Use of agricultural resources of Bessarabia for military needs in 1916

Abstract

Providing servicemen with food during hostilities is an extremely important factor in
maintaining a high morale and combat capability of army units. In the Russian Empire, during
the First World War, the task of providing food and forage for the country and the front was
entrusted to the Main Directorate of Land Management and Agriculture (since 1916 – the
Ministry of Agriculture). A large role in this process was played by the agrarian regions of the
empire, in particular the Bessarabian province. There were representatives of the Ministry of
Agriculture for the purchase of grain for the army.
The purpose of the article is to study the specific steps of the commissariat, as well as the
military and civil authorities of the Bessarabian province, to provide the Russian army with food
at the initial stage of the war. To create a more reliable picture, the author involved a number of
previously unpublished sources of the State Archives of the Odessa region and the municipal
institution «Izmail Archive», as well as the National Archives of the Republic of Moldova.
It is proved that in 1916 Bessarabia was assigned a significant role in supplying the army
with food and fodder. The military and civil administrations used all means to ensure that the
troops had a good supply of food. The military and civil administrations used all means to
ensure that the troops had a good supply of food. However, the imperfection of the transport
system was often on the way to this. After Romania entered the war, Bessarabia was given the
function of providing the new front with food. This hit hard on the state of agriculture in the
region, a sharp rise in prices began, and the shortage of food products became noticeable.