The transformation of the theme of childhood in Russia in the conditions of the First World War and the civil war (based on the materials of historiography and children’s magazines)

This article analyzes the transformation of childhood during the First World War and the Civil War, 1914-1922. Foreign researchers were the first to address the topic of childhood in the era of wars. In contemporary Russian historiography, there are also a number of works devoted to this topic. The main problems of military childhood are related to such subjects as the mobilization of children and young men, the transformation of behavioral practices, and state policy with regard to young citizens. The military childhood of the World War I era is better-studied; the scarcity of source material conditioned the poorly-researched childhood of the Civil War period. The source base for this article consists of children’s magazines, in particular, magazines published by adults for children, as well as handwritten children’s magazines. The main research questions concern children’s «response» to adult military discourses; features of military and political rhetoric on the pages of school newspapers and magazines. The discursive changes in children’s narratives and narratives for children are closely related to the transformation of perceptions of childhood during the war years. The author concludes that despite the public «protective policy» towards children, attempts to declare the rejection of militarization and mobilization of childhood, the young citizens of Russia were actively included in the military and political processes as a result of the influence of propaganda.