Press Conferences in the Russian General Staff about Romania’s Entry into World War I

Section: History of Journalism

The article analyzes various aspects of cooperation between the Russian General Staff and journalists on the information support of Romania’s entry into World War I on the side of the Entente. Discussing at press conferences the Russian occupation of Bukovina and the same plans for Transilvania, General Staff officers tended to push Romanian politicians into an alliance with Russia. In autumn of 1916, the Romanian army suffered a heavy defeat, after which Russian General Staff officers began to design the positive image of Romanian troops, camouflage their failures and justify the retreat of Russian troops from Romania. The unsuccessful battles in Romania clearly contributed to the aggravation of the political crisis in Russia by February 1917.

Alekseev Yu. G. (1991) Gosudar‘ vseya Rusi [Sovereign of all Russia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ. (In Russian)

Ganin A. V. (2013) «Mozg armii» v period russkoy smuty: stat‘i i dokumenty [The “Brain of the Army” during Russian Unrest: Articles and Documents]. Moscow: Russkiy put‘. (In Russian)

Gofman M. (1925) Voyna upushchennykh vozmozhnostey [The War of Lost Opportunities]. Moscow, Leningrad: Gosizdat Publ. (In Russian)

Nelipovich S. G. (1998) Nastuplenie russkogo Yugo-Zapadnogo fronta letom-osen‘yu 1916 goda: voyna na samoistoshchenie? [The Attack of the Russian Southwestern Front in Summer and Autumn of 1916: a War Aimed at Self-Exhaustion?]. Otechestvennaya istoriya 4. (In Russian)

Ob'edkov I. V. (2014 a) General N.N. Dukhonin i russkaya voennaya zhurnalistika v period Pervoy mirovoy voyny [General N.N. Dukhonin and Russian Military Journalism during World War I]. Izvestiya Smolenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta 2 (28). (In Russian)

Ob'edkov I. V. (2014 b) Propagandisty russkogo voennogo vedomstva v SShA (1915–1917) [Propagandists of the Russian War Department in the USA (1915– 1917)]. Izvestiya Ural‘skogo Federal‘nogo universiteta. Seriya «Gumanitarnye nauki» 3 (130). (In Russian)

Ob'edkov I. V. (2015) Zhurnalist I.S. Naimskiy i russkaya voennaya propaganda v zagranichnoy pechati: 1915–1917 gg. [Journalist I.S. Naimsky and Russian Military Propaganda in the Foreign Press: 1915–1917]. Vestn. Mosk. un-ta. Ser. 10: Zhurnalistika 3: 116–131. (In Russian)

Ulunyan A. A. (2015) Rumyniya v 1916 godu: britanskie otsenki i prognozy [Romania in 1916: British Assessments and Predictions]. Slavyanovedenie 3. (In Russian)

Vinogradov V. N. (2014) Raschety i proschety rumynskikh praviteley v gody Pervoy mirovoy voyny [Calculations and Miscalculations of Romanian Rulers during World War I]. Slavyanovedenie 1. (In Russian)

Volkov S. V. (2012) Generaly i shtab-ofitsery russkoy armii. Opyt martirologa. Tt. 1-2 [Generals and Staff Officers of the Russian Army. The Experience of a Martyrology. Vol. 1–2]. Moscow: FIV Publ. (In Russian)