The First World War in Belarus
About the project
The Project “The First World War in Belarus” is a special rubric on the Archives of Belarus website, an internet resource of the archives and RM authorities and the state archives network in the Republic of Belarus, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war.
Purposes
The Project aims to show the situation in Belarus on the eve and during the First World War based on documentary sources and to create in the Internet a more complete picture of this military conflict which inflicted great damage and suffering for Belarus and brought about massive loss of combatants and civilians.
Structure
The rubric consists of three main sections:- Overview of the war
- Online exhibition of WWI records and documents selected from seven state archives in the Republic of Belarus
- Summary information on the published collections of WWI documents from the Belarusian archives created with the participation of Belarusian archivists
The online exhibition shows about a thousand records and documents (their electronic copies) available at the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk, National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno, Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art, Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, Local State Archives in Molodechno, and Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records.
The material is structured in two levels:
– List of records, including their title, date (records of the Russian Empire and the Russian Republic are dated in Old Style, records of the German Empire and Soviet Russia in New Style), type, language and location index. The records are basically arranged in chronological order. On the right are the links to view a full-size record.
– Electronic copies of records.
The exposition consists of 27 thematic sections (55 internal groups) which illustrate different stages and aspects of the war, the events on the eve of the war, the situation in the occupied and unoccupied territories of Belarus, war aftermath and commemoration in Belarus. To highlight some key issues on the topic, we have also used published material from the academic, encyclopedic, archival, military and other editions (in particular, the published collections of documents from the archives of other countries), as well as several photographs from the Internet. On display for the first time are several dozen photographs from the personal collections.
The exposition shows the official documents created by the military and civilian authorities, publications in mass media (in particular, the newspaper Nasha Niva which featured the events in Belarus and abroad in WWI) and personal papers of participants in WWI events.
The bulk of the exposition are textual records – printed, typescripts and manuscripts (original items and copies, in full and fragments). Most texts are written in Russian, a considerable part in Belarusian (including Latin script), and some documents in German and Polish. On display are about 20 maps and 300 photos, as well as five audio records and 15 video records in the form of fragments from documentary films and radio programmes.
General coordination of the project – Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus.
Main executor of the project, information contents, web design – Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records.
Selection of records and making of digital copies – National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk, National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno, Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art, Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings, National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, Zonal State Archives in Molodechno, Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records.
Notes
The use of the project materials requires a reference to the source of information – the Archives of Belarus Website and the individual archive in which a record is held. For other issues relating to the use of data posted on the website, please contact the respective archival institution (the contact information is on the website page “Archives and records authorities and the state archives network”).
For comments and opinions on the project please email: ed@archives.gov.by.
Abbreviations
BGAKFFD – Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound
Recordings
BGAMLI – Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art
BelNITsED – Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Records
NARB – National Archives of the Republic of Belarus
NIAB – National Historical Archives of Belarus in Minsk
NIAB in Grodno – National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno
ZGA in Molodechno – Zonal State Archives in Molodechno
f. – fonds
op. – opis (series)
d. – delo (file)
l. – list (folio)
BSSR – Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic
RSFSR – Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
RSDRP – Russian Social Democratic Labour Party