MILITARY CENSORSHIP PRACTICES DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR (ON THE MATERIALS OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF FINLAND)

Abstract

The article is based on the memoirs of Colonel D.L. Kazantsev, and also on the documents of the Russian State Military Historical Archive; it deals with the military censorship practices in the Grand Duchy of Finland during the First World War. The author demonstrates that the establishment of military censorship in the territory of Finland went with delays and great difficulties. The censorship of the mail, telegrams in local languages and local periodicals sent to Finland was to be carried out. It was, however, almost impossible to exercise censorship control over the entire volume of correspondence and all printed matter. The reasons for the lack of effectiveness of censorship were, at first, a lack of understanding on the part of the leadership of the importance of the tasks of censorship of the postal items. At a later period the difficulties of censorship caused by the small number and lack of qualifications of local military-censorship commissions.

Keywords

• military censorship
• the first world war
• the grand duchy of finland