Foodpolicy of the Ministry of Agriculture in World War I (July 1914 - February 1917)

The article deals with the food policy of Russia in the First World War period. The main purpose of this policy was to supply food and fodder to the front. But gradually an integral part of this policy became ensuring food to the entire country. In 1914-1915 the Food and Agriculture Organization of Russia was actually responsible for supplying food to the army. In 1915 there were introduced fix prices for various products, and the government had to considerer consumers. In 1916 the food situation drastically worsened, which forced the government to supply not only the front but also the rear. The authorities were trying to compensate the objective shortcomings of the state system by organizing food supply. From the beginning of the war it was the Ministry of Agriculture which was responsible for solving the food problem and supplying the front and the rear. The Ministry created a ramified organization, which was rather successful in the wartime. The organization covered all the regions of Russia, where was established the institution of commissioners. The institution had two levels: commissioners of the Ministry of Agriculture, who were responsible for supplying products to the army, and commissioners of the Special Meeting on the food business, who supplied food to the rear. Each new minister of agriculture tried to improve the structure in order to achieve the set goals. In the hard conditions of the war the Ministry of Agriculture successfully supplied food to the army, and prevented famine in the rear. Temporary shortages of food on the front were quickly overcome. The growing food crisis in 1916 posed new challenges to the food organization, which it failed to solve. The last major event was the surplus bread appropriation both for the front and the rear. Its failure triggered protests across the country. The food crisis of 1917 became thereason for the February Revolution. The food policy of the empire was a compromise and didn’t achieve all the tasks set by the supreme authority of the state

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• Making war, forging revolution

  Peter Holquist•Making war, forging revolution•2002

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