World History: “We are Led by the Lord to Undergo Ordeal…” Dedicated to the First World War’s Centenary Historical-documentary Exhibition in St. Petersburg

17 April 2014
Source: Federal Archival Agency

The grand opening of “We are Led by the Lord to Undergo Ordeal…” historical-documentary exhibition, dedicated to the 100th Centenary of the First World War, will be held on April 17, 2014, in the Exhibition Hall of the Federal State Archives (St. Petersburg).

Historical and documentary exhibition entitled “We are Led by the Lord to Undergo Ordeal…” will descover the new pages of that tragic era, the main "Men and War" theme of which is inexhaustible in its depth. The exhibition will reveal the subject’s fundamental political, moral and ethical aspects, and observe the evolution of the mass psychology and social consciousness in a global war.

The exposition is based on more than 200 original documents, issued by higher and local level authorities of the Russian empire, private companies, the military-industrial committees, public, non-profit and beneficial organizations, collections of personal origin that highlighting various aspects of life in wartime. Most of these documents are exposed first.

Among the materials of the exhibition are the documents with autographs and photographs of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna, well-known military and government leaders M. V. Alekseev, A. A. Brusilov, I. K. Grigorovich, G. E. Lvov, S. Sazonov, etc. These diaries, letters, service records, and award lists of the officers, soldiers, sisters of Mercy, and priests - ordinary war partakers - bring a unique spirit of the epoch.

The exhibits from the collections of museums in St. Petersburg complement an archival material: a model of locomotive and passenger wagons from early XX century, a telephone and field binoculars, medical instruments, medals, paintings and drawings, etc.

"The End of Empire", shot during the First World War, newsreel screening will take place at he exhibition.

The exhibition will run until June 20, 2014.