ABSTRACT
The Russian High Command controlled much of civilian life as well as military activity at the front. Two new military districts were created for Dvinsk and Minsk, adding to the existing districts in Petrograd, Kiev, Odessa and the Caucasus, all of which were answerable to the Supreme Military Headquarters. Men went to war in the Russian empire with the same mixture of emotions as their counterparts in other countries. Government propaganda exploited that motive. In Russia's towns and villages new forms of cultural expression connected the front and the rear by popularising sentimental images of heroism and steadfastness. The shell shortage gave rise to rumours of backroom deals with shadowy entrepreneurs, as well as reports of more purposeful activity by leading private firms. As shortages became apparent, the emphasis shifted from stocks to production, from reserves of manpower to issues of labour productivity, from grand gestures such as prohibition to graver issues of state credit.
