The evolution of public sentiment in the Yenisei province (1914-1917)

The article looks into the evolution of public sentiment in the Yenisei province during the First World War. The research undertaken helps understand why the population's discontent grew rapidly in rural provinces that were far away both from the frontline and from the country's political centers and were supposed to provide all possible resources for victory. The authors show that that was largely due to the deteriorating socio-economic and living conditions. Peasants believed that the mobilisation carried out by the state depriving their households of manpower was to be compensated for through loans, reduced taxes, and the allowed use of prisoners of war as working force. The non-introduction of these measures led to disappointment with political authorities and fuelled the sense of social injustice among the population. The lack of manufactured goods and the high cost of food in cities only added to the growing irritation and resentment. The influx of refugees and prisoners of war, in turn, exacerbated the local people's socio-economic problems. The decline in living standards affected, first and foremost, the poorest groups, including families of the mobilised. In the course of the war, the number of such people increased whereas public and charitable support was reduced. This resulted in unorganised and spontaneous acts of violence as a sign of protest on the part of soldiers' families.

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