Abstract

The article discusses the problem of the formation of the “image of the enemy”, the German and the Austrian, during the First World War in the periodical press of the Russian Empire. In the early 20th century periodicals began to play an important role in social life. During the war, newspapers, magazines and leafl ets became the main means of forming the “enemy image” and were used by the establishment, among other things, as a kind of a “fuse” against possible social unrest and upheavals. The Russian authorities and the mass media affi liated with them tried to represent the enemy as adversely as possible. In 1914–1918 a huge number of periodicals in the Russian provinces published materials aimed at demonizing and dehumanizing the enemy. This article analyzes the methods of creating the “enemy image” in the periodical press, and reveals the role of Simbirsk and Samara newspapers and magazines in the formation of a negative perception of Germans (including those from Russia) among the common folk. The article investigates periodicals which were published in the initial period of the war, in 1914–1915. The authors show the concrete examples of the information outreach of the periodical press in the conditions of international upheavals. During the period of jingoism which swept the general public, lasting from August 1914 to the spring of 1915, the press focused on justifying Russia’s participation in the First World War, the righteousness of Russia’s war against the countries of the Quadruple Alliance, as well as the idea of the fact that the Germany and its allies did not have the necessary resources for a long military confrontation. In 1914, when creating the “enemy image”, the main object of debunking was “German militarism”, while the criticism of the government of Austria-Hungary was somewhat muffled. However, starting from the winter–spring of 1915, criticism of the “Austro-Hungarian invaders” and the policy of the Austro-Hungarian government as a whole came to the fore.