THE GREAT WAR THROUGH THE PRISM OF EGO-DOCUMENTS OF THE POLISH NOBILITY

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of everyday life and the socio-cultural transformation of the Polish nobility during the years of the First World War. The global conflict, whose depth contemporaries initially underestimated, fundamentally altered their socio-cultural space. The relevance of the study lies in shifting the focus from traditional military and diplomatic history to an anthropocentric dimension, which makes it possible to analyse the Great War as an individual experience of a privileged class and a bearer of Polish identity. In the research, memoirs, diaries, and recollections are considered as sources that embody the “spirit of the age”, combining an immediate emotional response to events with their subsequent rational interpretation and reflection. The use of personal sources allows for the reconstruction of events on an emotional and psychological level, contributing to the exploration of the value orientations, behavioural patterns, and mentality of the Polish nobility at the beginning of the twentieth century. The article analyses the dynamics of the transition from the “islands of stability” of estate life to the search for new forms of national self-organisation under wartime conditions. It highlights the authors’ reflections on hopes to avoid a military catastrophe, as well as demonstrating significant differences in the perception of war through the prism of childhood and adult perspectives. For a comprehensive reconstruction of personal experiences, both male and female ego-documents were examined and analysed. The recollections record the transition from prolonged social tension to open conflict, accompanied by pogroms and the forced departure of the nobility from their estates. In this context, ego-documents serve not only as a source of facts but also as testimony to the profound psychological rupture experienced by an entire generation of the Polish nobility. The article partially draws on materials collected by Ihor Kryvosheia during his research conducted within the framework of the “Research in Poland” programme (2026) of the Juliusz Mieroszewski Dialogue Centre (Warsaw).