power after the February revolution in Russia. In March – May 1917, proclamations were most often given to Russian soldiers during fraternization, which reached unprecedented development at the front in these months.

Keywords:  The First world war, the Russian army, South-West front, proclamation, propaganda, the Feb-ruary revolution, fraternization.

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