Germanophobia in the Russian army on the eve and during the 1917 revolution

This article covers the problem of Germanophobia in the Russian Army during 1914-1917. Different investigations show that Russians in mass had not experienced a sense of hatred regarding Germans before the World War I began. Only conditions of war, efforts of official and non-official anti-German propaganda created prerequisites for broad spreading of Germanophobia in the officers and soldiers' consciousness. This phenomenon was not an extraordinary thing among fighting nations in Europe. However, in spite of war Russians as a rule practiced humane treatment of captive Germans. Special aspect of Germanophobia problem in the Russian Army presents the consequences that entailed in the respect of Russian military men, which had German origin. In contrast to the destiny of regular members, which from the autumn of 1914 were concentrated on Caucasian front, the officers of German origin were not considered as a potential threat for Russian Army. Only little group of Baltic Germans was displaced from the Northern front. At the same time, some representatives of officer corps had to change their German surnames to Russian ones and demonstrated other forms of patriotic social behavior in the conditions of some psychological pressure. It should be underlined that by the end of 1916 anti-German feelings enveloped rather vast masses as in the Russian army as on the home front. This time «German» surroundings of Russian emperor became the object of censure because of army defeat and economic crisis in Russia. The beginning of 1917 revolution attended by strong feeling of hatred in the respect of Russian German origin officers which were often accused in betrayal. Simultaneously these officers as a rule were accused of loyalty to former regime. However, due to the peculiarities of 1917 revolutionary process Germanophobia in the Russian Army loses its mass character. Socialist parties' propaganda of internationalism and antiwar moods brought to naught this phenomenon about six months after Russian monarchy fall.