On the Issue of State Social Policy for the Disabled People During the First World War in Russian Historiography: Problems of Population and Identification

The article deals with the problem of social assistance to war invalids in 1914-1917, presented in modern Russian historiography. Most researchers claim that during the First World War, a full-fledged state social policy was carried out in relation to the crippled and wounded soldiers from the lower ranks. Conversely, the question of what was the number of people who returned from the front completely disabled remains debatable. In addition, another scientific problem is formulated in the article: was the "war invalids" an independent category of people in need of assistance, or were they assisted under the unified approach to solving the life difficulties of sick and wounded military personnel. The answers to both of these questions help to say more precisely whether the practice of state social policy actually existed in Russia. If the number of military invalids was significant, then they could indeed become an object of special attention from both state and non-state actors of assistance. Meanwhile, the disabled of the First World War had to have a special status that distinguished them from other categories of the disabled population, distinguished them from people who occupied a similar social position. The article presents different points of view regarding the number of war invalids, considers the problems of organizing the registration of war invalids during the First World War, analyzes the materials of the questionnaires developed by the Medical Statistical Bureau under the Main Committee of the Zemsky Union and compiled for a group of veterans from the Barnaul district who returned disabled. All of the foregoing made it possible to identify war invalids as a separate group.