Zhukova L.V. Religious feast days in the Russian army at the beginning of the 20th century

Abstract: This article contains information on which feast days were celebrated in the Russian army at the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries, and which of them were celebrated on the frontline during the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. Special attention is dedicated to feast organisation on religious holidays – Christmas, Baptism, and Easter – on the battlefield front and in conditions of captivity. The author analyses the difficulties of arranging religious feasts in wartime, the established routines of celebration, the attitude of participants towards them, as well as the dynamics of this attitude on the frontline with the particularities of being in a moving military campaign. The preferences and degrees of involvement in setting up celebrations by soldiers and officers are also addressed. The article is written primarily of the basis of sources from private possessions – memories, diaries, and memoirs – which provide its accuracy through eyewitness accounts. The research’s main conclusions pertain to the significance of feast days in the formation of a military collective, as a morale boost for the troops during military operations. Beside this the author makes some conclusions regarding the personal involvement of military servicemen and clergy in the organisation of religious feast days during wartime.

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