The Work of Educational and Scientific Institutions of St. Petersburg (Petrograd) in the Interests of Military Production during World War I.

During the First World War which quickly acquired the limits of an unprecedented military confrontation between the largest world powers all Russian resources were mobilized to work in the interests of military production for the first time. Scientific and educational institutions of various levels were involved in this work. In this article it is shown how this process took place in practice by the example of the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg (Petrograd). The mobilization of science during the First World War is understood as the intensification of research aimed at the development of the defense industry, energy and transport support for its activities, the supply of raw materials and the introduction of new technologies into production in order to provide the front with ammunition, weapons and military equipment and other military products, as well as the development of scientific principles for the organization of industry, agriculture, military medical service and the use of natural resources in wartime. This fully refers to educational institutions. During the war there appeared new forms of organizing the scientific and educational institutions work in the interests of military production. They included military-industrial committees, special meetings, various scientific societies, unions and meetings. Some of them obtained a very extensive and multi-stage structure and showed their effectiveness in a short time. The educational institutions of the city began to be even more actively involved in the sphere of military production. Their best representatives began to participate in research on military topics. Various educational institutions of Petrograd in close cooperation with the laboratories of military factories were increasingly involved in the development of complex technological processes at military production. In addition, the production divisions of various educational institutions of the city received tasks for the manufacturing military products, sometimes of the highest degree of complexity. During the war military orders for many educational institutions of the city became permanent.