Medicine in the White South during the Russian Civil War: Structures, Solutions, Everyday Life

Abstract

The article investigates military medical affairs in the territory of the White South during the Russian Civil War. This was a situation in which this territory faced an epidemic situation under the catastrophic conditions of the First World War, in which efforts were aimed at sanitation in the context of military tensions and chaos after the 1917 revolution. One focus is on the relationship between the army and public military medical structures, the fight against epidemics as a main task, and the fates of doctors and medical institutions of the White South in the context of front-line service. Efforts to overcome epidemics by the Special Meeting under the commander- in-chief of the armed forces in south Russia are discussed. The behavior of structures of the Russian Red Cross in the White South is revealed, and a parallel is drawn between the mobilization of efforts in the field of medical care within the armed forces there and elsewhere on the Don. One source used is memoirs by military doctors in the ranks of white formations, which portray life, work, moods, and attitude to work, in particular, recollections by the outstanding Russian psychiatrist Dr. N. Krainsky. The epidemic situation among white troops is estimated, as well as the evacuation of the wounded from the army of General N. Bredov to Poland.